Leading Beyond the School Gates: Liminal Leadership

Yesterday, at our #WomenEd Festival of Leadership at Warwick University, I co-facilitated a session on Leading Beyond the School Gates with Annemarie Williams, one of our #WomenEd East Midlands Regional Leaders and someone who has become a very good friend. Annemarie gets all the credit for planning a brilliant session as it fell off of my to do list this week!

We have dubbed ourselves ‘Wilson and Williams’ as we have started co-planning and co-delivering workshops on things we are passionate about as we are on the same page about education. Annemarie is a primary CEO and I am a secondary Headteacher, we are both values-led in our approaches. We both believe in authenticity and are committed to being ethical leaders, guided by our moral compasses.

We are both passionate about is the opportunities to lead beyond school, in our communities, which develop leadership skills which can be brought back in to our schools and our classrooms. These liminal leadership opportunities are often forgotten about or not given the value and the status on our CVs, in our applications and in our interviews that they should be.

Our group’s opening reflections and discussions about what ‘Leading Beyond the School Gates’ threw up some interesting points. We talked a lot about being human in our leadership, about the hierarchies in some of our schools and the stakeholder engagement needed by school leaders.

Below are some of the things we discussed and the questions we used to frame the discussion for your consideration.

Great Leaders Make Great Schools – what is the impact of this on leaders?

• Vision and values – moral purpose, define the mission for all
• Exceptional leadership – learning focused, accountable, inspiring
• Ethic of excellence  – high expectations for all
• Pedagogy – the craft of teaching and learning
• Culture  – teamwork and collaboration
• Outward facing – research, collaboration, a culture of learning, innovation
• Joy – the enjoyment and buzz of learning, should be tangible

What is your WHY of leadership?

Simon Sinek’s ‘Start With Why’ is a book I keep going back to. We need to be articulate our why for being a teacher but also our why for stepping up to lead. The first hurdle is owning the fact that you are a leader. I anticipated that some of the people in our room did not see themselves as leaders, by the end our session they could articulate that they were leaders as they are influencing others.

Considering Servant Leadership we discussed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of this leadership style.

The concept of servant leadership is one that is both seductive and dangerous. The phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. In that essay, Greenleaf said:

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead”.

Servant leaders focus on the needs of the organisation and the communities they serve first and foremost and on developing the people within the organisation for the greater good of the whole community.

We framed our perspective as educators who have become leaders and who have used external opportunities to develop our leadership qualities, but we also shared our perspectives as recruiters, who assess candidates for what they can bring to our schools.

What other ways are there to grow as  leader?

We shared what we are passionate about, things we have done to go above and beyond outside of school and more importantly how  we can use these liminal leadership opportunities as evidence of our leadership skills.

Volunteering:

I am a School Governor, a MAT Trustee, a DFE Coach and the National Leader of #WomenEd.

Travel:

I have participated in Camp America, Raleigh International and LRTT.

Community Projects:

I am going to Mozambique with Action Aid this year.

Challenges:

Coaching has helped me overcome personal and professional challenges, which have also developed by emotional resilience.

Self-Study Courses:

I love attending, speaking at and hosting grassroots CPD. #Teachmeets, #Leadmeets and #Coachmeets have deepened by passion and my knowledge of educational leadership over the last few years.

Reading and Research:

Our school bookclub, our @WomenEdBookClub and Twitter chats like #SLTchat have helped to shape my thinking.

What is the Impact?

• Demonstrates how you walk and talk your values
• Opportunities to develop transferable skills such as creativity, communication and relationship building, planning and project management, problem solving etc
• Brings new learning, content and perspective
• Helps build future connections and relationships
• Scientific studies show that helping others boosts happiness. It increases life satisfaction, provides a sense of meaning, increases feelings of competence, improves our mood and reduced stress.

Annemarie then made the link between community leadership, the qualities we develop and how this links to the future of  careers and employability:

The World Economic Forum recently published “The Future of Jobs” outlining the skills that will be most needed by 2020, and guess what? Social skills are leading the way. In a world where technology seems to be king and the power of social media is ever growing, it is our human connectivity and ability to build relationships, will decide who is ready for the new world.

“Overall, social skills such as persuasion, emotional intelligence and teaching others will be in higher demand across industries than narrow technical skills.”

