When I 'fvcked up': leadership mistakes

When I 'Fvcked Up'...

Last week I posted about the recent 'Fvcked Up' event I attended in Plymouth and promised to write a post about my past blunders.

So here are some of my mistakes, and what I've learnt from them...

Thankfully, I can't remember most of my 'fvck ups' so hopefully they weren't too awful. But here are some of the ones that do stick in my memory...

😬 The time that I made some terrible appointments to lunchtime supervisor roles due to the quality of the field. I should have known what would happen when candidates told me that they ran in the corridors, and weren't flexible and adaptable!! (Yes really) 😅

🔸 Leadership lesson: don't compromise when appointing staff. It's always better to re-advertise or even go without!

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😬 The time when I inflexibly applied a school protocol about not replying to a parental complaint out of school hours. In this case, the complaint came from a distressed colleague, who was also a parent, and my lack of response significantly damaged our relationship.

🔸 Leadership learning: context is everything. In this case, the parent was also a member of staff, and she needed to be heard urgently.

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😬 The time I lost my cool with an angry, abusive parent. It only made everything worse.

🔸Leadership learning: listen, listen, listen, but don't be drawn into responding when emotions are high. Say that you take their concerns seriously and will investigate further.

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😬 The time I allowed a colleague's performance to slide for too long before taking action. In this case, I had been promoted from an Assistant Head to the headteacher, and I found it really hard to address underperformance as I hadn't sufficiently shifted my relationship with a colleague and friend. When I finally did, the conversation changed everything for the better.

🔸 Leadership lesson: Holding to account is vital. It is the one of the main ways in which you can achieve success, while also ensuring that staff feel safe within clear boundaries.

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😬 The time I believed what I was being told, but didn't check, resulting in a horrible surprise.

🔸 As a leader it's so important that you check and verify things regularly to quality assure standards. If you don't monitor something, it will inevitably become a lower priority for staff, and quality will dip.

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🤔 When did you last 'fvck up'? What did you learn?