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2015 marks 40 years of publication of Independence, the biannual journal of the
Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia. To celebrate, AHISA presents for
its members and friends a special series of interviews and essays that provide insights into
independent schooling and educational leadership.
DECEMBER 2015: ROBYN COLLINS
ROBYN COLLINS retires as Principal Consultant at Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ) in midDecember 2015 to take up full-time writing. At ISQ, Robyn has been responsible for the
Association’s leadership programs and provides the monthly research paper for its Briefings
publication.
Robyn was Principal of The Kooralbyn International School Queensland and CEO of International
Education Services, the company responsible for delivering the University of Queensland
Foundation program. She has worked as a consultant to Griffith University, as an accreditor for the
Queensland Government’s Non-State Schools Accreditation Board and as a lecturer and tutor at
the University of Papua New Guinea. Aside from her consultancy work, Robyn has held
directorships on the board of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (Queensland) in 200206, and was a director of the Independent Schools of Queensland Block Grant Authority (2001-13).
Robyn is also a published author of children’s literature (see www.robyncollinswriter.com).
Robyn is highly regarded in the independent schools sector for her leadership research and as a
‘critical friend’ of school leaders. The following research article was published in ISQ’s NovemberDecember 2015 issue of Briefings. AHISA is grateful to Robyn and ISQ for permission to reprint the
article for the benefit of all AHISA members.
Leaders for the 21st century
ROBYN COLLINS
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
– Leo Tolstoy
WHO ARE the world’s great leaders? What qualities do they share? Is 21st century leadership
different from leadership in the past? How should we prepare leaders for the future?
If you ask a thousand people to name the world’s great leaders you are likely, after the first five or
six names most people have in common, to get a thousand different answers. Lists of great
leaders usually contain the names Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin
Luther King and George Washington. They also contain names like Alexander the Great, Winston
Churchill, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Joan of Arc, Boadicea, Napoleon, Julius Caesar and any
number of great war leaders, as well as more controversial figures such as Adolf Hitler, Fidel
Castro, and Mao Zedong.
Any attempts to analyse what these leaders have in common is doomed to failure because of their
great diversity, although the first five leaders do seem to have qualities that current leadership
theory ascribes to effective leadership – humility, a fanatical commitment to a common cause, and
the ability to inspire.
Generally, however, the image of charismatic leadership that applies to the majority of people on
‘leadership lists’ comes from another time and is an outdated view of leadership. Organisations
and leadership of organisations requires agility and team work that were perhaps not quite so
essential in the past, when change occurred at a slower rate and a charismatic and/or autocratic
style of leadership was the norm.
While some of the great leaders of the past may have been born with particular characteristics
that inspired others to follow them, many of these leaders also were ‘made’ by circumstances.
During times of war, great upheaval, economic downturn and perceived injustice, leaders are
more likely to appear than when the world is peaceful and prosperous.
At a time when many long term leaders in business, and schools, are close to retirement, it is
pertinent to look at future leadership and the adjustments organisations and schools may have to
make to work with different leadership and management styles from those of the past.
Trends influencing leadership
In a paper entitled, ‘After the baby boomers: The next generation of leadership’1, researchers from
Odgers Berndtson and Cass Business School identify key trends likely to change the face of
leadership in the 21st century, and highlight the urgent need to develop leaders who can steer
organisations through the demographic, gender and cultural changes already underway.
The first of these trends is the exodus of talent caused by an ageing demographic and a mass of
experienced leaders all retiring at the same time. This is already resulting in intensification of ‘the
war for talent’ as too few trained leaders are available to replace leaders permanently leaving the
workforce. Not only are there fewer leaders but there is some evidence that the next generation is
less interested in ‘getting to the top’ than baby boomers. Work-life balance and personal
fulfilment are more important to many post-baby boomers than leading a corporation (or school).
The second trend is the rising economic power of women who, in the USA where the study was
conducted, now control spending in excess of $20 trillion and who, to a larger extent, are not
catered for by the workplace or the market. In a workforce where male baby boomers still
dominate leadership positions, the skills of women in the workforce are often overlooked even
though women are likely to display the qualities considered most valuable in the modern
workforce. The Odgers Berndtson and Cass Business School report found the three qualities most
1
http://www.odgersberndtson.com/fileadmin/uploads/global/Documents/Baby_Boomers.pdf
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INDEPENDENCE 2015 SPECIAL EDITION: ROBYN COLLINS
identified by current executives as essential for future leaders were emotional intelligence,
flexibility and people skills – all qualities generally regarded as ‘feminine’.
