Resistance to Excellence

Tony Nicholson NLE

The role of Governors

• being responsible for strategy,

• holding the school to account

• acting as the critical friends of the Principal and senior leadership team

• ensuring finances are properly managed

My experience

• 2 x DHT under 3 strong and contrasting HTs• Exec Principal Hodgson Academy – Grade 1• HT merger Bispham / Collegiate both grade 4• Principal Montgomery High School grade 4• Ofsted inspector since 2013• NLE, FCTSA, FCAT• National Challenge Advisor and LA SIP

Levels of Engagement

• Committed (Want what you want, will not get distracted and will bring their energy to move your agenda forward)

• Enrolled (They want what you want and bring their creativity, enthusiasm and ideas… may get distracted)

• Willing Compliance (if that’s what you want I will get on with it)

• Grudging Compliance (I wouldn’t do it this way, but if that’s what you are telling me to do I’ll have to do it)

• Apathy (I don’t care about what you want … hard to shift)

• Resistance (I don’t want what you want /I will work against you.. …you won’t get much from me in this state)

Why might they resist?• Perceived workload /time implications• Poor attitudes / arrogance / lazy!• Fear • Stress• Absence of a compelling vision or purpose• Poor / weak leadership• Lack of confidence and/or trust in leadership…. • Or overly dominant coercive leadership• workforce dynamics / unions• No belonging ---- no connection to the organisation• No ownership or buy in

So what is this conference theme ‘Resistance to excellence’ really about?

• Essentially it is all about ……LEADERSHIP

• Good and Outstanding leadership WILL overcome resistance

• LEADERSHIP clearly encompasses governance

• ENERGY FLOWS WHERE ATTENTION GOES-

• To move forward we need to win over the Critical Mass– Pockets of resistance marginalised and insignificant

• Focus our attention on the win wins

Win-win mindset - Covey

Lose Lose – “If I am going down you are going down with me” Win Lose – competitive ..dominant .. Lose Win - weak … an attitude of setting low expectations and compromising standards Win Win is being courageous and considerate at the same time.

Leadership is about change

• People don’t like change!!

• So who might resist?

• SLT……– Maybe the headteacher!

• Middle Leaders• Teachers• Students• Parents• AND >>>>>>>>>>>

– Governors!!

The importance of values

• WHAT ARE WE REALLY ABOUT?…. WHAT DO WE SIGN UP TO?

• FCAT Core values AMBITION

RESPECTRESILIENCE

EXCELLENCEINTEGRITY

PRIDE

• Shared values create a sense of common purpose / common mission!

• janitor at NASA in 1962, who, when asked by a visiting President Kennedy what he did said with pride

• “Well, Mr President” ……, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”

How to win the Critical Mass

The ones who are with you already

The ones who are largely with you. The easy wins

The ones who need more persuasion, the sceptics.

The hard core resistant group

ENERGY FLOWS WHERE ATTENTION GOES

The power of non-negotiables

• FCATs NON-NEGOTIABLES…..our red lines ….

They are not up for debate! (so don’t waste time asking!)

• Children First • No excuses• Working together• Passion for learning• Consistency and compliance• Outward facing

Overcoming resistance

GOODWILL

Resistance stress

Resistance time Resistance fear

REQUIRES A COMPELLING VISION and STRONG LEADERSHIP

Core job description

Goodwill

Shaping the future- Securing Engagement and commitment

Working with others the leader creates:

A shared vision

A strategic plan

Togetherness

Consistency and Compliance

Shaping the future:Promoting sustained improvement achieving excellence

Shaping the future: The leader takes actions to:

Build Trust / Faith / Belief / Confidence

Share the vision

Translate the vision into agreed objectives and operational plans

Ensure Key Priorities are acted upon effectively by all

Walk the talk

Motivate others to create a shared culture and positive change climate

Empower others / distribute responsibility

Utilise the skills, diversity, values and experience within the team.

Promote creativity, innovation and risk taking

Developing the right climate

Openness

Trust

Security

Distributed Leadership

Empowerment

Organisational climate

– Climate is a measure of people’s perception of what it feels like to work here

– Climate indicates how energising the work environment is for employees

– Climate accounts for up to 30% of the variance in key performance measures

– Climate indicates how well your organisation / team is realising its full potential

What leaders do is the biggest influence on climate and results

Six climate dimensions

Flexibility Responsibility Standards

Recognition ClarityTeam

Commitment

Individual Styles (energy)

Getting the best from people by knowing them well

Securing individual engagement and commitment

There is a balance between challenges and skills

In Flow, we feel that our abilities are well matched to the opportunities for action. In everyday life we sometimes feel that the challenges are too high in relation to our skills, and then we feel frustrated and anxious. Or we feel that our potential is greater than the opportunities to express it, and then we feel bored. Playing tennis or chess against a much better opponent leads to frustration; against a much weaker opponent, to boredom. In a really enjoyable game, the players are balanced on the fine line between boredom and anxiety. The same is true when work, or a conversation, or a relationship is going well.

There is no worry of failure While in Flow, we are too involved to be concerned with failure. Some people describe it as a feeling of total control; but actually we are not in control, it’s just that the issue does not even come up.

IN FLOW

What does all this mean for the role of leader / governor

Leadership coach

Quality assurer

Guardian of the flame

Strategist and risk assessor

Influencer and negotiator

Ambassador and champion

Business developer

• Dealing with deep seated resistance where vision and all the above is not enough

• On the bus or off the bus?• In the team or not?• We are not changing direction… so what is

your next move?• Professional Standards

Moving to outstanding

• Relentless focus on quality of

– LEADERSHIP– TEACHING AND LEARNING– OUTCOMES– BEHAVIOUR and SAFETY

– No surprises there!!!!!– Never satisfied / always wanting better / constantly

tweaking to transform