The Leadership Game: Strategies for Success in the School Leadership Arena

dr damien barry

the

leadership

game

strategies for success in the school leadership arena

This book is dedicated to my first principal, Mrs Deborah Kachel.

From 1997 to 1999, I spent my first years as a young teacher of science, geography, and health and physical education at Mossman State High School on the edge of the Daintree Rainforest.

Deborah, you were the epitome of kindness, grace, humility, wisdom and strength.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I was so lucky to have you as my principal, mentor and friend.

Thank you!

Published in 2024 by Amba Press, Melbourne, Australia

www.ambapress.com.au

© Damien Barry 2024

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover design: Tess McCabe

Internal design: Amba Press

Editor: Francesca Hoban Ryan

ISBN: 9781923116474 (pbk)

ISBN: 9781923116481 (ebk)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1 On leadership

2 The new guy or gal

3 Seats on the bus

4 The power of community

5 The purpose of a vision

6 The importance of visibility

7 Difficult conversations

8 Building your team

9 Self-­care: Slay the beast and avoid burnout

10 Resource management: Things that open and shut

11 Leading staff

12 Leading students

13 Leading parents

14 The Wisdom story: A case study

15 The future of school leadership

Conclusion

The 15 rules of the leadership game

References

Acknowledgements

About the author

Preface

My plan wasn’t to become a teacher. In fact, I had my heart set on being a policeman. Assuming I’d get shot as soon as I started, Mum and Dad were less than encouraging; apparently I’d done enough during my teenage years to justify their lack of faith. It became evident that the police force was not my destiny when I was politely told—as a 17-­year-­old applicant who didn’t have a driver’s licence, couldn’t hold a firearm without shaking, barely passed the physical exam and was even discouraged from joining by his local sergeant to come back in a few years. Luckily, my acceptance into a secondary teaching undergraduate degree came through at roughly the same time. With Mum and Dad packing my suitcase as a not-­too-­subtle hint to get my backside on the road and no other clear options in front of me, a teaching career it was.

After finishing my degree in 1996, I commenced my career in 1997 at Mossman State High School, a medium-­sized public secondary school about an hour’s drive north of Cairns in Far North Queensland, just on the edge of the Daintree Rainforest. With its semi-­rural position, small-­town locality and community vibe, it had a great bunch of teachers across the career spectrum. Mossman provided me with strong role models, mentors and an excellent foundation to my career. I saw what good teaching looked like and how good teachers prepared, planned, interacted, assessed, provided feedback and generally organised themselves. Mossman also provided an environment for me to try things beyond the classroom: organising camps, writing up work programs, leading large-­scale sporting carnivals, and being part of professional and community groups. I absolutely loved it.

After the crucible of my first year, I was lucky enough to be given opportunities for small leadership positions that included year-­level and subject co-­ordinator roles. I spent three years at Mossman before moving to Brisbane to continue my career, eventually taking on leadership roles including head of department, head of middle school, head of senior school and deputy headmaster.

Over the past 10 years I’ve been a principal across two schools. I’ve experienced highs and lows. I’ve been able to work with amazing people, open new campuses, travel the world, lead exciting initiatives and implement change with a profound impact on students and colleagues. I’ve also had personal relationship breakdowns, an addiction to alcohol and the experience of weight gain, depression, anxiety and self-­doubt. Maybe it was inevitable that these afflictions would emerge after bubbling under the surface, but the pressure of principalship certainly enabled and accelerated the process.

I could see a cycle of negativity play out on a weekly basis, but I was incapable of stopping it. It often started with insecurity about my ability (imposter syndrome) or negative self-­talk around a difficult conversation. This fed my anxiety and depression, causing me to withdraw from my personal relationships. In turn, my withdrawal led to excessive drinking and then to more weight gain and depression.

While stuck in this negative cycle, I was trying to run a school, be a rock for other staff and a smiling face at assembly, raise my own family and continue to study. That was how I thought I could mitigate my self-­doubt and insecurity. I lost count of how many times I thought of leaving the profession, or at least taking a step away from a leadership role and going back full-­time to my ‘happy place’ in the classroom.

