Knowing when it’s time to move on (and the reality of making it happen)

I’ve been reflecting on a few Twitter conversations about the timing of when people know that they’re ready to start applying for Senior Leadership roles. Having recently ‘made the leap’ myself I just want to share some of my thoughts on the subject:

Firstly, I would stress that there is a distinct difference between being or feeling ready, and being able to secure a leadership post. A huge amount of luck is required to actually achieve that promotion, and frustratingly, you have absolutely no control over a really large part of this process.

The bits you can influence: So you think you can do the job? This bit you can largely affect. Knowing what you are good at, what interests you and what you need to do to develop your knowledge, experience and skills. If you are in a good school whom care about staff development, then they will provide opportunities for you to build elements of your practice so that you can have a broad base from which to move on.

Be honest with your line managers / Senior Leadership team about your ambitions, and then plan with them how you can move forward. They may offer opportunities to shadow SLT or gain a short term ‘Associate SLT’ role. I was really fortunate to be on an Extended SLT for 2 years, and while this was a very long time ago, it has been the most relevant experience that I had now that I am an AHT. Being involved in SLT meetings and genuinely being a part of school development at that this level is excellent CPD. As a school I would suggest you provide such experiences, it demonstrates genuine investment in people for very little / no financial cost.

My advice to those who don’t get the professional development (or CPD that they feel is adequate), then I suggest that you are proactive about doing (perhaps evening self funding) your own CPD in your own time. It is a fantastic way to demonstrate to potential new employers that you are serious about your own professional development.

Some schools are afraid that this will result in them losing good staff members and only offer CPD up to the middle leadership opportunities that they can provide within their school. If you are at the start of your career (or even being appointed as a middle leader) AND you are ambitious, then ask the school about how many of their staff get supported and promoted beyond middle leadership. If you are ambitious and you go to a school that doesn’t provide this training then these will be the most frustrating years of your career. Schools that value loyalty over staff development and growing talent will never achieve the strongest staff force that is possible.

The great majority of schools are proud of the people they grow. John Tomsett quoted on a recent Naylors Natters podcast that ‘the best measure of leadership is the leadership you inspire in others’. In the podcast John discussed the 9 box model. This is a grid with 9 boxes built around the x axis of increasing leadership capacity and on the y-axis performance (teaching ability). He described that in the top right are the staff whom are a flight risk. He talked about schools deciding if you want to / or are in a position to keep them, or if there is nothing more you can offer them, then the right thing to do is helping them to move on to a promotion.

Ultimately a good school with genuinely ethical leadership will grow the talent that lies within it. This is the right thing to do – without exception. If school leaders genuinely think that it is too soon for someone to be thinking of promotion, then work together to lay out a professional development road map that will enable the member of staff to get there.

Stay and wait or looking elsewhere? Sometimes opportunities come up within your own school and this is a really nice way to be promoted. It means the school believes in you and believes that you are right for a particular role. Having been fortunate on a few occasions for internal promotion there are some distinct benefits; it’s relatively low risk, you will be well supported with respective to training and you don’t need to go through the upheaval of changing schools.

The downside is that, in some respects, it can be easier to make a mark in a new school where staff have no preconceived ideas about you.

Applying for jobs (internally and externally) can be a really stressful and draining process. You can spend a considerable amount of time and effort with no reward. You can come away feeling much worse than you did before you applied. School recruitment is a bizarre process. Before COVID-19, you would spend the day WITH those whom you are ‘competing’ against for the role. Typically there is always one or two large characters who try to intimidate their competitors throughout the day – you know the type. You are all sitting their sizing each other up, ‘falsely’ (lets be honest) wishing each other luck! In a way I hope that the recruitment process this summer can teach us about a better approach in the future.

The stuff you can’t control, the luck factor:

– Luck that the right type of school, in an area you are happy to work in has a post at the right time. How many times have people been appointed for a role only to find that a school that is a better match is then looking for a post that is more suitable?

– Luck that your letter and references impress the shortlisting panel (arguably this one is not just luck).

– Luck that you perform well on the day.

– Luck that your values and skill set are aligned with the school and role you are interviewing for.

– Luck that you are ‘better’ than the other candidates on the day, and that the panel agree this is the case.

– Luck that those wider elements of recruitment (not just your skills, but perhaps a bias to your subject to strengthen a particular area of the school, or your personality traits) are needed at that school.

There is a temptation to apply for anything and everything, particularly when your self esteem is low because you become a bit desperate to secure a post as you believe it’s the only way that you will ‘feel’ better. The downside of this is that it opens up a vast range of posts that aren’t really ideal and because they aren’t right you are less likely to be suitable candidate and more likely to get into that negative spiral of rejection and feeling worse about yourself. I would suggest a more healthy approach would be that, instead of saying ‘this academic year I want to get an SLT post’, to say ‘in the next 3 years I want to gain the correct knowledge, skills and experience that I would make a strong candidate if a suitable post comes up and I apply for it’.

Sam Strickland talks about being self aware in his book, you need to understand yourself. This is important because you need to be aware of who you are so that you can apply for roles that really suit you.

If I have learned anything, it is that it pays to be really picky. I’ve worked at a couple of schools that really didn’t suit me and spent a large proportion of time living with the consequences of not really feeling like I fit in.

Do yourself research about the school. Visit if you can – in fact I suggest this is very important. There is no harm in walking away from a visit and not applying. The schools I was appointed at that I didn’t really like were the ones I hadn’t visited first. The visit is a fact finding mission, not an interview – but their impressions of you WILL count. Read everything there is to read, website, letters, newsletters, Ofsted reports….

Dealing with rejection. Most people at some point are unsuccessful, may it be at the letter of application or the interview stage. In her book ‘Making the Leap’ Jill Berry talks about being unsuccessful. She says that it doesn’t mean you couldn’t have the job- just you weren’t the best fit on the day and that a leadership team needs to have personalities that compliment one another. I know of some teachers who have cruised through their careers and have got every job they have ever applied for. Chances are they are rather good at their jobs, but also it is very likely that they have also been really lucky, and that means that they might not be the best person to advise you on preparing you to apply for or interview for a new post. They are unfamiliar with the abject disappointment of rejection and therefore will potentially be of little support if you are unsuccessful.

Some schools are excellent at providing good feedback for both successful and unsuccessful candidates, however some aren’t. Listen carefully to the feedback but if you feel that it is not constructive and helpful for the next role you apply for, simply move on. I have found that the best advice and coaching comes from people outside of my life and work. Perhaps a former colleague or line manager or someone who is an experienced coach can advise you. For me, the confidence I needed largely came from my #WomenEd and #MTPTproject network.

It’s really hard to judge whether you have made good or bad decisions at the time. It genuinely takes a lot of courage to go through the process of changing jobs. As I reflect on my first term in a SLT post in the midst of lockdown, I am increasingly confident that I made the right choice to move onwards and upwards. I have learnt so much in an incredibly short period of time and am coached / mentored very effectively on my way through this.

Finally, if you think that you are nearing the point of being ready to ‘make the leap’ then use this time during school closure / partial closure to really plan out how over the next year or so that you are going to look to move your career forward. What CPD could you be doing right now? Volunteer to take on extra responsibility and in the spirit of the #WomenEd be #10percentbraver.