Coaching for school leaders
Unlock the full potential of your school leadership team and help them excel by accessing a range of thought provoking coaching programmes. My specialised coaching services, designed specifically for headteachers and senior leaders takes into account the diverse array of needs and aspirations of leaders in education. Outlined below are a range of fantastic leadership coaching options.
Why should schools invest in headteacher coaching?
In today's demanding educational landscape, the role of the headteacher is more complex than ever, making leaders realise that coaching is not a luxury but an essential service:
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supporting wellbeing,
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increasing retention of leaders,
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educational improvement,
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successful working relationships,
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leadership development and
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happiness at work.
Headteacher coaching can provide a holistic approach to leadership support that takes account of the specific set of circumstances the leader is dealing with and the environment in which they are operating. This means that all headteachers can gain from coaching, from those colleagues that are new to the role to highly experienced headteachers and executive headteachers. Coaching can include regular support in real-time for the journey of being a school leader, ensuring that intervention is at a point where it is most needed. Alternatively, coaching can be short term and highly focused to help leaders respond to a specific issue, or can be focused on the development and application of leadership skills.
Are you thinking of expanding leadership coaching to your wider team?
School leadership coaching for the wider team can play a pivotal role in enhancing team performance and ensuring school goals are achieved. Coaching offers a personalised approach to leadership development, provides a vital sanctuary for reflection, and supports emotional health. When leadership coaching is offered to all leaders in school, it creates a vibe of positivity, increases the level of appreciation colleagues have for each other as leaders, and provides momentum for improvement. Coaching can be provided for teams, for individuals or a combination of both.
Will leadership coaching work for me?
Coaching for school leaders comes in many different forms and flavours, reflecting the varied needs of educational leaders. Some colleagues might benefit from coaching that helps unpack the recent events in their professional lives, seeking to learn from them and plan forward, whilst other leaders may be seeking to improve a specific aspect of leadership, and still others may wish to grapple with a complex problem. The key is to identify what it is you want to achieve and then use coaching to explore how to achieve that aim.
Recognising that no two leaders are the same, my approach to headteacher coaching and school leadership coaching is highly personalised. At the start of the process, I will work with you to identify the right style of coaching, the right frequency of sessions and the right duration for sessions. Working in partnership, we can identify a coaching approach that resonates with your unique leadership style, needs and operating context.
Leadership coaching options
Journey Coaching - Navigate life's challenges with a coach by your side
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Weekly or fortnightly sessions
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Reflection & interpretation
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Problem solving and forward thinking
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Re-charge your mental capacity
If you are seeking on-going, regular support to process the highs and lows of working as a school leader, this type of leadership coaching is for you. Usually weekly or fortnightly, journey coaching sessions provide much needed head space to process work matters. With a focus on reflection, including examining internal dialogue, interpretation of events, and thinking forward, these sessions aid clarity. Coaching sessions can help you to better understand yourself and your situation, provide a structure to think through complex matters, and help you to re-charge your mental capacity. Having a safe space to share the challenges of leadership is important for mental well-being. Having someone to listen who does not work at your school, but understands the education context might be just what you need.
Maximise your impact
Strengths coaching - harness your unique talents as a leader
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Includes Clifton Strengths Finder assessment and full report;
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Coaching sessions ensure results are immediately actionable;
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Idea for leaders at all levels, particularly experienced colleagues;
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An amazing, uplifting programme.
Highly successful leaders have different styles and approaches. What they all have in common is they know their strengths and how to harness them. This is an incredible, uplifting coaching programme that focuses on positive change by ‘naming, aiming and actioning’ your strengths as a leader. Even seasoned school leaders are amazed at how their personal impact improves with this coaching programme. Using the trusted Clifton Strengths Finder assessment, coaching sessions will help you to better understand your talents and how to capitalise on them. Learn how to dial up, dial down and combine strengths for maximum impact. Colleagues completing this coaching programme report that not only do they know themselves better, but it has also helped them to understand others in their team and as a result has led to better teamwork.