What did we learn? How did we grow as a leaders?

• That transferable skills can be developed anywhere, any time
• That failure can be the stepping stone to a new pathway
• That resilience can be developed

So we ask you to reflect and consider:

What are the experiences that have shaped you as a leader?

What are the possible new development opportunities you have yet to explore?

And more importantly, how will you harness these leadership opportunities, how will you capture them in your applications and how will you evidence they impact they have had on your leadership development?

Hannah, The Hopeful Headteacher

On behalf of Wilson and Williams, coming to an EduEvent near you soon!

Currently feeling hopeful about:

• More people recognising that leading beyond our school gates, leading in liminal spaces and leading in our communities is a legitimate way to informally develop leadership skills.

Currently reading and thinking about:

• I am reviewing Wholesome Leadership by Tom Rees for TES.

Currently feeling grateful for:

• Making brilliant friends for life through #WomenEd – another reason to volunteer your time, energy, experience and expertise!
• Having a diverse PLN of inspiring changemakers!

Appendix:

I recommend that you read Liminal Leadership by the fabulous Stephen Tierney. Furthermore that you watch this #TEDxNorwichEd Talk by the brilliant Marianna Cantwell who also talks passionately about existing in the grey space between the black and the white.

Busyness: Time v To Do List

I have not blogged for a month. That just says it all.

Life is busy. But in reality work is busy, life is quite quiet as I carve out space to look after me.  I cannot be busy all day, all night and all weekend.

My sanctuary is getting home and being still, silent. Pressing pause is a luxury.

Time is a precious thing in schools. But there never seems to be enough of it these days? It seems to evaporate between your fingers.

 

I read some interesting articles a while back about the British obsession with Time Management where as the Americans focus more on Energy Management. Energy v Time increases productivity and performance. It streamlines quality v quantity. It makes sense so why does it feel like I am getting it so wrong?

I have always prided myself on being a super-organised, super-efficient individual, but these days I do not feel very organised nor very efficient.  My PA strives to keep on track, I keep 8/10 balls in the air, but she always catches the 2 I drop.

My outlook diary is a beautiful work of art, a rainbow of commitments and priorities. Some days I look at it and take a deep breath to garner the energy and stamina to work through it all.

I got to the point last half-term where I had To Do Lists for my To Do Lists! My Mum brought us up with The Pad being the 5th member of our family. The Pad was the family Bible. If it wasn’t on The Pad, it wasn’t worth knowing/ doing/thinking about! My sister and I often reflect on and laugh about the work ethic, the capacity for hard work, the resilience and the level of productivity that was instilled in us as children which frames our lives as adults.

I  use post its – in hard format on my desk and in electronic format on my phone. I like the colour, the scribbling but also that you can bin them as you go. Instant gratification for tasks complete.

But recently I have given up trying to track everything I needed to do. My Dad has always said that if you cannot remember you need to do it, then it cannot be that important. I have a good memory, I do what I can, when I can. I am pragmatic about not being a super human and prioritising what is important.

Apologies to those who keep  dropping down or off of my mental to do list.   There is only so much time in the day. There is only so much energy in the reserve!

Hannah, The Hopeful Headteacher

Currently feeling hopeful about:

• Our brilliant new team – great to see some of our teaching team at the #charactertoolkit book launch and we have made some fab appointments this week!

Currently reading and thinking about:

• No time to blog nor read this month – have Character Toolkit by Liz Wright and Frederika Roberts plus Compassion by Sue Webb to read next.

Currently feeling grateful for:

• My Leadership team and PA who have kept me sane the last few weeks.

 

Women Leading in Education: The NPQH Launch

2 years ago I was a DHT in London. I had resigned without a job to go to. This had initiated me moving into a role at Head Office leading Professional Learning for staff across 42 schools for a year before I left. It gave me head space to work out what the next move would be. I was being coached to recalibrate and to  find my direction. I had just started my NPQH with Ambition School Leadership.

2 years on I am a Headteacher, I am an Executive Headteacher in fact as our 2nd school opens in September. I have led Aureus School for 4 terms: 1 term as an idea, 1 term as an empty building and  2 terms with a staff and student body.

2 years ago #womened was 1 year old, we are now about to turn 3 and have increased our reach to 18,000.

