Leading In and From the Middle
Lead yourself, others and change — with clarity, connection and confidence.
A signature cohort program for middle leaders in schools — run within a single school, across a network, or system-wide. It’s built on a place-based leadership model: where we lead is part of how we lead, and how we grow leadership expertise.
Grounded in research and over a decade of work alongside middle leaders, it develops considered, confident leaders of change, with the learning anchored in a real-world leadership project. The learning design emphasises practical frameworks and tools that can be used directly, supported by case studies and pulse-check data from the cohort.
Program at a Glance
Across a year — spaced over three terms, not a one-off hit.
Three days over three terms — time to apply and practise between sessions.
A cohort program — learning with and from peers.
Delivery — in-person workshop days, with optional online coaching.
A live mini-leadership project — each participant leads a small, real leadership project drawn from their own work, typically anchored in the school plan. A simple framework (need, resources, actions, outcomes and evidence) supports iterative cycles of learning that connect problem diagnosis with action steps, with key support at each Leadership Clinic.
A leadership pulse-check — before each workshop day.
After an initial consultation, the program content and learning design are customised to align with your context and leadership development strategy. There is also a 4-day version.
Program Overview
Day 1: Leading in and from the middle
Five lenses of leadership — relational, developmental, behavioural, contextual, and identity.
Middle leaders’ superpowers — explore ways of thinking about and “doing” leadership from the middle, drawing on the latest Australian research.
Leading a team — build team psychological safety and relational trust.
Leadership Clinic — focusing your mini-leadership project, with an emphasis on diagnosing problems and challenges in context.
Day 2: Leading and navigating change
Navigating change — explore how change happens in schools, why people resist it, and how adaptive leadership helps.
Communicating for influence — explore storytelling as a leadership practice through building your leadership story with the public narrative model, and apply it to your project.
Leadership Clinic — progress on your mini-leadership project and explore ways to overcome common challenges.
Day 3: Leadership learning
Leadership lessons from the field — join a powerful fishbowl conversation with three school leaders and explore three real, live leadership cases on change and adaptive leadership.
Leading from the middle — influence up and across.
A checklist for leading change — three phases: design for success, bring people with you, and help make it stick.
Leadership Clinic — reflect, celebrate and share your mini-leadership project and leadership learning.