Leadership Development coaching
Leadership development coaching - Develop as a leader through coaching
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Develop your unique leadership style;
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Grapple with leadership theory;
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Utilise the 'apply and reflect' principals;
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Set and achieve leadership topic related goals.
This type of coaching provides a blend of leadership theory, coaching and professional dialogue that aims to strengthen and develop leadership style, skills and behaviours. Perhaps you would really like to improve your delegation skills, expand your approach to dealing with difficult conversations, improve your prioritisation and time management skills, develop strategies for team building, enhance your knowledge and application of emotional intelligence. You select a topic(s) / theme at the start of the year which are then developed through half-termly coaching sessions enabling you to work effectively towards achieving the goal. The sessions are matched to your role and experience to ensure headteachers, deputy headteachers and senior leaders can access coaching that is right for them. Sessions can be 90 minutes or half-day sessions depending on the objectives.
Senior leader coaching
GOAL COACHING - Set your sights on a high tariff goal
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Drive strategic outcomes;
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Lead change and transformation;
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Steer action and navigate challenges;
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Increase success and impact
Designed with Deputy Headteachers and Assistant Headteachers in mind, this type of coaching focuses on supporting leaders to deliver on whole school priorities. One-to-one coaching sessions help leaders to engage in professional dialogue throughout the year linked to a new initiative or project. This type of coaching supports the leader in achieving a whole school change or a large scale development. It enables the leader to have support every step of the journey. Having regular, structured opportunities to think, analyse, reflect, problem solve and evaluate progress increases the likelihood of success. Colleagues engaging in this type of coaching may find additional wider benefits, such as improvements in leadership skills, a boost in motivation, improved job satisfaction, and increased well-being.
EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS? TACKLING A TOUGH CHALLENGE?
Choose ISSUE coaching
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Unpack complex situations;
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View issues from different perspectives;
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Process emotions;
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Think forward;
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Try out new approaches;
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Safe space to talk.
From time-to-time, we all face difficult and challenging circumstances at work and if this is something you are experiencing, short term weekly coaching might be just what you need. Coaching can provide the essential head space and structure for unpacking complex situations, processing intense emotions, reviewing events from different vantage points and considering how to move forward. Accessing between 4 and 6 one hour coaching sessions can create a fundamental shift in thinking at a time when it is most needed.
NEW TO ROLE COACHING - Choose coaching for transition
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Perfect for transitioning into a new leadership role;
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Embrace the challenge;
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Grow into the new role;
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Reflect and strategise for success.
Perhaps you have moved, or are seeking to move, to an executive headteacher position. Perhaps you have recently taken up a position that requires leadership across a MAT. Perhaps you have just been appointed as a Deputy Headteacher. As you transition into the new role, coaching can be a great way to forge ahead and periodically take stock of developments. Embarking on a new role can be as exciting as it is challenging. This coaching programme is designed to facilitate this transition, making it smooth and successful. Embrace change with coaching sessions that provide the guidance, tools, and strategies you need to thrive and lead with assurance. Monthly coaching of 90 minutes or fortnightly coaching for one hour can be provided prior to starting the new role or at any time in the first year.
Coaching for teams
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INTERESTED IN TEAM PERFORMANCE? Choose team coaching.
A coaching package can be designed to specifically meet the needs of you and your team. Here are three popular options:
A: IMPROVING TEAM EFFECTIVENESS for senior leadership teams:
Coaching sessions, often delivered in half-day blocks, can be an excellent way to explore current ways of operating, identify goals for improving effectiveness and generate plans for new ways of working together. These sessions increase colleagues understanding of each other and can facilitate supportive exploration of tricky team issues. You can choose an open ended, ‘emergent approach’ in which key issues surface through the coaching sessions, or a ‘goal orientated approach’ in which your team have one of more specific objectives they wish to explore.
