Hidden in Plain Sight: Realizing the Full Potential of Middle Leaders

$14.99

Middle leaders, either through curiosity, career-mindedness, or even coercion, accepted a role that is poorly defined, has limited or no authority, and comes with a huge target for colleagues and senior leaders to set their sights on. The expressions “Don’t shoot the messenger” and “We are all in this together” are common mottos. These are the middle leaders I want to capacity to be agents for transformational change: grade-level and subject team leaders, department heads, coordinators, and any other role tasked with making sure teachers work interdependently to improve student learning.

This book will help senior leaders empower middle leaders to take ownership of school change initiatives, by: understanding how to select middle leaders, differentiating expectations for middle leaders and identifying the skills and knowledge middle leaders need to lead change.

Middle leaders will learn how to advocate for themselves and their team, by being able to: define their role, understand how their role changes as the team develops and harness conflict to leverage the individual skills and experience of all team members.

Middle leaders, either through curiosity, career-mindedness, or even coercion, accepted a role that is poorly defined, has limited or no authority, and comes with a huge target for colleagues and senior leaders to set their sights on. The expressions “Don’t shoot the messenger” and “We are all in this together” are common mottos. These are the middle leaders I want to capacity to be agents for transformational change: grade-level and subject team leaders, department heads, coordinators, and any other role tasked with making sure teachers work interdependently to improve student learning.

This book will help senior leaders empower middle leaders to take ownership of school change initiatives, by: understanding how to select middle leaders, differentiating expectations for middle leaders and identifying the skills and knowledge middle leaders need to lead change.

Middle leaders will learn how to advocate for themselves and their team, by being able to: define their role, understand how their role changes as the team develops and harness conflict to leverage the individual skills and experience of all team members.

"Hidden in Plain Sight" brings a new, and long overdue, perspective on how schools can assess and modify their organisational structures and practices to put deputies, teacher leaders and coordinators at the centre of transformational change. Meaningful change across a school requires a great amount of energy and collaboration. It is great to see many of the ideas and beliefs I share with Michael about the role collaboration plays in improving student learning captured in this book." - Rami Madani, Head of School, The International School of Kuala Lumpur

"In this book, Michael Iannini uses lessons learned from his years of experience in international education, helping schools such as Shanghai American School to achieve their goals. Building capacity within an organization is one of the key levers to effect change and Michael proposes concrete strategies for senior leaders and middle leaders alike to create that capacity. Readers will appreciate the big picture framework provided by the first six chapters as well as the practical tools developed in the last five, that can serve as a great book study for leaders and teams. While there is a lot of research on teacher leadership and middle leadership, the context of international schools is often poorly understood, and Michael Iannini contributes to filling a gap in an area of key strategic importance. I am thankful to Michael for putting on paper theories and practical applications our teachers and leaders were only able to access so far through workshops and professional development activities". - Dr. Emmanuel Bonin, Chief Academic Officer - Deputy Head of School, Shanghai American School