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JANUARY 2023 LEADING FROM THE MIDDLE: GETTING IT DONE How can middle leaders close the gap between big thinking and successful doing?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
FROM MIDDLE MANAGEMENT TO
MIDDLE LEADERSHIP
Edinburgh
January, 2023
We’ve seen what’s possible with the incredible but "I have developed skills in
often neglected cadre of department heads,
coordinators, year group leaders and technology
leading "from behind". I am
coaches in schools. Since we started our Leading learning how to coach and
from the Middle course in the height of the mentor individuals and my
pandemic, we’ve worked with over 300 of them, and team through strategic and
their senior leaders, to reinvent middle authentic methods. Many of
management as Middle Leadership.
the ideas shared in this
We’ve seen every participant record signi cant programme have helped me
increases in their con dence to lead and to enable
others. And they prove they’ve the skills to do so.
develop those strategies and
methods.”
One part of the course stood out as immediately
useful and popular. And it was sorely lacking in any 2021 Graduate
other training they’d had. Participants were most
engaged by the skills, structures and attitudes it
takes to make ideas happen, on the ground.
You see, there’s an implementation gap in
most schools and school systems.
The gap is between what senior leaders and Boards decide
and envision, and what action ends up happening in
classrooms and in the broader community.
For decades, Middle Leadership has been poorly understood
and poorly used in most schools. Research shows it’s seen as a
thankless stepping stone to senior leadership, a necessary
administrative function to keep a small team organised, and
conduit for senior leadership’s missives (Forbes 2017).
And nearly half of middle and senior leaders don’t take up any
opportunities to develop their leadership skills, knowledge and
mindset (Victoria State Government, 2021).
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So it follows that much of the training and support "Following this program my
offered to middle leaders, if there's any support at all,
takes the form of in-service sessions that focus on the
leadership style changed. I
tools of facilitating meeting time with peers and became more open and
perfunctory management tasks. Or it’s related to the encompassing. I listened, I
subject or curriculum they teach. became more supportive.
Much of the job remains managerial, rather than Most importantly, I realised
leadership-based. If we assume that “the cost of that with opportunities for
learning has its payoff in future performance” middle leadership to lead,
(Edmondson, 2008) then it is no small wonder we’re not
getting the most out of our talent.
their con dence will grow
and change will happen.”
From managing to relationship-building 2021 Graduate
Relational leadership offers an ambitious starting point
for the development of a different type of Middle Leader
in schools, who informs and inspires the kind of agile, “This program really helped
whole-school, interdisciplinary work that is needed to me re ne my ideas and start
create the exceptional learning experience our young conversations I used to
people deserve. Getting good at the skills of relationship think there was not enough
building, idea creation, and sharing the load takes time time for. It gave me the
and expertise.
con dence and tools to help
Implementation of ideas is one of the most di cult
me think through the
things to get right. Even if you’ve got a great strategy
and the planning looks solid, there are still many situation on my own.”
hurdles to overcome when it comes to executing 2022 Graduate
those plans successfully.
If you’re looking to roll out a successful pilot to
something more visible across a whole community, then
some of the approaches we’ve developed for the
Leading from the Middle course are essential.
We hope this white paper serves as a provocation, and a reminder of
what the exciting job of educational leadership is all about, whatever
level you’re operating at today.
Ewan McIntosh, Edinburgh Jeremy Weinstein, Melbourne
Founder, NoTosh Senior Consultant
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2023: BRIDGE THE GAP
There is a vast cadre of middle managers Remind and re ne the longer term strategy
and aspiring leaders who want to take on Reframing the vision so there’s always
greater responsibility for school something to reach for; deciding on bold
improvement. But the pathway from the moves and the resources to realise them.
idea of change to making that change
happen isn’t clear. Seek and retain talent
Engaging with the team and seeking the
Schools are cluttered with busy work,
best talent budget allows; making sure that
placing demands on time (perceived or
the value of that talent is re ected in the
actual) that force more managerialism than
outcomes of students.
curriculum or learning leadership.
