Country Briefing for New School Leaders
Your school has hired a new top administrator. You look forward to the fresh insights and different ideas this principal executive will bring to the table. You are excited about the positive changes they will make for the school and community.
How will the school prepare this individual to assimilate into the country and the school’s culture? How will the new hire be equipped for their role to ensure a successful first 100 days? Who will support and advise the new school leader on cultural differences and about the local environment?
Most schools usually do an excellent job in providing some cross-cultural communication training for their new foreign teachers. These training sessions bring about awareness of the local culture, significantly reducing casualties from culture shock. As a result, foreign teachers stay longer and establish better relationships with their local counterparts when assimilated into the country and the school’s culture.
Cultural education is essential for all new foreign hires. However, that is often not adequate for school leaders, who interact with other stakeholders at a different level. For example, they have more contact with parents, teachers, staff members, school owners, and local government officials. Basically, in Henry’s observations, new school executives require a more thorough country briefing. A country briefing will help the new administrator manage their leadership transition to build their team, deliver better results faster, and stay longer in the role. In addition, it will enable the hire to move into complex new leadership roles more quickly and effectively.
Unfortunately, many heads show up for a new role happy and smiling but are not adequately informed about the host country's social, political, and cultural nuances that affect the school community. Neither they nor the schools have thought things through in advance. With the country briefing, the leader can accelerate progress by getting a head start and hitting the ground running on the first days in the job. Being adequately informed breeds confidence, and a little early momentum goes a long way.
Leadership turnover continues to be a big problem for organizations and the leaders themselves. Studies have shown that forty percent of new leaders fail in their first 18 months. International school heads are no exception. There are so many subtleties involved that the new head may not be aware of.
Since its inception twenty-six years ago, an international school in China has had 13 heads of school. The longest-serving head of school had worked there as the head for five years. The next longest-serving head was at the school for four years. That means many of the leaders of the school were there for only one or two years. In a stable and healthy international school, the head usually stays for six to eight years.
A top school leader of another school lamented, “I am the 6th head in 11 years!”
We all know that it is expensive to hire top administrators. It is a time-consuming, costly, and complex process. First, you read the CVs from a long list of candidates, which you then shortlist. Next, you arrange for virtual and in-person interviews with several stakeholders. If it is an in-person interview, you will probably have to make flight arrangements, book a hotel, arrange for airport pick-ups and drop-offs, and select a suitable place for meeting with various community members and group interviews. The to-do list for hiring top school executives is lengthy and costly. We often pay hefty commission fees to a headhunter agency. Henry’s last school spent more than US$25,000 on air tickets and hotel accommodation for three shortlisted candidates. It is a complex process.
Can you imagine the school repeating the hiring process every one or two years? If a head were to stay for only one or two years, something must be wrong. It is rough for everybody – the students, teachers/staff, and the leaders themselves, not to mention the negative reputation that may impact the school. There must be a way for administrators to stay at least two contract terms of three or four years each. When a change in leadership happens, there are always ripple effects on teachers, staff, and students. At the very minimum, the head or the principal should stay for six years.
A new assignment in China will affect the assignee's life in many areas, even if they have years of overseas experience. As part of the orientation process, the assignee undergoes an educational briefing about the host country and the expectations of an international education leader in China.
For a top executive to be successful in their new host location, they will need to understand the host culture and how it influences subtle cultural dynamics within the school. The country briefing can also help the assignee and their family understand the standard practices in their new home, help support them during the settling process, and prepare them for culture shock. The spouse is often included in the meetings as well. The sessions also enable the new leader to manage their expectations and lay the foundation for a successful assignment.
Luckily, the international education business in China has exponentially grown since the early 2000s. Teachers who started their overseas assignments in China years ago are returning for the school's top administrator roles. It is not difficult nowadays to find top administrator candidates who have the experience of teaching in China or teaching overseas. However, China is such a dynamic country that it changes so much and so fast within a short time. If a foreigner has been away for more than five years, they will have to update themselves about China – its legislation, culture, people, and developments all over again.
Next week, Henry will identify a few topics for the country briefing and explain why they are essential for orientating your school’s new top administrator.
