Can I be a ‘coach-like’ leader and still hold people to account?

Leaders in the education sector who want to be more ‘coach-like’ in how they deal with staff face significant challenges. Our culture of high stakes accountability and the typical hierarchical structure of many schools and trusts can make it really difficult to be a genuinely empowering leader.

A recent coaching scenario brought this dilemma into focus for me. A deputy head was exploring how to bring a coaching style to her forthcoming pupil progress meetings with year group leads. She had really genuine intentions to create a sense of partnership in raising standards together. She also wanted to empower middle leaders to be creative and think strategically. I prompted her to consider power dynamics that might be present in these conversations. It led to an interesting and useful discussion. How safe will the year group leaders feel to share what they really think about pupil achievement? How willing will they be to open up and be vulnerable about the weaknesses of their teams?

Amy Edmondson introduced the term ‘psychological safety’ in her book ‘The Fearless Organisation’ and it is defined this way:

“When people have psychological safety at work, they feel comfortable sharing concerns and mistakes without fear of embarrassment or retribution. They are confident that they can speak up and won't be humiliated, ignored, or blamed.”

It takes time to build psychological safety in an organisation that enables conversations like those outlined above to take place effectively.

I’m blessed to work with many values-driven leaders these days, who often demonstrate to me how to build this kind of safety in organisational culture. A head I spoke to recently told me about how he had given a small gift and note to his Year 6 team before SATS week. He wanted them to know that he appreciated their hard work and commitment with what had been a very tough cohort. It showed that his appreciation wasn’t dependent on the results of the tests. That team will now be crystal clear on what their purpose is – to provide the best education possible, even when circumstances are difficult.

Too often in our sector, people are held accountable for things that aren’t totally in their control, and this leads to toxic working environments for many. So many variables are involved in a set of pupil test results, but great importance often seems to be placed on headline figures and un-contextualised data. That can lead to cultures of shame and blame, rather than empowerment, integrity and innovation.

When it comes to holding staff accountable whilst ensuring psychological safety, I believe clarity is the key. Being prepared to explicitly state what’s expected of people is crucial. Some useful questions for leaders to ask are:

·??????? What am I keeping track of?

·??????? What’s on the account that I’m holding you to?

·??????? How realistic is that?

If all of that is clear from the outset, then it’s possible to have conversations where leaders ask questions, rather than make assumptions, and listen actively in order to understand rather than reply. We can build trusting relationships, where people feel safe to take risks, be creative and innovate.

Here’s a few tips on how to lay the groundwork for empowering conversations with those you line manage:

1.????? Put yourself in their shoes. Before a meeting, imagine how they might be feeling coming into a meeting with you. Is there the likelihood of anxiety on their part? What have you shared with them ahead of the meeting? Is there anything else that needs to be made clear?

2.????? Be invitational. Don’t force it! Ask questions like ‘would you be willing to share with me your thoughts on this?

3.????? Define safety. What do you need to feel safe in this conversation? What does psychological safety look like in this team? What do we need to do to improve that?

4.????? Role reversal. Have a go at reversing the roles. In the example above, the deputy head might take on the role of the year group leader in the conversation about pupil achievement. The year group leader asks questions that interrogate the data as though she was the deputy head. This can give some interesting insights, by looking at the same scenario from different perspectives.

It's hard to put this groundwork in when you’re a busy leader and you have lots of conversations every day, but it is possible, by taking small steps forward. It’s also good to have the support of others. That’s why I set up my ‘Empowering Leaders’ group coaching programme last year, so that heads and deputies who want to lead in this way can have the support of like-minded leaders, and feel less isolated. We meet once a month for a group coaching session. I’m currently accepting signups for 24-25 academic year. You can find out more and sign up here .