Can School leaders learn from private sector CEO?

Who am I to be asking such a question?

I am not a teacher, an academic nor do I work in an educational institution.

However, I have worked directly with Education leaders, LEAs, DfE and school groups for over twenty years. Now when I say work, I don’t just mean as a supplier of teaching staff, No, I have done much, much more and I have always been a partner who has a purpose. I have helped many school groups to save millions of pounds yearly, while also structuring efficient and effective processes that will put more money and resource back into their frontline. 

Which does afford me a different viewpoint and perspective.

Anyone who knows me or has worked with me, knows that everything I do has to have purpose, it’s just the way I’m built and I make no excuses for calling what I see. I also expect the same from those I work with, straight talking and forget about the egos and egg shells.

It is a very powerful thing to have a purpose, so much so that I have used this as my keynote at many events, how does your purpose fit in with the cocktail for success. 

What is the cocktail for success you ask, simple –

Purpose, Passion, Vision and Belief. 

You must have a true Purpose if you want to achieve great things, your purpose or some may call it their ‘Why’, is what gets you up on the toughest days and darkest mornings. 

A Passion, for the change and outcome that you want to deliver. The enthusiasm, energy and excitement of a real passion, is very contagious, it's a cohesive that binds others to your purpose.

The Vision, this is your end-game, an audacious goal that you can work backward to show the path and steps you must take. Your passion for this vision creates a target for everyone in your team and is an efficiency to get you there the fastest way possible.

Your Belief is the fighter inside, the part that won't ever give up and makes you that strong leader that others aspire to be. 

If you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re probably right! 

Yet over my double decade of working with schools I have seen purpose slowly slipping away. Mission statements are still emblazoned on walls and websites, but the commitment to them may be waning.

The result is that very little changes and what does change starts to lose momentum quickly. Yes, there have been lots of conferences, forums, working groups, webinars, initiatives etc etc, as there always is within education, but how many result in a real change or do they just cement herd conformity.?

Are school leaders waiting to be directed, rather than leading the direction?

We saw from the enforced Covid restrictions that schools can pivot and do so very well under what was immense pressure. It shows that they can make material structural changes when there is no other choice! But, will they now grasp this amazing opportunity for significant change or let it pass them by?

Remember, amongst the chaos there is always opportunity!

Three years ago, I was asked by a purpose driven MAT CEO, to keynote at a schools conference, to discuss 'Artificial Intelligence(AI) and the class of 2035'. Such an interesting request, as it made me really look at innovation within our schools and what skills our children will require in the future.

At the end of my talk I thanked the room, firstly for not throwing their bread rolls at me and then to politely suggest that they had heard from some brilliant speakers that day, each and everyone of them offering some amazing advice, insight and direction. I mentioned that each person had paid for a ticket to be an attendee, while also taking a full day out of their school, all to learn something new. Which is a great, as we must all keep learning.

"However, the worst thing you can do now, is go back to school tomorrow and do exactly what you did yesterday!" 

The price of inaction is far higher than the cost of a mistake!

Back in the early noughties there was, for me anyway, a strong energy emanating from the new cohorts of Executive leaders and Academy CEOs. So much noise around what they could now achieve, how the system could be changed forever and how schools would be far more efficient and effective in their hands. 

I had the pleasure of working with many of these pioneers of the academies program, helping to support their rapid growth and build strong foundations. It's also worth noting that at this time and for many years, we managed twelve LEA school groups comprising of hundreds of schools and designed, delivered and managed a worldwide resourcing solution for the international educator, GEMS.  So these were very high tempo, energetic times, all round.

The new academies program was quick to break away from what they saw as antiquated LEAs who were wasteful with money and purveyors of poor services. Once they had full financial control. these leaders were adamant that they could do so much more to improve outcomes for their charges.

It's very easy to get behind a purpose that wants to improve outcomes for all children through a world class education.

However, a few years in and the sector inertia started to creep back in, causing cracks in their plans and structures. 

