Pipelines
Pools
Reservoirs
PIPELINES
Succession Planning
Ensuring the right person is
in the right place
at the right time
for the right reasons
Succession Planning Patterns
Continuity
Discontinuity
Planned
(purposeful)
Planned Continuity
Planned Discontinuity
Unplanned
Unplanned
Continuity
Unplanned Discontinuity
(accidental/unintentional)
Hargreaves & Fink, Sustainable Leadership, 2006, Jossey Bass
POOLS
Succession Management
Succession management involves the long
term development of a pool of well
prepared, contextually sensitive, dedicated
leaders who are available for promotion
whenever the need arises within an
organization
Succession Management
identify
transitions
recruit
Appraisal
(Feedback)
&
support
celebrate
develop
select
induct
Models of Leadership Support
•Sink or swim’
•‘Moving, mentoring and monitoring’
• ‘Spray and pray’
•Learning in action
•Corporate Academies
CORWIN
LEADERSHIP FOR MORTALS
Values
Learnings
Qualities
Trajectories
Commitment
Succession Management
WHAT DOESN’T CHANGE
• Commitment
• Values
WHAT MUST CHANGE
• Qualities
• Learnings
• Trajectories
Leaders’ Learnings
•
•
•
•
•
•
Understanding learning
Contextual knowledge
Critical thinking
Futures thinking
Political acumen
Emotional
understanding
• Making connections
Stoll, Fink & Earl (2002)
Induction
I had a brief meeting with
the previous head teacher
and during that meeting he
gave me three big bunch of
keys, told me the
combinations to all the door
locks and gave me a list of
parents who would cause
me grief and that was it.
It’s staggering to think
about. But that was it- that
was his handover process.
Before I took over, Debbie spent
almost five days with me. By the
time she left she wanted to be able to
say that I knew everything I needed
to know to take her place, but I could
still call. One day I told her I just
want to come, she didn’t even need
to be here, I just wanted to walk
through the building so I came and I
walked through the building and got
a feeling for it and talked to the few
people that were here in July. The
second time I came she took me
around and, she introduced me to
more people.
CELEBRATION
Availability of counselling and coaching for exiting
leaders
Quick, clear and open communication of reasons for
departure
Acceptance of emotional confusion and vulnerability
Celebration of the leader’s contributions
Recognition that succession is subject to the four stages
of grief – denial, awakening, reflection and execution
Confrontation of the Messiah and Rebecca myths
Prepares oneself and others early for the possibility of
succession
Hargreaves & Fink, 2006
2. Endurance
Succession Planning
(transitions)
Ensuring the right person is
in the right place
at the right time
for the right reasons
Good succession plans
•
•
•
•
•
Prepare early
Give people proper time to prepare
Incorporate into all school improvement plans
Should be responsibility of many
Should reflect the school’s existing stage of
development
• Are linked to clearly defined leadership standards
Succession
Successful Succession Management
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Distributes leadership effectively
Builds strong professional communities
Deepens and broadens the pools of leadership talent
Establishes leadership development schools
Stresses future leadership competencies
Supports and sponsors aspiring school leaders
Replaces charismatic leadership with inspirational
leadership
• Plans early for the incumbent leader’s exit
• Moderates and monitors leadership succession
frequency
2. Endurance
RESERVOIRS
Distributed Leadership
sees leadership practice as a product of the
interaction of school leaders, followers and their
situation.
• Leadership practice involves multiple individuals
within and outside formal leadership positions
• Leadership practice is not done to followers. Followers
are themselves part of leadership practice.
• It is not the actions of individuals, but the interactions
among them that matter most in leadership practice.
Spillane, 2005
HIGH
Autocracy
D
E
S
I
G
N
?
LOW
?
Anarchy
HIGH
EMERGENCE
Raising the temperature of
distributed leadership
Too hot
Anarchy
Assertive distribution
Emergent distribution
Guided distribution
Progressive delegation
Traditional delegation
Autocracy
Too cold