Earlier this summer, alongside my colleagues and experienced ex-Heads, Martin Collier and Andrew Nott, we set out to interview 56 independent about their thoughts on the changing nature of the role of headship. We’d anticipated that these would be interesting interviews, but we were struck by the degree to which this interest extended into the surprising. Many counter-intuitive themes emerged, heads were candid, open and vulnerable (of which I shall say more below), and many of the themes we had expected were quite different in reality.
To ensure that we had consistency, we asked the same thirteen questions of all heads. In many interviews, the responses were – as one of our team put it – lightly guided monologues. Some things were predictable: the level of intelligent introspection and evaluation of circumstances was outstandingly high across all the heads we spoke to. It was clear that heads are not only reviewing the market in which they operate, the product they are selling and the mechanics of doing so excellently and efficiently, they are also observing their own experience and performance – like a sailor who is able to trim the sails at the same time as reading the weather forecast and navigating a complex route.
What surprised us most
Where were the surprises? First of all, interest in and engagement with the research was extremely high. We monitored the composition of our interview cohort, by size of school, region, co-ed vs single sex, boarding vs day, standalone vs all-through vs group, and by gender of the head, before asking 60 heads to take part, fully prepared to have to extend our list. However, 56 of those asked said yes. and were astonishingly generous with their time, and open in their reflections.
Secondly, we found the word ‘Head’ to be surprisingly meaningful. I’d expected the lead person in one organisation to have very little indeed in common with some others. As it turned out, the nature of the pressures spread across the whole cohort. If plotted as Venn diagrams, every circle would have had a strong overlap with many others – and while it is true that not every circle overlapped with every other circle, there were more similarities, and in surprising places, than there were differences. For example, heads of the smallest schools are as concerned with organisational re-design as those in the largest. Similarly, heads of the largest and smallest schools are finding their roles are expanding (upwards and sideways), although the nature of the expansion – and the available solutions – differ. We found that the term ‘Head’ is still useful – even if it has become a collective noun which takes in Principals, CEOs, Wardens, Headteachers, and High Masters, among the plethora of job titles in the sector. In this article, therefore, ‘Head’ is used to cover all these titles and to describe the person in the most senior position in their organisation (although exactly what we mean by ‘organisation’ is also open to question!)
Given the degree of overlap between Heads, it was surprising that many did not reference conversations with other heads as a means of support, although that did surface on rare occasions. Often, we were told that local cluster groups appear no longer to offer the collegial give-and-take they did a decade or more ago. In the context of a shrinking pool of pupils whose parents are seeking independent education, local competition has clearly grown sharp elbows in many places.
Toby Greany’s report on Sustainable Leadership found that between a quarter and a third of maintained sector heads feel themselves to be ‘Sometimes…’ or ‘Mostly sinking’. Reassuringly, our interviews did not find this degree of struggle among independent sector heads, but we did find that the level of pressure is often high. However, for many the job remains a highly fulfilling one – one head emphasised, “I properly love my job!”. In some cases, heads traced their enjoyment to the fact that they felt their organisations were thriving, even in the difficult circumstances that all schools are experiencing.
The importance of agency
One of the clearest findings of the research came as a surprise – while we had expected the relationship with the Chair to be the number one cause of good wellbeing and sustainability among heads (and we did find, unsurprisingly, that this is important), it was more significant whether or not Heads had created the foundations to retain agency. To borrow a marine metaphor again, where the conditions for speed to remain high had been set, the sense of holding the wheel and being able to steer a course had a strong correlation with wellbeing and job satisfaction.
Generally, heads had achieved this through redesigning the posts in their top team – creating a new structure to meet new challenges. Where resources allowed, this restructure carved out space for the Head to be strategic – sometimes with a Senior Deputy Head, or Heads of School(s), taking on day-to-day operational issues. Where staffing allowed for separation of role – strategic to one person, operational to others – this was generally beneficial for organisation and head.
We found that the next most important quality of those heads who remain optimistic about their role is that they reported a senior team of sufficient quality that they could be trusted to run the school without the head’s direct involvement in many operational details. Investing in the quality of your direct reports was reported as time well spent by many.
Both of these suggest that the payback of a restructure and the recruitment of people well suited to the roles is well worth the time and expense – not just for the school, but also for the health and wellbeing of the Head.
Richard Backhouse is hosting a number of lunchtime webinars in which he will outline more of the findings of the research project he led this summer, assisted by Martin Collier and Andrew Nott. These will involve a short presentation followed by an open discussion with all participants invited to join in. There is no charge for these webinars. If you would like to join one, and have not already been invited to do so, please email amycostello@rsacademics.com and we will reserve a place on the next available webinar for you.