How things can change in a matter of time. In 2 years I have moved from frustrated and in conflict to feeling grounded and anchored. I have found my fit.

This weekend Ambition School Leadership launched their inaugural women only cohort for the NPQH in partnership with  #womened and Leading Women’s Alliance. This weekend it was me delivering an after dinner speech about my leadership journey to headship, not me listening as a participant.

 

 

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I am used to being the event organiser and host, doing the welcome and the housekeeping not the address.  I am used to delivering assemblies with a screen so delivering ‘naked’ (clothes on but slides free!) after dinner was totally out of my comfort zone. Doing keynotes is my #10%braver challenge, it is me modelling that you need to Lean In and step beyond your comfort zone. It is me living my conviction that you say yes and you work it out later. It is me showing that you make mistakes and you learn from them, the more I do them, the more confident and comfortable I will become in the public speaking space.

I only had 15 mins to share my thoughts, reflections and advice so I did not go into detail about my leadership journey, although it would have reassured many in the room that I have had my fair share of rough seas to navigate through, they can read about this on my blog.

 

 

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Instead I shared my journey to headship. I reflected on the power I have drawn from the #womened community. Both Kate and I addressed some of the barriers that women leading in education experience. The imposter syndrome, the inner critic, the fear of failure.

As well as the barriers we reflected on the crowd-sourced solutions. We both shared what could have held us back and how we pushed ourselves forward. I can remember the first time I met Kate at our inaugural #womened unconference, she spoke about the ‘taps on the shoulder’ that women need. I have been fortunate to have had peers and line managers who have tapped me, and I in turn nudge others on.

 

 

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After the speeches I joined Karen Giles and her dinner table – we reflected on women who work silently and do not promote their work. I shared with them the article I had read about the strategy the women in the White House use – the illumination technique – which they came up with to amplify the ideas and work of others to ensure that credit was attributed to the owner.

 

 

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Lack of role models and the absence of a support network can hold some women in education back. Part of my motivation for co-founding #womened was to find my tribe. My source of inspiration in giving so much of my time and energy to our gender equality movement over the last 3 years has been the contacts that I have made. I am surrounded by strong women, by brilliant role models, by inspiring women leading in education.

 

 

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The power I have drawn from the #womened community, together with the skills and experience  I gained from my NPQH with ASL, enabled me to be empowered in finding the right headship for me to be my authentic self. Following many years of school improvement in turn around schools, a start up school was a new challenge. The blank page gave us the opportunity to co-create a forward-thinking school.

The combination of all of these experience and opportunities over the last 2 years led to me being involved in initiating and steering the women’s only NPQH pathway. Had I not have been outward-facing, I would not have met these amazing women.

My motivation for contributing to and supporting this bespoke programme is the opportunity to create a ‘safe space’.  There was a sense of urgency in the room that we need to change the system. There was a sense of agency in the room that these women would be the changemakers to #pressforprogress.

My final plea to them all was that when they secured their 1st headship that they would negotiate, that they would challenge the pay gap and ask for what they need, that they would hold on to their power and not give it away before they had even started.

 

 

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What I did not have time to share was my recommended reading, so here it is:

This weekend there was a palpable energy in the room. Magic was being created before our eyes by the wise women sculpting the residential – facilitators Carol Jones and Karen Giles, superbly supported by ASL programme leaders Deb Fisher and Abi Brown. Thank you for being Wonder Women.

I am really excited to see what the future holds for all of the participants.

Hannah, The Hopeful Headteacher

Currently feeling hopeful about:

• 31 future female Headteachers  who will be leading our schools in the future including our 2 DHTs at Aureus School Julie Hunter and Bennie Kara

Currently reading and thinking about:

• We are all starting Leadership Matters as our summer read for the team at Aureus

Currently feeling grateful for:

• Ambition School Leadership for curating the women’s only cohort launch – especially Deb Fish and Abi Brown
• Melanie Renowden and Kate Chhatwal for initiating the bid for a women’s only cohort for NPQH
• The partnership between Ambition School Leadership, Leading Women’s Alliance and WomenEd
• Carol Jones and Karen Giles for facilitating the inaugural residential for this very special launch cohort of the women only NPQH

Career Development: Finding Your Fit

Job season has started for schools and teachers this week.

