Mentoring

I can help individuals or groups progress as leaders by sharing the knowledge, skills and experience that I have gathered over many years as a leader at every level. Having the opportunity to access mentoring moves a leader beyond their training, by developing competence, self-awareness, self-confidence, job satisfaction and further aspiration.

We need educators to aspire to lead a setting. However, being a new, or returning, leader at any level can initially feel incredibly overwhelming. Accessing mentoring at an early stage can really help to provide a reminder and confirmation that you have been identified as someone who has demonstrated the ambition, traits and emerging or developed skills to take on the role. 

Focus areas for this mentoring can include: 

• 'Leadership surgeries'
• an introduction to leadership at any level
• becoming part of 'the bigger picture'
• question and answer 'worry box' session
• encouragement to take the next step as a leader
• supported self-evaluation of current skills
• a safe space for professional feedback
• help and support in being a new Principal Leader
• 'first term weekly mentoring'
• meeting the very different needs of stakeholders  

'Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.' Salvador Dali

Being a Deputy Headteacher, Assistant Headteacher or Vice Principal is a very exciting, if sometimes daunting, progression. They are crucial in maintaining the smooth running of a setting and in securing future succession for education.  Providing mentoring for those who take on these roles will further raise their profile, demonstrate how much they are valued and support their continuous development.

Focus areas for this mentoring can include: 

• exploring roles and responsibilities as a Delegated Leader
• balancing teaching and leading effectively
• organisation, prioritisation and efficient time management
• positioning yourself to support staff as well as the Principal Leader
• 'stepping up' on a short-term or long-term basis as Acting Head / Principal
• preparation for becoming a Principal Leader

'Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.'   John C Maxwell, leadership author

Being a curriculum leader often involves needing to lead close colleagues or peers which can prove difficult in terms of expectation and accountability. It is also when educators have to overcome those challenging feelings of being responsible for teaching and leading, and perhaps feeling neither are being fulfilled sufficiently. Through a single / series of sessions, I can mentor Curriculum Leaders to overcome this.

Focus areas for this mentoring can include:

• time management
• prioritising
• working efficiently
• holding challenging conversations
• developing and enabling others
• sharing your passion, knowledge and skills
• juggling colleagues and accountability relationships
• effectively engaging with stakeholders
• Preparation for becoming a more senior Delegated Leader

We can learn a lot from birds, so bring your flock together and see how far you can fly. Feedback is a vital part of a team's performance because we all need to get an accurate picture of how we are doing. Leading a team means needing to be brave enough to hold others accountable, but compassionate enough to remind others of the values they bring. Through a single / series of sessions, I can mentor Team Leaders as they confront these challenges.

Focus areas for this mentoring can include:

• 'Trying to be everything to all'
• balancing staff accountability with their development and well-being
• effectively engaging with stakeholders
• Preparation for becoming a more senior Delegated Leader

'People who are truly strong lift others up. People who are truly powerful bring others together.' Michelle Obama

'It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.' Nelson Mandela

Collaborative and distributive leadership makes stronger education settings, just as birds fly in flocks because they are stronger together. For example, migrating birds fly in a 'v' shape formation with one bird in front to lead and be the first to bear the brunt of any challenges they face ahead, but with the other birds following and synchronising how they flap their wings to maximise efficiency. By flying together in this way, the whole flock adds over 70% more momentum than if each bird flew alone. 

Too often leadership can be seen, and experienced, as a lonely role. However, distributive leadership can transform this by encouraging and empowering others to take the lead and make decisions in the best interests of the pupils / students. The bird in front drives the flock, but multiple birds share this responsibility and take turns to lead the formation. Through these collaborative efforts, all the birds can safely arrive at their final destination, and in the education setting this means all members of the team can reach their goal or achieve their vision by distributing the workload. Each member bringing their own skills and ideas to lead when they are the best person to do this.

For a Principal Leader, a crucial part of their role is to inspire and teach others to be able to do this which involves mutual respect, shared responsibility and most of all, relinquishing that sense of control. This can be hard, but think what you could be missing out on.

I can mentor and support you in seeing 'letting go' more as 'let's go!'

Becoming a Governor or Trustee is a daunting experience, especially for someone without previous experience or involvement in education. However, it is often these people who ask the best questions and provide the most appropriate 'challenge'. As a Governance Professional, having worked alongside many Governors as a Headteacher and being a Governor myself in different settings, I have seen first-hand that the key quality in this role really is 'integrity'; a sense of being there to contribute time and skills for the right reasons and a willingness to learn. Through a single / series of sessions, I can mentor Governors or Trustees as they enter into, or further develop, their responsibilities.

Focus areas for this mentoring can include: 

• being a new Governor / Trustee
• the role and responsibilities of being a Governor / Trustee
• effectively balancing challenge with support in order to ensure your Headteacher / Principal remains motivated and committed to the education setting
• becoming a Link Governor
• becoming a Chair / Vice Chair

'The supreme quality of leadership is integrity.' Dwight Eisenhower, former President of the United States

I can work with education settings to create bespoke mentoring programmes to suit individual needs and budgets.