I met with a couple of colleagues last week and explored the concept of the ‘enlightened’ Scottish leader. We brainstormed a number of characteristics/attributes of the ‘enlightened’ leader. I’ve tried to put them into coherent groups and them given each … Continue reading
Somewhere deep within the memory banks of every teacher there lies a recollection of their best lesson. A lesson where everything went right. A lesson where the traditional distinction between teacher and learner, between content and learning, and between time … Continue reading
I’ve been researching models of governance to link with our commitment to explore and consider community ownership of schools. In the course of the next few months I will be reflecting upon governance models throughout the world. The first of these … Continue reading
We held a wonderful thanksgiving service today for my mother Barrie Ledingham who died on the 8th February 2009. I gave this eulogy. Barrie was named after her father’s favourite writer J. M Barrie who wrote Peter Pan, sometimes known … Continue reading
At a time when the behaviour of senior executives in the financial world is being scrutinised by politicians, the media, and the general public I thought it might be worthwhile to explore what might be reasonably expected of those … Continue reading
A couple of months ago I joined my colleagues on the Leadership Team of East Lothian Council on a weekend course entitled “The Innerwick Experience”. The Leadership Team is made up of: all Heads of Service, e.g. Head of Education, Head of ICT … Continue reading
Having to make difficult decisions is a key part of my job. Some of these decisions can often be unpopular – but I suppose that’s what I get paid for. Every decision is usually associated with a variety of options which will usually … Continue reading
Thanks for the helpful comments to the previous post in this series - they have helped me to explore the tension between the desire to “always tell the truth” and being an “effective leader” Regardless of my desire to promote a non-hierarchical culture there is … Continue reading
Following yesterday’s post I’ve been doing a little more reading about honesty and leadership. Honesty is seen by many as a key factor in effective leadership 1,2, 3, 4 However, the recurring definition of honesty in most texts relates … Continue reading
I bumped into someone this week who used to work with Professor Tim Brighouse. Tim Brighouse has been a major influence upon how I attempt to go about my own work – so it was great to meet someone (a … Continue reading