By Harry V. McKay, Jr.,
Education Leadership Coach/Consultant
By David Dougherty,
Director, Executive Coaching Program
When faced with an unexpected void in head of school leadership, should you fast track a search, promote someone from within, or hire an interim head? Fast-tracking a head of school search seems plausible at first. If your independent school is established, it’s financially stable, your student population is growing, and it’s located in a great city with a sterling reputation. It should be simple to hire a new head of school, right?
The realities of quickly replacing a head of school aren’t simple, though. The current pool is smaller than might be imagined due to expected retirements. In 2018, three in ten heads of school were 60 years old or older. The younger, highly educated, and perhaps qualified leaders behind them, are increasingly weighing the benefits and finding it difficult to justify living with the many stresses of the head of school position.
Fast Tracking the Head of School Search
Voids in headship occur for many reasons, but most are due to illness, injury, death, or sudden change of mind resulting in a sooner-than-later retirement, a quiet “counseling out,” or a misstep or scandal resulting in the removal of the head of school. Voids may not be strategic, nor do they necessarily follow a tidy transition plan. Many times, the optics are bad, nerves are usually frayed, and it is darn near impossible to keep all the school balls in the air on a day-to-day basis once the news is shared with the school community.
A normal head of school search takes from 12 to 14 months, with an announcement of the new head by January, six months before the person assumes duties. For a fast-tracked search, expect half the time and few avenues for effective recruitment because publication deadlines are missed, conference recruiting tables are full, and, in an industry based largely on relationships, you’ve probably missed the window for personal calls.
Chances are, the most qualified, most talented, most experienced, and most charismatic educational leaders were scooped up by January. Expect that most educational leaders have either signed their letters of agreement for the next school year or at least indicated to their employer that they will be there another year. If you find someone who is willing to break an agreement and walk away from a school, which is highly unusual, you need to ask why. Yes, a fast-track head search seems so easy – until you try one.
Promoting From Within
Schools also might consider the viability of promoting someone from within the school’s leadership team to the head of school position and interim head position. However, replacing the head with one of the school’s mid-management team members could place a tremendous burden on the remaining team, resulting in problematic performance in critical areas.
Since the team was not designed for a sudden move or a shift in expertise without thoughtful retraining, team members will be uncomfortable or less effective with new expectations and responsibilities. Since the vertical and horizontal alignment of curriculum, duties, planning, and management within a school is relatively small, complicated, and critical for student performance, it would be impossible to measure lost school opportunities that could result when leaders are suddenly shifted within a school. A once productive, cohesive mid-management team and the faculty and staff below them can become disjointed and wrought with infighting and jealousy. A board must ask, “If these professionals could move to these positions, why aren’t they there now?”
Likewise, what happens to an in-house interim head of school after the permanent head is named? How will that employee feel about returning to her/his former position? What happens to relationships and experiences formed during the interim year?
For the in-house interim head, it’s no more “for-your-ears-only” conversations with board members and no more days of dreaming about the future of the school. How can the remaining faculty and staff happily move back to their original positions? Will they continue to privately go to the former interim head for direction? How will the new head of school relate to the former in-house interim head and make sense of complicated and shifting interpersonal relationships?
Hiring an Interim Head of School
Interim heads of school are seasoned professionals with a prestigious history of leadership, a network of professional colleagues, a broad range of expertise, and the wisdom only years working as a head of school can provide. Interim heads are hired for a year or two to:
Create or maintain the school’s direction, vision, organization, or strategy
Complete on-going large-scale projects; overhaul a department or program
Deliver board training, or
Provide the inspiration faculty need to create not-to-be-missed educational experiences for students.
In addition, interim heads provide confidence for the board of trustees, school families, and faculty while keeping the school moving forward. They also can provide a respite of time, quiet fears brought on by change, quell concern over outside candidates, and alleviate the rush for appropriate candidates.
Learn about the benefits of an interim head.
A head of school transition is a major event in any school, whether it has long been anticipated or occurs unexpectedly. Hiring the leader is one of the most important responsibilities of a board of trustees to ensure the integrity of the long-term mission of the school. As we all know, the leader sets the tone for everything that occurs in any organization. Giving serious consideration to the alternatives possible for finding that right school leader at such transition junctures ideally sets the pathway toward ultimate success!
Connect with Katherine Stuart, President, The Education Group, to learn more about the benefits of hiring an interim head. katherine@educationgroup.com
At The Education Group, we are experts in leading and guiding schools through searches for interim heads and permanent heads. Our consultants have held positions both as heads of schools and as interim heads – and understand the nature and needs of both positions. We tailor our searches, executive coaching for new heads and board chairs, and consulting services to your school’s needs to promote a smooth and effective leadership transition.
Learn how we can help your school.