Leadership Study & Research
Our whole approach was initially driven by science. The result was a deep understanding of the components of our “Professional Selves” crucial to developing and becoming better and more effective as leaders. Our story is below. You can also request a full copy of the report, and experience this unique development for yourself by booking a Transform workshop.
The culture of leadership experienced by staff was 4.5 times more engaging - driven in a shift in leadership identity.
We saw an 81% increase in scores for clarity and vision.
We saw a 69% increase in score in the ability to deliver against vision.
100% of leaders indicated renewed energy and inspiration.
Leadership Applied
Transform had been developing leadership practice since 2013, deliberately enabling leaders across our teaching school alliance to explore, unpick and challenge their leadership approach through research, facilitated leadership development, coaching and tools. We knew our collective leadership was growing; we also wanted to go to a greater depth - but how?
We chose to explore one model comprehensively for a year and created a research study to measure the impact of our leadership development. We invited Steve Radcliffe (author of Leadership Plain and Simple) to partner with us as we set up a year-long programme to test what became known as Leadership Applied.
“There are statistically significant empirical and qualitatively robust associations between heads’ educational values, qualities and their strategic actions and improvement in school conditions leading to improvements in pupil outcomes”
Learn it, Live it, Legacy
Learn it
Shared understanding and knowledge
Live it
Deliberate application and practice
Legacy
Developing and developing others
By foregrounding our “Learn it, Live it, Legacy” mantra, Leadership Applied directed participating leaders through joint learning on leadership theory with facilitation by experts, practical activities and resources to scaffold implementation in local contexts, as well as strategies to develop others to ensure embeddedness and sustainability.
Following 95 leaders across 44 schools, the study set out to track changes in leadership and understand the influence of each component of the Leadership Applied programme.
Questionnaires, interviews and video results all found that it was the unique combination of the specific 8 Leadership Applied success factors that facilitated the transfer of learning theory into practice and made the difference in practice.
Leaders found that protected time to talk and plan at a strategic level, concrete examples from other leaders, explicit use of teaching techniques and a common language and ideas, were particularly powerful.
The 3 Aspects of Professional Self
Leadership Behaviour
How we act. What we do.
Leadership Identity
How we think about ourselves.
Leadership Confidence
How we feel about ourselves.
The study demonstrated significant growth in 3 areas of leadership. Changes in leadership identity and behaviour were confirmed through study questions. However, a third distinct change was noticed in leadership confidence. Our study suggests that for our leaders, these 3 fundamental aspects make up the professional self.
The study also revealed there was an important connection between these 3 aspects of the professional self and that there was a value of developing these in parallel. This evidence and knowledge now underpins all Transform Applied development and support. We have continued….
Leadership resources
Read more about your own identity, behaviour and confidence
Experience it!
Experience Leadership Applied for yourself!
Click below to book from our menu of Transform development workshops.
Leadership Report
To read our leadership report in full, click below to receive a free copy.
Case Study
Mellers Primary embraced the opportunity to lead at depth, and across their organisation.
Click below to read their Leadership Applied journey.