So why write another blog on middle leadership? Well, in one way the answer is simple. I would like you to ensure that you take up your three member places on our new Middle leaders’ programme which begins on 30 January 2025 or consider becoming a delivery partner for our National Award for Middle Leadership (NAML) programme.
I also thought it would be a great opportunity to capture some of the conversations and learning from being involved in middle leadership training for over 15 years.
When training NAML facilitators – usually senior leaders and headteachers – a question I sometimes (provocatively) ask is “Why do (all?) schools have a tier of middle leaders?”. Do we simply do this because it is what everyone else does and we’ve always done it, or is there a better explanation? After all, in these lean times of financial constraints, a flat structure – removing a tier of leaders – could potentially save schools a lot of money. I’m not advocating this by the way, but I do think we should be able to answer the question.
The responses are usually fired back pretty quickly:
- Middle leaders have specialist expertise (e.g. subject or disciplinary)
- They translate the vision of the school (leaders) into action
- It supports succession planning and professional development
- For practical and functional reasons – line management responsibilities, breaking up aspects of the school into smaller units.
Senior leaders, it seems, recognise the critical importance of middle leadership. Researchers also highlight the very direct impact middle leaders have on teaching and learning – they teach a lot of lessons themselves and work with frontline teachers. And as we know, it is the quality of teaching that matters most in school.
So, I move on. You can join in and give your own answers to the questions as we go through.
“What are the characteristics of effective middle leaders?”
It’s an important question for senior leaders to reflect upon, as middle leaders need to know what is expected of them. I reassure them that there’s not just one correct answer, your context matters. The role, expectations and challenges will look different for each middle leader.
The question draws a variety of responses.
- Having a clear vision.
- Communication skills.
- Diplomacy.
- Knowing your team.
- Organisational skills.
- Emotional intelligence.
I could go on. The lists contain overlapping ideas and there seems to be some consensus over certain things, but it’s quite personal. To some extent it depends on the respondent’s experience of leadership, what they perceive good leadership to be like, the kind of culture they work in, the expectations and values of the school, or behaviours of certain leaders – those they admire and those they don’t.
We continue.
“What are the roles and responsibilities of a middle leader?”
This one usually provides some fun.
Typically, I ask people to list out as many roles and responsibilities as they can in one or two minutes. It’s rarely enough time. Whether you think of a subject leader, faculty leader or pastoral leader – the list is long.
Of course, that’s the point. We expect a lot of our middle leaders. Many of whom are still developing their teaching and leadership craft.
If we think about the average job description, it’s a long list of tasks, activities and commitments that would make the typical person think twice about applying. It might leave them wondering who the superhuman person is who is capable of all this (on maybe four hours per week)! Do all this, and continue being an excellent teacher.
Nevertheless, that’s the role and there plenty of people ready to take on the challenge. Still, it’s a long list and one of the key skills for any middle leader will be managing competing priorities. Do some matter more than others?
Now I ask our facilitators to prioritise.
What three things on your list of roles and responsibilities are most important and why?
Again, it’s important that line managers and facilitators think through these things and are able to articulate their expectations.
Lastly (for now anyway), we consider one final question:
“What is the biggest challenge for middle leaders?”
I encourage senior leaders and facilitators to think back to their own experiences as a middle leader, but also reflect on conversations with those they line manage. What would your response be?
The most common response…TIME.
Simple, but perhaps not surprising given what’s come before.
Alongside this there’s usually a conversation about the challenges of managing up and down (being a buffer and a bridge), how to achieve their goals around managing and leading (most middle leaders feel they spend more time managing and would prefer it to be different) and if we think about pastoral roles the feeling of ‘firefighting’ will probably come up.
And finally (!)
We use the term ‘middle leadership’ to cover a wide range of roles and responsibilities. Each one has its own intricacies and contextual circumstances. This is what makes leadership both fascinating and complex.
So, we come full circle.
I’d like to encourage you to sign up for the Middle Leadership programme or consider becoming a delivery partner for the National Award for Middle Leaders programme. It would be brilliant to work with you and consider these questions together.
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Speak with Senior Education Lead Dr Dan Belcher, to learn more about the benefits of delivering your own leadership programmes.