Anyway, I stayed in the role and the profession. Maybe it was maturity, more time in the seat or my own kids growing up. Maybe it was feeling more comfortable in my own skin as I approached the big 5-­0. One day I decided to not wrap myself up in my job so much, and to start prioritising my health—physical and emotional. I set myself a few goals and challenges. I decided to stop being so hard on myself. I stopped drinking. I lost weight. I made time for the gym. I started trail running. I started to pursue other hobbies like creative writing. I reconnected with old friends. I nurtured my close personal relationships. I connected with nature. I do regress at times, but I get back on track quickly. I remind myself that consistency, not perfection, is my goal.

My desire now is to help other educators become better teachers and school leaders. Modern-­day schools are like organisations with hundreds if not thousands of employees, all crammed onto the same patch of soil for extended periods of time. Not all of these people are rational, mature, balanced adults: they range in age from about 5 to 65. Some—the teenagers—are in the most tumultuous times of their lives. These organisations operate in an occasionally high-­risk environment that requires their employees to move around throughout the day and change tasks on the hour. They demand compliance from many whose reluctance to be there is revealed through indifference or outright hostility. Fundamental to its existence are staff of differing opinions and competencies, but also parents who remain largely external. All of this occurs against a backdrop of social, political and economic pressures. School leadership is awash with challenges, and those charged with bringing some order to this rabble need to make it as safe and worthwhile as possible.

Each of my many and varied leadership experiences has taught me something new. Perhaps the most challenging responsibility to date has been my current job of leading a single-­campus school located in a complex multicultural context, with students drawn from over 40 cultural and ethnic backgrounds. I have also led a school with multiple campuses spread across two states. I have been a deputy headmaster at an all-­boys school, a head of middle school at a large co-­ed independent school, and a head of department and head of sport at an all-­girls school. I have taught and held leadership roles across a diverse range of schools: public, Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist, Uniting Church, Exclusive (Plymouth) Brethren and Islamic-­inspired. My experience has well and truly run the gamut, and I have acquired some hard-­earned wisdom along the way. Would I do it all again? You bet. I hope, however, that it wouldn’t take me until almost 50 years of age to learn how to look after myself. It is in this spirit that I now wish to share with other school leaders—current and aspiring—some practical words of guidance that will steer them on the path to success.

The 17 lessons of the leadership game

To enter the leadership arena means that you don’t merely endure the battle. It means that you embrace it and everything that comes with it—the good and the bad, especially the bad.

There are different leadership styles, and different contexts require different leaders. Find your own style but recognise what your context requires from you and adapt accordingly.

Whether you’ve been externally or internally appointed to your new leadership role, it’s important to start off by revealing not only your vision and intent but also who you are as a person. Don’t dampen your audience’s enthusiasm with detail and dullness; lift their spirits with aspiration and ambition.

Your school is a bus, and you’re driving it. Your first job is to get the seats sorted. Move the right people into those seats. Escort off the bus those who cannot or will not buckle up. Provide good service to the people who buy a ticket to ride.

A school is strong when the community that surrounds it is strong. Look for ways to build connections, relationships and partnerships. Be deliberate and persistent in this task.

A vision is the ultimate aspirational goal for your school, the foundation upon which everything else is built. Alignment with the classroom is critical: you don’t want your vision to be a bunch of nebulous flowery words that nobody buys into.

Get comfortable with being visible. Visibility does more than put a face to a name—it builds your understanding of the organisation and everyone else’s trust in you.

No-­one likes to have difficult conversations, but avoiding them means endorsing bad behaviour, killing morale, lowering standards and losing good people.

Build your team with mutual respect and clear expectations, and allow them to do the same with their teams. It’s one of the most powerful ways to achieve your collective organisational goals.

Self-­care is a regular meeting with yourself that might just save not only your health, but also your career, your family and your life.

As dull as it might sound, resource management is a critical part of school leadership. People don’t notice when it’s working, but they sure as hell do when it isn’t. When not done well, it can bring a school to its knees.

The quickest way to lose the trust of your staff is to ask them to do something that you either can’t or won’t do yourself. Do the hard carry.

If you and your staff aren’t united in your approach to leading students, you’re wasting your time. Don’t be that person who tries to be liked by the kids only to undermine your colleagues.

Facilities are nice, but they are less important than the level of