The power of relationships: executive and non-executive leadership in education
What forms of power do you use in your work as a governor? I n my new, and slightly daunting, role as PhD student I have been immersed in reading about the relationship between executive and non-executive leadership. There isn’t a huge amount of academic research about education governance, so I have also widened my reading out to the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. There is plenty of agreement that this is a pivotal relationship that can have a significant effect on the functioning of an organisation - but what factors contribute to making or breaking this relationship? A report by National College of Teaching and Learning [NCTL] (2014) highlights a case study that includes a comment by one chair of governors explaining that he shared with the headteacher “the same vision and ambitions” for the school and that they worked as a “relationship of equals” (NCTL, 2014). How marvellous this sounds - really positive or, on the other hand, does it sound too cosy? Just wh