B: UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER - PLAYING TO OUR COLLECTIVE STRENGTHS as an SLT:
Each colleague undertakes the trusted Clifton Strengths Finder assessment followed by individual and team coaching to help colleagues achieve a deep understanding of their own strengths and operating preferences, and those of other team members. Colleagues learn how to capitalise on the team’s strengths and how to operate in ways that will be more effective and harmonious. This is a fabulous coaching programme that helps senior leaders understand each other, improves communication, and leads to new ways of working that ensure the team operates at peak performance.
C: MIDDLE LEADERSHIP GROUP COACHING:
This is a cost effective way of providing coaching that not only supports the individual but strengthens peer relationships. Small group coaching for 4-6 leaders working together on a shared theme, e.g. communication, teamwork, managing change, accountability, emotional intelligence, or alternatively, small group coaching with a focus on the expectation and challenges of a certain role, e.g. phase leadership or subject leadership. Delivered Half-termly for either 90 minutes or 1/2 day sessions.
PERMA+4 for wellbeing
Are you looking for wellbeing coaching? Underpinned by positive psychology coaching approach, PERMA+4 and the Happy Leader model provide ways of exploring how to improve you own well-being and that of other colleagues that you work with. The approach has rigour and is backed up by evidence of impact. PERMA+4 coaching can be undertaken as an individual, as a small group or a mixture of both. This type of coaching can be very beneficial when the organisation is making a renewed commitment to wellbeing in the workplace. Get in touch to discuss how PERMA+4 coaching can be utilised by your school.
P=Positive Emotions, E=Engagement, R=Relationships, M=Meaning, A=Achievement + four Physical health, Mindset, Environment and Economics.
This framework, alongside a coaching approach helps you to explore how you experience work and how you can make changes that will bring about greater levels of work satisfaction, workplace happiness and higher wellbeing levels.
The impact of coaching can be quite surprising. As part of longer coaching programmes, I use the Kirkpatrick model of evaluation, which is useful both to the coachee and myself. Outcomes from coaching can be lots of small changes and/or some large fundamental changes. You might experience a change to how you feel, how you think and how you act. You might find you've made improvements to cognitive skills such as problem solving. You may find that leadership skills have improved, such as delegation skills or team management. You are likely to find that goals come to fruition and more is achieved by you and your team. It may lead to a change in understanding, it might help you to see issues from a different perspective, it might help you to apply new learning to your unique context. And overall, the 'sum is often more than the parts'.
There are a variety of ways to assess the impact of coaching. The end results can be transformational. Excellent return on investment is usually achieved, particularly if the coachee is willing and their is a culture in the school that really values coaching.
Most of the headteacher coaching support I currently provide is delivered remotely via zoom. Support can be in the normal school working hours or provided at evenings, weekends and school holidays. Headteacher coaching can be a short series of sessions or on-going support. You can change the frequency and length or sessions, and the style of support provided, as needed.
Team coaching, is often provided on site or via a mix of on-site and off-site sessions. The exact nature of the coaching programme for team coaching is mapped out with the headteacher.
In delivering headteacher coaching sessions, you might find me using aspects of behavioural coaching, person-centred coaching, solution-focused coaching and elements of narrative coaching. Sometimes I find issues emerge over a number of sessions and requires the coachee to make deep seated, fundamental changes, and success here often requires a very person-centred and narrative approach, and at other times colleagues find they need to use a very structured approach to thinking through options and finding a solution in a single session for which a behaviour coaching model may be most appropriate. As I am currently completing the Insititute of Leadership and Management post degree Level 7 qualification in Executive Coaching and Mentoring, I am constantly reflecting on the effectiveness of coachin, both in terms of complete programmes and individual sessions. I believe as a coach that professional development and supervision is critical for providing a quality service to clients and 'learner' is one of my top 5 Clifton Strengths and the top of my 24 signature strengths. Do you know and play to your strengths? Get in touch to find out how I can help you and other leaders in your school.