Preparing for a Leadership Interview In Education?

A real gem of a ‘revision guide’ for candidates preparing for interviews for leadership positions in education exists in the very small form of Andy Buck’s What Makes A Good School? To start with, the book is free from ‘United Learning’, is easy to ‘consume’, but probably much more importantly, it draws from the essential elements of the major contributors to the science of leadership such as Collins, Covey, Fullan and Goleman. Like the proverbial Tardis it’s much more expansive on the inside than it appears from the outside!

In preparation for a recent interview I attempted to recall the five key features of good leadership off by heart and decided to employ rank ordering them in order of importance as a tactic:

Communication, Performance, Actions, Courage and Humility

I was tempted to give up as deeming the exercise to be suicidal at interview if, for example, I attempted to convince a panel of interviewers that a leader’s good communication was somehow superior to his or her actions. To be honest I was most tempted to argue humility should take precedence as it is this factor that surprises us when we are freed up to cease trying to be ever so charismatic when actually we’re not and, not only are we not required to be, but actually being too charismatic as a leader is more likely to limit the success of the organisation overall.

So, suicidal at interview or otherwise, I would plump for courage as the ‘mast’ to pin my colours and other features of leadership to. The fact is that courage requires the leader to draw upon his or her strength generated by moral purpose which propels the leader to communicate effectively, be accountable for his or her performance and do the things that matter however big or small they may seem. I would also argue that moral purpose has a humbling effect in itself. I must admit I am unable to cite data demonstrating moral purpose propelling successful companies at the top of the FTSE 100 or the Stock Exchange but when it comes to education the task of improving the life chances of all the hundreds of youngsters in one’s charge is a profound, compelling and deeply humbling endeavour.