Leadership shapes the learning environment, setting the climate and culture for what a learning environment and organisation should be. Among the many key figures, Leaders stand at the forefront, influencing and guiding the organisation forward. However, there is a key challenge persisting within the realm of Leader leadership: what factors contribute to the longevity of a Leader's tenure, and what makes them stay?

The role of the Leader is pivotal within an organisation, shouldering multifaceted responsibilities that ultimately impact every individual and every aspect within an organisation. It is the leadership of the Leader that sets the tone for creating a psychologically safe environment, an authentic environment, a culture that develops and innovates in order for all to make progress; and yet despite these responsibilities often influencing an individual’s aspirations into Headship, these can all too often be the exact same reasons that individuals leave their Headship or avoid the role altogether.

Research carried out by The National Association of Head Teachers (2021) found that professionals currently in middle leadership positions or non-headship positions do not actually aspire to become Leaders, highlighting key issues such as work/life balance and accountability pressures. We had the very same feedback from ten heads in a peer learning group yesterday. Additionally many of these Leaders or potentially aspiring leaders leave their post and the state sector altogether, retire prematurely or leave their post within 5 years (NAHT, 2022). This happens for a whole host of reasons including lack of funding, lack of autonomy and support, low morale, long hours, high-stakes inspections and accountability, the list goes on.

Within their research Zuccollo, Braakmann & Sibieta (2023) highlighted the powerful impact having an effective Leader in role can have on students and the school community; specifically, achieving the equivalent of an additional three months of learning for students including improved attainment overall, reduced absenteeism, improved Ofsted outcomes and reduced staff turnover. This is an impressive finding, but it does not come without caution - experience on the job and their own self-awareness are key factors in being an effective leader; which brings us back round to conundrum of how Leader’s can be recruited and kept in role in order to have such an impact? If Leaders are not staying in role for a sufficient period of time, then are they likely to gain the experience needed to become effective?

Key Factors Influencing Retention:

A supportive environment seems like an obvious thing to say, but it cannot be underestimated. Zuccollo et al. (2023) comment on the need for Ofsted inspectors to acknowledge and appreciate in their schools reviews that the full potential of leadership changes may not be evident for a number of years because experience takes time to gain and change takes time to implement. Whether this is something that will ever be adopted within school inspections remains to be seen, however the new Ofsted report card system has the potential to make progress here. Support, however goes beyond Ofsted, to Governors and Boards and the wider school community which all have significant influence on the support a Leader day to day and so are arguably more influential. Leaders should have their expertise valued, be psychologically safe to collaborate in the decision making process and have resources made available for their continual growth. With a Governing body that is restrictive, Leaders lack the autonomy to implement real change within their organisation and are undervalued, significantly contributing to a departure of role. This extends to accountability within role, whilst Leaders, specifically Headteachers should remain accountable for the day-to-day running and strategic realisation of a school, creating a secure and developmental culture around accountability is vital (more on this in our upcoming blog!).

The above all ties in with both professional and personal development opportunities for Leaders. For a leader to become more effective within their role, they need to have opportunities for continuous growth. With investment into their leadership, Leaders are more likely to feel supported, valued, remain in their role and be more effective within their role. This doesn’t necessarily need to be through completing one of the generic leadership courses that are ever present in the CPD sphere but having the time and opportunity to network with other Leaders across different contexts, receive some expert developmental coaching to clarify leadership values and direction or take some time to do some independent study can be immensely influential. What matters is that the development opportunity is engaged with and is of high quality.

Other reasons go hand in hand with a Leader’s leadership approach and experience. Positive school cultures and collaborative and supportive staff dynamics are immensely important. Whilst the presence or absence of these can influence a decision to remain in role; it is part of the Leader’s role to cultivate these features as well, the nuance and skill with which to do so of course comes from developmental opportunities and a supportive environment! With investment in effective Leadership Development, Leaders are more likely to be able to create the working environments conducive to them remaining within their role for a longer period of time.

The Impact of a Leader’s Longevity

Longevity within a role or indeed within a profession heeds a multitude of benefits. A key benefit here is consistency. Change can take time to be successful due to its complexities; where Leaders remain in role for longer periods of time, positive change is more likely to be embedded within an organisation’s systems and culture. This facilitates realisation of long term strategies and fosters trust and stability within a school’s culture. Additionally, this feeds into a deeper, more nuanced understanding of their school, their stakeholders and their community; enabling more informed decision-making and strategic planning.

Our Suggestion for Addressing the Leadership Crisis

A potential answer to address some of these issues is to accelerate leadership maturity and development which not only addresses the issue of getting more effective leaders into positions where they can really make an impact to the students and staff in their community; but also they have the skills, knowledge and tools to better manage the multitude of responsibilities that all too often result in attrition. 

In essence, what makes a good Leader stick around revolves around a harmonious blend of supportive structures, a positive school culture, ongoing professional development, collaborative staff dynamics, and a sense of empowerment. Not all of these things can be found within, particularly when you are centre stage. That is why we provide coaching and peer group development. Much like longevity in leadership, peer groups also foster a conducive environment for growth and innovation, and sustained success within education.

As the education sector evolves, the retention of talented and dedicated Leaders becomes increasingly imperative. By understanding the elements that contribute to their role and addressing challenges, schools can cultivate environments that encourage exceptional leadership retention, ensuring a brighter future for both educators and students alike.

At The Glass House Leadership Lab we pride ourselves in providing high quality developmental coaching and team development programmes to advance leadership performance. We appreciate the individuality of leaders and the benefit of diverse perspectives and experience can bring to developing our schools and education system but ultimately we want today’s and future students to have the best education possible through nurturing, high quality, innovative and consistent learning environments. Education needs Leaders to navigate that journey!

If you are interested in exploring cutting edge coaching or team opportunities further for either yourself or your team and the benefits it can offer more widely for your organisation, we would be delighted to discuss options further. Please book a discovery call or contact us at info@glasshouselab.com.

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References:

National Association of Leaders. (2022). NAHT: Gone for good. https://tinyurl.com/69kkyxpz

Zuccollo, J., Braakmann, N. & Sibieta, L. (2023).The influence of Leaders on their schools, EPI, Newcastle University, Nuffield Foundation. https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/the-influnece-of-Leaders-on-their-schools/