robert hill consulting multi academy trusts: the role of the ceo a presentation for future...

Robert Hill Consulting

Multi Academy Trusts:The role of the CEO

A presentation for Future Leaders’ Executive Educators programme


CEOs have a variety of roles…

Corporate chief executive

Instructional leader

Leadership developer

Orchestrator of partnership depthQuality assurer

Guardian of the flame

Thinker and strategist

Communicator

Ambassador

Business developer


…but operate across a broad spectrum of MATs…

Fledgling MATs with two or three academies

MAT spectrum

More established MATs with 10–20 academies

Developing MATs with five to 10 academies

Large MATs with 20 or more academies


…though the size of the average MAT is growing

Number of academies by size of academy grouping

March 2011

July 2015

Nearly two-thirds of the 4,725 academies are now in MATs and there are 517 MATs that have two to five academies, 98 with 6 to 15 and 19 with

16 or more Source: DfE


So, the focus of the session will be to:

• Examine each of the CEO roles in more detail

• Consider a number of variables that influence the exercise of CEO roles

• Work in groups on applying this thinking to our context

• Allow time for personal assessment and reflection


Thinker and strategist

Key attributes 1 2 3 4

Understanding and analysing the political and policy context

Developing with directors and leaders the vision, values and key aims for the MAT

Translating a vision and aims into a plan of action with agreed milestones

Managing short term demands in the context of longer term aims


Guardian of the flame

Key attributes 1 2 3 4Securing buy-in across the MAT to the vision, values and aims

Identifying key polices and initiatives to help embed commitment and make the vision and values real

Aligning people and development plans to work towards the agreed goals

Reviewing progress and impact and refreshing the vision


Maturity

DeclineStart-up and

learn

Growth

Progress

Time

Stagnate or

renew?

Maintaining momentum and an improvement trajectory


Instructional leader

Key attributes 1 2 3 4Being a leader of learning and creating a collaborative learning culture

Understanding the key drivers of school improvement and being able to describe their application across the MAT

Being able to implement strategies for schools in different contexts and at different points in their improvement journeys

Determining the tight-loose balance on curriculum content and approaches to teaching and learning*

*The scope of the tight-loose balance will also apply to other areas – for example, performance management, ICT and financial reporting systems.


Leadership developer

Key attributes 1 2 3 4Having a clear distribution of leadership roles and accountabilities and deployment of senior leadership expertise

Developing a strong team culture with senior leaders and fostering a co-construction ethos

Identifying emerging talent and creating systems for emerging leaders to have leadership assignments across the MAT

Evolving the organisation’s leadership structures and succession planning


Orchestrator of partnership depth

Key attributes 1 2 3 4Knowing where performance is strong and having systems for deploying expertise across the MAT

Integrating formal professional development linked to classroom coaching model(s)

Facilitating middle leaders to lead joint professional development projects – linked to MAT priorities and an evaluation/impact model

Encouraging networking opportunities and ways for staff to learn from and celebrate each other’s efforts


Quality assurer

Key attributes 1 2 3 4Having an unremitting focus on improving results and outcomes

Knowing in real time the quality of teaching and learning and progress in all academies*

Using benchmarking and peer review within the MAT and with top performers to spur innovation and improvement

Performance management of other senior leaders

*A good data dashboard system will also embrace metrics on pupil and staff attendance, behaviour, applications for places, and financial management


Business developer

Key attributes 1 2 3 4Developing a strategy for growing the MAT – including the rate of expansion

Developing a strategy for integrating/procuring support functions and services – including a prioritised timetable for realising economies of scale

Develop a five-year financial strategy

Balancing opportunities and risks


Communicator within the MAT

Key attributes 1 2 3 4Creating a simple, clear narrative for what the MAT is trying to achieve

Putting place systems for communicating effectively with trustees, governors, leaders, staff, parents and pupils

Being able to persuade through vision and modeling collaborative behaviour

Encouraging and listening to feedback


Ambassador for the MAT

Key attributes 1 2 3 4Promoting the MAT’s vision, values and achievements and explaining the strategy and journey for improvement

Engaging with other MATs, schools and the local community

Negotiating with and influencing government representatives and other stakeholders

Managing the reputation of the MAT


Corporate executive

Key attributes 1 2 3 4Having clear schemes of delegation and reporting arrangements to local governing bodies and directors

