CEO Thought for the Week

Hi Everyone,

I really hope you had a great bank holiday weekend and made the most of the extra day!

This week’s CEO Thoughts are a repetition and continuation of theme I shared with Heads and Senior Leaders last week because it’s applicable to all of us.

We all want to do our best and be there for our children, our families, and our colleagues. We can all “talk a good fight” about being kind, going the extra mile and putting others before ourselves. And most of the time we absolutely mean it when we say it…. the problem comes though when we don’t deliver for whatever reason. Most of the time the lack of follow through is not due to lack of desire or willingness it’s often due to being short of time, a change in circumstances or an overwhelming to-do list. We all understand in the cold light of day that it happens however amid busy school days if someone promises or says they will do something and then they don’t it very quickly becomes an issue and can lead to a lack of trust and confidence in others. It effectively weakens and begins to break down the relationships that are at the centre of our success.

This is why I’ve been reflecting on the two quotes below. Essentially reminding myself and our schools that it’s about action and what we actually do not the words we say or the promises we make. We want our schools and our Trust to be focussed on delivery and impact not just good intentions. If we want to build positive relationships and see our schools continue to thrive, we must ensure that we only promise what we’re able to deliver and ensure that we “walk the walk” when it comes to the words we use. If you say to a parent, you’ll help them with something then we absolutely must, if we promise a child a reward then we must see it through and if we agree to meet a deadline for a colleague then that’s exactly what we do.

Put simply “we are what we do, not what we say we’ll do”!

Thank you for always endeavouring to deliver and do the right thing.

Have a great week!

Best Wishes

Gavin