Add to this an observation: senior leaders Make sure teams work as a team
sometimes underestimate what their Defending the shared vision of the school
middle leadership is capable of achieving against individual bias and agendas.
for whole-school improvement, or they
might be nervous about asking any more of Empower the senior leadership team
a hard-worked group. Taking the leadership team’s vision beyond
immediate urgency or meeting agenda;
It’s a fatal cocktail for any organisation
balancing and matching up capabilities to
wanting to make change happen.
achieve more together than an individual
Each leader needs to know what is within department can on its own.
their eld of control, and what is not. By
focussing on their eld of control, the Engage the community
leader is able to create more in uence Revisiting and reinforcing the long-term
across the system, to get ideas moving on purpose, or ‘why’, of the organisation;
the ground (Covey, 1989). There are six building up resilience ahead of any future
elements of work in a school that are in the crisis.
eld of control of only the most senior
leaders - concentrating on these six Act as the example
elements, every day, leaves little room to Managing their own time and energy,
be doing the work of Middle Leaders as becoming the model for others; planning
well. These elements are: beyond themselves, for the good of the
community.
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What do excellent Middle leaders do?
Most middle leaders know what they’re expected to achieve: the best
possible learning outcomes for every student. But less clear is what
excellent middle leaders do to help achieve that:
1. They clear the decks: they’re e ective individuals
Middle leaders organise themselves in a way that places the
improvement of teaching and learning at the heart of every action and
job they have to undertake.
2. They understand what matters
Understanding what you really stand for, and the dif cult discussions
and negotiations you’re prepared to have, helps remove unnecessary
hurdles to a school system trying to achieve a collective goal.
3. They build relationships
Relationships are the fundamental quality of any successful team,
and are not de ned by the department or organisational unit in which
you nd yourself. In fact, as Jaser writes in her 2021 HBR article,
middle managers play a vital role as leaders that connect senior
leaders to junior employees saying, “It is time to … recognize middle
managers as connecting leaders.”
4. They understand strategy and their role in it
Middle leaders need to sit at the same table as senior leaders when it
comes to understanding how strategy works, and what their role is in
shaping their team’s goals towards a shared outcome.
5. They learn how to create a shared impact
Schools generate hundreds of stories every day that can inform what
we do tomorrow, and middle leaders are the key to unlocking every
one of those learning moments.
6. They develop a prototyping culture for the long term
Design a simple process that helps people know they’re on the right
track, doesn’t let effort go untested for too long, and provides support
for ideas that are runaway successes. This requires consistent,
regular re ection.
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From knowing what to do, to how to do it.
So we know we need to do these things. But how do you do them? That’s
what our Leading from the Middle participants wanted to explore the most.
Overcoming the implementation gap involves spinning a few plates at once.
That’s why it’s hard. The key aspects that make up a successful
implementation process include:
• Gathering information
• Igniting passions
• Sharpening the focus
• Identifying what you need
• Identifying the most suitable talent
• Co-designing concrete goals
• Over-communicating
• Tracking progress
• Evaluating your impact.
GATHER INFORMATION
Successful plans start by identifying a problem that people acutally
experience. Too many plans set about solving problems that don’t matter or
don’t exist. Traditionally, managers are taught that this is all about framing
the key deliverables for a project, the milestones and a deadline. Most
organisations then communicate their plan after they have developed it.
That’s a huge mistake.
None of that work requires leaving your desk.
And none of it really gathers information. It doesn’t get a community
engaged with it.
Instead, we want to source the rationale behind a project in the rst place.
That means listening to your community from day one. We want to gather
the type of information that tells us their real needs and desires right now.
• What type of teaching and learning do you want to see?
• What do you think you need to succeed?
• What opportunities do you want to explore or which problems do you
want to solve?
The answers to these questions will act as a rudder to help steer your
project.
fiLEADING FROM THE MIDDLE 2023
IGNITE YOUR PASSION
Passion creates a sense of connectedness. It builds a connection
between teammates, a connection to our human need for
meaningful work and a connection to each individual’s sense of
value and contribution. It also provides the engine to keep going
when the going gets tough. So it’s worth re ecting on whether
there’s anything in the information you’ve gathered that gets you
excited.
Once you’re sure of the exciting things that all that data points to,
don’t assume others will get excited in the same way from the
start. Paint the picture for your team by connecting each job in the
project to a broader purpose that everyone can buy into.
SHARPEN YOUR FOCUS
Ensure you have a sharp focus on what you’re trying to achieve.
