The Middle Leadership book has been well received
Product Details
In Middle Leadership for 21st Century Schools: From compliance to commitment, Bill Lowe sets out for middle leaders the essential elements of a contemporary leadership approach that will help them successfully navigate a rapidly changing educational landscape.
The position of middle leader is one of the most challenging in any workplace. But knowing how to lead a team effectively will ensure that you, as a middle leader, have the greatest possible impact both on your team and on school improvement.
In Middle Leadership for 21st Century Schools, Bill expertly combines the latest educational leadership research with anecdotal reports about a wide range of real-life school experiences, giving you the insights to help you establish yourself and strengthen your influence in the role. He shares impactful advice on boosting productivity – both your own and your team’s – and offers guidance on how to succeed through people-focused leadership, rather than by using data as a weapon.
Covering a range of issues – from dealing with conflict and difficult conversations to building and maintaining your professional image – this book reveals the “how” of leadership when applied to the day-to-day demands of the school setting.
Well-established leadership and management ideas are identified, alongside a wealth of powerful strategies that work in the modern education world – but this book also goes beyond that. Importantly, it uses your own experiences of being a leader and being led to illustrate key points so that the theories can be seen in practice.
Furthermore, the act of reflecting on practice and experience is built into this book, providing “honest reflection” and “current experience reflection” activities that invite you to consider things that you have seen, been subjected to and experienced first-hand during your time in education. You will also have opportunities to think about how you might have done things differently and how you will approach things in the future.
Suitable for both established and aspiring middle leaders in primary and secondary schools.
In ‘Middle Leadership for 21st Century Schools’, Bill Lowe demonstrates an assured understanding of what makes middle leadership distinctive. Lowe explores both the opportunities and the challenges the role presents, and discusses how to make the most of the former and how to develop strategies to address the latter, including from the perspective of the internally appointed.
I like the emphasis on effective change management, the practical advice on how to navigate potential resistance from those who may feel threatened, the focus on middle leaders’ capacity to make a contribution to system leadership, and the section on preparing to move into senior leadership. Lowe’s probing questions and specific examples, scenarios and case studies encourage honest and productive reflection on the part of the reader as they process their learning. He also explores how developing leaders learn from both positive and negative role models, and delves into the importance of the key dispositions of civility, humility, honesty, empathy, fairness and integrity.
I would have found this book an invaluable guide when I moved into my first middle leadership role, and can recommend it to those currently managing that transition.
Bill’s book highlights the importance and relevance of the changing nature of middle leadership in schools, effectively guiding the reader through the demands of the role. It encourages established leaders to reflect on and refine their practice, and is both a “bible” for the aspiring middle leader and a useful resource to support school leadership course requirements and projects.