Successful difficult conversations

Category: Team culture

As you know I meet a lot of school leaders and walk into a lot of schools. Something I notice is that there’s a difference between the schools that are spinning plates and those that are creating heartbeats (a phrase I’m sharing from a wonderful outstanding headteacher I’ve been lucky to know for many years). […]

I don’t know about you but I feel the world is constantly trying to distract me in ways I don’t want.   At work, at home, everywhere! I think of distraction as noise. The more of it there is, the noisier it is.   And it’s not helpful or nice noise, it’s noise that interferes […]

'The way I think things are – nothing is significantly wrong but so much more could be right… ' Do you feel this way? What could be ‘more right’? And what are you going to do about it?
I see this all the time. Plans are made, results aren’t as good as expected, so plans are changed. Plans keep changing, but people don’t. (Although the great ones move on too quickly!). What I find in schools is that your plans are fine. The problem is everyone isn’t doing them for some reason or other.

I know that hearing the ‘O’ word can sometimes send shivers down your spine and send you into a thought process of ‘What will they think of us’, but here at Heads Up we encourage schools and Headteachers to think in another way. A great restaurant who consistently deliver high quality plates of food from […]

I call moments where your culture can really be seen ‘cultural touch points’, and many of these happen naturally during the course of the year:

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, it’s a great time to show people you care and reinforce the kind of school you are. In fact, the New Year is also a good time to do any of these too. Here are 5 quick Christmas culture wins – pick the ones that feel true to you […]

There are mistakes I see time and time again when people create their vision. Here are the top 5 so you can avoid them:   Mistake #1: Everyone should write your vision No. You get a vision which seems to please everyone but really says nothing. It reminds me of the phrase: A camel is […]

Do you ever get frustrated that some people don’t seem to be on your bus?  They don’t seem to get that your actions are all driven towards doing the best for your children and students.Or, perhaps they say they get it, but their actions tell you otherwise.​Why is that? Well it’s because they don’t really […]

As a headteacher you are the leader of your school and the leader of the next generation; you know too well that your school’s success ultimately rests on your shoulders. Leadership creates culture by design; a lack of leadership allows a culture to form by accident. Great leaders create great cultures. The behaviour of individuals, […]