As a school leader you have four main roles; to plan and make decisions, communicate to others, build relationships and manage the performance of your team/school which in my opinion can be the most challenging of them all.

The style of management you choose to use in any given situation is governed by two things, your willingness to support and your willingness to challenge.

You may find yourself needing to offer a high level of support and play the role of counsellor in a situation where it’s not about a persons’ capability but about their confidence.  In this instance your job is to listen, encourage and reassure.

And, when you get the feeling that people are wasting your time or deliberately trying to create a smoke screen or confusion then a high level of challenge is required.  In this situation you become a task master who is assertively laying down the rules and boundaries.

Coaching is the ideal style of management because it requires both a high level of support and a high level of challenge and even if it feels like a massive investment in time, the payback is far greater than any other management style.

A willingness to support is about …

• Being able to listen carefully to others’ opinions, ideas, information and concerns
• Checking to test for understanding and clarity
• Offering guidance, help and reassurance as necessary
• Empowering others to act with backup if required
• Considering other’s needs when offering support

A willingness to challenge is about…

• Expressing your views as clearly and assertively as possible
• Setting high expectations
• Stating the actions or results you want
• Pointing out the positive or negative consequences of not meeting expectations
• Offering alternative views and ideas

The secret is in the balance and often as managers we lean one way or the other and get it wrong by offering support when challenge is required or visa versa.  For those who hate conflict they believe the softly, softly support approach is the right one, but not always.

And for those who like to take a harder line sometimes challenging too much as act as a de-motivator and have the opposite affect.

Dot Struthers specialises in leadership and management development for teachers.  If you would like some free resources and a monthly CPD newsletter register at www.merechats.co.uk

Image: ‘after view of my classroom‘