If you have hired well, terrific.
If you have not, oh boy.
I watched the first three seasons of the shocking, smash hit Succession and hung in until it got to be just a bit much for me. It seems there is only so much reprehensible behavior I can stomach, even when it is fictional.
For the uninitiated, the premise of the show concerns the passing of the proverbial torch from one generation of a family to the next. The patriarch of the family is the mega-wealthy owner of a multimedia empire and discerning which of his children will take over the company is the grist that grinds the show’s mill.
Great concept and one that – stripped of the hyper-histrionics – has something to say to many of us in the world of education.
In my experience, schools are not particularly great at succession planning. The schools in which I have served have not had solid structures in place to ensure that the next generation of leaders are training for the roles as the current generation are doing them.
This is, perhaps, because schools – especially private schools – tend to have fairly flat hierarchies. There is also a stigma associated with going from the classroom to administration. Surely many in the education field have heard (or shared) the adage: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. Those who can’t teach, administrate.”
As an administrator, please allow me to say “ouch.”
For whatever reason, schools in which I have worked do not have systems in place to ensure leaders are getting on-the-job training.
This often means that, when hiring upper level administrators, in particular principals and presidents, schools look outside their own ranks. Of the four private, Catholic schools I have served, this has been the case in my tenure more often than not.
I did the math. In my career, I have worked for 11 principals and five presidents. 16 different upper level administrators. Of those 16, only four have been internal hires.
Four.
We are not developing from within. Our successors are coming from outside our ranks. Most, but not all, are coming from within our networks, but not within our halls.
Perhaps this is not a problem and, if it is, given national trends in tenures of administrators, perhaps it is not solvable.
But I think it is a problem. I think our schools should foster leadership and encourage people to serve. I think our schools should develop the next generation of leaders. I think it is incumbent upon current leaders to ensure this happens.
Hiring leaders from outside is like hiring anyone: It is something of a crapshoot. You truly do not know what you are getting until the hire in is place. If you have hired well, terrific. If you have not, oh boy.
As a principal, I have the ability to put structures around succession in place.
This needs to be a goal of mine and I think it should be a goal of all educational leaders.