School Improvement → Dr Jake Madden

The perfectionism trap in school leadership

Many school leaders were high-performing teachers. They built trust by being reliable, precise, and thorough. That strength can turn into a constraint when every task needs one more review.

In leadership, waiting for perfect conditions often means not moving at all. A delayed decision does not feel dramatic. Yet delays stack up, and momentum drops.

When “quality” becomes over-control

Perfectionism often hides behind good intentions. You tell yourself you are protecting the standard. Sometimes you are. Other times, you are protecting your discomfort with releasing something unfinished.

A policy needs to be accurate, compliant, and clear. It does not need to be elegant. A parent message needs warmth, facts, and direction. It does not need to read like a published essay.

The real cost of chasing perfect

Perfectionism has a price, even when it looks responsible. The cost is usually paid in time, energy, and stalled implementation.

Here are common patterns and what they create:

Rewriting documents too many times leads to slow implementation.
Holding decisions for ideal timing reduces momentum.
Seeking full agreement before action weakens clarity.
Over-polishing communication drains leadership attention.
Avoiding release until flawless keeps useful work hidden.

A good curriculum guide used by teachers beats a perfect guide still in draft. A clear policy in use beats a refined policy under review. A timely update beats a late one with perfect formatting.

Good enough leadership sets the right standard

Good enough leadership still requires judgement. Some work demands precision, and you should not cut corners. Safeguarding, child protection, legal matters, high-stakes assessment, and risk management must be checked carefully.

The key is to match the standard to the risk and the purpose. Not every task needs the same level of polish.

A simple readiness check

Before you delay, ask five questions:

Is this safe?
Is this clear?
Is this accurate?
Is this aligned with our values?
Is more polishing changing the outcome?

If you can answer “yes” to the first four, you may be ready to ship. If the fifth is “no”, it is time to release.

Why “done” can be more respectful

There is professional respect in delivering on time. Teachers need clarity to plan. Parents need information to respond. Students need systems that work day to day.

Delays create uncertainty. They also send a message, even if you do not mean it. The message can sound like your need for control matters more than the team’s need for direction.

Good enough leadership protects the people waiting for the work. It keeps the school moving.

Practise disciplined release

Disciplined release means setting a threshold before you start. It stops the task from expanding without limit. It also protects your leadership bandwidth for what only you can do.

Examples of useful thresholds

“This newsletter must be accurate, warm, and sent by 4 pm.”
“This policy must be compliant, usable, and approved by the deadline.”
“This curriculum guide must be detailed enough to start planning.”
“This agenda must drive decisions, not updates.”

These standards are not vague. They are specific and functional.

Try this in your school this week

Pick one item you are still polishing. Name the true standard it requires. Then name what is simply discomfort.

Use these prompts:

What does this need for safety?
What does it need for clarity?
What does it need for integrity?
What am I still polishing that does not change the outcome?
Who is waiting for this to move?

Then release it. Improve it later, while it is in use.

Key takeaways

Good enough leadership protects quality without worshipping perfection.
Perfectionism delays work that people need now.
The right standard depends on safety, clarity, accuracy, and integrity.
Leaders should polish only when polishing improves impact.
A useful decision made in time often beats a perfect decision made late.

The Leadership Cost of Solving Everything

Leadership discernment is one of the hardest skills for school leaders to develop. Not because leaders lack judgement, but because schools reward responsiveness. A parent complaint arrives. A staff tension grows. A timetable issue needs resolving. A resourcing gap creates pressure. Each problem feels urgent, human, and worthy of attention.

In isolation, responding seems reasonable. Taken together, these moments can quietly reshape the role. The leader becomes less strategic and more reactive. The day becomes a sequence of interruptions. The school starts to depend on one person’s capacity to absorb pressure.

That is not sustainable leadership. It is operational firefighting dressed as commitment.

The quiet trap of fixing everything

Many school leaders enter the profession with a strong service mindset. They want to help. They want to protect staff, reassure parents, and support students. This instinct is good. It reflects care, responsibility, and moral purpose.

Yet the same instinct can become a leadership trap.

