The Independent School Podcast with Juliet Corbett Juliet Corbett

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:
What ‘wicked’ problems are you trying to solve, and what contradictory outcomes do the stakeholder want that makes them wicked?What system do you have in place to brainstorm new ways of doing things, anticipate knock-on consequences and rapidly revise the plans?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: hello@consultjuliet.co.uk

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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: hello@consultjuliet.co.uk

Sign up at http://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!

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: hello@consultjuliet.co.uk

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: hello@consultjuliet.co.uk

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: hello@consultjuliet.co.uk

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!

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:
136: Partnerships and Service with Alastair Chirnside, Warden, St Edward's Oxford 129: Your inbox is not your job 128: Regular giving with Kristina McClendon, Deputy Director of Development, Magdalen College School, Oxford 134: Four Building Blocks of Strategy 135: Five Elements of Strategic Thinking Top 5 episodes of all time:
001: Bursary Fundraising Then and Now, with John Claughton 101: Creative Thinking and Change with Richard Jones, Head, Bryanston 136: Partnerships and Service with Alastair Chirnside, Warden, St Edward's Oxford 060: Social Mobility with David Goodhew, Head, Latymer Upper School 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: hello@consultjuliet.co.uk

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!