Leading the Strategically Focused School : Success and Sustainability

by Brent Davies

• ISBN13: 9781849208093
• ISBN10: 1849208093
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-04-19
• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd

Summary

Strategic leadership is a critical component in the effective development of schools. This book focuses on building strategic capability within the school in order to ensure long-term success and sustainability. Drawing upon Brent Davies's extensive experience in presenting nationally and internationally to school leaders, this book distils the collective wisdom from educationalists across the globe.Updated with new international examples and references and a significant new chapter on developing strategic talent in schools, the book has been described as a 'must read' for existing and aspiring school leaders.The book focuses on:- establishing processes for building whole school involvement- strategic approaches to build capacity in your school- building and sustaining strategic leadership throughout the school- developing strategic talent in schools- characteristics of strategically focused schoolsThis book is an indispensable read for school leaders who want to focus on bringing sustainable improvement to their school.

Author Biography

Brent Davies is Professor of Leadership Development at the University of Hull.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. xii
About the author	p. xiv
Acknowledgements	p. xv
Preface to the second edition	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Why a strategic and sustainable approach is necessary	p. 1
Key questions	p. 4
What is meant by leading for sustainable strategic success?	p. 10
Why be a strategic and sustainable school?	p. 10
Success	p. 10
Sustainability	p. 12
Strategy	p. 14
Leadership - strategic leadership - sustainable leadership	p. 17
Case example - one school, two leaders	p. 21
Implications of the case study	p. 23
Building a framework for leading a strategically focused school for success and sustainability	p. 23
Start with values and beliefs	p. 25
Vision	p. 25
Values and beliefs	p. 29
A school example	p. 30
Values and beliefs and the leader	p. 32
Setting values and beliefs in a strategic context	p. 34
Values and beliefs are driven by a 'passion' to turn them into reality	p. 36
Conclusion	p. 37
Strategic processes: overview	p. 38
Overview of all the strategic processes	p. 38
Strategic processes: conceptualizing	p. 41
Introduction	p. 41
Reflecting: where are we?	p. 42
Strategic thinking: where could we be?	p. 44
Analysis: what do we know?	p. 47
New mental models: how can we explain it?	p. 49
Conclusion	p. 51
Strategic processes: engaging the people	p. 52
Introduction	p. 52
The flow of participation	p. 53
Strategic conversations	p. 53
Strategic participation	p. 58
Strategic motivation	p. 60
Strategic capability	p. 62
Conclusion	p. 63
Strategic processes: articulating	p. 64
Oral articulation	p. 64
Written articulation	p. 67
Structural articulation	p. 69
Conclusion	p. 72
Strategic approaches	p. 73
Introduction	p. 73
Strategic planning	p. 74
Emergent strategy	p. 76
Strategic intent	p. 78
Strategic intent and core competencies/strategic capabilities	p. 86
A conceptual framework - integrating the perspectives	p. 89
Conclusion	p. 91
Strategic leadership	p. 93
Introduction	p. 93
Understanding strategy and strategic leadership	p. 94
Strategic leadership: findings from the research	p. 95
Conclusion - creating a model for strategic leadership	p. 107
Developing strategic leadership	p. 110
Learning activities to develop leadership talent	p. 112
A deeper understanding of leadership development	p. 114
Stages in leadership development	p. 119
Conclusion	p. 122
Deploying and implementing strategy	p. 123
Introduction	p. 123
What strategic implementation strategy should do	p. 123
Implementation - basic factors	p. 124
Implementation - people factors	p. 125
Implementation - organizational factors	p. 128
Conclusion	p. 140
A strategically focused school	p. 141
The fellowship of the nine	p. 141
Develop a culture of sustainability	p. 142
Balance the short term and the long term	p. 144
Develop strategic measures of success	p. 147
Be morally driven	p. 149
Focus on learning	p. 152
Pay attention to strategic processes and approaches	p. 154
Be a strategic talent developer	p. 159
Be part of a networked system	p. 161
Develop sustainable strategic leadership across the school	p. 163
Conclusion - Whatever happened to Peter and Jane?	p. 166
References	p. 167
Index	p. 172
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