Dialogue > Article > Uncovering Tomorrow’s Leaders

According to leadership experts Paul Bernthal and Richard Wellins, “In a complex and changing world, highly skilled and experienced leaders at all levels—not just senior leaders—are becoming harder to find.” Today, two key questions face all independent schools: “Where will the next group of future leaders come from?” and “What attributes are required of those leaders in order to maintain and grow our organizations?” Leaders at all levels are being asked to play multiple roles, including those of strategist, coach, global thinker, change driver and entrepreneur. The independent school system requires its leaders to be flexible and adaptable and to chart a future course of leadership and vision unique to each institution, based on many factors, including geography, history and size. Clearly it is no longer sufficient to simply be a curriculum leader. Independent school leaders and boards of governors who oversee them must proactively engage in succession planning for their schools and examine the sustainability of their school’s leadership for the future.

Sustainability applies to almost everything we do, including the sustainability of forward thinking leadership principles and practices if independent schools are to remain at the leading edge of education in this country. Systems expert Peter Senge suggests that as a group, “only by staying focused on the broader, underlying systemic patterns can we solve problems effectively and develop a truly creative, self–renewing learning organization.”

Today, independent school heads in Canada find themselves in a unique position. They not only face the challenge of running a school and a not-for-profit business, but must embrace effective strategies for leadership for both today and the future. This means they must create sustainable internal leadership networks to carry the school forward. They must have a clear understanding of what Thomas Sergiovanni labels the “systems world” of management structures, as well as of the “life world” of culture, meaning and significance. Sergiovanni believes that a school’s most important work is to deliver on the promise of a greater vision for life and the world.

Sustainable leadership is crucial in open systems like education, where change is constant and unpredictable. Leaders must be able to navigate effectively through these periods and bolster the capacity of an organization to meet the demands of turbulent times. Sustainable leadership principles in independent education must exist at the top of every organization and must facilitate effective practice that will enable a school to meet all challenges, internal and external, and flourish. Sustainability in leadership is a cultural phenomenon that involves the development of leadership practices and characteristics to facilitate long-term institutional growth, and in turn, success.

1. Systems thinking and strategic planning:
The single most important element of a school head’s sustainable leadership is a focus on systems thinking and strategic planning. Systems thinking is defined as “a way of helping a person to view systems from a broad perspective that includes seeing overall structures, patterns and cycles in systems, rather than seeing only specific events in the system” (Carter McNamara, 2008). Independent school heads must have a direct and firm grasp of the direction that the school charts and will take in its future. Their responsibility exceeds the educational mission and expands beyond relationships within a single school. One might suggest it is the “simultaneity” of leadership attributes that create the possibility that a leader is equipped to carry the collective weight of a school seeking sustainability.

2. Ethics and trustworthiness:
Universal values that all effective leaders should possess include “treating people with dignity and respect, dealing with social injustice, altruism, fairness, justice, liberty, human rights, honesty, integrity and equality” (Dean Pielstick, 1998). It is the possession of these values that philosophers and leaders in business identify as larger than the sum of our daily interactions. These are attributes that we need to possess because of what they represent about us, and to others who we might lead. We have seen the results of unscrupulous leaders in business and industry and the damage they have done to our environment and financial world. Developing strict personal and professional ethical practices that filter down from the leadership to every level of an organization is absolutely crucial.

3. Communication:
Communication facilitates the flow of work objectives, but can also have symbolic value in communicating a sense of community. A leader who is able to communicate effectively with colleagues/employees has a great advantage in carrying out the overall goals of his or her leadership and, in turn, creating a more sustainable organization. Communication is a universal principle for success in both the world of business and educational leadership. The ability of a leader to keep lines of communication open, to be honest and to ensure that the best, most relevant information is at the disposal of all within an organization is crucial.

4. Emotional intelligence:
Leadership behaviours that have emotional implications are repeatedly recommended: lending support, exhibiting moral integrity, providing safety, fostering collaboration, offering intellectual stimulation, encouraging organizational learning and practising consultative and shared decision-making (Tomlinson, 2004). The importance of emotional intelligence is also connected closely with the first two significant findings: systems thinking and ethics/trustworthiness. Leadership that carries forward a vision for an entire community requires emotional intelligence and a belief by followers that the leader is ethical and trustworthy.

5. Distributed leadership versus management:
One of the most important elements of sustainable leadership is a head of school who allows others to take on leadership. Study participants felt that it was a clear indication of leadership strength if a leader actively worked to develop internal bench strength and pass along significant responsibilities to others. Leaders must have the dual ability to inspire those who work within the organization and to entrust to them leadership responsibilities that will result in the growth of the organization. The role of the leader must be to create a collective and shared direction that others can believe in as passionately as the leaders do themselves, and to trust others rather than focusing on the management of daily affairs.

6. Transformative versus Charismatic:
If a leader is to carry the weight of leading a school through big picture priorities and take a systems approach, they need to be transformative. They must bring as many people along as will be needed on the journey of making a school great. Leadership authors define transformational leadership as the “ability to empower others” with the purpose of bringing about a “major change in form, nature, and function of some phenomenon.” (Bennis & Nanus, 1985; Leithwood, Begley & Cousins, 1994) This change of form, nature and function involves proactively engaging and inspiring the collective intellectual capacity of others within an organization. While individual commitment by the leader is crucial, it must be supported by acute awareness of the constituents who must follow and be inspired to accomplish great things.

7. Intelligence:
The heroic leadership model of intelligence and charisma has given way to other more significant leadership and intelligence traits, namely emotional intelligence and transformative leadership. While there is clearly a need for intelligence, it is not required at the highest level in the solving of all of an institution’s problems. Jim Collins’ work (2001) on Level 5 Leadership and “first who, then what” provides a model that does not require the all-knowing leader, but engages the collective intellectual capacity of the “who” within an organization, including intelligence. Leaders still need to understand and apply intelligence to their various responsibilities, but not as the first order of importance as a practice or characteristic.

Aside from the specific results of the national study, of the utmost significance is for individuals to be reflective about their own professional practice and personal leadership characteristics. Individuals in positions of leadership have a responsibility to embrace principles of leadership sustainability that recognize personal and institutional growth as a long-term and enduring value. For educational leaders, this growth will occur through applying the results around effective practices and characteristics, being open to change in a potentially volatile environment, and creating greater meaning through more effective leadership. Leaders who internalize and execute some of the practices of leadership sustainability will facilitate a greater connection to what is important, leading great teams and creating great schools.

The National Study
The “Excellence in Independent School Leadership” study, completed by this article’s author, Courtenay Shrimpton, in 2009, in consultation with the Canadian Association of Independent Schools, invited four participants—the head of school, chair of the board and two senior administrators—from each Canadian independent school. In total, 124 individuals or 40 per cent of those asked took part, including 52 heads, 43 senior administrators and 29 board chairs. The national study revealed eight elements of leadership excellence, seven pertaining to sustainability and the eighth identifying a leadership fallacy. If embraced within the culture of leadership in schools, these seven leadership characteristics and attributes will result in greater sustainability and mission/vision realization.