When every issue lands with the principal, the system learns a pattern. People bring problems upward before solving them locally. Staff wait for permission. Middle leaders defer. Parents escalate faster. Over time, the leader becomes the clearing house for decisions that should sit elsewhere.

This is where leadership discernment matters. The question is not, “Can I solve this?” In many cases, you can. The better question is, “Should I be the one to solve this?”

The cost of constant fixing

The first cost is attention. School leadership requires clear thinking, pattern recognition, and strategic focus. These do not grow in a day filled with constant reaction.

Attention is not limitless. It is a finite resource. When leaders spend it on every operational issue, less remains for the work only they can do. That includes shaping culture, developing leaders, improving teaching, and aligning the school around its core priorities.

The second cost is capacity. When leaders solve too much, others grow too little. A middle leader who is not trusted to resolve staff tension will not build confidence. A teacher who never works through a parent concern will not develop professional judgement. A team that always waits for direction will not become more capable.

The third cost is culture. A school can become dependent on heroic leadership. At first, this may look impressive. The leader is visible, responsive, and involved. Yet heroics often hide weak systems. If the school only functions because one person is always available, the leadership model is fragile.

Discernment before action

Leadership discernment is not avoidance. It is not stepping back from responsibility. It is the disciplined practice of deciding where leadership attention is best placed.

Before acting, ask three questions:

Question	Leadership purpose
Does this require my decision?	Clarifies role and authority
Can this be solved closer to the problem?	Builds local ownership
What will others learn if I do not step in?	Develops capacity and judgement

These questions create a pause. That pause matters. It helps leaders move from automatic response to purposeful action.

Sometimes the answer will still be clear. The leader must act. Safeguarding, serious conflict, reputational risk, legal concerns, and major strategic decisions require senior leadership involvement. Discernment does not mean delegation without care.

Yet many problems do not need the most senior person in the room. They need the right person, closest to the context, with enough support to act well.

The discipline of not solving

One of the most mature leadership moves is choosing not to solve something immediately. This can feel uncomfortable. Leaders are often praised for decisiveness. They are less often praised for restraint.

Yet restraint can be deeply strategic.

When a staff member brings a problem, the leader can ask, “What have you tried so far?” When a middle leader seeks direction, the leader can ask, “What do you think is the best next step?” When a team escalates a routine issue, the leader can ask, “Who is closest to this problem?”

These questions shift ownership. They also communicate trust.

Leadership discernment helps leaders avoid becoming the answer to every question. It invites others to think, decide, and grow. This is how schools build leadership depth. Not through slogans about distributed leadership, but through daily decisions about who gets to carry responsibility.

Protecting attention as a leadership act

There is a false belief that the busiest leader is the most committed leader. Schools often reinforce this. The leader who answers every email, attends every meeting, and solves every issue appears dedicated.

But busyness is not the same as impact.

The most sustainable schools are not led by the busiest person in the building. They are led by someone who protects their attention for the work that matters most.

That means creating boundaries. It means clarifying decision rights. It means coaching others before rescuing them. It means accepting that some problems may be solved differently from how you would solve them.

That last point is important. If leaders delegate only when others will act exactly as they would, they are not building capacity. They are seeking compliance. Growth requires space for others to practise judgement.

A practical focus for the week

This week, choose one leadership moment where your usual instinct is to step in.

Pause before acting.

Ask yourself:

Does this need my decision?
Who is closest to the problem?
What support would help them solve it?
What risk am I managing by stepping back?
What capacity might grow if I do not intervene?

Then act with intention. You may still need to guide, coach, or clarify. But resist the urge to own the whole problem.

At the end of the week, measure your leadership differently. Do not only count what you fixed. Count what you deliberately did not solve.

That measure may reveal something important. It may show where your school is ready to grow. It may show where your systems need strengthening. It may show where your own leadership habits need review.

Key takeaways

Leadership discernment helps leaders protect their attention and build stronger teams.
Solving every problem can weaken capacity across the school.
The goal is not to withdraw, but to place responsibility where it belongs.
A sustainable school does not depend on one heroic leader.
It grows when many people learn to think, decide, and act well.

