Category: CEO’s Blog

Happy New Year to all my blog readers.  I was asked recently by a colleague associated with our Teaching School Hub and Research School for some details of my professional reading habits, and so I thought I would share a few recommendations more widely, via my blog here.

It is difficult to be too selective and, like many such lists we may see on social media as “tier lists” or the frustrations of guests on “Desert Island Disks” with regard to their music choices, I have struggled here. 

Taking some inspiration from “Desert Island Disks”, which allows the stranded island-dweller eight audio recordings, I’ve decided upon eight books.  I was also mindful of the quotation from French novelist and critic François Mauriac featured in the title to this blog and wanted to select books that I have not only read, but have also re-read (in two cases, several times). 

You will note from the list that there is no text here that specifically relates to the education sector, or educational leadership.  Whilst I read such books, I wanted to focus on more abstract – or universal – works that may contain messages for all of us, irrespective of our sectors or our roles, and a couple don’t relate to our working lives any more than our personal lives. 

Another consideration I had when whittling down to the final eight was to consider which work to select from authors where I have devoured all their books and could have picked several.  Wanting only one book per author, I had to make some tough choices – but I would hope that if you find one of these books valuable you may choose to explore the author(s) other work.  Specifically, this was most relevant in relation to Malcolm Gladwell (whose latest book “Revenge of The Tipping Point” I am reading, and enjoying, currently and whose original “Tipping Point” had a profound impact on my early days as a headteacher), John C Maxwell (whose “Five Levels of Leadership” I featured in a blog some years ago didn’t make the cut) and Sam Harris, where I could have very easily selected “The Moral Landscape” or “Free Will” instead of his essay on “Lying”. 

But, without further caveat and qualification, here are the eight:

• At The Existentialist Café – Sarah Bakewell (a great introduction to modern philosophy)
• David and Goliath – Malcolm Gladwell (engaging perspectives of the “underdog” myth)
• Gravitas – Caroline Goyder (thought-provoking on why some people command attention)
• 21 Lessons for the 21^st Century – Yuval Noah Harari (history turned into messages for us)
• Lying – Sam Harris (an essay on the costs we bear when we lie)
• The Advantage – Patrick Lencioni (team leadership, explored through compelling case study)
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership – John C Maxwell (a great jump-off introduction)
• Nudge – Richard H Thaler and Cass R Sunstein (the importance of “choice architecture”)

None of the above are, in my opinion, inaccessible linguistically or impenetrable conceptually.  It is their engaging style that is probably the single thing they have in common.  However, whilst none are academically “high-brow”, I would firmly reject any accusation that they were in any way frothy and insubstantial – but I will let you be the judge of that. 

I won’t review each one (there are plenty of reviews online for all of these eight choices), and it may be that when reading one of the above it leaves you cold.  Apologies for that! If however, any of these books – or the wider work of their authors – is a source of enjoyment and, even better, enrichment, that would be wonderful.  Our Trust has amongst its values one of “restlessness and curiosity”.  I hope you may be curious to learn more about at least one of these recommendations.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mike

This festive fortnight sees numerous end-of-term events across John Taylor MAT. Many of those events are school-specific: Christmas Fayres and concerts, nativities and other fun and games, but several are times we share together as a family of schools. 

This Friday sees our latest Exceptional Achievement Awards assembly, with more recipients than ever before.  With accomplishments ranging from sporting success and creative talent through to demonstrations of resilience through challenging times, it is an opportunity to celebrate some of the amazing children and young people it is our privilege to work alongside. 

Next week sees our annual Christmas Concert, with choirs and musicians from across our schools coming together for an evening of carol singing and performances that really generate the festive cheer in all who are there to see it.

Both of these celebratory events mark an enormous amount of hard work.  The Achievement Awards showcase talent, but also its application.  As the adage goes:

“the only place where ‘success’ comes before ‘work’ is in a dictionary”.

Vince Lombardi.

All the pupils and students in receipt of our awards have worked incredibly hard.  Likewise, the final performance at next week’s Christmas Concert is only possible through the hours of practice and rehearsal that pupils have undertaken.  In both cases, we see the output – but we have to acknowledge the input we don’t see.

