I’ve just spent half an hour this morning singing with the Artistic Director of the World Champion Barnsley Youth Choir – yes, really – and I now feel on top of the world!

I think Mat Wright MBE and Musical Directors Eleanor Wright and Luke Mather intend this to be for children to help keep them occupied during lockdown – but I have a sneaking suspicion it has a huge number of adults joining in too!

And already there are participants from all over the world which is remarkable when you consider the first session was only yesterday morning.

You can sing from the privacy of your own living room or bedroom and nobody can hear you although I do believe some of the participants are singing along in their gardens. I’m not brave enough to do that just yet but I enjoyed singing loudly in my office.

Eleanor and Luke also provide some fabulous harmonies and you actually do feel you have a great voice!!

It’s completely free and happening each day at 10am on Facebook. I’m sharing the link from today’s session below in case you want to give it a go.

#health #wellbeing #singing #arts #mentalhealth #lockdown #Covid-19 #coronavirus

I’m really pleased to have received some lovely feedback about my Ethical Leadership Principles course already.

As well as enjoying the learning, the opportunity for self-reflection seems to be popular. Hopefully this will prove to be helpful in these difficult times.

#StayHomeSaveLives #Wellbeing #Ethical #Leadership #DoTheRightThing #Teamwork #BestBoss

Here’s the link for direct access to the course. It is hosted by ThinkTreeHub (you don’t need to be a member). Just scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the “click to the course here” link. And don’t forget to use the discount code so it will cost just £7.20!

So, today I should have been delivering a workshop at a large conference, but Covid-19 got in the way and I find myself in lockdown – just like a third of the world’s population.

Who could have imagined such a situation actually happening worldwide? Even just a few months ago it would have seemed preposterous.

But here we are.

There are times over the last few years when I have despaired at the way the world seemed to be going but the last few weeks have shown the true power of kindness, compassion and courage.

Doctors, nurses, carers, emergency services, teachers and many working in other essential services have risen to this unprecedented challenge and are facing serious dangers every single day.

And millions of people staying at home in a bid to contain the virus are also facing daily challenges of a different kind as they adjust to our current “normal”.

I had decided to create an online version of my JAWCommunication workshops some months ago – and started work on the project – but never actually finished it. However self-isolating (and the cancellation of all my work!!) has focussed my mind to finally get the first short course up and running!

It may be of interest to you if you are currently at home and enjoy learning online.

“Ethical Leadership Principles” introduces you to the basics and wherever you work and whatever your role it will guide you to understanding how you can work in an ethical way.

The course challenges you to think about your values and beliefs and will show you how your behaviours and actions always have an impact on your colleagues/staff/students/customers – whether positive or negative.

You can access it via this link. Due to the current crisis we all find ourselves in I’m offering a 70% discount to anyone interested. Use the code JAWDISC70 to pay less than the price of my favourite bottle of wine 😊.

Please do share with friends and colleagues who may be interested – now more than ever we need #EthicalLeadership in all our lives.

I’ve just spent a busy couple of days in London trying to live up to my “do the right thing” mantra.

On Friday September 20^th I joined many thousands of young people marching through Westminster on the #climatestrike march and I really felt inspired by their passion and some of their brilliant placards!

It was an exhausting but very motivating day and was followed by the excitement of the first ever Leadership Conference of the National Education Union on the Saturday!

I’m proud to be a member of the NEU, which is the biggest education union in Europe and the second largest in the UK for education leaders. I was therefore really pleased to be able to run workshops at the conference around Ethical Leadership Principles.

Although my usual audience tends to be leaders and managers in FE Colleges these workshops were hugely diverse with just about every education sector being represented.

Leaders from primary and secondary schools, school 6^th forms, special schools, PRUs and FE colleges all worked together considering and discussing the kinds of ethical dilemmas they face every day and left the session feeling empowered with more strategies to deal with their stressful roles.

I do think it is very helpful to realise all those working in education really are “all in it together” and as such we need to work together as education professionals to ensure all levels and sectors of education are properly supported by whichever politicians are in power.

