I did it my way
And now the end is near and so I face the final curtain,
My friends, I’ll say it clear, I’ll state my case of which I’m certain.
I’ve lived a life that’s full, I travelled each and every highway,
And more, much more than this, I did it my way!
– Jacques Revaux, immortalised in English by Frank Sinatra, among others
I was often told by colleagues, governors and friends that my career, and in particular my priorities and leadership style, were very distinctly my own. Over the years I interacted with good leaders and dedicated men and women in various capacities who were wonderful to work with. This, coupled with an exceptional, wise and supportive wife, and a loyal if somewhat long-suffering family, as well as great friends, all helped to mould the way in which I did things.
I think the way you choose to approach your job is really based on your relationship with the different constituencies with which you deal, as well as on your goals, priorities and leadership style. As I face that final curtain, I would like to examine these aspects briefly.
Professionally, my priority has always been the boys and girls I have taught and led. I accept that running a big school today is a business where you are dealing with, and are responsible for, millions if not hundreds of millions of rands. What is more important than dealing with the bottom line, however, is the product, and the product is people – and foremost the pupils. I have always tried to urge the staff to remember just that – if it were not for the pupils, we would not have our jobs, whether these be in management, academia, administration or the most lowly of support positions.
A good example of this was conveyed to me by one of my younger deputies, who found a particular incident in which the two of us were involved very difficult to accept at the time, but after years in management told me he had adopted it as his own modus operandi, or at least to a degree, as we have very different personalities.
At Pretoria Boys High, we had a management meeting every Monday from noon to whatever time, sometimes as embarrassingly late as 6 pm. The team consisted of the head, four deputies, the bursar/business manager and, from time to time, other senior staff should their portfolios need to be discussed. In the course of one such meeting my secretary, Gail Bloemink, phoned me at about 3.30 pm to say that she had a very tearful Form II (Grade 9) boy who was refusing to leave her office until he had spoken to me. Gail was not easily defeated, but no matter what ploy she used, this boy was not budging and would not tell her what the problem was.
Even though our discussion was important, I decided that the boy’s issue must be serious. I told my executive to take a break; if I was still busy with the boy after half an hour, they could go home. My young deputy could not believe what I was doing, as he saw his management position and the issues under discussion as being much more important than some snivelling 15-year-old. Apparently, he made his feelings clear to the other members of the executive while they waited. After half an hour, they left. I have no recollection of what the boy’s issue was, nor of the outcome of our meeting, but it was clear to everyone that the pupils were my priority.
Building on this theme, I feel strongly that when a principal is involved in major (and not so major) disciplinary and behavioural issues, he or she can frequently defuse them and prevent long, drawn-out disciplinary issues that then end up in the hands of people who are not necessarily skilled or experienced enough to deal with the problem. It is vital for the miscreants and their parents to know that the head finds these issues important enough to get involved.
I know there are procedures that are prescribed for dealing with various disciplinary issues, but in my opinion, these should be a last resort. I am sure that when serious disciplinary issues arise in schools, there has not been visible leadership, getting to the source of the problem immediately and decisively. I know I am oversimplifying this, and that no single person can do it all, but there are many less pressing issues that can and should be delegated. This underlines the need to surround yourself with good and trustworthy people, and to let them pick up the issues at which you as a leader may not be as competent, and in so doing also to acknowledge your weaknesses.
No matter how small or inconsequential a problem that a pupil brings to you may seem, if it is important to him or her, then as a leader you need to respect that importance. Theories of leadership and leadership styles abound; arguments about whether leaders are born or can be made have gone on for centuries; and of course your leadership style is a reflection of many things, and in particular your personality. However, I would venture to say that, regardless of your personality, the two types of leadership very much in vogue at present, namely, servant leadership and ethical leadership, are the most effective and easy to implement.
The next priority for me was support for my staff. This involved giving them the kind of backing that would enable them to do what they did best in the interest of the pupils and not to be diverted from that goal by unnecessary and burdensome administrative tasks, which detract from the passion and enthusiasm a head needs from the teaching staff. I am aware that this, too, is easier said than done, but while you are unlikely to win the bureaucratic war, you can certainly win some of the battles, which I know the staff always appreciated. There always seemed to be issues that I could convince officialdom had little or no bearing on the results the school produced, and that therefore there was no need to fix things that were not broken.
It was important for me to keep an open-door policy for staff, to support them wherever possible on disciplinary issues, and to give them time for professional and personal issues that they wished to share. The fact that a significant number of boys and girls have joined the teaching profession in the schools with which I have been associated is indicative of the influence and role-modelling that they have encountered from their teachers. Encouraging youngsters to become teachers, establishing internal teaching bursaries that require paying back only in service as an incentive, and creating opportunities for professional growth and then being prepared to encourage those with leadership potential to apply for promotion, no matter how much it will hurt to lose them – these were all strategies I adopted, not only for our benefit but also for the greater good of education.
It is with great pride that three of my young teachers at Rhodes High School are today principals of three of the top schools in our country, and that there are, I believe, eight or nine Boys High Old Boys who are also heads in some of our best-known schools, both state and independent.