This is true beyond our schools of course.  Following their latest defeat at last weekend, Gary Neville commented on Sky Sports that:

“Teams get what their work deserves in the Premier League.  Manchester United sit thirteenth in the table, and their running stats show they are sixteenth for distance covered.  They’re where they should be for their level of effort.”

For many years now, we have sought to inculcate the children and young people we educate and care for with a simple recipe for success: “turn up, work hard, be nice”.  All the individuals, young and old, in our communities can follow this recipe if they choose.  It doesn’t take talent or specific abilities, and it doesn’t take economic or other advantages.  Moreover, we all know what turning up, working hard, and being nice look and feel like. 

One of our Trust values is tenacity and resilience.  This, in effect, equates to “turn up, work hard, be nice – every day, even when it is difficult.”  So many in our communities and schools do this every day.

As the term closes, with so much to celebrate, I want to use this blog as an opportunity to thank all those who turn up, work hard, and are nice. They make our schools and communities the positive places that they are, and make them a pleasure and privilege to serve.

Thanks, as always, for reading – and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Mike.

One of the best aspects of working within a Multi-Academy Trust is the fact that efficiencies we create and working at scale enable us to do more for our schools than they would independently.  This includes a range of support resources for our schools on areas that affect them all.  For example, the work we have undertaken – from policy through to practice in our schools – around menopause awareness and support has been widely praised and appreciated as really impactful on employees and their families.

November sees a national focus upon men’s mental health, and at John Taylor MAT we are launching a series of resources and think pieces to stimulate the conversation, enhance awareness, further understanding and – critically – improve support. 

Back in September, I was invited to present at a staff meeting on the first day of the new academic year.  On that Monday, of all Mondays, many colleagues working in schools up and down the country do not feel at their best.  The summer break is over, and the new academic year begins – always with some uncertainty (new staff, new pupils, changes to policies and systems etc.) – but hopefully also with some excitement and enthusiasm.  I shared the poster depicted here, which I had found circulating social media.  It resonated with me, and I could see from the response of the staff that it resonated with a number of them also.   

“How your people feel” is a hard concept to grasp, and to quantify.  After all, “our people” are not homogenous, and there will be a spectrum of attitudes to work and life that span across and within our schools and teams.  In addition, how we “feel” is far from fixed.  Feelings are dynamic.  But, those caveats aside, the sentiment of the poster for me still rings true.  An organisation is measured by how its people feel about it, not how it declares it would want, hope or expect them to feel.

With 1200 employees, we have a duty of care to provide an environment conducive to the physical and mental wellbeing of all our stakeholders.  In relation to mental health, the charity Mind states that research indicates that approximately one in four people in England will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year.  NHS England in its Mental Health of Children and Young People in England (2023) report stated that 20.3% of eight to 16 year-olds had a probable mental health disorder, and among 17 to 19 year-olds that figure rose to 23.3%.  And whilst we know that mental health problems can affect any individual regardless of age, background or sex we also know that some groups are more susceptible to crises in their mental health.  The charity ManUp states on its website that “male suicide is a public health emergency.  In the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 and in 2022 three-quarters of all suicide deaths were male.”

You will appreciate from the above that a focus on mental health in men is important and worthwhile.  As an individual, I have been affected by mental health issues both professionally and personally – as will have most people. I have seen mental health crises in colleagues and friends and endeavoured to support them as best I could, experienced a childhood with mental health challenges in the family home, and had times when my own mental state was nowhere near as healthy as I would want.  I feel incredible gratitude to those who have supported me and those I care about through these times, and I feel comfortable sharing this with you as a result of their kindness and encouragement.  Not everyone is so fortunate, and in our schools and across our Trust the message needs to be very clear: that mental health is important, it is OK to not be OK, that healing is not linear but it is possible, and that we all deserve a life free from mental health struggles.

Please look out for our resources and work this month on men’s mental health.

Thanks, as always, for reading – and take care.

Mike.