The call came during the school holidays.
The call came during the school holidays.
“Howard, our Head has resigned. What do we do?”
Everyone wanted to answer the same question.
“Who should we hire next?
”I wasn’t ready to discuss candidates.
I wanted to understand what had just happened.
What had changed between the day this leader accepted the role and the day they decided to leave?
Replacing a Head is a process.
Understanding why they left is leadership.
Before reviewing a single CV, we had to ask some uncomfortable questions.
What had changed since the Head was hired?
Where had the Head stopped feeling supported?
What conversations had been avoided?
What blind spots had the owner and board missed?
If we ignored those questions, there was every chance we would hire another outstanding leader… and eventually lose them for many of the same reasons.
At the same time, the school couldn’t pause.
Parents needed confidence.
Staff needed stability.
Students deserved consistency.
The leadership search had to begin.
The underlying issues had to be addressed.
The school had to keep moving forward.
All at the same time.
The resignation wasn’t the first sign of the problem.
It was the first sign nobody could ignore.
I’ve learned that the quality of the next Head often depends less on the search process than on whether the organization is willing to learn from the last one.
The quality of our questions shapes the quality of our decisions. The quality of our decisions shapes the future of our schools.
Looking back on a leadership transition you’ve experienced, what question do you wish had been asked sooner?