Education is far too important to be used as a political football.

I’m really pleased those attending the workshops felt their ethical leadership principles were nurtured and supported and they were reminded that they have a voice and they can use it to improve their schools and colleges for students and for staff.

Just some of the comments from the participants are shared below suggesting they felt empowered when leaving the session:

• “Hang on to your values and principles regardless of the pressure you are under,” Primary Headteacher.
• “Enjoyable and practical session – the scenarios were brilliant – VERY helpful,” Deputy Headteacher.
• “My personal values are worth fighting for and I need to fight for them particularly when under pressure to conform to actions I know to be wrong,” Secondary Headteacher.
•  “My key takeaway is to make sure I always follow through with my values,” FE College Manager.
• “It was so useful to discuss perspectives with other colleagues – thank you,” Headteacher.

If you would like to find out more about any of the workshops I deliver don’t hesitate to get in touch.

JAWCommunication@mail.com

I wrote a blog in January 2018 when I was President of the Association of Managers in Education about how you could be an ethical and effective leader in difficult times.

It was published on the AMiE website on Jan 31st, 2018, although I never shared it on this website. Considering the UK’s current political crisis illustrating exactly how NOT to lead, today seems like a good day to share it – so here it is!

I was recently at an event where I was on a panel discussing ethical leadership and management, particularly in a time of austerity.

The audience was made up of those at the start of their careers in education who wanted to know how you could be an ethical and effective leader in difficult times.

So what personal attributes did I suggest were necessary to become a strong manager and leader?

In my view the main skill has to be communication. It is the starting point for everything. A marvellous plan is no good if you can’t explain it to others. Alongside this goes a degree of emotional intelligence. You need to be honest, have integrity and treat your teams with respect. Never forget they are your most precious resource.

You must be prepared to take responsibility. Equally you need to share successes and always give credit and praise where it is due.

Be brave and prepared to challenge when you know things to be wrong or unfair. This doesn’t mean just challenging those you line manage! Be prepared to stand up and challenge those with the power, whether they are your line manager, chair of governors or a Government minister. The latter may be difficult unless you are a Principal but you can stand up and be counted as part of the National Education Union and make your voice heard as a member of the largest education union in Europe.

Never lose your enthusiasm. The daily grind of accountability measures, data, funding issues and the difficult personal circumstances of students who you may have to deal with can drag you down but never forget why you chose to work in education and why you wanted to become a teaching assistant/teacher/manager/leader. For most of us there is a moral purpose driving us so let that shine through even on the darkest days.

Be inspirational while being realistic in your expectations of yourself and others. Be accessible to your team members and don’t forget they have lives outside the school or college often with family responsibilities. When they are facing difficulties your empathy will be sincerely appreciated. They won’t think you are “weak” because you listened and offered support. And the majority of them will remember your compassion, just as they will remember if you treated them badly.

There is a lot of literature out there to help develop your thinking in this respect but a long time ago I came to the conclusion it is all about core personal values.

Don’t routinely ask others to do things you would not be prepared to do. This is not the same as being expected to be an expert in everything. If I had to deliver a music tech lecture on acoustics I would be at a loss however I have been known as Director of Arts in a large college to sweep chips up from the floor wearing my smartest attire just before local dignitaries arrived to an important event!

There are times when it can be difficult to be all these things and none of us is perfect, but when you allow an uncaring culture and ignore your teams as people then you become their biggest problem. And you cannot then also be the solution.

It is fair to say that being a decent person does not cost more so even when we are working in times of austerity why should it affect our basic moral code?

Treating people badly leaves scars and sometimes these do not heal. Do you really want to be responsible for permanently damaging someone’s mental or physical health? However difficult the circumstances, as a leader you need to always treat others the way you would wish to be treated.

I will never forget the day I shared with my Faculty team the details of a large restructure which potentially involved redundancies. It was always going to be a stressful experience.

One of the managers in my team was terminally ill at the time but he insisted on being present at the meeting because it affected his staff. He was their manager and wanted to be with them, supporting them. 

He died three months later, a week after his 40^th birthday.

That’s leadership.