I have spent time with my SBL planning our staffing budget for next year. With a start up as long as you get your admissions numbers, and as long as your new team are in it for the journey, your budget for staffing is easy to plan. You know exactly who and what you need as your school grows and your team expands.

With the opening of our primary we are trying to box clever and save money by having an integrated operations team across the 2 schools. As we expand to KS2 in the primary we will be able to share teachers across KS2/3 as well which will make further savings, as well as providing security and stability for the students and parents, on top of career progression and development opportunities for the team. I am keen for Aureus School and Aureus Primary to be one team, for us to be an integrated school community across the 2 sites who connect and collaborate in a meaningful way, with the purpose of supporting our students and their families.

Our applications have just closed for our Aureus Primary senior leaders and we are interviewing this week. We have a very strong talent pool and I am excited to see how everyone performs at interview.  At the end of the month we have our open events for teaching jobs for both schools, in May we have an open event for our operations team. I think the informal events before our applications open has supported us getting the right people on our bus.

This weekend we also have our first #WomenEd event designated to Careers Development across the Midlands, in Birmingham. We have a fantastic line up of keynotes, workshops and clinics to support our community in making the leap to the next rung of their career. But moreover, to help our community to find their fit.

When we focus on the souls not the roles. When we focus on what we need rather than what position we want, the fit becomes easier to find.

So this blog is me sharing my experiences as someone who recruits but also someone who has planned their career and been strategic about each step. Next Saturday I am doing the opening with Annemarie, #WomenEd East Mids Regional Leader, and we are sharing the Do’s and Don’ts of Job Applications from our experiences on both sides of the interview table.

I have captured some of my thoughts and feedback below, framed by our #WomenEd values, our 8 Cs:

Community – curate your network; follow schools/MATs you would like to work at/ staff you would like to work with; you will find out about opportunities in all sorts of ways; you will meet people virtually (twitter/ linked in) and in person (teachmeets etc) who you may end up working with; you will be introduced to people through people

Clarity – know who you are as an educator; nail down your vision and values; know what sort of context you need and will thrive in; name your non- negotiables

Connection – do your research; compare your list of values to their school personality; connect with their social media profile; go for a visit; follow their staff & connect with them in advance

Communication – use affirmative language throughout the process; articulate who you are; speak to everyone you meet; ask questions about what it is like to work there; read what is not said too

Collaboration – ask a colleague or a friend to proofread your application/ CV/ letter; practise the interview/ fishbowl with a colleague; ask for feedback on your performance; sign up for free women in education coaching and have a 1:1 before the interview

Confidence – highlight all of the things you can do in the JD/PS not all the things you cannot do; share the impact you have had; be yourself at interview; believe in yourself and project this; if in doubt do the power pose throughout the day and repeat your mantra/ affirmation to calm the nerves

Community – ask yourself throughout the process: is this my fit? Can I see myself working in this school? Observe how the students enter & leave the school/ how they interact with staff/ how they behave at breaks and lunches – this tells you a lot about the culture

Challenge – prepare questions to ask at interview; don’t be afraid to ask them difficult questions about their journey/ staffing retention/ workload and wellbeing; be prepared to negotiate – know your worth and what you need to be successful in the role

Change – emotionally prepare for the transition; moving schools can be unsettling but change is also good; develop your resilience throughout the process – you will need it either way, being successful and preparing to start over/ or being knocked back and picking yourself up and brushing yourself off.

Throughout my career I have always had a 3 year plan. I have logged all of my roles and what I am responsible for/ how much I am earning. I have always known what I want to do next. As I have become more outward facing I have made sure that my professional identity is streamlined across all of the platforms I network on. I find LinkedIn is a brilliant way to keep my CV live and up to date. At each job offer I have negotiated – I have asked for more money, more time, an office, a laptop/ phone, admin support, CPD commitment and even a relocation package. My LM a few years ago taught me a really good technique – at the start of each academic year I sat down & reflected on the JD & PSof my next prospective role – I RAG rated with highlighters. This became my CPD plan for the year. If I had gaps I negotiated my responsibilities with my boss to close them. I asked for what I needed to progress.

I got my Headship through networking and I recruited most of my team by actively finding like-minded individuals.

I hope these tips are helpful – good luck and enjoy the process – I always learn lots from both sides of the interview process.