Keep it simple. There’s a reason jokes and political speeches talk
about things in groups of three. By using this ‘Rule of 3’ you can
simplify strategies, metrics, and actions. But that also means
you’ve got to strip things away and really focus.
Go one step further than that, and identify just one big thing
you want people to focus on. Decide what is most important, the
one activity that most directly helps you execute your plan even if
nothing else is achieved.
And know when to say ‘no’ to activities, tasks, reports, meetings,
and projects that do not directly support your plan. Do it quickly,
delegate it, defer it until later if it doesn’t need done now, or dump
it if it doesn’t seem relevant.
IDENTIFY WHAT YOU NEED
Once you have established the scope of the project, consider
what key resources you need to complete it. These resources vary
from project to project, but often include raw materials,
equipment and staff. You can create a list to help you keep track
of these resources or use a project management software tool to
help you stay organised.
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TALENT TO TASK
By de ning what role each team member is ideally suited to
perform throughout the project, you can increase ef ciency and
better predict your timeline. Before assigning tasks, consider
which team members have availability and what their strengths
are. Then pair them with responsibilities that match their
availability and skill set to increase the overall quality of your
nished project. Two important ways of giving your staff the best
chance of success are to:
• Treasure your talent by treating employee development as a
perpetual priority and coaching them with four steps:
explain, ask, involve, and appreciate.
• Get systematic by creating repeatable work systems and
collaborating with clear roles. Who’s going to lead the team,
do the work, share their expertise, or get informed?
CO-DESIGN CONCRETE GOALS
The temptation is for a middle leader to map out all the goals and
milestones ahead of time, then launch. But goals owned by the
individuals in the team create more momentum to move your plan
towards fruition.
So co-design your goals with the people doing the work.
Link your team’s activities directly to the plan. Clearly connecting
the day to day actions of the team to a couple of goals that they’ve
co-designed with you brings much-needed structure and routine. It
will also highlight the areas that might have been overlooked and
apply an additional element of pragmatism.
Setting goals with, not for, your team helps draw out things like:
• Whether the plan is realistic given resource constraints;
• If you have the right people and skills to execute every
aspect of the plan;
• How well people have understood your overarching
objectives.
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OVER-COMMUNICATE
Don’t fall into the trap of doing a great job of communicating at
the start, only to see efforts fall away as people go back to
business-as-usual. Expose your plan to your people, keep it alive
and up-to-date, and have people engage with it regularly.
Determine what method of communication your team may be
using and how frequently you expect status updates. The
channels of communication you use can help your team relay
important information more effectively, encourage collaboration
and build trust between team members.
Share your plans with the whole community. Use town halls, video
conferencing, newsletters, whatever works best in your situation.
But communicate the plan to get everyone behind it and share the
progress that’s being made.
Communication needs to be two-way. You want to avoid the
‘silence spiral’, where a lack of information is lled with rumour
and uncertainty. Be proactive about your communication. You may
also consider scheduling a recurring communication checkpoint,
such as a biweekly meeting or a termly status report. This can
help you hold your team accountable and ensure consistent
communication throughout the project.
Celebrate your success. Do this throughout the project every time
a goal is accomplished to motivate and engage everyone in your
team.
TRACK AND CAPTURE
Ensure everyone regularly updates the progress of their own tasks
and goals.
Updates should include concrete measurements of progress
against the goal, as well as a short line or two of commentary to
add colour. That’s it. It takes two minutes, as long as you’ve
actually done something to report on.
It’s a given that sometimes you’ll need to edit the deadline of a
goal or even rewrite it entirely as your project evolves. Just make
sure you communicate those changes.
fiLEADING FROM THE MIDDLE 2023
EVALUATE YOUR IMPACT
At the end of a term-long sprint of work, or at the end of a project,
have a discussion to see what impact you’ve made - it’ll help work
out what you do next:
• Did you keep to schedule?
• Did it need more money?
• Was the quality what you expected?
• Are people happy with the impact so far?
• Does the project still t with the guiding principles of the
school?
It’s also important to gather stories of those ‘meaningful
moments’. Find the stories of impact that show something
interesting about student engagement, students taking on more
responsibility or improvements in academic results. What are the
tangible, concrete, lived moments that indicate the desired
change has been made and the intended outcomes reached?
