Leadership by Example
As a school leader we know that you are faced with many different challenges on a day-to-day basis. That’s why we have developed this practical guide to help you look after your own wellbeing and actively facilitate the wellbeing of your staff.
The guide will help you with issues such as professional development, work-life balance, managing stress, delegation, dealing with inspections, managing change, and communication with staff.
We also have an online self assessment tool – Lead by example. This will help you to think about possible areas of your working life that could do with some extra focus to increase levels of wellbeing that you and your colleagues experience at work.
In Memory of Graham Hollows
This online guide is funded by the colleagues, pupils, friends and family of Graham Hollows, much-loved and respected headteacher at Stoke Mandeville Combined School, who died suddenly and tragically in November 2009, aged 48.He was a supporter of Teacher Support Network for many years and recognised the important work that the charity does.
The children at Stoke Mandeville recall how he involved himself in their day-to-day activities - he chose to eat his lunch with them, took part in the school talent show and joined in with their field trip activities. They remember him as "a kind and considerate man, and a brilliant headmaster." The governors described him as an inspirational man of vision and purpose, with multiple projects underway and a great future planned for Stoke Mandeville.
His style of leadership was thoughtful, sensitive and quietly charismatic, exerting a calming influence on his staff. They were grateful to him for his trust in their ability to do the job without constant supervision or intervention, and he was always ready to praise those who repaid that trust. A member of the senior management team at Stoke Mandeville said "he enabled the staff to develop and grow - to bring out the best in us. Without his care and guidance, we would not have truly seen our worth or even valued skills that Graham could see within us. For that I will always be deeply grateful."
He loved his job as a teacher and headteacher and is sadly missed by those who knew him in both his work and personal life. This guide is a memorial to him.