many years. While in industry, I reported to and worked with C-level
executives. After a while at my School, I was quite surprised by how much
more complicated the Head's responsibilities are compared to the industry
CEOs for which I interacted. From my perspective, the decisions and
expectations that Heads face are tougher and require a very diverse skill
set. . . Kind of a combo of Jack Welch, Steve Jobs, and Winston
Churchhill.
Dave
MICDS Director of Technology
A forum for independent school educators <ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU> writes:
>A few thoughts before I get back to grading <grin>.
>
>1. The same trends appear, of course, in CEO salaries, finance, etc., over
>this time period. While we work in schools, Head salaries are set by
>boards
>that are mostly composed of people in the business world. It's not
>surprising that top-dog salaries set by these folks would follow corporate
>trends, especially when the market is (well, was) doing so well.
>
>2. In roughly this period, many schools went through a transition to a
>more
>complex environment, legal and financial. This absolutely made the Head's
>job more challenging and hazardous, a far cry from the calm "head master"
>mindset. A Head Of School said to me around 2003 that "When they look
>back
>on these years, they'll say that these were the hardest times to be a head
>of school". The risk of lawsuit, the trend to accountability that adds
>pressure to faculty lives, and the need to justify to parents the cost of
>an
>education that is increasing faster than the rate of inflation, among
>other
>things, were behind this statement.
>
>Of course, many of the items in #2 apply to rank-and-file faculty as well,
>but here supply and demand considerations kick in. Looking forward, when
>economic conditions are likely to be poor, the importance of having a
>great
>head will increase much faster than the supply. But the supply of people
>who might want to teach, given the challenging job market in other fields,
>will likely outstrip the need. This suggests, to me anyway, that the
>divergence my well continue, or at least stabilize at a relatively large
>ratio (though still nothing like the business world!).
>
>Back to grade reports......
>
>---Tim Corica, Peddie School
>
>
>
>
>On Sun, Nov 22, 2009 at 10:50 AM, Peter Gow <pgow@bcdschool.org> wrote:
>
>> Possibly also longer tenures--a couple of decades back we were in an
>era of
>> short-time, "musical chairs" heads.
>>
>> I would also suggest that job has become much more complex in terms of
>the
>> multiple skill sets required to lead an independent school effectively.
>> It's
>> a helluva lot more complicated--and with higher stakes for more
>> people--than
>> what I do, for sure.
>>
>> And, as Pat suggests, there may not be such a huge pool of fully
>qualified
>> (whatever that might mean) people interested in taking these jobs on. I
>> would guess that most of the boomers who wanted to be heads have already
>> made the move, while the next generation may not see being an
>independent
>> school head as the kind of culmination or fulfillment that us oldsters
>once
>> thought that a headship might be; or the next generation just may not be
>> finding the openings, as boomers (older, very experienced, and hence
>> commanding hefty salaries) may be clogging the system for the moment.
>>
>> Ten or fifteen years from now the leadership profile in independent
>schools
>> may look very different.
>>
>> Just a thought or two--Peter Gow
>>
>>
>> --
>> Peter Gow
>> Director of College Counseling and Special Programs
>> Beaver Country Day School
>> 791 Hammond Street
>> Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467
>> www.bcdschool.org
>> 617-738-2755 <callto:+16177382755> (O)
>> 617-738-2747 <callto:+16177382747> (F)
>> petergow3 (Skype)
>>
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>
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