As we try to absorb the latest updates in the Brexit negotiations whilst gasping at the latest social media post from the President of the United States it doesn’t seem unreasonable to believe that the world is lacking the leadership to cope with the pace of change and challenges of the twenty first century. This coupled with the recent success of my former colleague and friend John Tomsett in leading Huntington School to an outstanding Ofsted judgement after a long period of headship caused me to reflect on the art of leadership.
This is not something new. There have been thousands of publications about leadership from a wide range of fields including politics and education as well as business, sport and the voluntary sector. My career as a senior leader in schools resulted in me having a fascination with leadership and a consideration of what good and great leadership looks like. There is a very old argument about whether leaders are born to the role or whether it is a skill that can be learned over time. I tend to lean to the latter and so always tried to learn from listening to others. For me any discussion of leadership always starts with a consideration of Nelson Mandela whom I consider to be a supreme example of a leader. This is because of the clear vision and moral purpose he had in creating an open and free South Africa post apartheid. Mandela’s absolute commitment to the principles of forgiveness and reconciliation was an outstanding example of how the leader’s core values shape the outcome for whatever organisation they are leading and although South Africa still faces its difficulties in comparison to many parts of the continent of Africa the transition has been a success. It is incredibly difficult to find a current example of an international leader with such clarity of purpose as that of Mandela.
Which brings me to John Tomsett and the success of Huntington School. John would be the first to acknowledge that success of this kind is a result of a great team effort by all of the staff and the young people in his school but the role of the leader, in this case the headteacher, is a vital ingredient in that success. What is so so significant in this case, which I believe can be an example to any leader is the way in which this success has been achieved. Firstly it has taken a long time, at least a decade. How different would our country be if policies had time to embed and be for the long term interest instead of short term political gain? Secondly Huntington School has stayed true to its values over that time period and John has not been diverted from his principles by all of the ‘noise’ that has gone on around schools in the last ten years. Thirdly, and very importantly, John’s leadership has been focussed on investing and developing his team and concentrating on what works. How often do our political leaders rely on evidence before making decisions?
Of course leading a school is different to leading a country but many of the key components are the same. As we look to the next generation of leaders who will take our country and institutions forward in a time of huge challenge it is good to know we have a great example made in York and potential leaders of the future would do well to take note.
David Ellis 