The mainstream press distinguishes two kinds of headteachers: superheads and failures.

And teachers could be forgiven for thinking that “failure” was almost inevitable. “Disadvantaged schools are ‘career suicide’ for headteachers” read one headline in 2014. “There seems to be no one I can turn to when things go wrong” read another the following year.

But what if we didn’t look only at extremes when discussing headship? In my time at the Future Leaders Trust, I have seen hundreds of leaders at different stages of their journeys to headship. Many talented, committed teachers doubt that they are able to take that step up, often because of the false superhead/failure dichotomy.

We shouldn’t play down the immense responsibility taken on by heads. They can set the course of a whole school, and impact on the life chances of students. But no one is born ready for headship.

Great leaders often have innate qualities (personal drive, emotional maturity, self-awareness) that lend themselves to leadership, but the making of any leader is their experiences - and often their mistakes.

At Randal Cremer Primary in Hackney, East London, growth mindset is a core part of the school culture, and even the youngest pupils can describe what it means in practice. Headteacher Jo Riley recalls hearing a parent asking her six-year-old son why he had made mistakes in his exercise book. He replied, “Don’t you know you have to make mistakes to improve?”

Embodying growth mindset

All teachers want their students to develop a growth mindset - but school leaders must embody it, too. The experiences that will help you to become an effective and inspirational head are all around you. For example, taking on whole-school responsibilities, even when these feel daunting.

If you ask for regular feedback, draw on the experience of other leaders and are willing to learn from your mistakes, the skills needed to be a successful head - from resilience to financial management - can be developed.

When I was 28 years old and working for the Camelot Group, I moved to South Africa to set up their inaugural National Lottery. It was a leap into the unknown. Was I entirely ready? No, but we grew from a team of five to 200 in six months and launched successfully.

The learning curve was as steep as any I’ve known, and at times I made mistakes. But my experiences there, seen through the lens of a growth mindset, helped me to grow into the leader I am today.

In the coming months I plan to discuss some of the skills and qualities great heads need and how you might go about building them. I will draw on experience from all my roles, both within the education sector and from commerce, as well as relying on the expertise of headteachers, those seeking headship and leadership development experts - and sometimes the wise words of six-year-olds.

Headship is not as clear cut as success or failure, let’s start dispelling that myth.

Jacqueline Russell is the acting chief executive of the Future Leaders Trust

This is an article from the 6 May edition of TES. This week’s TES magazine is available in all good newsagents. To subscribe, click here. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here

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