Six Quick Things on Bringing the Best Out of Your Middle Leaders

In a recent conversation, Associate Ian Timbrell used the line, 'The best schools have the best middle leaders'.

Which got us thinking. 

We have a number of Associates who know what they are doing when it comes to helping schools support their middle leaders but perhaps the best placed is the author of Brave Heads, our very own Dave Harris.

We asked Dave for his Six Quick Things schools and colleges should think about when it comes to getting the best from their middle leaders.

As you'd expect from the man who also wrote the Leadership Dialogues and Leadership Dialogues II with the late Professor John West-Burnham, Dave put his ideas forward in the shape of six provocative questions to get you talking about what best practice might look like.

See what you think:

1. Are Your Middle Leaders Fully Prepared for Their Crucial Role?

Middle leaders hold a pivotal position—they’re right at the heart of your staffing structures.

If they aren’t performing effectively, it impacts your entire leadership structure.

As leadership expert Jack Welch once said, 'Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others'.

2. Do Your Middle Leaders Understand the Balance Between Formal and Informal Strategies?

Effective middle leadership involves more than just enforcing strategies.

It requires a passion for inspiring and encouraging staff to adopt and engage in practices that drive success.

3. Do Your Staff See Themselves as Leaders or Managers?

Titles matter.

If you want to transform your school, you need middle leaders who embrace leadership, not just management.

Leaders inspire change; managers simply oversee processes.

4. Is Your School’s Structure Empowering or Restrictive?

An overly hierarchical environment can stifle middle leadership.

If your middle leaders lack the authority to make meaningful changes, they not be able to truly transform practices within your school.

5. Are Your Middle Leaders Working Together or Competing Against Each Other?

Collaboration fosters success.

If middle leadership operates in a competitive manner — 'our results are better than yours!' — it’s the children and students who ultimately suffer.

Promote teamwork to ensure the best outcomes for everyone.

6. What Leadership Model Does Your School Promote?

Is your school’s leadership approach mature — focused on trust, engagement, and influence — or immature, centered around power, status, and control?

Spoiler alert: the most effective schools prioritise mature leadership practices.

We think these six questions are a great starting point for opening up the discussion about whether you are getting the best from your middle leaders.

And if you want more, pick up the phone and speak to Dave in our office on 01267 211432, fill in the form below or drop him a line and he'll be happy to have a free, no-obligation chat with you.

As a man whose feedback from a recent NPQH webinar he was asked to lead included comments like 'inspirational', 'brilliant' and 'the best webinar to date', that dialogue will be well worth it.

What's more, use the code 'ITL20' at checkout and pick up any of Dave's Independent Thinking Press books including Brave Heads and Leadership Dialogues I and II with 20% OFF plus FREE UK p+p.

His author page is here. [ITL]

Dave Harris