One of the age old debates in leadership development is what is the difference between leadership and management? Often management is seen as the grunt work whilst leadership is seen as the sexy, fun stuff about vision and planning for the future.
My favourite definition is, “People need LEADERSHIP, everything else needs to be MANAGED!”.

To ensure the smooth operation of a highly effective school we need to manage finances, budgets, facilities, timetables and resources. The school needs to operate like a well-oiled machine. However, people need leadership. They need direction, a vision, motivation and some inspiration.

The current challenges that schools are facing make leadership more important than ever. It is vital that leaders connect with the people they lead. Whilst I am certain you are ‘busy’, your people need you more than ever.

A prime example of where leadership can have a true impact is about to be presented. World Teachers’ Day is celebrated in Australia and New Zealand on the last Friday in October (October 29 in 2021).

We are excited that a record number of postcards (over 36000) have been sent to members of our Happy School program. The intent is that leaders HANDWRITE a personal note to each member of staff and POST it (SNAIL MAIL) to the home of the staff member. YES I know that takes time and effort but you will be amazed at the impact that it has.

Some quick tips for managing the workload…share the task by delegating to other leaders as well, have your office guru export the addresses, print sticky labels and put them on the postcards before you write your message, batch them – 10 per day and send them early – the postal service is much slower these days.

I know you are busy but your people are worth it. The postcards have TEN TIMES the impact if they have a personal, handwritten message and are received through the post than delivered through school pigeon holes. Come on! You’ve got this!