Page 12 - Leadership Basics Educative Leadership

Conversation 1

The school had been through a difficult time. The last principal had been out of his depth: he had
come from an English Grammar School and simply could not make the transition to working in a
multicultural context in Asia. To top off his problems his wife left him to return to the UK. A new
principal, Mr. Smyth, was appointed to rectify the problems of the school.
On his first day Mr. Smyth called the senior staff into his office. He said, “Let’s be clear, this school
is in a mess. You’ve lost your best teachers. You have overspent the budget. You’ve
disenfranchised the children's parents. I’m here to get things back on track. When you’re in this
office with the door closed you can say whatever you want to me, you can disagree with my
decisions and you can argue with me all night. BUT when you are outside this office you will give
me 100% loyalty and support and you will not in any way question what we are doing. We will
have a strong united culture in this school. Are we clear?”

Discuss this leader’s position.
In particular, how would you respond as one of the senior leaders in this school?

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