The Untapped Power of School Leadership Culture

Culture cascades from leadership — this is widely accepted in business, yet so easily overlooked in education. Schools are organisations too, with leadership teams equally deserving of investment and development.

Over two decades, I’ve partnered with leaders across corporate and non-profit sectors — from individual coaching to comprehensive culture transformations involving surveys, focus groups, and facilitated interventions. Consistently, I’ve witnessed how investing in a team’s development, unity, and character yields remarkable returns — not only in performance metrics but also in wellbeing and fulfilment.

And yet, for years, I failed to recognise this principle’s application to schools.

Our attention naturally gravitates toward students, curriculum, and systems. While these elements are undeniably important, I’ve come to see how frequently we overlook those who sustain the entire enterprise — teachers, support staff, and school leadership teams. This insight — catalysed by ShareTree’s (https://sharetree.org/sharetree-app/) mission to enhance school environments through character development — transformed my perspective. Since then, I’ve had the honour of partnering with several schools to support their leadership and teaching teams, most recently with two institutions in Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs.

Our approach focused not primarily on systems or structures, but on the people themselves — their character, their connection to purpose, and their collective identity.

What struck me in working with them:
·      Teachers are so conditioned to prioritise children’s needs that they often neglect their own.
·      They navigate daily pressures — from limited resources to increasingly demanding stakeholders — with little relief.
·      Amidst it all, I encountered more dedication than grievance, more resolve than resentment, and an unwavering perseverance that keeps them showing up — even when they feel isolated and entirely alone.
What they needed most wasn’t fixing — it was simply to be seen. To pause, reflect, and reconnect with themselves and each other.

Through deliberate, meaningful interactions — character acknowledgements, compassionate listening, quiet solidarity in shared spaces — something remarkable began to emerge. A sense of collective resilience. Team cohesion. And perhaps most significantly, a rediscovery of purpose and professional pride.

Partnering with schools in this capacity has become one of the most rewarding aspects of my work. I consider it a profound privilege to be welcomed into these environments and entrusted to support the teachers and leaders who are shaping our future. Each engagement leaves me inspired — by their courage, their resilience, and their unwavering commitment.