9 Responses

1. As a Dean, my leadership is grounded in trust, connection and communication, ensuring a supportive and empowering environment for both rangatahi and staff.

   Trust is the foundation of strong relationships—earned through fairness, consistency and approachability. For students, it fosters confidence; for staff, it means unwavering support and reliability.

   Time management is crucial in balancing responsibilities amid increasing demands, ensuring I remain engaged with those in front of me with a solutions focus.

   Connection is key—I strive to understand each student’s strengths and challenges while fostering strong communication among staff. Clear, respectful dialogue ensures collaboration between students, whānau and colleagues.

   Leadership in education extends beyond shaping students’ futures; it involves empowering teaching staff in their professional growth to also do this. Leading with integrity, care and mentorship are key to cultivating a culture where both educators and students thrive—even in challenging circumstances.

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2. Three things I see as a priority as a leader in my role:

   Communication
   Effective communication is essential in my role. The way I convey key messages and information directly influences the success of the programmes implemented in schools. I must continuously adapt my communication style to suit different audiences and their specific needs, ensuring clarity, relevance, and impact.

   Building and Sustaining Collective Leadership
   A significant aspect of my role involves supporting others on their leadership journeys. This means empowering individuals to step into leadership roles within their own contexts and helping them develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to lead effectively. Fostering collective leadership ensures a stronger, more resilient system overall.

   Evaluating Practices in Relation to Outcomes
   Given the ongoing curriculum changes, this has become a critical focus. We have a valuable opportunity to evaluate current programmes, question their validity, and closely examine student achievement data. From there, we can trial new, research-informed approaches aimed at lifting and improving practice across the board.

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3. Communicating complex information in an accessible manner is paramount, as it fosters understanding and builds trust among team members. This open approach directly supports a relational leadership style, strengthening bonds and creating a collaborative environment. Empathy and active listening are essential complements, allowing leaders to connect with their team on a deeper level, understand their needs, and respond accordingly, solidifying those strong relationships.

   Simon Sinek’s principles seem to connect with this leadership approach. “Start with Why” encourages leaders to articulate the team’s purpose, aligning efforts with a shared vision that inspires and motivates. Creating “Circles of Safety,” where individuals feel protected and valued, is equally important. This fosters a sense of belonging and encourages open communication, allowing team members to take risks, share ideas, and contribute their best work.

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4. In my role as a Team Leader in my school, I believe the three main leadership skills that help me to be an effective leader are the following:
   1. Building and Sustaining High-Trust Relationships:
   High trust relationships exist when leaders are respected for their educational knowledge, their actions and values, and the way they engage respectfully with others with empathy and humility, fostering openness in discussions. I think that it is important that my team members feel that they can trust me and feel that I do listen and I am there to support them. I also think that it is important that as a leader , I “walk the talk” – If I have asked my team to do something or provide something on time, my team can see that I am putting my words into action—showing that I mean what I say by actively doing it myself.

   2. Communication –
   Effective communication is crucial in school leadership because it fosters trust, transparency, and collaboration, not only with my team but also with students, and families. I feel that it is important that my team know that they are being heard and listened to. Effective listening helps me to see issues from different viewpoints, recognise other people’s feelings, and appreciate them. Being an effective communicator decreases the fear associated with challenging conversations.

   3. Collaboration –
   Collaborative leadership is an important skill. I believe that when everyone is actively involved, the team feels more motivated and valued as they are being included in the decision-making. They also feel that they are valued for their contributions, and therefore if they feel heard and valued, they become more engaged and motivated. Working together with my team eliminates the need to handle challenges on my own and makes it easier to devise solutions. Collaboration also contributes to strong interpersonal relationships because colleagues learn to rely on each other for help, feedback and support.

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5. As a primary school team leader in New Zealand Aotearoa, several leadership capabilities are essential for effectively supporting my team, particularly in the context of rapid curriculum changes and continuous professional growth. Here are key capabilities and why they are crucial:
   1. Pedagogical Leadership
   With the 2025 curriculum refresh, I need to guide my team in deepening their pedagogical and content knowledge. This includes modelling best practices, facilitating professional learning, and ensuring alignment with curriculum changes.
   2. Adaptability and Change Leadership
   The fast-paced nature of educational reforms requires me to be flexible, embrace innovation, and help my team navigate change with confidence and resilience.
   4. Emotional Intelligence
   Understanding and managing your emotions, as well as those of your team, is key to maintaining morale, reducing resistance to change, and fostering a positive and collaborative work environment.
   7. Collaborative Leadership
   In a primary school setting, teamwork is essential. Leading through collaboration ensures shared ownership of challenges and solutions, promoting a strong, united teaching team.
   8. Cultural Responsiveness
   In the New Zealand context, understanding and integrating Te Ao Māori perspectives and honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles are fundamental to effective leadership and inclusive teaching practices.
   9. Resilience and Problem-Solving
   Challenges will arise, whether from curriculum changes, workload pressures, or team dynamics. Being solutions-focused and resilient ensures steady leadership through uncertainty.