Hannah, The Hopeful Headteacher

Currently feeling hopeful about:

• Who we will recruit this week to lead Aureus Primary School

Currently reading and thinking about:

• Quiet Revolution is by my bed to start once I have finished Mary Beard’s new one.

Currently feeling grateful for:

• All of the #womened community who have volunteered their time to make next Saturday’s event happen
• Nicole Fowles and her team for hosting us

Talent Management: Flexible Teaching

I am delighted to have been asked to become a Flexible Champion for @Flexteaching My blog for them is here: http://www.flexibleteaching.co.uk/blog/ 

How can we encourage more schools to offer Flexible Teaching Opportunities?

Recruitment, Retention, Talent Spotting and Succession Planning are recurring themes for the #womened community, I have not held nor attended an event yet since we started 2.5 years ago when this has not come up in conversation.

Last year I attended a conference by the Guardian Education team who had published a report on their research into the state of the education profession. They analyses the data of why we don’t have enough teachers and leaders. Ultimately we have more leaving then we do training, but rather than throwing incentives to encourage more graduates to train, why are we not unpicking the reasons preventing trained, experienced teachers from staying in the profession?

I was not shocked to hear that the significant demographic leaving teaching were women, between 30-39. The irony and ongoing dichotomy of our profession is that we prioritise the children of others, over our own children.

When I became a Headteacher Designate last year I pledged to ensure that all roles advertised were open to flexibility where possible. As a consequence I have a 4 day a week AHT, a 4 day a week ArtLP and a 3 day a week PE LP. The AHT does outreach and consultancy on his 5th day, our Art LP is going to spend some time on her own portfolio and our PE LP has two small children. As a school with wellbeing as one of our core values it was important to me to ensure that staff could pursue their passions, balance their families and carve out their own career pathways from the get go.

I am conscious with a start up school we are in a unique situation as we can create a new way of doing things. It also suits us to have part-time roles which could grow in to full time roles as the school expands, but this parallels some of our flexible workers who have small children, potentially wanting more hours as their children get older so it suits all of us.

My tips for other schools:

1. Advertising:

How inclusive is your advert? I made the wording very clear in every advert, every job description and every person specification by including the same standardised sentence that we consider flexible roles.

2. HR Documents:

The same sentence was echoed in our Person Specifications and Job Description for every teaching, leadership and operational role.

3. Applications:

I hear all the time, at what point in the process do you ask. Do you drop it into your initial visit, your supporting statement, or at interview? In our case, because we had made it explicit in our recruitment strategy, our candidates made it explicit in their applications. I was already considering how to make it work before I had met them.

4. Interviews:

Again, I inserted a standardised question into all of my interviews. I asked it at the end of the interview when we were finding out what salary they were seeking and what CPD they needed to support them in the role. By us leading the discussion it diffused the nerves and tension of the candidate wondering when it would be okay to ask and how we would respond so a transparent and open  conversation could take place.

5. Negotiation:

I have been asked by a lot of #womened colleagues to also share tips, talk and write about how to negotiate your salary. My colleague and fellow co-founder Vivienne Porritt has blogged about this via StaffRm here:

https://staffrm.io/@vivienne/r1klsoBs9G

My advice is always to negotiate but to consider what you value beyond a salary increase. In the past I have negotiated an office, a mobile, a laptop, an admin support, more free periods, a paid for CPD programme more and a relocation package. The one that brought me the most satisfaction was two more free periods. My Headteacher offered me a few more grand but this would have meant more hours  in the evenings and at the weekend. I offered no more money but more non-teaching/ non-duty time. He laughed and thought I was kidding. I was promoted and maintained my wellbeing – so go in prepared, know what you want to ask for, have a gold/ silver/ bronze approach  – I always go in higher/ more demanding than I am prepared to settle – we all leave happy!

6. Befriend the Timetabler:

In all honesty, besides traditional mindsets the biggest blocker to flexible working in schools is the timetable or the timetabler themselves. Researching and understanding how to make this work will help your negotiations. I often wonder what our timetables would be like if each SLT had a PT leader who did the timetable and was committed to making it work? It would be a game changer. I have heard many a time it is impossible, but I have spent hours at home with posts it and manual colour coded spreadsheets to make it work. Devolved timetabling to middle leaders gives the department some ownership to work as a team on removing some of the barriers and finding some mutually beneficial solutions.

