How to become a senior leader in a MAT
Recruiting to senior leadership within a central trust team is often a challenge.
A shortlist can include external and internal applicants, all with solid experience.
But for me, the reason successful candidates stand out is because they demonstrate how they can look beyond school-level expertise and understand the need to consider issues across a family of schools.
We have been blessed in our recruitment, but the field of suitable candidates is often small, despite the opportunities such roles provide for progression and fulfilment.
I am often surprised that more people are unable to address the fundamental differences involved in working across schools. For someone looking to move from school to trust leadership, this is important to consider.
Communication skills are key
Whilst many skills and experiences are transferable, trust leadership is different to school leadership. A new research report, Sustainable Growth in MATs, has a useful introduction to the qualities needed for trust leaders. Having been on the steering group for this research, I recommend taking a look.
Trust-wide roles require strong communication and an acceptance of different leadership styles. You need to be happy to hold people to account whilst being diplomatic and collegiate; allowing people the freedom to try out ideas and lead initiatives, whilst adhering to trust-wide principles.
Although these skills are needed in school leadership, they are more vital within trusts. Getting the relationship right between trust and schools takes time, investment and patience.
Don’t worry about a lack of trust experience
Don’t think that you need significant experience of working within a trust. When we recruit we’re looking for people with a wide vision, evident passion, and an interest in working collaboratively.
Successful candidates might have worked within a school trust, or a maintained school. Equally, people with local authority backgrounds bring a lot of relevant experience.
We want candidates who have an appreciation that what happens within one school is not the whole story - someone who is outward facing and can think beyond the needs of their own school.
Equally, we look for many of these skills in our headteachers and other school-based leaders because we want them to be open to being involved across the trust.
Trusts don’t recruit just from their own
There is a view that some school trusts recruit only from within. This is certainly not the case with us. We love to see our staff growing into other roles within the trust, but we also want to balance that with recruiting external talent to bring in fresh approaches.
Sometimes, recruiting from outside is essential. We found this in the early days, when our schools were predominantly sponsored academies which faced significant challenges. We needed to look outside for the right mixture of skills to bring about the desired improvement and to grow a cadre of strong leaders for the future.
Understand the governance
Prospective trust leaders should ensure that they research how trusts are governed. Governance is what shapes our decision-making and operations. It is an area where candidates for trust roles can lack an appreciation of its importance.
Some trusts publish their scheme of delegation and this should provide useful insight into how the organisation operates. You can also get helpful information from the Confederation of School Trusts or the National Governance Association.
Be ambitious
Our research highlights that there is a shortage of skilled and experienced individuals ready to join the senior leadership teams within trusts, so we have seen the value of investing in our own staff and leaders to ensure a ready supply.
This challenge is partly due to the fact that we are an emerging system. Very few of us have built our careers within school trusts.
As senior leaders we challenge ourselves to identify who will be the next person to fulfil our roles. As a result, trusts are often ready and willing to help ambitious staff progress into more senior roles.
There are many exciting opportunities for those wanting to step up into trust roles. There is a chance to innovate and develop in new ways. The work is fast-paced and intense, but with the growth of many trusts, there has never been a more rewarding time to get involved.
Mark Lacey is CEO of the Diocese of Salisbury Academy Trust and was a member of the steering group for PrimarySite’s research report Sustainable Growth in Multi-Academy Trusts.
Download the Sustainable growth in multi-academy trusts report
