After four incredible years and 175 episodes, we’re bidding farewell to The Independent School Podcast. It has been an amazing journey filled with valuable insights, thoughtful conversations, and connections with passionate leaders in the school sector. Juliet would like to thank everyone who has played a part in it: the listeners, the guests and the wonderful team behind the scenes.

But as one chapter closes, a new one begins! Juliet is thrilled to introduce The Quiet Leadership Revolution Podcast, co-hosted by her great friend and brilliant strategist, Lucy Gower.

The new podcast extends beyond the independent school sector, offering universal insights for all leaders. Juliet and Lucy will be focusing on managing your time and energy, productivity, creative and strategic thinking, mindset and building your career confidence. Expect candid conversations, practical insights and a touch of humour as they share their experiences and what they have learnt along the way.

Episode notes

Playlists for The Independent School Podcast: http://www.consultjuliet.co.uk/TISPplaylists

Quiet Leadership Revolution podcast:
Listen on Apple Podcasts
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Listen on Amazon Music
Listen on the podcast website

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Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

Leaders in independent schools are having to make some hard decisions at the moment, especially those in the UK facing the possible addition of VAT to school fees.

Some of these decisions could be classified as ‘wicked’ - defined as a problem where multiple stakeholders want different, sometimes contradictory, outcomes.

In the last episode Juliet explored how NASA approaches this type of problem, drawing out lessons for school leaders.

In this episode Juliet explores further the three questions we finished with last time:

1. What ‘wicked’ problems are you trying to solve, and what contradictory outcomes do the stakeholder want that makes them wicked?
2. What system do you have in place to brainstorm new ways of doing things, anticipate knock-on consequences and rapidly revise the plans?
3. Are you and your team ready to embrace change that might feel hard?

Episode links

Listen to the last episode: 173: Solving wicked problems the NASA way

'Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant' by  Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim

Contact Juliet: [email protected]

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Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

It turns out that NASA rocket scientists think that solving ‘wicked’ problems, where multiple stakeholders want contradictory outcomes, is far harder than the science of sending missions into space.

So when we’re trying to solve similarly ‘wicked’ problems in our schools it’s no surprise that leaders sometimes feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

In this week’s episode, Juliet shares how NASA solves these problems and draws out lessons that other leaders can use to make life easier, even if most of us aren’t planning space missions.

Episode links

'Inside NASA’s bid to make spacecraft as small as possible', MIT Technology Review Nov/Dec edition

Contact Juliet: [email protected]

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Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

Coaching, innovation, empowerment, strategy... this episode with guest Claire Robinson, Head of Holme Grange School, dives into many of the topics which school leaders ask me questions about.
 
As a highly experienced head, Claire shares with us her extensive insights into:
1. How to balance involving staff in strategy development, with the fact that sometimes strategic choices need to be confidential.

2. How senior leaders can empower their teams and utilise the benefits of networking outside their schools to build resilience in times of change.

3. Why strong professional development programmes, an openness to innovation and a coaching culture benefit everyone.

4. Why the development of people and the development of strategy go hand in hand.

Episode links
Holme Grange School

Contact Juliet: [email protected]

Sign up at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/signup to receive an email each Thursday morning about the week’s new podcast episode.

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

Strategy is not a game played alone. So if you are seeking a strategic way forward for a project or challenge, it is important to balance individual contemplation and conversation with 'thinking partners'. 

In this episode I share my belief that everyone has the ability to think and act strategically, and that combining this with deeper self-knowledge can lead to remarkable results. I emphasise the significance of seeking out individuals who can help broaden our way of thinking, both in the professional realm and beyond.

Key Lessons from the Episode:
1. Carving out the time for individual strategic and creative thinking is critical. Often this means taking yourself away from distractions, like taking a walk or sitting on your own in a coffee shop without your phone. But different things work for different people.

2. This solo thinking time can then be complimented by conversation with others; sharing perspectives and talking through ideas with other people can help us gain fresh insights and stimulate a growth mindset. You can think of these people as 'thinking partners'.

3. It's often valuable to have more than one thinking partner, to give you multiple perspectives. These people could be mentors, peers, friends, colleagues or an executive coach.

4. The role an executive coach plays is different from the advice that other thinking partners might give, especially if the coach has knowledge and experience of the independent school sector. The coach's role is to facilitate fresh insights for the leader which clarify a path forward, by helping the leader to see things from a perspective they might not have seen previously.

“We need a diverse group of people with whom we can be truly honest and share confidential thoughts to develop an ever deeper knowledge of ourselves. In order to deliver remarkable results, we need to gift ourselves the space to breathe, the time to learn, and the courage to adapt.” 
Juliet Corbett

Episode links

Episode 162: Why Coaching Works: www.consultjuliet.co.uk/162

Contact Juliet: [email protected]

Sign up at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/signup to receive an email each Thursday morning about the week’s new podcast episode.

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

It’s one thing knowing about strategy frameworks and approaches - but knowing how to use these effectively to develop and implement a strategy in a school is a completely different skill.

So this week on The Independent School Podcast I’m delighted to be joined by Paul Morgan, from St. Julian’s School in Lisbon, Portugal, a highly experienced head, who talks us through how he’s approached strategy in his two headships.

Questions Paul and I address in the episode include:

• How can a new head lead a strategic development process when they are still fresh in post? How can they balance continuity and change?
• How can a head structure the leadership team in a way that enables effective delegation of strategic priorities?
• How can you identify which new initiatives might distract from the core purpose of the school, and which will help deliver a key strategic objective?
• How can a busy school leader find time for high quality strategic thinking?