Want more? Try Ensuring Authenticity in the Age of AI: Redesigning Assessment for a Human Touch or Leadership Echo and Organisational Culture

Why teacher wellbeing and agency now sit at the centre

Workload is not experienced as a spreadsheet. It is experienced as broken attention, shortened patience, and late-night planning. When leaders understate this, staff feel unseen.

UNESCO estimates the world will need 44 million additional primary and secondary teachers by 2030. That includes replacing many who leave the profession. This is a sustainability issue, not only a recruitment one.

Lens one: name the pressure clearly

Teaching has always required care and judgement. Now it also sits inside constant change and rising complexity. Teachers juggle curriculum, assessment, inclusion, wellbeing, family expectations, compliance, and digital systems.

Pressure shows up in small ways that matter:

thinking time disappears
planning becomes rushed
feedback becomes thinner
emotional residue follows teachers home

Naming this reality is not pessimism. It is respect.

What leaders can remove, not add

If you want to protect teacher wellbeing and agency, start by cutting low-value tasks. Look for work that is duplicated, unclear, or done only for appearance.

Common examples include:

meetings without decisions
data tasks that no one uses
reporting that repeats other reporting
initiatives that compete for the same time

The risk of staying only in survival mode

If every conversation centres on burnout, teachers can become defined by depletion. The story becomes, “We are coping,” not “We are improving.” That framing shrinks professional identity.

It can also lead to shallow responses. A morning tea does not reduce cognitive overload. A wellbeing poster does not create planning time or coaching. Support matters. Design matters more.

Lens two: design conditions for strength

The second lens asks what helps teachers do strong work. Teachers thrive when priorities are few, expectations are clear, and feedback improves practice. They also thrive when they can learn with others, not in isolation.

OECD TALIS 2024 links higher teacher well-being with outcomes such as self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and commitment. It also examines the role of growth mindset and professional confidence. These signals point to a leadership task: build cultures where improvement feels safe.

The conditions teachers need most

Teacher wellbeing and agency grow when teachers have:

time to think before they are asked to act
fewer competing priorities in the week
useful feedback tied to classroom practice
professional learning that solves real problems
teams where evidence and reflection are normal

Agency does not mean everyone chooses everything. It means teachers have voice and influence within a shared direction.

Leading with both lenses at once

School leaders need to hold care and improvement together. Too little leadership creates drift. Too much control creates compliance without commitment.

Try using this simple split in your leadership routines:

Pressure lens: remove load, clarify priorities, protect recovery
Possibility lens: coach growth, build trust, create shared ownership

Education Support’s Teacher Wellbeing Index reports that 76% of education staff are stressed. Signals like this are a warning. Workforce wellbeing and student experience are linked.

Try this in your school this week

Choose one small redesign that improves the system, not only the mood.

Remove one task that adds noise but not value.
Replace one meeting item with a coaching question.
Tighten priorities to the few that matter this term.
Ask staff what would free time for better teaching.
Close the loop by acting on one piece of feedback.

Teacher wellbeing and agency are not an add-on. They are part of school improvement. When teachers are clear, supported, and connected, students feel it.

What distributed leadership in schools really means

Distributed leadership is shared responsibility with clear purpose. It spreads decision-making across a school, while keeping direction and standards steady. It is built through routines, roles, and trust.

It also avoids the “hero leader” trap. When one person drives every decision, improvement becomes fragile. If that person leaves, the progress often leaves too.

The common trap: leadership becomes overreach

Many leaders start with good intent. They fix problems quickly, carry the load, and protect the team from pressure. Over time, this can narrow ownership and reduce initiative.

In schools, that pattern is costly. It limits staff growth and slows collective problem solving. It can also create compliance without real commitment.

Quiet leadership is not passive leadership

Some people hear “invisible leadership” and think it means absence. It does not. Strong leaders still set direction, protect students, and make hard calls when needed.

The difference is how they do it. They lead in ways that increase others’ competence, not their dependence. They give clarity without micromanaging.

What you still own as the leader

Even with shared leadership, you remain accountable. Your role is to keep the frame clear:

the mission and priorities
the standards that must be protected
the limits of decision-making
the measures of success

When these are clear, others can act with confidence.