Make sense of the ideas, and apply
them quickly
Reading about what you can do doesn’t make it “So much of what was
happen. That’s why NoTosh created the online shared over this course
programme Leading from the Middle, where you
resonated with me, both
learn the ideas and apply them, on the job, as you
go. The course helps participants from a theoretical/research
perspective and from my
• Understand their leadership strengths;
own personal perspective
• See how to be a more effective leader with
their own team; and based on years of
experience.”
• In uence change across the system.
It’s a three-part course, offering 16 hours of live Lisa Lyle, Director, Zurich
sessions, over three months, with bonus sessions, International School 2021
events and a learning platform that will bring any Graduate
middle leadership team into their own.
Short-term challenges, however pressing,
monumental, and all-consuming, can’t become
long-term managerial challenges for a senior
leadership team. Their communities expect leadership, not
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management, and an eye on the next phase of transition from
where we are today, to a brighter place tomorrow. That leadership
comes not just from the top, but by Leading from the Middle, too.
Relentlessly successful
The Leading from the Middle course is particularly successful in
empowering leaders to ‘enable others’. This is a vital skill for all
leaders as, ultimately, they cannot do it all on their own — and nor
should they.
The other key success of the programme has been in increasing
leaders’ ability to create a more effective vision: in the busyness
of schools, leaders have often deprioritised this in the past. With
the capacity to co-design a vision with their teams, middle and
senior leaders have found it easier to bring colleagues on-side
with challenging projects.
Finally, we see that leaders’ con dence has risen, whether they
are senior leaders or aspiring leaders. We provide easy-to-
remember tips, immediately useful tools, and the opportunity to
dig deeper into more complex ideas. But we also couple the
learning with an expectation to put them to work in a concrete
project during the programme. This helps leaders return to their
schools with a renewed sense of purpose to lead and enact
meaningful change.
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NoTosh Ltd NoTosh Australasia
Let’s start talking. 27 Lauriston Street
Edinburgh
PO Box 47
Collins Street West
hello@notosh.com EH3 9DQ Victoria 8007
United Kingdom Australia
fiDIG DEEPER Our Research Angheloiu, C (2020). Facilitating communities of practice: from individual to ecosystem learning outcomes. Retrieved January 2021: https://medium.com/the-shape-of-things-to-come/ facilitating-communities-of-practice-from-individual-to-ecosystem- learning-outcomes-bf7b54660b08 Anicich, E.; Foulk, T.; Osborne, M.; Gale, J.; Schaerer, M. (2020). ‘Restore Your Sense of Control — Despite the Pandemic’, Harvard Business Review, September 10, 2020. Retrieved September 2020: https://hbr.org/2020/09/restore-your-sense-of-control- despite-the-pandemic Covey, S. R. (1989). The seven habits of highly effective people: restoring the character ethic. New York, Simon and Schuster. Dewar, C.,. Hirt, M., Keller, S. (2019) The mindsets and practices of excellent CEOs, McKinsey Insights. Accessed November 2020: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and- corporate- nance/our-insights/the-mindsets-and-practices-of- excellent-ceos Edmondson, A (2008). 'The Competitive Imperative of Learning’, Harvard Business Review. Accessed January 2021: https:// hbr.org/2008/07/the-competitive-imperative-of-learning Forbes Coaching Council (2017) The Most Common Ways You’re Neglecting Your Middle Manager and What To Do About It. Accessed November 2020: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ forbescoachescouncil/2017/10/11/most-common-ways-youre- neglecting-your-middle-manager-and-what-to-do-about-it/ Fullan, M (2019). Nuance: Why Some Leaders Succeed and Others Fail. Thousand Oaks, CA; Corwin Press. Gino, F (2019). ‘Cracking the Code of Sustained Collaboration’, Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 20 April 2020, from https:// hbr.org/2019/11/cracking-the-code-of-sustained-collaboration Elliot, B. (2021) ‘It’s Time to Free up the Middle Manager’, Harvard Business Review, May 21, 2021. Retrieved December fi
