I have spent time in many of schools in the Middle East, Asia Africa and Europe and am always inspired by the focus on the local environment – the leadership and the staff who educate and care for the children.

Although International schools have their own challenges if run successfully, I believe they are havens of considerable achievement.

Being a leader in international schools

The personal qualities to succeed as a leader in internationals are multi-faceted.

In this article I am reflecting on what it takes to be a successful leader of an international school and what have I learnt on this journey.

Culture and communication

There is no doubt that communicating with many nationalities or with a local parent bodies is can lead to misunderstandings of language and culture so cultural preparedness is important as a leader internationally.

This is perhaps the biggest challenge for Heads of international schools.

Your beliefs and values – self-belief and a strong vision guided by principles.

As a leader you are faced with many new situations, different perspectives and expectations, so it is important for an international Head to be clear on their vision and values, for example, being truth to self,  open and transparent, have a clear vision, operate with honesty and integrity having articulate clear values and moral purpose and a high moral compass – guided by the mission of the school and a deeper personal ethical standard.  Cultural sensitivity is also important.

In any setting, the strong personal and professional identity and clarity about your purpose and beliefs is what provides the leadership.

Courage

Leaders need courage, such as dealing with performance issues, being in the spotlight, delegating and also the courage to disagree and the courage to operate outside their comfort zone.

As a leader you are likely to make more mistakes, and although you are the leader, you need to ask for help.

Self-development

In dealing with unfamiliar challenges, instability and change heads need to have an appetite and ability to learn quickly.

They need to ‘fail well’ – taking some risk and learning from mistakes.

They need to understand themselves and be willing to learn and adapt to the environment.

They need to develop awareness of their impact and become skilled at tuning in and adapting their approach culturally

It is important to continue professional learning alongside local colleagues.

Courage – to ask for help, to seek advice and knowing when to ask and who to trust plus develop a senior team who can support you.

Important skill sets

Below I have highlighted some essential skill sets as guiding principles.

• Demonstrate an honest and open approach to build trust with the community.
• Manage change effectively with 360-degree feedback.
• Have a clear focus on recruiting the right staff according to your vision of positivity and mindset.
• Take a positive ‘solutions focus’ to solving problems and resolving issues.
• Build personal support mechanisms, take charge of staff and student personal well-being
• Develop cross-cultural competence and contextual intelligence.
• Develop diplomacy at all levels.
• Be resilient and inspire a sense of calm.
• Be composed, self-assured and project a positive, calm presence – irrespective of how you might be feeling inside to cope gracefully, overcome setbacks and remain positive.
• Display resilience.
• Be empathetic – but also skilfully assertive when needed.
• As a head you need to develop a strategy between listening and making decisions; between adapting to situations and giving consistent direction.
• Keep abreast with pedagogical knowledge.

International leadership is challenging. I would be keen to hear from fellow colleagues on their experiences.