"WHAT MAKES A GOOD SCHOOL" Roy A. Gordon

“Forget about the Millennium. Let’s think about the next twenty-four hours.” Clem Sunter

THE SALVATION OF THIS HUMAN WORLD “The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in the human meekness and human responsibility. Without global resolution in human consciousness nothing will change for the better and the catastrophe towards which this world is headed will be unavoidable.” Vaclav Havel, Czech Republic

I have chosen seven pillars, or seven important pre-requisites 1. The Head Teacher, the Principal 2. The teaching staff & individual teacher 3. Student Leaders 4. The School Ethos 5. Activities – sport 6. Discipline 7. Humour Please note – I will deliberately leave the first point until last

I have chosen seven pillars, or seven important pre-requisites 1. The Head Teacher, the Principal 2. The teaching staff & individual teacher 3. Student Leaders 4. The School Ethos 5. Activities – sport 6. Discipline 7. Humour Please note – I will deliberately leave the first point until last

“As you look at growth predictions over time, we are going to need more and more leaders. Leadership is the biggest single constraint to growth at Johnson & Johnson (or in our schools), and it is the most critical business issue we face.” Ralph L Larsen, Chairman & CEO, J & J

 We must spend time choosing the best leaders for our schools  We must spend time training our best leaders  We must spend time training our executive team  We must spend time training our successors

“Planning is ongoing. Careful planning is useless….. unless it is followed by aggressive execution. Planning should not be an annual ritual…. but an ongoing conversation.”

Our planning will repeatedly miss the mark unless we ask the following questions.  Whom do we serve?  Why do we exist?  Why do we matter?  What do we offer?  What is our conversation?

Our “conversation” should be:  Open and honest  Non-defensive  Robust  Positive  Progressive  Tolerant  Alert

The above aspects of our “conversation” are essential if we are to sell ourselves, for this requires:  Confidence  Competence  Communication, and above all,  Credibility

There will always be competition  We must develop new value propositions  We must hold our existing supporters  We must fight for a new market

“This is the anxiety age - Don’t fight – ride it”

“Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.”

“The day soldiers (teachers) stop bringing you their problems, is the day you will stop leading them.”

“Real leaders make themselves accessible and available. They show concern for the efforts and challenges faced by underlings, even as they demand high standards. Accordingly, they are most likely to create an environment where problem analysis replaces blame.”

“ Don't be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess more data than judgement. Elites can become so inbred that they produce haemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world.”

Small companies (or schools) don't have the time for analytical experts. They don't have the money to subsidise lofty elites either.

“ You don't know what you can get away with until you try.”

“Organisation doesn’t really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavours succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds.”

In a brain-based economy your best assets are people. How many immerse themselves in the goal of creating an environment where the best, the brightest, the most creative are attracted, retained and, most importantly, unleashed?

“Fit no stereotypes, don't chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's mission.”

“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”

“Colin Powell's rules for picking people:”

“Looking for intelligence and judgement, and most critically, the capacity to anticipate, to see around corners.”

“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.”

“Analysis Paralysis”

“Have fun in your command. Don't always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you have earned it. Spend time with your family.”

“Roy Gordon, if you cannot find time to play golf with me once a week, either you are too small for the job, or the job's too big for you.” Toby Louw

“Command is lonely.” Accept that the buck stops here!

The four qualities of a Modern Head Teacher  Unwarranted optimism  Ability to regard crises as norm and complexities as fun!  An insatiable thirst for knowledge, and  A complete absence of paranoia or self-pity Tim Brighouse

“Keep Moving” “Being on the road in South Africa (in this world) is dangerous, but not as dangerous as standing still.” Sir Laurens van der Post - Bloemfontein 1994

“When We Fail” When you fail it doesn’t mean you will never make it. It just means you will have to do it differently. When you fail it doesn’t mean you will never succeed. It does mean it will take a little longer. When you fail it doesn’t mean you would be a fool to try again. It does mean calling upon all your spiritual reserves and courage and having another go. And finally, when you fail it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t answer your prayers for help. It does mean that God has a much better idea for you. Dr Robert Schuller

“If I believe the motivation for all I do” “ If I believe that the motivation for all I do, good or bad, comes from within me, not from the outside world, then, when I am miserable, I cannot claim that my misery is caused by uncaring parents, a boorish spouse, an ungrateful child, or a miserable job. If I were a machine, this claim might be valid. I could be programmed to feel good only if those I needed treated me well. But I am not a machine and, although I strongly desire good treatment from everyone in my life, if I don’t get what I want, it is my choice whether or not to be miserable.”

“No single man, no single group” “No single man, no single group, indeed no single community, can master today’s challenge. You do the best you can, proud of the special opportunity you have been given, hoping that your achievements will have added something to your community’s strength and its happiness and that your mistakes, or omissions, or commissions, will be corrected by your successor.” Lester Pearson – Former Prime Minister of Canada