7. Contact Time:

In secondary schools, it is the Tutor Group, afterschool clubs, detentions and meetings that are the killers when you are trying to carve out flexible hours. Again, our system needs to change to respond to the changes in how we work.  Flipped lessons are a buzz word for our students, how about Flipped CPD and Flipped Meetings for the adult learners? We need to think outside of the box and be more creative about we get the desired outcomes we seek, by doing things differently.

8. Unconscious Bias Training:

This has come up a lot regarding the launch of #BAMEed and the conception of #LGBTed and #DIisabilityEd. In other industries the senior leaders are all trained. In our schools this is not common practice. I would recommend that if all Governors, Senior Leaders and HR teams who are involved in long listing, short listing, interviewing and making job offers did this training we would see some real change in how we package our roles up.

9. Middle Leadership:

Co-Headships are in demand from those in the profession but are rarely advertised as a recruitment tool, instead being used as a retention tool.   I understand it is a big risk with a new Headteacher, let alone a pair of new leaders who might not gel. However if schools were more open to job shares and flexibility in the middle leadership where most schools are female heavy, wouldn’t the governors and the system be more ready for shared leadership roles at a senior level including headship?

10. KIT leave and Return to Teaching/Work

Something I have been looking into is how best to support staff who are going on  or returning from maternity leave. As DHT responsible for CPD and then the professional learning leader across a MAT, I have made some proposals to HR about how we can best support one of our vulnerable groups of staff. I have seen many women lose their confidence and often their TLRs when they come back from having a child. After reading Sandberg’s Lean In I was mortified to think of a colleague traipsing from the furthest parking lot heavily pregnant or not having anywhere to express their milk. Why are our schools so family unfriendly?

Through #womened I have made brilliant connections with women who have  utiliised social media platforms to launch collaborative projects to grow a community such as @MaternityCPD and #MTPTproject, together with Leaders with babies. The DfE have tried but failed to launch a Return to teaching/ return to work scheme which is going through another rebrand.

Ultimately, in my humble opinion I would like see more best practice identified and shared about who is getting this right. Which schools, academies, MATs are nurturing this talent. We cannot keep saying we have a recruitment issues, we need to reflect and realise we have a retention issues. But both issues could be significantly improved if we were more open as a profession to more flexible working models in our schools

Testimonial:

Charlotte James, PE LP Designate, Staff Governor, Mum of 2 and 3 days a week contract

“It’s possible to feel completely lonely in a room full of people and this is my experience when I returned to work after having my first child. Working in a very young PE department, where there had only been one women before me to have a child, there was a real lack of experience and knowledge of how to support me. Quite frankly supporting a women that’s life had completely been turned upside down by having her first child, unless you have had a child yourself  –  is something that is very difficult to understand – but as a leader if you don’t have those experiences first hand then you have to really want to try and understand. The school was a split site school that was incredibly busy and nobody was available often enough to invest their time to help and support me. Furthermore, I was told unless I returned full time I would be unable to continue with my TLR role. However, no other member of staff applied for the role and I was then asked to continue which made me and the role feel under-valued. I felt that staff thought that because I was an experienced teacher I could just pick up from where I left off 12 months ago and be fine. That was quite the opposite where I had never felt so vulnerable standing in front of 30 teenagers before. The KIT days were unstructured and at times I was just used to cover lessons. 

I happened to find Hannah Wilson on Twitter and had the cheek to ask her for some advice regarding how we could improve our maternity package. Hannah invited me for a coffee and naturally the conversation led on to the new school she would be opening September 2017. To be honest I originally thought it sounded too good to be true….with the chance of part-time leaders, which is something I thought I would never find and the thought of that made me feel trapped in my job. Since that day I have never looked back. In my 8 years of teaching I have never been offered so many opportunities to grow and never felt so valued in my contributions. Today my daughter started school and Hannah, @TheHopefulHT, allowed me to arrive to work after I had taken her to school on her first day. This is something that I will always remember and something I will always be eternally grateful for”.