Furthermore, while Australian Government statistics identify more women in the workforce as
having completed Year 12, holding a bachelor degree and attaining a post graduate degree, they
continue to earn 17.5 per cent less than men. More tellingly, for the purposes of the leadership
debate, only 3.5 per cent of CEO positions are held by women, and 3 per cent of chair positions in
the ASX 2002.
Independent schools fare somewhat better than business when it comes to gender diversity in
governance. A 2015 survey of 104 Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ) schools, out of a
potential 176, found 86 per cent of board chairs in independent schools are men, and 14 per cent
women. There is a clear disconnect between these statistics and desired leadership qualities for a
new generation.
The third trend is the growing economic weight of BRICS3, a group made up of Brazil, China, India,
Russia, and South Africa, and characterised by rapidly growing economies and increasing
international influence. With over 40 per cent of the world’s population, the combined output of
these countries constitutes more than 20 per cent of global GDP. As these new economies
compete with traditional markets, leaders will need greater cultural awareness. Fluency in a
second language may even become an essential leadership requirement.
Despite this clear change in the global marketplace, and the fact the Odgers Berndtson report
found 68 per cent of respondents rely too heavily on male CEOs, 57 per cent of respondents to the
report survey still believe that male executives over 55 have the required leadership skills to adapt
to the demographic and market changes. On the other hand, 43 per cent were not confident that
senior management had the skills for 21st century leadership.
New emphases in leadership development
While many characteristics of leadership do not change over time, training for the next generation
of leaders will need different emphases from those of the past. More urgently than ever before,
leaders in the 21st century need the ability to work with people, as young people beginning their
careers and older workers contemplating retirement have different attitudes to work and what
they want to achieve from it.
The next generation of leaders will still need to work with baby boomers but, more and more, they
will be working with millennials (births from 1982-2000) who, the research says, seem to be more
comfortable working in teams, seek challenges, desire speedy advancement and immediate, clear,
specific and frequent feedback. While they are ambitious, they also want life-work balance, and
will even accept lower pay for a position that allows them this. Seventy per cent say that ‘giving
back and being civically engaged are their highest priorities’ (Gilbert 2011).
Under the ‘old’ model, leaders were ‘scarce and special; leadership was a vertical function related
to power; and horizontal relationships were the purview of strategy, not leadership’. Employees
working within in this model were given little chance to display leadership, and decision-making
2
3
https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2014-02-10-Stats_at_a_Glance.pdf
http://www.as-coa.org/articles/explainer-what-are-brics?gclid=CLeus5OZoMcCFZYIvAodJLcGyQ
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INDEPENDENCE 2015 SPECIAL EDITION: ROBYN COLLINS
was concentrated ‘at the top’ (Green 2011). Leaders as all powerful seldom had their authority
questioned and tended to pronounce changes rather than collaborate with staff. In contrast,
millennial employees more often than not move on rather than work in a situation where they
have no input into their work life and conditions.
The reduction in ‘natural’ authority of the leaders means the centre of new leadership is ‘the
ability to persuade someone over whom you have no power to collaborate with you in pursuit of a
common vision’ (Green 2011).
Preparing for the unknown
Because of these characteristics of the new, and coming, workforce, Roselinde Torres (2014)
suggests that great leaders for the 21st century need to be more agile, flexible and innovative than
those of the past. She argues that leaders can no longer rely on traditional development practices,
such as narrow 360-degree surveys and training by outside ‘experts’ who have no experience in a
similar role, to develop their leadership practices. Instead they must be ‘women and men who are
preparing themselves not for the comfortable predictability of yesterday but also for the realities
of today and all of those unknown possibilities of tomorrow’. In order to do this, they need to
apply themselves, and their development to three questions:
1. Where are you looking to anticipate the next change to your business model or your life?
To answer this, leaders need to look at who they spend time with, what topics they talk
about, what they read and what they do to prepare for the next trend that may impact on
their business. Great leaders, Torres says, ‘are not head-down. They see around corners,
shaping their future, not just reacting to it’.
2. What is the diversity measure of your personal and professional stakeholder network?
This question is about the capacity of 21st century leaders to develop relationships with
people very different from themselves. The 20th century default position for leaders was
often to connect with ‘the old boys’ network’, to spend time with people they were
comfortable with, and to ‘reproduce themselves’ in leadership appointments. This,
however, is not enough in the new global century. Great leaders ‘understand that having a
more diverse network is a source of pattern identification at greater levels and also of
solutions, because there are people in the network thinking differently from the leader’.
