In schools, we talk a lot about timetabling, curriculum design, NOVA, and operational systems. But there’s another form of structure that matters just as much: the architecture of your leadership decisions.
Recently, we were preparing to promote one of our best teachers to a Head of Department role. On paper, she was an obvious choice. Her classroom practice was exceptional, her relationships with students were outstanding, and her outcomes were consistently high.
But before finalising the decision, I shadowed her for a day.
What I saw was eye-opening.
She was phenomenal in the classroom—present, intuitive, responsive, and deeply skilled. But outside the classroom, the role expectations of middle leadership told a different story:
- Constantly behind on emails
- Struggled with spreadsheets
- Avoided conflict
- Disliked administrative tasks
- Found data management draining
And none of this made her a bad teacher. It made her a teacher whose genius lay in teaching, not in the administrative and managerial responsibilities that come with traditional leadership roles.
We realised we were about to make a mistake many schools make:
promoting someone out of the role where they thrive, and into a role that would exhaust them.
We would have:
- Lost an exceptional classroom practitioner, and
- Gained a middle leader who was mismatched for the job description.
So instead of pushing her into a traditional leadership pathway, we created a Lead Practitioner role, one that allowed her to develop, influence, coach, and innovate without the administrative burden she didn’t enjoy.
She’s still teaching. Still thriving. Still adding more value than ever.
And we retained one of the best assets in our school.
What Does This Have to Do With Timetabling, NOVA and Leadership?
Understanding people’s strengths is as important as understanding a school timetable.
When we build a timetable in NOVA or any timetabling system, we’re not just arranging blocks. We’re shaping culture, workload, and the daily lived experience of staff and students. Good timetabling places people where they do their best work.
Good leadership does the same.
Just like a poorly constructed school timetable can create stress, inefficiency, and burnout, so can poorly designed leadership pathways.
Schools often:
- Promote excellent teachers into roles they’re not suited for
- Assume that high performance in the classroom translates to high performance in leadership
- Overlook alternative progression routes that retain talent
But the truth is simple:
A great teacher is not automatically a great Head of Department.
And that’s not a weakness. It’s a sign we need more diverse leadership pathways.
Leadership Should Be a Timetabling Mindset
The same questions we ask during timetable construction apply to talent development:
- What is this person exceptional at?
- Where do they bring the most value?
- How do we protect their strengths?
- How do we design around their needs?
When we shape leadership roles with the same intentionality that we use when shaping a school timetable, we build a healthier, more sustainable workforce.
The Leadership Lesson
Stop promoting people away from their genius.
Stop assuming everyone needs to climb the same ladder.
Stop equating leadership with management.
Schools need brilliant teachers who stay teaching. And schools need leadership structures flexible enough to allow that.
When we honour strengths- whether in timetabling or in talent development- we build schools where people can thrive.