Further reading and useful links:

#WomenEd:

Sarah Hardy is a full time Mummy and part-time leader, she is also one of our #womened regional leaders. Read her advice in Teach Wire here:

https://twitter.com/MsSarahHardy/status/902405542571847680

My earlier blog on co-headship:

https://staffrm.io/@misswilsey/OfTpHRCQau

Leaders with Babies:

https://www.leadersplus.org.uk/

Maternity CPD Project:

http://www.mtpt.org.uk/

DFE Return to Work:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plan-to-make-teaching-a-more-flexible-long-term-career-for-women

2to3days:

https://www.2to3days.com/

GiniBee:

http://www.ginibee.com/

Hannah, The Hopeful Headteacher

Currently feeling hopeful about:

The fact we are modelling diversity, equality and inclusion in all of our appointments.

Currently reading and thinking about:

Next on my pile is The Leadership Gap by Lolly Daskal – a present from Kathryn Morgan.

Currently feeling grateful for:

The fantastic commitment of our team at Aureus to make flexibility and wellbeing pledges to one another to ensure that we are family-friendly.

The Power of Facing Your Fears: #Ididitanyway @WomanthologyUK

Fiona Tatton @womanthologyUK founder & editor started the #ididitanyway hashtag on Twitter & LinkedIn last week.

You told us you wanted more #IDidItAnyway stories so we've extended our #crowdfunding campaign https://t.co/EHan4jvVQ8 Pls keep pledging💪 pic.twitter.com/3oyTEBGCzZ

— WomanthologyUK (@WomanthologyUK) July 28, 2017

She is crowdfunding a new publication for women & was seeking inspirational stories from women who had faced fears to overcome adversities.

http://www.womanthology.co.uk/

I have pledged because I love what she is doing to raise the profile & amplify the voices of women in STEM, challenging gender stereotypes through publishing.

This resonated with #womened, our Why, how we connect & what we stand for.

Fellow #WomenEd co-founder & National Leader, Vivienne Porritt, shared our community #ididitanyway in this tweet:

We were told (by men) no need for #WomenEd.

2 years later, 12.7 followers, 500+ blogs, 3000 at our events suggest otherwise. #Ididitanyway

— WomenEd (@WomenEd) August 3, 2017

The #ididitanyway testimonials of personal & professional challenges, change & growth have been inspiring to read. It parallels the #womened pledge to be #10%braver.

Vivienne posted this blog to capture our journey as a community in the last 2 1/2 years:

https://staffrm.io/@vivienne/1EaQ4zlF2m

This year has been a life changing year for me so here is my #ididitanyway story:

18 months ago I resigned from a toxic school culture.

I was told by my then boss that I was committing ‘career suicide’. In my heart I knew I was, in fact, committing career salvation!

Like with any negative relationship sometimes you just need to ‘rip the bandaid’ off! I have broken up with  bad boyfriends. I have moved away from feckless friends. Why do we stay at schools that are unhealthy and in roles where we stagnate?

I listened to my instincts – I knew I was unhappy. I knew I was in a professionally destructive relationship & I was losing myself.

I was confident enough to know there are more jobs than teachers & lots of schools out there. I am also a strong believer that life is too short to work somewhere which makes you unhappy, for a leader who does not value you.

So I pulled the rip cord.

I then paused, and I waited for opportunities to come to me. I didn’t listen to the voice telling me to find safety/ security/ stability as I didn’t want to ‘jump from the frying pan into the fire’.

I had coaching from some fantastic #womened role models: I revisited my Why; I articulated my values; I visualised the role, school, culture I needed to find; I wrote down my non-negotiables. I did it my way.

I did my research – I found a role, applied & was offered the role. I then held the power – I negotiated & got the terms I needed to make the leap. I knew that I needed to start the next chapter as I meant to go on. I was adamant that would be no looking back.

#ididitanyway – I changed trusts, I changed cultures, I changed roles, I changed areas, I changed teams. I changed my destiny.

I couldn’t have done it without the support of the #womened community, without my tribe of fellow women leading in education to lean on.

When friends, family & colleagues ask me why I invest so much of my time & energy in the #womened community & movement this is my explanation.

We have each others’ backs. We support one another, we fortify our resilience, we nurture our ambition. We are a team with a collective vision, common mission and shared values.

Hannah, The Hopeful Headteacher

Currently feeling hopeful about:

The impact of #womened on a community of female school leaders.