3. Are you courageous enough to abandon a practice that has made you successful in the
past?
Effective leaders, Torres argues, cannot keep doing what is familiar and comfortable; they
can’t just talk about risk-taking, but must actually do it. The fast pace of change in the 21st
century, which shows no sign of abating, requires not just steps, but courageous leaps if
leaders are to keep ahead of the trends impacting on their organisations.
Given that all of the above questions require leaders to take themselves and their employees out
of the comfort zone, a leader’s interpersonal skills become more important than ever before. In
preparing leaders for the future, it is the ‘soft’ skills such as trust, collaboration, influencing, and
developing values and character that need to be central in programs of leadership development.
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INDEPENDENCE 2015 SPECIAL EDITION: ROBYN COLLINS
The centrality of interpersonal skills
Paul Browning, Head of St Paul’s School in Brisbane, argues that ‘the most important role of a
[leader] is to inspire, build and sustain trust’ (Browning 2015). Covey (2011) contends that ‘the
ability to establish, grow, extend (and where needed) restore trust among stakeholders is the
critical competency of leadership needed today’.
Despite its importance, trust seems to be on the decline. Research shows only 49 per cent of
employees trust senior management, and only 28 per cent believe CEOs are a credible source of
information (Covey 2011). Covey estimates that where trust is low in an organisation it doubles
the cost of doing business and triples the time it takes to get things done. When trust is low,
decisions are perceived as arbitrary, misinformed or not in the best interests of the organisation.
Under these conditions there is frequent, and expensive, turnover in leadership; in schools,
teacher turnover is also high (Brewster & Railsback 2003). In terms of interpersonal
communication, employees may be evasive, dishonest and inconsiderate. Instead of devoting their
energy to their work, they divert it into self-protection (Johnson & Johnson 1987).
In contrast, where trust is strong, employees have confidence the leader:

Has their best interests at heart and will protect them;

Is dependable and consistent;

Is competent to perform the leadership position;

Is honest, authentic and acts with integrity; and

Is open with regard to communication, freely sharing information (Tschannen-Moran &
Hoy 1998).
With specific reference to schools, the research suggests that in order for school leaders to
develop their personal and interpersonal skills and to build trust with their teachers, attention
must be paid to – and leaders must demonstrate – the following:
Personal integrity
First and foremost, highly regarded leaders in schools demonstrate honesty and commitment
to follow through (Blase & Blase 2001; Sebring & Bryk 2000). Although teacher honesty is also
important, it is the major responsibility of the Principal – as the person who has more power in
the relationship – to set the stage for trusting relationships.
Care
Trusted and respected Principals take a personal interest in their staff and care about the
wellbeing of individuals in both their professional and family lives. They know the names of all
staff members, the names of partners and family members and the interest they show in them
is genuine. Trusted leaders practise empathetic listening (Covey 1989), that is, they listen to
understand, not simply as a pause while they are composing a response, and they listen more
than they talk.
Accessibility
Principals build trust by simply being available to staff. Trusted Principals communicate and
actively encourage open communication from others. Barlow (2001) argues that ‘once the
leader takes the risk of being open, others are more likely to take a similar risk’ – and thus a
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INDEPENDENCE 2015 SPECIAL EDITION: ROBYN COLLINS
culture of trust develops. Accessibility is not just a matter of an ‘open door policy’. Principals
who make themselves highly visible by walking around the school, locating their office in a
place where they can see and be seen and who are regularly in the staffroom are viewed with
more trust than those who are never available, no matter how effective they may be in other
ways (Browning 2015).
Effective communication
Ineffective communication and unwillingness to listen to what others have to say is a sure-fire
way to reduce trust and increase feelings of isolation amongst staff. Conversely, a
communication system that is open and fluid and is practised by everyone in the school
facilitates trust (Blase & Blase 2001).
Shared decision-making
‘Trust is the knowledge that the leader is not going to make some arbitrary, “off the cuff”
decision that impacts staff without involving them in the process’ (Browning 2015). Principals
who build trusting relationships with their staff regularly seek input from those affected by
decisions. They provide background information necessary to inform those involved in decision
making and treat teachers as capable professionals whose insights are valuable (Black 1997;
Blase & Blase 2001).
Celebration of experimentation and support of risk
Principals can demonstrate their trust in teachers by allowing for mistakes and supporting
innovation and risk taking. They show that they respect teachers as professionals and empower
them to experiment (Blase & Blase 2001; Black 1997). At the same time they must accept that
they also make mistakes, and admit to their own mistakes. Browning (2015) equates the
willingness to be ‘vulnerable, to be self-reflective, recognise one’s own strengths and
weaknesses, and to apologise when an error has been made or reverse a poor decision’ with
humility – the same quality Jim Collins identified in his seminal research into effective leaders
14 years earlier (Collins 2001).
