Educational Leadership and human flourishing
I cannot think of an enterprise more people-focussed than education. Its very premise - that of nurturing and preparing children to become flourishing adults - places humanity at its very centre. More than that, though - behind every child in a school stands a family of people (each with their own unique characteristics and challenges) and, in front, stands a teacher filled with their own dreams, ambitions, and family circumstances.
And, as much as the academic discourse of the average day deals with subject matter, grades, and activities - it is that crucial interface of humanity between teacher and student that creates real learning. Of course, the very notion of learning is problematic as well - although it is a product of schooling learning is not at all a 'product' in the commercial sense of the word, for it cannot be bought - it is created by the learner and the price paid (or not paid) bears little relation to the quality of the actual learning that takes place.
And while there is an obvious business imperative in good school governance, schools don't really obey the accepted canons of business either. Great teachers sometimes don't produce great grades in their class (the variables involved in education are so vast and the forms of 'success' so numerous), and it is virtually impossible to measure the real, long-term impact (positive or negative) that a teacher can have on a pupil. Yet, many boards and governing bodies are filled with brainy business men and women who regard schooling as some sort of a process of inputs and outputs that obey KPI's and targets, and hire and fire according to the shallow measures of performance that follow.
And worse than that, lured as they can be by the pseudo-glamour of board corporate-speak, school leaders may start thinking of themselves as some sort of corporate entity, overlooking the complex human soup that is their actual domain. They manage their staff by pushing, driving, and directing - in place of envisioning, empowering, and developing. If it is a by-product of business thinking that great talent should be paid and promoted and 'failure' should be disposed of (that is putting things crudely, I know, and I know that there are all sorts of HR and staff development layers between those extremes - I am exaggerating the extremes for effect), the very developmental nature of education is grounded in kindness, flourishing, and the notion of meeting people where they are. A colleague once summed some of the frustrations of education quite well when she commented that "sometimes those amongst us most in need of love express their need for love in the most unlovable ways".
Education is, then, at its very heart, a human endeavour - and that brings with it incredible complexity and challenge. In an environment filled with young people discovering their giftedness it is inevitable that it is an emotional and, at times, an illogical place. Leadership in education, then, is able to look beyond the logical, to the human, to inspire and draw out the good rather than punish out the bad.
Of course, that is not to say that this form of leadership eschews consequence, or that at times those consequences will be of serious or final in nature. But that is a final stage that is built towards, as a last resort. That when we get there the leader is able to say 'we have walked a long journey together and I have tried absolutely everything'