Supporting the development of directors, governors and the central MAT team

Establishing consistency of policies across academies in the MATs

Ensuring compliance with statutory and financial requirements


A CEO’s role will depend on how they distribute leadership – to other members of a central team

CEO

Business Manager

PA

Chief Operating

Officer

Management

accountantDirector of Teaching

and Learning* Part-time Marketing

Officer

Director of Standards

Central Business

Team HR and Estates

Managers

MAT spectrum

Key curriculum specialists*

*Might be based in academies

*Might be linked to a SLT role in one of the academies

An example

Other senior leaders

carrying out ad hoc roles


As the MAT develops the CEO role will evolve

Chief Operating

Officer

Management

accountantDirector of Teaching

and Learning* Part-time Marketing

Officer

Director of Standards

Central Business

Team HR and Estates

Managers

MAT spectrum

Key curriculum specialists*

CEO


Senior, middle

leaders & expert

practitioners

Senior, middle

leaders & expert

practitioners

Senior, middle

leaders & expert

practitioners

MAT

Executive principal

Executive principal

Executive principal

Executive principal

Scale and spans of control in a growing MAT

A CEO’s role will depend on how they distribute leadership – to other leaders


Senior, middle

leaders & expert

practitioners

Senior, middle

leaders & expert

practitioners

Senior, middle

leaders & expert

practitioners

MAT

Executive principal

Executive principal

Executive principal

Executive principal

Scale and spans of control in some larger MATs

Executive principal

Executive principal

Executive principal

Some larger MATs also using Regional

Directors

A CEO’s role will depend on how they distribute leadership – to other leaders


DfE view of chain and cluster roles

Chain CEO

Hub director

Head C Head EHead DHead A Head B

Education. Dir.

Hub director Hub director

CFOHR (and others)

Strategy Vs operational level: A general distinction between strategic direction - exercised at chain level- and more operational accountability-exercised at school or hub level.

Size of ‘hubs’ varies significantly. At the extremes were one with 3 schools and another with 15 schools – most others varies between 4 and 10. Directors of smaller hubs tend to be thought of as ‘Exec Principals’.

Hubs led by educationalists: All the high performing sponsors we interviewed had middle leaders with educational expertise – some were known as ‘Exec Principals’ and others ‘Regional Directors’.

Similar across high performing sponsors

Different between high performing sponsors

Heads reporting lines – whilst most heads report directly to the hub director, some still report to school governing bodies reflecting differences in local school governance arrangements

Board and local governance links: It is common for school governing bodies to include representation from board members.

Autonomy to hubs: one chains’ hubs are MATs in their own right, but there are other examples of highly devolved decision-making. In other instances the role is restricted more narrowly to school improvement.


A CEO’s role will depend on how they distribute leadership – to complement their own skills

• No one leader has all the skills

• Leadership requires good self knowledge – whether though 360 degree assessment or Myers Briggs etc

• While CEOs should aspire to develop, they should also seek to put together teams that complement them – and each other


A CEO’s role might (for a defined period) depend on a MAT’s history or challenges

A CEO might at a particular stage of a MAT’s development have to prioritise:

• School improvement

• Governance

• Financial management

• Restructuring the Trust

• Building relations with the community

But the team should still ensure that all roles are covered


Task 1: A group task

Your table will be assigned two of the CEO roles.

Your task will be to draw on your experience and tease out through group discussion:

• Which aspects of the roles are the same – irrespective of the size or stage of the development of a MAT

• Provide examples of how exercising the roles is influenced by a MAT’s context and its stage of development

Time for discussion: 30 minutes

Please capture the key points using the template provided


Role Which aspects of the CEO role are the same – irrespective of context

Examples of how the context of a MAT affects the exercise of a role


Task 2: A personal task

Consider each of the roles and attributes and assess how confident you are in your capacity to undertake the role:

1 = Not at all confident

2 = Lacking some confidence

3 = Quite confident

4 = Very confident

Identify the five areas where through the Executive Educators programme or another means you are looking to develop experience, expertise and confidence

Time allowed: 15 minutes

robert hill consulting multi academy trusts: the role of the ceo a presentation for future...

Documents

robert hill consultingguardian

dferobert hill consultingso

academiesdeveloping

academieslarge mats

emerging leaders

key aims

leadership assignments

number of academies