Wolstencroft goes even further, suggesting in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous
world there is only room for humility: ‘there is simply too much happening every given day that
can make you [the leader] humble. So get ready for it’ (Wolstencroft 2015).
Acceptance and valuing of dissenting views
Similarly, trusted Principals empower staff to express dissenting views without fear of reprisal.
Teachers must feel secure in providing honest input and feedback if schools are to build
supportive relationships over time. Blase and Blase (2001) advise that Principals should
‘welcome and embrace conflict as a way to produce substantive, positive outcomes over the
long run’.
Support of staff
Too often teachers are subject to public criticism and the undermining of their confidence.
Trusted Principals show publicly that they value the efforts of their teachers and sense their
good intentions. They show by words and actions that they trust teachers to do what is best for
students (Bryk and Schneider 2002).
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INDEPENDENCE 2015 SPECIAL EDITION: ROBYN COLLINS
Readiness to supply basic resources
Teachers need to know that they can rely on their Principal to provide the basic tools of their
profession if trust in the Principal as a responsible leader is to grow (Sebring and Bryk 2000).
Willingness to replace ineffective teachers
Removing a staff member has the high potential to damage a Principal’s relationship with staff,
particularly if the termination is done unprofessionally, without warning and without clear
cause. However, there are times when a Principal’s unwillingness to remove a teacher who
does not support the school’s mission and who is widely regarded as incompetent is likely to
damage the trust between the Principal and other staff members. The difficulty for the
Principal is in knowing when more damage is caused by a teacher staying than by taking action
to remove a staff member (Bryk & Schneider 2003).
Trust defines the new template for leadership
For the 21st century leader in organisations such as schools, the old template of the all-powerful
leader expecting to make unquestioned decisions or ‘hide’ behind the leadership title for his or her
authority, has gone.
In the new world of leadership where change is ongoing, more millennials are entering the
workforce, and global forces are impacting on what happens in organisations and schools,
personal and interpersonal skills are critical to success. Leaders must continue to be effective
managers and they must show competence to lead an organisation, but they can no longer trust in
the power of their position. They must ‘rely on the power of trust’ – not just how to trust, but how
to be trusted (Green, 2011). 
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABS (2014), Labour force, Australia, Dec 2013. Cat. No. 6202.0. Available at
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/6202.0/.
Black, S. (1997) Creating community [Research report]. American School Board Journal, 184(6):3235.
Blase, J. & Blase, J.R. (2001) Empowering teachers: What successful principals do (2nd ed).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Brewster, C. & Railsback, J. (2003) Building trusting relationships for school improvement:
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Browning, P. (2015). Compelling leadership: The importance of trust and how to get it. Brisbane,
QLD: Centre for Research, Innovation and Future Development. See also Browning, P. (2013) the
currency of trust. Independence 38(1):52-57; available at
http://independence.realviewdigital.com/?iid=76899#folio=56.
Bryk, A.S. & Schneider, B. (2003) Trust in schools: A core resource for school reform. Educational
Leadership, 60(6):40-44.
Collins, J. (2001) Good to great. London: Random House.
Covey, S. (1989). Seven habits of highly effective people. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
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Covey, M.R. (2009) How the best leaders build trust. Leadership Now; available at
http://www.leadershipnow.com/CoveyOnTrust.html
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school governance: Key findings. Governance Services, ISQ.
Gilbert, G. (2011) The Millennials: A new generation of employees, a new set of policies. Ivey
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http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/the-millennials-a-new-generation-of-employees-anew-set-of-engagement-policies/.
Green, C. (2012) Why trust is the new core of leadership. Available at
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Johnson, D. & Johnson, F. (1987) Joining together: Group theory and group skills. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Tschannen-Moran, M. & Hoy, W.K. (1998) Trust In schools: A conceptual and empirical analysis.
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Torres, R. (2014) What it takes to be a great leader. Transcript of Ted Talk, available at
https://www.ted.com/talks/roselinde_torres_what_it_takes_to_be_a_great_leader.
Wolstencroft, T. (2015) Heidrick & Struggles on the changing nature of leadership. Interview with
Rik Kirkland. McKinsey & Company, Insights and Publications, June 2015. Available at
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_changing_nature_of_leadership.
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