I also believe that it is important to recognise those who go beyond the call of duty, not only in acknowledgement and appreciation of what they have done but also in a material way, where possible. The education department was aware that the more affluent schools, particularly those who employed a significant number of privately paid teachers, were reimbursing staff members who put in a great deal of extra time. Whether they introduced a paperwork monster called Section 38A to regularise this practice or to deter those who were involved in it, I never found out, but I do believe the hours we had to spend involved with this bureaucratic monster were worth every minute if it made the staff feel appreciated and valued.
I remember an occasion when I was summoned to the district office with our chairman and a couple of governors, I suppose to explain and defend the mountain of 38A’s – incidentally, all approved by a special meeting of parents and subsequently by the full governing body. It appeared that the real problem was me, as the director said that if he were to approve my personal remuneration, together with my state salary, I would be earning more than he did.
I quickly responded that I could not see the problem, as I worked significantly harder than he did. I was aware of a collective intake of breath from my governors, followed by a pregnant silence after which, without a word, the district director signed off our 38A’s. He had two sons at Boys High and we had had a somewhat fractious relationship over previous issues, so perhaps he thought it better to capitulate.
With pupils and staff being the priorities, it may seem that it would be inevitable that some of the other important stakeholders in the school community might not get the attention and the time they may feel they need or deserve. On the contrary, visibility and decisive action at grassroots level with pupils and staff need not necessarily be time-consuming, although in some cases they will be. I like to think that I did not short-change parents who wanted to see me, although the way our pastoral system was structured, and the trust I put in those in charge of subject departments, houses, sport and cultural activities, resulted in many of the issues being dealt with at the next level.
I probably had more time than many other heads as I did not get involved in meetings and organisations, and I can now admit that for those that required compulsory attendance, I became quite adept at staying only for as long as it had relevance to my particular school. I generally found that the departmental officials with whom I had to deal on a regular basis were understanding and sympathetic to my style of management and seemed to be quite comfortable as long as we complied with the regulations that were pertinent to us and continued to be a flagship school for them. As a head, both in Cape Town and in Gauteng, I never felt bullied or harassed by departmental officials, and generally we operated on a basis of mutual trust and respect.
As mentioned in previous chapters, I saw my relationship with the Old Boys as being extremely important, and I devoted a great deal of time to interaction with them through reunions and at branch level. This proved to be a very valuable investment in time and effort and has paid dividends over the years. My relationship with the governing bodies with whom I was privileged to work has always been a special part of my job. In all my schools, I made it clear from the outset that my staff and I were the educational professionals and that we would use the governors’ skills in areas in which we were not qualified and competent to operate effectively, such as finance, legal issues and building projects, to name but a few.
I worked with outstanding chairmen, only five in 20 years, and highly talented governors, all of whom happily accepted this situation. Most were high-profile in their professions and were willing to be used as required. It does concern me that in many schools the principals are inclined to refer to their governing bodies for just about everything, and to hide behind them when unpopular decisions need to be made. I am aware that legislation has changed over the years, with more powers being vested in the governing bodies, but I still believe strongly in a clear delineation between governance and management. Parents’ associations and trusts play a valuable role in most schools, but this role needs to be clearly defined and implemented.
I was often asked by independent school heads whether I was not harassed by the unions. My first real interaction with unions was in my first few years at Pretoria Boys High when we had to have mass meetings for all our non-academic staff, who were required to join one of two unions. My memory in this regard is somewhat sketchy, but I do recall the meeting getting off to a good start from our point of view. The late Joel Matlala, the school printer and senior among the non-academic staff, stood up before any of the union officials could get a word in and announced loudly, to thunderous applause, that they did not need unions as I was their ‘father and he looks after us’. It was a great compliment, but it also underscored the importance of looking after staff materially and letting them know the value of their service.
I was blessed in all my schools, but in particular the boys’ schools, to have support staff whose loyalty and love for the school knew no bounds. Their approach of ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ as far as the boys were concerned was legendary. They knew exactly what the boys were up to but spoke up only on the very rare occasions when potential danger was involved.
As far as the academic staff was concerned, I made my attitude very clear regarding strikes called by the unions. I did not believe that professional people should strike, and the fact that half the staff were employed by the governing body made my stance even stronger, as you certainly should not bite the hand that feeds. There were a handful of staff who felt that they should strike in solidarity with colleagues in less endowed schools; I respected this but did insist that should they be away from school, they should join the marches that had been arranged and not spend the day drinking coffee at their favourite coffee shop.
The final, small group of women who make it possible to run a big and multifaceted organisation such as a school are the headmaster’s secretaries. These remarkable women are a rare breed whose range of skills and work ethic could earn them salaries far, far greater than they earned at a school. I could write a full chapter on them alone, but suffice it to say that without their loyalty, wisdom, courage, protectiveness, diplomacy and a healthy mix of compassion and steel, a principal’s job would be so much more difficult. Jean Moore (Rhodes High), Ela Cockrell (Westerford High), Ruth Buckland (Pinelands High) and Gail Bloemink (who put up with me for 20 years at Pretoria Boys High), I thank you, I salute you, and I love you for helping me to do it ‘my way’.