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Evaluating a Head of School

  • Writer: Laura Mitchelson
    Laura Mitchelson
  • May 14
  • 2 min read

What are helpful criteria for evaluating a head of school? If we assume a Leadership 360 is going to give us a good range of evidence, these are some of the criteria I'd be looking at:



Vision

  • Translates the school's vision and mission into meaningful objectives for departments and individuals

  • Is the guiding influence on the school's culture

  • Is adept at horizon scanning and long-term strategic planning

  • Has a deep appreciation for the competitive landscape

  • Produces effective crisis management plans

  • Can quickly analyse and simplify large amounts of information

  • Spends time on activities that leverage the most output

  • Creates conditions under which the school can become more efficient



Talent Development and People Management

  • Makes deliberate investments in staff professional development

  • Has a strong talent development mindset

  • Is good at hiring

  • Shows excellent support to poor performers

  • Has a deep understanding of what good performance looks like across academic and business management functions


Communication and Collaboration

  • Achieves the right balance of formal and informal communication

  • Is good at getting buy in

  • Shares information in a balanced way

  • Fosters productive dialogue

  • Uses data driven visualizations to make insights actionable



Inclusion

  • Leads equitably

  • Is able to weave inclusion into the school at all levels

  • Creates a meaningful sense of belonging

  • Celebrates others’ wins



Emotional Intelligence

  • Takes time to self reflect

  • Has awareness of their own cognitive biases

  • Is strong at determining the emotional state of those around them

  • Is able to show vulnerability

  • Believes in their own strength, talent and skills

  • Is capable of setting appropriate boundaries



Adaptability

  • Is calm in a crisis

  • Acts quickly and has the ability to pivot when things are not working out

  • Does the right amount of ‘heroing’



Ethics

  • Does the right thing even when it’s not the easy thing

  • Keeps to agreements

  • Tackles interpersonal issues that impact the school’s mission

 
 
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