Practical benefits of distributed leadership in schools

When leadership capacity grows across a school, daily work changes. Decisions speed up. Problems are solved closer to the classroom. Trust increases because people feel respected.

Here is what tends to improve over time:

Decision-making: more people make sound calls, faster
Teacher growth: staff take ownership of improvement work
Team culture: collaboration becomes more focused and useful
Student experience: practice becomes more consistent
Sustainability: progress lasts beyond one leader’s presence

Five moves that build real ownership

You do not need a major restructure to start. You need repeated habits that shift control into shared responsibility.

1. Ask better questions in meetings

Instead of supplying answers, ask staff to analyse and propose. Use prompts like, “What evidence do we have?” and “What would success look like?” This turns meetings into thinking spaces.

2. Create clear decision lanes

Be explicit about what teams can decide, what they must consult on, and what sits with you. Unclear authority creates hesitation. Clear authority creates action.

3. Build simple structures for shared work

Distributed leadership thrives in routines. Use short cycles such as weekly team check-ins, learning walks, and shared planning. Keep the focus on one or two priorities at a time.

4. Coach instead of rescue

When someone brings a problem, pause before solving it. Ask what they have tried and what options they see. Support them to decide, then back them in the follow-through.

5. Name success as collective work

Praise outcomes as “our work” more than “my work”. Recognise teams publicly. This builds a culture where leadership feels normal, not exceptional.

The tension every leader must manage

There is always tension between support and control. Too little leadership creates drift. Too much leadership creates dependency.

The aim is not to disappear. The aim is to step in when standards or safety require it, and step back when growth is possible.

A useful self-check

Ask yourself one question at the end of the week. “Where did my presence expand others’ confidence, and where did it shrink it?” Keep the answer concrete, not theoretical.

Try this in your school this week

Pick one area where you may be over-functioning. Then make a small shift.

Identify one decision you currently hold too tightly.
Decide who could own it with support.
Clarify the goal, boundaries, and success measures.
Step back enough for them to think and act.
Review what changed in the quality of ownership.

Distributed leadership in schools is a long game. When people can genuinely say, “We did it ourselves,” your leadership has done its work.

How To Execute a Strategy You Disagree With as a School Leader

Execute a strategy you disagree with and you face a hard test of leadership. You still have a job to do, but you also have people to protect. The goal is not blind compliance or open resistance. It is to deliver the decision with integrity, while keeping trust intact.

The core challenge for school leaders

Most leaders will, at some point, be asked to implement a strategic shift they would not have chosen. It might be a staffing model, a timetable change, a new assessment approach, or a budget-driven restructure.

The risk is not only operational. It is relational. Staff will watch your tone, your honesty, and your follow-through.

Steady yourself before you lead others

If you feel angry, disappointed, or anxious, pause before you speak. Your emotional state shapes your language, your patience, and your judgement.

Regulate first, then act

Try a short reset before key conversations:

Name the emotion and what triggered it.
Write down the non-negotiables you must deliver.
Decide what you can influence in the rollout.

This keeps you grounded and reduces reactive messaging.

Understand the decision fully

You cannot lead a strategy well if you do not understand the problem it is meant to solve. Respectful curiosity is not disloyalty. It is professionalism.

Questions worth asking

Ask leaders above you for clarity on:

What problem is this strategy trying to solve?
What options were considered and rejected?
What will success look like in 3, 6, and 12 months?
What risks have been identified, and how will we manage them?

When you can explain the “why” clearly, you reduce fear and speculation.

Focus on what you can influence

Even if the top-line decision is fixed, the implementation often is not. This is where strong school leadership makes a difference.

Shape the rollout, not the headline

Look for influence in:

The pacing of change and the transition plan.
The support provided to staff and students.
The clarity of roles, timelines, and expectations.
The feedback loops that allow adjustments.

If you cannot change the strategy, improve the conditions around it.

Communicate with care and precision

Staff can handle hard messages. What they struggle with is mixed messages, vague language, or leaders who distance themselves.

