Great Leaders Step Out of the Limelight as Much as They Do Into it.

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Several years ago, when my former principal in China first messaged me on a Friday afternoon to tell me that he couldn't take the assembly due to an urgent meeting, the butterflies began to swirl in my stomach. This was new territory for me. I'd done it regularly in England, previously in Penang, but never in China and to such a unique audience. How would I fare? The assembly quickly passed, and fears soon turned to exhilaration and a sense of achievement. Before the year was to end, I'd be afforded the opportunity several more times, all of which I was extremely grateful for the opportunity. Was I stepping up or was he, stepping out? To this day, it remains a mystery!

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Vikas Pahwa recently had the opportunity to interview his own school principal for our Leading Your International School Podcast, Monica Sagar . If you haven't listened to it, I'd urge you to when time allows. In the interview, Monica talks candidly about her leadership approach and how to her, effective school leadership is more about being the 'guide on the side'. Yet, I think we can all recognise the times in our leadership careers when we have charged full steam ahead into a situation, determined to make ourselves look good in front of others, especially by solving others problems. There is however, a way to recognise the difference between the two in our classes and it looks like this. One method emphasises quality of process rather than outcome; one favours being right and not the antecedent factors that led to it, and one method is 'ego-centre' - or 'me, myself and I'. I have found time and again, great leaders know when to step out of the limelight.

Some principals and leaders excel at problem-solving. I for one think I'm not too bad at it. Yet the more time we spend fixing problems, the more they keep coming back to us, the more time we as leaders, spend in the limelight and people drawn to our ability to solve other peoples problems. You may like to ask yourself 'are my strengths at fixing others problems' an inhibiting factor in developing a culture of independence and ultimately - interdependence? Answers welcome in the comments below!

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We often overcomplicate leadership. Its theory, practice and application. We've turned it into a Science. Barrack Obama was recently asked what advice he'd give to American workers - "know how to get stuff done" he replied. We seek an 'evidence-base' around leadership practices, we add unnecessary complexity to it - often knowingly, to protect the path we have trodden and preserve the route we have taken for those who we feel are privileged to follow in our footsteps. Within this process, it often takes me towards the role of the '?????????????????? ????????????' or increasingly the 'Headhunter' actively seeking and selecting candidates in their infinite wisdom they perceive to be of higher value than others. I was recently reminded during an interview by an outstanding individual who has dedicated the last forty years of his life to international school leadership that the predicted validity of the 'panel interview' is a paltry 0.3. Seven times out of ten we risk appointing the wrong candidate if our leadership recruitment process lacks diversity.

Great leaders know when to get out of the way. They trust in others and accept as Winston Churchill famously said, "???????????????????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ???? ????????????????.” If you are a school principal reading this, ask yourself - would you have the confidence in others, their skills and abilities if something suddenly took you away from your office for a month? Would your staff cope? When leaders step out of the way, and out of the limelight, invariably, great things can happen. Of course, things can and do go wrong in the absence of leadership, and their IS evidence that abounds such happenings. But, if you have appointed well, build in a system of personal accountability that is supported by your school values and a culture of collaboration you'll mitigate that risk.

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James Spillane, The Educational Researcher, and Professor in Learning and Organizational Change at the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, thinks not. Something we should all remember. As much as the leadership bandwagon has moved on in recent years with its research, use of data and global superstardom for the selected few (who happen to be of a certain disposition and from a certain country) many remain disinterested in school leadership. There was a time when my own naivety saw this as a personal weakness, not the individual freedom of choice it represented. Some are doubling down on leadership and choosing family; others are having career breaks - and who are we to disagree with them?

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Stepping out of the limelight is not the same as effectively distributing your leadership, which itself is "actively brokering, facilitating and supporting the leadership of others"?(Harris, 2013). When you let others review policies and practices, take credit for their implementation or deal with the increasingly divergent needs of parents, you give yourself much needed 'Deep Time' and space for strategic thinking. You allow yourself the lens to view the school from a completely new angle.

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1. Plan some structured time away from your school this year. Have a reliable pair of eyes and ears on the ground to keep you in the loop.
2. Make yourself unavailable for a certain meeting or event periodically. Gather the feedback from a trusted colleague. Get to know how others perform in your absence.
3. Handover key events or speeches to someone who you feel would benefit from it as part of their overall leadership growth and development.
4. Give credit where it is due. Never be afraid to let people know who is really responsible for making things happen.
5. Accept that when you are out of the limelight, mistakes will inevitably be made. Treat them as learning opportunities for everyone involved, not as an attack on your personal brand.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this, then consider ordering a copy of my book Leading Your International School .

André

I am delighted to be able to inform you that Leading Your International School now offers a complete suite of Human Resources Services to International Schools.