Whether making the step up from teacher, or moving up the leadership ladder, it can be a daunting experience and it’s difficult to know where to look for support, or even what support to ask for.
Much like leadership and management in general, the key is in simplicity: breaking down the role into primary pillars and responsibilities which encompass all aspects of leadership and management (both of which can differ wildly in the approaches and skills required).
With that in mind, let’s look at the three main elements of leadership:
The Transactional
Focusing on the day to day of any management or leadership role, this element of leadership requires a focus on monitoring performance (including basics such as directing workload, ensuring people within your team are achieving set targets and required next steps). If completed effectively and efficiently, this should lead to consistency in all processes and procedures through a mixture of clear communication and all staff knowing their roles and accountabilities. If not completed successfully, this can have significant impact on staff morale, recurring ‘difficult conversations’ within teams and poor modelling from leaders.
Managers and leaders may appear demotivated and this will have a ripple effect throughout any team. There are elements of transactional leadership which can be picked up fairly quickly, through having a good working knowledge of local policies and procedures and making sure that staff are aware also. As much as positive transactional leadership will benefit a team, it cannot be used in isolation, and this is where inspirational and motivational leadership will be required.
The Inspirational & Motivational
If transactional management and leadership are about policies, processes and procedures, inspirational and motivational leadership are very much about people and allowing them the space to thrive.
This component of great leadership is about getting to know ‘your people’ – knowing what makes a team or group of staff tick: what is it that will drive them to continue to improve? What is it that will create a team of staff all pushing in the same direction behind a common goal, ethos or vision??
To achieve this, supporting the growth of those within a team is vital – consistently evaluating what staff want and need to improve, and facilitating this whilst putting the whole first. This too needs to be facilitated through modelling excellent routines, but taking the time to collaborate with those in a team. If transactional leadership is about clear communication, inspirational and motivational leadership is very much about receiving feedback. What do staff think of any proposed actions? What do they feel would improve a situation or challenge? How do they best feel utilised to resolve any issues?
Collaborative endeavour and discussion can build an environment of trust and this will be vital in any leaders arsenal.
The Functional
As much as both transactional and inspirational/ motivational leadership are required in any management or leadership role, functional leadership is also key. If transactional leadership is management of the day to day, and inspirational/ motivational leadership is successfully bringing a team along for the ride as this happens, functional leadership is the individual components completed by leaders behind the scenes. Budgeting, timetabling, writing and presenting business cases and recruitment are just some of the tasks leaders complete with minimal input from those around them.
There will of course be a level of support when this is completed, but so much of this must be effectively completed by leaders as they need to know ‘the detail’ (and must have this ‘to hand’ at all times). At times, this can the most challenging area of leadership – timetabling and budgeting can radically change year on year, and it can take several years before leaders feel they have the relevant experience to successfully complete these tasks without significant support.
It is the successful completion of tasks such as those listed above that will allow success in transactional and inspirational/ motivational leadership: if a leader can successfully complete these tasks behind the scenes, confidence is bred within the same team.
Whether starting a new leadership position, or aspiring to do so, there are so many aspects to successful leadership which must be balanced at once. No matter which combination of the above is used, it is vital that we take our teams with us when doing so.
About the author
Jonathan Kay
Jonny Kay is Head of Teaching, Learning and Assessment at a college in the North East. He has previously worked as Head of English and maths in FE and as an English teacher and Head of English in Secondary schools. He tweets @jonnykayteacher and his book, 'Improving Maths and English in Further Education: A Practical Guide', is available now.