As trust and school leaders, tightening budgets and the rising tide of complex societal challenges play on our minds daily. Too often, it feels like we are fighting these battles in isolation. What we’ve learned this year is that we are more effective when we choose collaborative endeavour instead.
Forum Strategy’s latest CEO system leadership programme has led us to a powerful, shared conviction: the most profound solutions to some of our most complex issues are not found in top-down directives but within our communities themselves.
As leaders, we must keep finding ways to encourage, grow and implement these local solutions. To that end, we are sharing a new paper focused on the power of place and the role of locality leadership in system- and community-led change and improvement.
It represents a fundamental shift in mindset from being a leader in a place to becoming a leader who is part of the fabric of that place.
As leaders of institutions at the heart of communities, we have a unique power to convene and connect. This means we also have a unique responsibility to step beyond our own organisational boundaries, because our schools cannot succeed if our communities are struggling.
Locality leadership means reframing our role from being solely accountable for our schools to being architects of local change and improvement. It means bringing together local businesses, public services, charities, community leaders, volunteers, and families to rally around a shared vision and defined outcomes for children and young people.
This kind of leadership demands a deep-seated professional generosity and a unique set of skills: curiosity, empathy, and humility; the honesty to admit we don’t have all the answers and the willingness to truly listen to the lived experiences of, and partner with, our families.
Our schools cannot succeed if our communities are struggling
It takes courage, to challenge the status quo and pursue what is right for our community, even when no one has asked us to. We call this ‘pure accountability’, a commitment driven by a sense of collective endeavour locally, going beyond standardised national performance tables or frameworks.
And it isn’t easy. It requires unwavering resilience to build robust networks and see complex, long-term projects through despite barriers.
The most common of these is the feeling that we simply don’t have the time or resources. But when we frame this work as crucial to tackling issues like attendance, wellbeing, engagement and attainmen, it ceases to be an add-on and becomes central to our core purpose.
Other common barriers include a fragmented system where competition can stifle collaboration, and a churn of national politics that can discourage long-term local work.
To overcome these, we have learned to focus on enablers: a shared, positive narrative with our partners, recognition of our community’s strengths, strong relationships built on trust and clear governance to ensure we maintain momentum and deliver on our promises.
Every trust and school leader can contribute, and this work can happen now without the need for a government directive. Here are six steps to get there:
Make it part of your organisation’s DNA
Make your commitment to community core to your strategic vision, with clear, measurable goals.
Champion ‘pure accountability’
Work with your community to define success on your own shared terms and hold yourselves accountable to those shared ambitions.
Build a community-focused culture
Weave this ethos into the roles and responsibilities of your staff, empowering them to contribute.
Map and nurture your local network
Identify your key partners and skilled volunteers, investing the time in building deep, focused, and impactful partnerships.
Ensure governance reflects community
A board that understands local nuance is one of your greatest assets.
Use your voice
Advocate for the system to better recognise and reward this vital place-based work.
Our trusts and schools thrive when they are at the heart of equally thriving communities. To transform one, we must transform the other. This is the challenge, but also the great opportunity, of locality leadership.
Read the full paper, The Power of Place here
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