Best Practice

Calm leadership: There is no right way to lead

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There is no right way to lead. In the final instalment of his series on calm school leadership, Patrick Cozier discusses being the best leadership version of yourself – what this means and the impact it can have

“What I tell people is be the best version of yourself in anything that you do. You don’t have to live anybody else’s story.”

Stephen Curry, American basketball star

 

Being the best version of yourself as a leader is not only vital for personal growth but also essential for fostering a calm and composed environment that promotes productivity, resilience, and effective decision-making.

In this article, we will explore why being the best leadership version of yourself is integral to calm leadership.

Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) and Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) are two of the most successful managers in the history of the Premier League – famous not just for winning trophies but also for their longevity – 22 and 27 years respectively.

However, they are very different characters with almost opposite approaches to leadership. They very much illustrate the point that there is no one prescribed way to lead well. You must find your own way – the way that resonates for you.

 

Calm leadership: A nine-part SecEd series

Patrick Cozier’s nine-part SecEd series on calm leadership is publishing all this year:

 

 

Some early lessons

In the early part of my headship, I had issues in handling some conflicts that were emerging with the trade union at my school. This was new territory for me, and I didn’t know how to handle it. I remember calling two fellow heads to seek advice. Both were incredibly experienced and excellent leaders, both leading outstanding schools. The responses I got went something like this…

  • Headteacher A: Don’t accept any of that nonsense – don’t bother entertaining them! You are the headteacher. Do what you must do and don’t worry about the unions. If you can, drive them out. Show the staff that running to the union is pointless as they don’t have the power to influence your decisions.
  • Headteacher B: Talk to them – ask them what they want. Find out what outcome will resolve the issues. If you can give them what they want without sacrificing things you don’t want to, then do it. If you can’t, then have an honest conversation about what else might be able to resolve the issue. Don’t be afraid to compromise. Win-wins are best.

If you have read the previous articles in this series, I am sure you will know which direction I took. The second approach is much more closely aligned to the way I lead – my natural leadership style.

I make no judgement about the rights and wrongs of headteacher A’s approach. However, I could never have taken that path. It would have landed me in situations well outside my comfort zone – forcing me to act in ways that did not reflect my personality, character, or how I wanted to lead.

Ultimately, it would have created additional and unnecessary stress – the very opposite of calm leadership.

 

Leading by example: Building trust and respect

Calm leadership is about setting the tone for the entire organisation. When leaders embody the qualities they wish to see in their teams and the wider staff, they inspire others to follow suit.

By being the best version of yourself, you demonstrate integrity and authenticity. This encourages trust and respect among those that you lead, supporting a culture of transparency and open communication. When you lead by example, you set the stage for calm leadership by instilling a sense of stability and confidence.

It is much easier to be consistent when you are being your authentic self. You don’t have to “lead by rote” or follow someone else’s blueprint. This allows you to respond to situations in ways that are largely predictable for your staff and thus avoid the surprises and inconsistencies that can cause unrest and convey unease.

An example at my school is our approach to requests for leaves of absence. We are very generous – some would say too generous – in our approach. However, I believe that as leaders we must consider that staff have lives outside of work and we must support this. My staff know this and consequently have a good idea of which requests I will approve. It encourages staff to be open and honest about their personal circumstances too, which is important to me.

 

Managing stress and uncertainty: Calm decision-making

Leaders often find themselves navigating stressful and uncertain situations. By being the best leadership version of yourself, you develop the clarity of thought and consistency of approach needed to manage these challenges effectively and calmly.

Calm leaders must think clearly, stay composed, and make rational decisions, even in high-pressure environments. This empowers leaders to be able to assess risks, evaluate options, and make decisions that align with the organisation's goals and values.

Operating in a way that is natural to yourself is a very effective stress management technique. This helps to maintain wellbeing and can mitigate burn-out.

This approach has been crucial for me when I have had to make decisions in situations when there is no right or wrong answer and when we have not been able to reach a consensus within the leadership team – when there are no win-wins to be found.

These are the most challenging scenarios – the sort of thing that can keep a leader up at night.

In those situations, once you have considered all the information and factors, all you have left is you. What are your values? What does your gut instinct tell you? Which decision will leave you feeling that you have done the “right” thing?

You cannot find the answers to these searching questions if you are not accessing your true self. If you are trying to lead like someone else and against your natural intuition, you will create an internal conflict, you will be even less certain and even more stressed.

By being you and allowing yourself to naturally contribute to the thinking and decision-making you get a reassurance that you are doing the best you can. You must bring your whole self to your leadership.