LEADING FROM THE MIDDLE 2023 2021: https://hbr.org/2021/05/its-time-to-free-the-middle- manager Harris, A.; Jones, M. (2020) COVID 19 – school leadership in disruptive times, School Leadership & Management, September 11, 2020. Retrieved September 2020: https:// www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/ 10.1080/13632434.2020.1811479 Harris, M.; Tayler, B. (2019) ‘Don’t let metrics undermine your business’, Harvard Business Review. September 2019. Retrieved July 2019: https://hbr.org/2019/09/dont-let-metrics-undermine- your-business Hu Chan, M (2017). Is Your Company's Teamwork Out of Whack? Listen to Alan Mullaly, Inc.com. Retrieved January 2021: https:// www.inc.com/maya-hu-chan/is-your-companys-teamwork-out-of- whack-listen-to-alan-mullaly.html Irwin, T. (2019) Designing for Systems-Level Change and Transitions Toward More Sustainable Futures. Retrieved September 18, 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=fDmBXxRqsW8 Jaser, Z. (2021) ‘The Real Value of Middle Managers’, Harvard Business Review, June 07, 2021. Retrieved December 2021: https://hbr.org/2021/06/the-real-value-of-middle-managers McNulty, E. and Marcus, L. (2020) ‘Are You Leading Through the Crisis … or Managing the Response?’, Harvard Business Review. Retrieved September 2020: https://hbr.org/2020/03/are-you- leading-through-the-crisis-or-managing-the-response National College for Teaching and Leadership: Strategies used by Effective Middle Leaders. Retrieved November 2020: http:// www.inspiringleaderstoday.com/ILTMaterials/LEVEL1_SML- v4.0-2014_08_22-11_51/succeeding-in-middle-leadership/sml- s2/sml-s2-t5.html Ramalingam, B.; Nabarro, D.; Oqubuy, A.; Carnall, R.; Wild, L. (2020), ‘5 Principles to Guide Adaptive Leadership’. Harvard Business Review. September 11, 2020. Retrieved September 2020: https://hbr.org/2020/09/5-principles-to-guide-adaptive- leadership Reeves, M.; Whitaker, K.; Nanda, S. (2020) Responding to COVID-19 on Multiple Timescales. Retrieved July 2020: https://
TAKE IT FURTHER
www.bcg.com/publications/2020/responding-to-covid-19-on-
multiple-timescales
Toop, J. (2017) Middle leadership can unlock your school’s
success, NAHT. Retrieved November 2020: https://
www.naht.org.uk/news-and-opinion/thought-leadership/middle-
leadership-can-unlock-your-schools-success/
Victoria State Government (2021) Department of Education and
Training Annual Report. Melbourne: Department of Education and
Training.
Waller, D (2020) ’10 Steps To Creating a Data-Driven Culture’,
Harvard Business Review. Retrieved January 2021: https://
hbr.org/2020/02/10-steps-to-creating-a-data-driven-culture
West-Burnham, J and Otero, G (2012). Leading Together to Build
Social Capital. Networked Learning Communities, UK.
Wilder, J (2019). Why You’re Struggling to Lead. And How to
Improve. Retrieved 13 July 2020, from https://medium.com/
swlh/why-youre-struggling-to-lead-and-how-to-
improve-7dac0b810ff6
NoTosh Ltd NoTosh Australasia
Let’s start talking. 27 Lauriston Street
Edinburgh
PO Box 47
Collins Street West
hello@notosh.com EH3 9DQ Victoria 8007
United Kingdom AustraliaJoin us February-May
Read more on NoTosh’s Leading from the Middle course:
https://learn.notosh.com/leading_from_the_middle
Part 1: Learning what it takes to become a con dent leader
Find your cause and create your vision. Gather insight from those around you to work out
your starting point. Learn the productivity skills that will win you back an hour a week.
Part 2: Learn what it takes to put your leadership into action with a team
Make your ideas better through a Pre Mortem. Co-design Objectives and Key Results with
your team. Recruit the right people to your idea. Act agile and build momentum.
Part 3: Learn what it takes to in uence the system and grow your ideas to some
scale
Act more collaboratively: how to work together and enjoy it. Learn the communication
habits that generate trust and build relationships. Learn key negotiation tactics and how to
engage in hard conversations. Celebrate your successes and trade your learning.
Ask us for a discount for groups of ve or more, and members of certain education
associations: hello@notosh.com
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fiJoin Leading from the Middle each year, February-May. www.notosh.com
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