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6. The four main leadership capabilities to me are integrity, empathy, humility, and collaboration. I believe that these capabilities and values shape, support and uplift others.
   Integrity means leading with honesty and strong ethical principles, even when no one is watching. I believe that it is important to treat all l team members with fairness, kindness, and respect, ensuring transparency in leadership. This also means leading by example, fostering trust through open communication and ethical decision-making.
   Empathy allows me as a leader to connect deeply with others, actively listening to their concerns and valuing their emotions. I strive to create an environment where individuals feel heard and supported, encouraging their personal and professional growth.
   Humility keeps me open as a leader to learning, admitting mistakes, and valuing my team’s contributions. Seeking honest feedback, acting on it, and recognising others’ achievements rather than taking credit myself is a key to good leadership. I believe in empowering my team by trusting them with responsibilities and encouraging their development.
   Collaboration is essential in leadership, as it fosters an inclusive environment where all voices are valued. Promoting teamwork and ensuring that individuals feel safe sharing ideas and perspectives is very important. By leveraging technology and close collaboration, good leaders strengthen connections and create a more innovative and supportive environment where everyone can thrive.
   Culturally responsive leadership is vital for good leadership and continues to strive to ensure that the team understands New Zealand’s cultural protocols while embracing diverse perspectives.

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7. I believe that valuable leadership skills include the ability to delegate, inspire and communicate effectively along with relationship building.
   As a leader you are always decision making, being empathy and the ability to trust your team members daily. And by leading by example, this can foster good open communication. As a leader you try to create a team culture of wellbeing that benefits everyone.

   Integrity is often seen as simply being honest. However, it also means having a strong set of values. Integrity in the workplace often means making ethical choices and helping the team maintain a positive working image.

   I feel good leaders often have to make decisions that don’t have a clear answer, requiring them to think outside the box. Leaders with creativity promote a free exchange of new ideas which inspire innovation and collaboration within the classroom and whole school.

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8. Effective leadership is driven by three key principles: demonstrating trust (Building and Sustaining High-Trust Relationships), expressing values, and modelling appreciation. Regular, open communication helps maintain this trust, preventing misunderstandings and building stronger, more resilient relationships. Ultimately, high-trust relationships thrive when leaders model appreciation, express value, and continuously seek to develop the potential of others, creating an environment where everyone feels empowered to contribute their best selves.

   Empathy is at the core of great leadership, with the focus shifting from “I” to “you,”. Placing priority on people over tasks and seeking to develop the potential within each individual. Understanding the unique value that people bring, and acknowledging their contributions, is essential for creating an environment of growth and success. Building and sustaining high-trust relationships is foundational to effective leadership and teamwork. Trust is earned over time through consistent actions, transparent communication, and genuine empathy. To foster trust, I must demonstrate reliability, be open and honest, and express genuine appreciation for others’ contributions. This involves prioritising people over tasks, listening actively, and showing that you value their unique qualities.

   Communication plays a vital role—when it stops, imagination steps in, and this can cause havoc within your team. I must ask how they can demonstrate trust and transparency, actively collaborate with others, and provide genuine encouragement. Building a culture of ‘I love to go to school’ means bringing people’s best selves to work every day while addressing any feelings of being undervalued. People want to grow their capabilities and contribute meaningfully.

   Embracing modelling appreciation these can be acts of service, words of affirmation, quality time, and gifts—helps to deepen connections and foster an environment where individuals feel both valued and appreciated, creating a strong foundation for success and succession within a team. I have been on the receiving end of appreciation of words and gifts and how much they mean, so I do the same for my team.

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9. I describe these 3 main leadership capabilities as requisites to be the most effective in my current leadership context:

   * Building and Sustaining High-Trust Relationships

   Trust is built by taking the time to understand the individual and their whakapapa. By seeing people in your team as individuals, you can unpack their values, morals, opinions, and motivations to better understand where they are coming from. Maintaining high personal integrity and being open and honest helps cement those mutual relationships where collaboration,problem-solving, and robust learning conversations thrive.

   It is important to build and sustain belief and trust within my whanau team that they will deliver high standards of work, focus on raising student achievement, and be professional.

   *Having a learning disposition

   Being new to my leadership role, I am open to learning through observing my colleagues and having rich and robust conversations with them, where information can be shared transparently. Looking at different perspectives, not just my own, is essential in leadership to achieve a common goal. “Becoming a leader is a learning process that involves personal and social learning that never ends” really resonated with me. I also really liked the words -reframing, connecting, reviewing, and revisiting as important terms when learning in a sometimes unpredictable and changing environment.

   *Communication

   Being an active listener where I take on board what is being said and act on it, to support my team with individual solutions. This will not only empower but also allow for ownership and autonomy.
   I think it is important to create a space where honest, courageous, and sometimes difficult conversations can be had. Allowing for ideas to be shared and troubleshooting of problems in a safe environment.

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