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What is a cultivational leader?

Having mentioned 'cultivational leadership' in a few of my posts, and alluding to what it means, I thought that today it would be a good idea to go into a bit more detail, so I am going to write about the key characteristics of a cultivational leader.

Empathy - a cultivational leader will have empathy for all members of their team. As well as challenging them to be the best they can be they will always provide support wherever it is needed and in the form which best suits the member of staff.

Trust - cultivational leaders need to trust their staff to do their role without micromanaging them. They need to instil confidence in them to take risks and try new things, knowing that they will not be reprimanded for doing so.

Realism - with the constant pressure to improve results year on year it is very easy to lose focus on the fact that the children carry with them a lot of factors which may limit levels of progress. These factors can be addressed, and mitigated to some extent, but they cannot be completely eradicated. A cultivational leader will always be aware that they can only aim for their staff to be the best possible versions of themselves, and that this might be different to the leader's ideal scenario.

Determination - Cultivational leadership, with its focus on nurturing and support, can at times be mistaken for weakness. As a cultivational leader you must be prepared to step in and change your approach if it is required, and act if a member of the team is undermining the success of the organisation.

Relational - a cultivational leader understands that a successful organisation is built on a positive culture, which comes from positive relationships. They facilitate these by making expectations clear, by modelling them to all staff and by stepping in if negative behaviour is noted.

Patience - achieving results with cultivational leadership takes time, but the results will be more sustainable than results achieved using an approach achieved by a higher level of challenge without the support that cultivational leadership requires.

The cultivational approach to leadership can be applied to the staff team or to the pupils. It can also be used to achieve effective and long lasting school improvement. In my first book, as yet unpublished, I go into some detail regarding the specifics of these areas and I am hoping to expand on them further in my planned second book.

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