headteacher-secondary

teachwire.net “I was one question away frommy ignorance being exposed andmy credibility being shattered” ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Paul Heery is CEO at The White Hills Park Trust; for more information, visit whptrust.org or follow @whptrust HOWTO PROSPER AS AN ‘IMPOSTER’ By doing the following, you can start shedding the pretence and become the individual you want to be... 1. Seize the initiative If you want to do a job well, start doing it before you’re appointed. If you have aspirations to becoming a deputy head, volunteer for standard deputy head duties – assemblies, timetables, mentoring, policy development, sitting in on the next governors meeting. See this as an investment to be cashed in at a later date. 2. Don’t let people down Meet deadlines, contribute to meetings, check your emails and be a supportive colleague.When you finally secure that leadership role, you’ll value those colleagues you can depend on perform such seemingly mundane, yet vital tasks. 3. Keep learning Whether it’s through formal professional development, independent reading and reflection or engagement with peers on social media, we have to retain our curiosity and desire to learn. Failing to do so doesn’t mean we stay still; it means we go backwards. 45 I M P L E M E N TAT I O N form. Now, it’s not as if I’d never set foot in a secondary school before. Aside from attending one myself (albeit 30 years previously) I’d frequently worked alongside secondary colleagues – but with the best will in the world, you couldn’t call me an expert. Having been successfully appointed, I found myself suddenly introduced to a whole host of new acronyms and abbreviations – BTECs, EBacc, ALPS, NEETS. I knew I was one question away from my ignorance being exposed and my credibility being shattered before my new colleagues, all of whom quite reasonably assumed that the person leading their organisation had a competent working knowledge of the sector in which he was employed. At those early meetings I was in constant danger of betraying a sense of (entirely justified) panic. Yet over time, of course, my expertise gradually grew and knowledge increased, to the point where I now feel confident enough to share these recollections publicly – but the memories are still vivid. Privileged position Now, I’m not naïve. On reflection, the privileges that so often accompany my race and gender are likely to have been a significant factor in some of the promotions I’ve gained throughout my career, especially early on. Not directly or overtly, and almost certainly not with the conscious knowledge of the people doing the appointing – but it’s there, nonetheless. It’s regretful that it’s taken me until late in my career to recognise this, and to acknowledge the responsibility this places on me to make things better for others. So what has my career as an imposter ultimately taught me? Firstly, that knowledge and skills can be acquired along the way, and that if you only ever wait until you’re completely ready to take the next step, it’s a step you’ll probably never take. A spell of ‘impostership’ is therefore inevitable, but no bad thing if you get the balance right. Secondly, I’ve learnt that no matter how important any individual is, they’re only ever part of a team. It doesn’t matter if everybody in the team has the full range of knowledge and skills required – only that somebody does . Even when my knowledge gaps have been at their greatest, there’s always been something I could usefully contribute. I’ve found that there are some attributes that can’t be described as skills, knowledge or experience, but which nevertheless make a huge difference to any leadership team. Positivity and optimism are essential prerequisites for leadership, particularly when they’re in short supply elsewhere. Everyone wants people on their team who firmly believe that success is achievable, and can communicate this with a degree of infectiousness. Loyalty and trustworthiness are similarly always noticed and appreciated. Every leader has to trust his or her team implicitly, otherwise open discussion and dialogue becomes impossible. Note that this doesn’t entail being a ‘yes’ man – on the contrary, honest opinions are crucially important, so long as they’re given at the right place, at the right time and before the right audience. As leaders, whichever direction we take, we’ll always bring others with us. Forwards seems like the best option – since having bluffed our way into our position, we may as well make it count.