Avoid the two damaging scripts

Try not to say:

“I do not agree with this, but I have to do it.”
“This came from above, so my hands are tied.”

Both phrases weaken your authority and invite division.

Use a balanced message instead

Aim for three clear points:

What is changing and when.
Why the organisation is making this move.
How the school will support staff and students through it.

This is how you execute a strategy you disagree with while still leading as the accountable person in the room.

Protect trust through fairness and follow-up

Trust is built when people see consistency between what you say and what you do. In change, fairness becomes visible.

Simple trust-building moves

Apply expectations consistently across teams.
Be transparent about what you know and what you do not know.
Keep confidences, and avoid corridor commentary.
Follow up on issues you invite people to raise.

If staff feel heard, they are more likely to stay engaged, even if they dislike the decision.

Safeguard your integrity and ethics

There is a line between “I would not choose this” and “this is harmful.” If you believe the decision crosses ethical boundaries, act through the proper channels.

What to do if the strategy feels wrong

Document your concerns factually and respectfully.
Raise issues through governance, HR, or senior executive channels.
Seek counsel from a trusted mentor or professional body.
Ask for risk mitigations that protect people from unfair harm.

In rare cases, you may need to consider whether staying in role is consistent with your values. That is a serious decision, and it deserves careful advice.

Practical school-based examples

Here are common scenarios where leaders must execute a strategy they disagree with:

A budget change that reduces staffing or support services.
A mandated curriculum approach that limits teacher autonomy.
A policy shift on behaviour or assessment that staff resist.
A timetable restructure that increases workload pressure.

In each case, your influence sits in communication, transition design, and the support you build around the change.

Final thought

To execute a strategy you disagree with is to lead in tension. Your job is to hold the decision steady, and hold your people with care. If you stay calm, seek clarity, shape the rollout, and close feedback loops, you can deliver the strategy without losing credibility. That is what integrity looks like in real school leadership.

The 5 Biggest Time Traps New School Principals Fall Into

Why New Principals Feel Like They’re Drowning

Starting as a school principal can feel overwhelming. New school leaders often fall into time traps that make them less effective. These traps are familiar, well-meaning, and costly. They come from trying to lead a school using habits that worked in the classroom. But principalship isn’t teaching with a bigger office. It’s strategic leadership with broader consequences.

The Shift from Teacher to Principal Is a Change in Operational Gravity

It’s not a promotion. It’s a role change. A teacher manages a classroom. A principal leads a system. When you lead like a teacher—solving everyone’s problems, staying open all day, obsessing over small details—you burn out and stall the school.

The Five Traps

1. The “Open Door” Policy Trap
Problem: Always available = constantly interrupted.
Why it happens: You want to be approachable and build trust.
Why it fails: You become reactive, never proactive.
Fix: Schedule office hours. Protect time for deep work. Train your team to triage.

2. Trying to “Fix” the 10% First
Problem: Difficult staff or parents dominate your attention.
Why it happens: Negativity is loud.
Why it fails: Your best people feel ignored.
Fix: Focus on the movable middle. Culture shifts when the 70% gain traction.

3. The “Pseudo-Work” of Document Perfection
Problem: Polishing policies instead of solving real problems.
Why it happens: It feels safe.
Why it fails: You stay busy, but not impactful.
Fix: Get to 80% and ship. Use time saved for instructional leadership.

4. Being the “Chief Firefighter”
Problem: Solving every small issue yourself.
Why it happens: You’re fast and competent.
Why it fails: You build dependence, not capacity.
Fix: Build systems that prevent repeat problems.

5. Mistaking “Activity” for “Impact”
Problem: Saying yes to everything.
Why it happens: You feel the need to prove your worth.
Why it fails: You lose strategic focus.
Fix: Define your “big rocks.” Decline what doesn’t align.

What Are Your Big Rocks?

What 3 things will define your success this year? Literacy? Staff culture? Budget recovery? If a meeting or task doesn’t serve one of them, delegate or drop it. Leadership is not about volume. It’s about clarity.

Start With One Trap

Which of these traps sounds familiar? Choose one. Set a new boundary or system this week to shift how your time is used. Principal time is school time. Use it wisely.