Moving further up the career ladder means taking on greater responsibility and tackling a whole new set of challenges.
Taking the step up to middle leadership will mean managing staff, budgetary responsibility, greater admin and planning work, to name just a few of the requirements the job demands.
Learn more about the challenges middle leaders face.
James Bowen, director at the NAHT Edge union for middle leaders, explains “there are a huge number” of skills needed in the role.
“You speak to any middle leader and they tell you they’re doing so many jobs,” Bowen says. “From monitoring standards to writing improvement plans to chairing meetings.”
Bowen points to the technical skills required to be successful in the role. However, it is the interpersonal skills that, for him, stand out.
“Getting the interpersonal skills right, the emotional intelligence side of things, is absolutely critical. For me, that’s what will define your success as a middle leader. Indeed as a leader at any level really.
“Focusing on relationships, your communication, making sure your listening skills are good – because that is often where leadership goes wrong. It’s not so much what people are trying to achieve but it’s how they are trying to achieve it."
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