Many trusts had gone down the route of building their own internal mini-LEAs and efficiencies dwindled. Quite often these were built around staff from a founding school who had been over promoted into roles that they had never done before or even had the capacity to deliver on. The ‘Peter principle’ was taking hold, but still more of the same were hired and promoted. 

It's hard to be great, if you haven't encountered good.

There has always been an insular nature to the schools system, which creates an inertia that is very hard to break. It leaves schools embedded with a ‘sunk cost fallacy’ and the belief that this is how it’s always been done, so we’ll continue to do it this way.

Chalk boards may now be electronic boards, information may be accessible on a VLE and a laborious MiS, TES may have advanced to online and subscription, but compared to the outside world schools are a very long way behind. 

Don’t misunderstand me, I have definitely met and still work with lots of fantastic School leaders and CEOs, brilliant, forward thinking, HRDs and even the odd semi-productive recruitment team ;-)

I also do not underestimate the impact that Ofsted has on schools, stifling change and pushing a short-term view of ‘scores on the doors’.

Funding is key to making certain things happen and money has been very tight in recent times.

So how can schools capitalise on this moment in time, to help future-proof their processes and safeguard both their staff and their charges?

Firstly, the mindset divide between public and private needs to be bridged, properly.

Even for me, with is probably a unique skills set for this sector, coupled with my experience in supporting school groups or the fact I ran a stock market listed company at only 30 years old or even that I advise numerous successful businesses and I am the co-founder of a ￡3bn CEO network, not to mention the founder of a Social Enterprise, RealiseMe.com…I am probably still seen by most school leaders as, ‘just a recruiter!’.

In fact over the last 18 months I had two trust CEOs arrange meetings and calls, both being too busy at the last minute to turn up, on three occasions each. All without prior notification, apology or reason.

I do not know a single CEO worth their salt in the private sector who would act that way.

School leader must search out and tap into good quality knowledge and experience from specialists outside of the public sector. Talk with SME private sector leaders, entrepreneurs, who have successfully transformed, expanded and integrated businesses.  Find those who left the corporates as it stifled them and because, as in schools, one size doesn't fit all.

Look at how dynamic private sector enterprises manage resources, workload, recruitment, onboarding, tracking, careers, retention, target setting, impact assessments. expansion, procurement and also how to do real due diligence. Be a maverick, change what needs to change and then own it!

As Steve Jobs said, 'It's the crazy ones that change the world'.

I recently engaged with a forward thinking ex-CEO of a Trust, who left the sector as that was the best way to service the sector. She has a real purpose which leads to real traction. We regularly discuss innovations, business solutions, blue-sky ideas and I have opened up my network of over 300 SME CEOs to her group, many of whom now help and mentor aspiring school leaders.

How truly refreshing, but why don't more school leaders think this way?

Ready or not, it's always better to undertake change than undergo it!

The DfE recently launched a taskforce to look into home learning, to make online a permanent fixture in schools for the future.

For the government this actually has the added bonus of it will help to reduce teacher numbers, the requirement for teachers in the future, the learning space requirements and union influence. 

We have also seen the recent attempt by Oak Academy, the governments ￡4.3m online learning school, to be taken private for many millions. A definite sign of change, but not one that is coming from the schools.

The NTP (National Tutoring Program) saw ￡100 per-hour charges being made for overseas tutors, while a mass of tutoring only agencies with limited teachers on their books are having to outsource the outsource. Reports back from tutors show that much of the time only 50% of the class actually turn up.

Schools can do better themselves, so why wait for the next centralised muddle?

Successive governments have left a trail of failed solutions, repeating most of these several times and wasting hundreds of millions of pounds in the process. 

School leaders, it's time to find out what's new in the world, be an early adopter and not a DfE laggard.

Leading consulting firm McKinsey, have shown in many studies that early adopters benefit by at least 30% improvement in cash flow and performance.

Get back the purpose, passion, vision and belief, set the destination and leave the station.

I am happy to discuss my thoughts with any and all school leaders.

Dean Kelly

RealiseMe.com

Contact me to discuss building a better future: [email protected]