Education leadership is complex with common patterns persisting across the leaders we coach. Stakeholders, external pressures and flux, and the emerging challenges at a local and global level are making an already tangled web, unfathomable.  

Leaders must be able to competently and confidently navigate uncertainty, lead innovation, and respond to challenges with clarity and foresight. But not all thinking is developed equally. To lead effectively, it helps to know when and how to think strategically, when to think systemically, and when to use systems thinking. 

The phrase “doing more with less” has become a familiar refrain in education; a mantra repeated so often it risks becoming background noise to a deficit model. But for school and trust leaders facing real-terms funding cuts, rising costs, and growing expectations, it is the reality.  

Leading under financial pressures demands high-quality and wise strategic leadership. But it isn’t enough to be strategic in your thinking; it calls for clarity, courage, creativity and connection, the ability to maintain educational quality while navigating complexity and constraint. 

As we enter the final half of the summer term, we outline key thoughts for school leaders to consider as they review their strategy and consider the upcoming academic year.