Throughout the episode we stay rooted in the real world, as Paul shares examples from his current headship at St Julian’s School in Lisbon, Portugal, and his previous role as Principal of The British School of Amsterdam.

Episode links
St Julian’s School, Lisbon

Contact Juliet: [email protected]

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Sign up at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/signup to receive an email each Thursday morning about the week’s new podcast episode

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

Exciting news for The Independent School Podcast!

In our latest episode, I reveal the top five most popular episodes of 2023. With over 16,000 listens, I am thrilled to know that our podcast has been helping education leaders become more strategic and focused on their priorities.

Episode notes:

Top 5 episodes of 2023:

1. 136: Partnerships and Service with Alastair Chirnside, Warden, St Edward's Oxford 
2. 129: Your inbox is not your job 
3. 128: Regular giving with Kristina McClendon, Deputy Director of Development, Magdalen College School, Oxford 
4. 134: Four Building Blocks of Strategy 
5. 135: Five Elements of Strategic Thinking 

Top 5 episodes of all time:

1. 001: Bursary Fundraising Then and Now, with John Claughton 
2. 101: Creative Thinking and Change with Richard Jones, Head, Bryanston 
3. 136: Partnerships and Service with Alastair Chirnside, Warden, St Edward's Oxford 
4. 060: Social Mobility with David Goodhew, Head, Latymer Upper School 
5. 030: Looking Back on Strategy with John Claughton, former Chief Master of King Edwards' School, Birmingham 

Last week’s episode: 168: The Big Picture and Being Human with Jim Knight, The Rt Hon Lord Knight of Weymouth, Chair of COBIS

Contact Juliet: [email protected]

Discover more about working with Juliet: www.consultjuliet.co.uk/services

Sign up at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/signup to receive an email each Thursday morning about the week’s new podcast episode

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

For this week's episode I'm joined by Jim Knight, The Rt Hon Lord Knight of Weymouth and Chair of the Council of British International Schools (COBIS).

We dive deep into the big picture of education, looking at the changing ways that schools prepare young people for their future, the importance of addressing the climate emergency, the increasing role of AI in schools, as well as exploring ways that independent and state schools can learn from each other.

About Jim Knight
Jim Knight works in education, digital technology and as a legislator.

He is a director of Suklaa Ltd, providing advice to clients in education.

Jim is the Chair of trust board of E-Act Multi Academy Trust, and chair of the Council of British International Schools. He is a board member of Century-Tech, MACAT International and Educate Ventures Research Ltd, he sits on advisory bodies for Nord Anglia Education, Pearson and BETT.

As a government minister and MP, Jim’s portfolios included rural affairs, schools, digital and employment.  He was a member of Gordon Brown’s Cabinet, before joining the Lords in 2010.  He regularly speaks in the Lords on education and technology policy.

Key takeaways from this episode:
1. We are striving to create an education system that prepares young people to thrive in an unpredictable future, but this is constrained by its importance in the university admissions system.
 
2. Schools can play a significant role in helping communities to reduce their carbon footprint, as well as preparing young people to take climate action.

3. The task of AI regulation is not simple, but we must act fast as the technology is changing quickly and young people are already taking advantage of the benefits it brings.

Episode links
Suklaa Ltd

Ashden: Sustainable Schools

Contact Juliet: [email protected]

Discover more about working with Juliet: www.consultjuliet.co.uk/services

Sign up at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/signup to receive an email each Thursday morning about the week’s new podcast episode

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

Tune into this week’s podcast for a comprehensive insight into school leadership recruitment trends and the crucial conversation around equality, diversity and inclusion.

I am joined by Hayley Mintern, Partner at Anderson Quigley and in our thought-provoking conversation, we delve into the world of leadership recruitment in education. Hayley brings her expertise to the table, offering insights on employer branding and developing a pool of talent for future school vacancies. It's a fascinating discussion that underscores the shifting role of school leadership and uncovers the importance of diversifying the talent pipeline in the independent sector.

Some Key Takeaways from this episode:
1. Leveraging employer branding, including on LinkedIn, can help schools prepare for future vacancies.
2. Leadership roles in schools are evolving to include strategic and commercial aspects.
3. Diverse senior teams and multiple layers of expertise are crucial for effectively running a school.
4. Schools can benefit from thinking more strategically about their reputation and business model, particularly within the independent sector.

Episode links:
Anderson Quigley

Contact Juliet: [email protected]

Discover more about working with Juliet: www.consultjuliet.co.uk/services

Sign up at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/signup to receive an email each Thursday morning about the week’s new podcast episode.

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

Do you have a clear idea of how much you can achieve in a week? It’s very easy to be overly optimistic about what it is possible to get done. And then when you don’t achieve your goals for the week, it’s easy to slip into a habit of working extra hours to tick all those things off your to do list.

This kind of overload is inevitable occasionally, but if you are consistently over-estimating what’s possible it can lead to building feelings of overwhelm and then potentially burnout.

Key Lessons from this episode:

1) Overwhelm and overload can feel the same, but they are caused by different things and so the solutions are different.

2) Being overly optimistic about how much can be accomplished in a given timeframe can lead to overload.

3) Tracking time to understand how long tasks actually take can provide clarity on workload and prevent overload.

4) Avoiding the pressure to constantly work harder and instead focusing on sustainable productivity is essential.

Episode links

Episode 165: ‘My Solution to Overwhelm’

Cal Newport podcast episode: ‘Decoding Overload’

Cal Newport podcast episode: ‘Start with Discipline'

Discover what it's like to have Juliet as your coach: www.consultjuliet.co.uk/executive-coaching

Contact Juliet: [email protected]

Sign up at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/signup to receive an email each Thursday morning about the week’s new podcast episode.

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!