Currently reading and thinking about:

I have loved reading all of the cross-sector  #ididitanyway tweets showing tenacity despite adversity.

Currently feeling grateful for:

Social media for connecting like-minded people, helping us to find & raise our voice, plus amplify the voice of others.

 

We Are The City: Supporting The Female Pipeline

I was interviewed and profiled this week for We Are the City’s ‘Inspirational Women’.

Their mission: supporting women in their careers/helping firms attract/retain/develop their female talent.

For news/conferences/events/awards/jobs/tech/career resources follow @WATC_updates and check out their website here.

My interview:

Did you ever sit down and plan your career?

I am very goal orientated and have always had a 3-5 year professional plan. I was advised when I first qualified that the optimum time for my first few roles was 3 years so I could ascertain what sort of position, culture, line manager, context etc I needed to thrive. Career development advice is lacking in teaching and this is one of the reasons why we founded #womened – to support and nurture the leadership pipeline for women in education.

Have you faced any challenges along the way and if so, how did you deal with them?

Lots! Mainly navigating being the youngest and the only female on several teams. I had to develop a thick skin and take undue criticism on the chin. I also had to find and use my voice – there is no point sitting at the table if you are not present. I am really candid, I have found that being direct and straight talking helps you to hold your ground.

What advice would you give someone who wishes to move in to a leadership position for the first time?

Know yourself. I have spent a lot of timing being coached, reflecting and discussing who I  am as an educator and as a leader. Knowing my values, being able to articulate them, has helped me to articulate my vision and this has shaped my leadership behaviours. I make all decisions from my core values which are my compass.

When faced with two equally-qualified candidates, how would you decide who should have the role?

I have just recruited a brand new team. I long and short listed based on values. I then created a series of tasks to test each of the values. I also had to think carefully about the team dynamic and succession planning for the future. It was a balancing act. I would love to see more gender and racially blind application processes across the system.

How do you manage your own boss?

I have always led up. I am super-organised so I would lead the calendar of our line management dates/ times. I am a communicator and initiated how we would capture our agenda/ minutes/ work flow. I hold my team, myself and my line manager to account.

On a typical workday, how do you start your day and how does it end?

I start with a shower and a cup of coffee, I end with a bath and a glass of wine!

What advice can you give to our members about raising their profiles within their own organisations?

Work on your personal brand  – how do people see you and how do you want to be seen? Make sure people know what you are doing and the impact you are having. Learn to not only celebrate but to share tour successes, big and small, model this with your team. Say yes to opportunities and work out how to do it later. Find the gaps in the structure and offer to lead on projects/ initiatives that will add value. Network internally and externally, after all it is who you know not what you know that opens doors.

How have you benefited from coaching or mentoring?

I have received a lot of coaching in the last year as I made the transition to Headteacher. I now have a mentor to grow as a professional and a coach to grow as a human. I cannot recommend values based coaching enough. I am also a coach for other women in education who aspire to lead or who are leading but stuck in a rut to help them get that foot up the ladder.

Do you think networking is important and if so, what 3 tips would you give to a newbee networker?

Networking is key. Join twitter and linked in. Go to events and meet your virtual connections in real time. Stay connected and engage in professional dialogue. My #womened tribe inspire and empower me every day.

What does the future hold for you?

I started my Headship in January and will open my first school in September, with a second one opening the year after. I have been asked to become a Trustee and to write a book.  All of this has happened due to coaching and networking so get out there and start connecting.

Hannah, The Hopeful Headteacher

Currently feeling hopeful about:

• The dynamic pipeline of leaders I have recruited for Aureus School.
• The promotions I have heard about in the #womened community.

Currently reading and thinking about:

• I have not had much chance to read recently but have enjoyed delving through the WATC archive.
• I have just written a blog for Viv Grant so am thinking how to create a culture of wellbeing for all of my staff but also for all of my leaders with a focus on the female leaders in the pipeline.

Currently feeling grateful for:

• My contacts in the #womened #edtech emerging network who are coming to Aureus for a planning meeting this week.
• My TSA contacts who are coming to Aureus for a planning meeting after half-term for a Return to Work/ Maternity/ KIT programme.
• My #wellbeing contacts who I will see at the MHWB teachmeet this week.