 

Self-awareness and emotional intelligence

“Great leaders are those who trust their gut. They are those who understand the art before the science. They win hearts before minds. They are the ones who start with why.”
Simon Sinek, Start With Why (2009)

 

To be the best leadership version of yourself, you must be able to tap into who you are at heart. Simon Sinek describes this as discovering your “why”.

However, the process of finding your “why” is not easy or quick. It requires a high degree of self-awareness and self-discovery. You must examine what drives you and your core purpose as a leader. Once you begin to establish this, your leadership attitudes, approaches, and behaviours become more obvious.

Personally, I did a lot of work on my “why” 12 years ago. I finished with a list of my core personal values:

  • Humanistic
  • Preserving integrity
  • Win-win
  • Empowering others
  • Practices what he preaches
  • Fairness and justice – whatever it takes – need to develop a sense of firmness
  • Consistency: Values are obvious and evident
  • Honesty
  • Loyalty
  • Optimism: Seeing the best in people
  • Seeing the best in situations
  • Pragmatic (where appropriate)

You can see how much of the above resonates with the themes I have written about in this series. These core personal values have been pivotal in guiding my leadership and maintaining a consistency of being true to myself.

Being the best leadership version of yourself also encapsulates emotional intelligence. Leaders who possess a deep understanding of their own emotions can better manage their reactions and responses to stressful situations.

By cultivating self-awareness, leaders can recognise their strengths, weaknesses, and triggers, allowing them to make conscious choices and maintain emotional balance. This self-awareness extends to understanding the impact their emotions have on others, enabling leaders to empathise, connect, and communicate effectively with their teams and staff.

This is critical when leading others. Emotional intelligence can turn the blandest message into one that connects and inspires. It can make a challenging meeting or discussion much more productive and positive by tapping into how to communicate effectively with others. Being able to empathise with the emotions of others while managing your own is a sure way to build rapport and understanding and to inspire trust and loyalty.

 

What are your personal values?

Being the best version of yourself as a leader is a continuous journey that requires self-reflection, growth, and a commitment to personal development.

Calm leadership is not about suppressing emotions or avoiding difficult situations; it is about harnessing emotional intelligence, resilience, and self-awareness to lead with composure, clarity, and authenticity. By embodying these qualities, leaders can inspire others and cultivate an environment that promotes collaboration, innovation, and success.

Authenticity is critical. Without it, it is difficulty to build trust and inspire loyalty. People need to know who you are and what your “why” is so that they can decide whether to commit to supporting your leadership.

The desire to be the best version of yourself ultimately takes the pressure away from trying to learn how to be like someone else. Once you know your “why”, you can build your personal definition of leadership around what fits best for you – and work on it! I will leave you with one final challenge…

Reflect on your core personal values: Discover what drives you. What is the reason that you do what you do? What are your core values in relation to leadership of people? How do you treat people? How do you uphold the values of your role and your organisation. Once you have decided what those values are, think about how they should manifest themselves in relation to your behaviours, attitudes, communication styles, and decision-making.

 

Final thought

Over the course of this series of nine articles, I have tried to outline the journey that I have gone through personally to get to a stage where I consider myself to be a calm leader. The journey starts with you:

  • Confronting those inner demons of imposter syndrome and paranoia (handling “uncalm” feelings).
  • Adapting to the challenge of leadership by developing a sense of perspective and embracing the difficulty of leadership (becoming calm).
  • Leading people by being honest and acting with integrity and humility; maintaining optimism and always displaying human empathy and kindness (conveying calm).
  • Maturing: Using all your experience and understanding of your inner self to be the best leadership version of yourself (leading calmly).

Calm leadership seeks to achieve an internal calmness in order to then convey calmness across your staff and your organisation. It is not about being laid back – absolutely not. It is about the ability to think and act calmy with clarity and by harnessing your emotions to assist in your judgement.

Achieving this level of calmness in my own leadership has been the biggest factor in my ability to lead for as many years as I have. I am approaching 17 years as a headteacher and I still enjoy the job immensely; my enthusiasm for the role and for the people that I serve is undiminished.

I want calm leadership to show and demonstrate that leadership does not have to be a burn-out job and that everyone can last in leadership, which is what our schools so desperately need right now.

  • Patrick Cozier is an experienced secondary school headteacher of 16 years. He leads Highgate Wood School in Haringey. In addition to his day job, he chairs the Haringey Secondary Heads’ Forum and takes a leading role in the work of the Racial Equity Group (part of the Haringey Education Partnership). He serves as a trustee for the charity Show Racism the Red Card As a member of the black community, he is passionate about seeking equality, justice, and fair outcomes for people of colour. He is currently developing his “Calm Leadership” approach. Find Patrick on Twitter @CalmLeadership and LinkedIn.