ABSTRACT
The chapter explores leadership complexities in a variety of educational settings and contexts that have required the reframing of my strategic lead. My experiences and responsibilities in schools, in New South Wales, Australia, and internationally, have both enhanced my skills and understanding and forged my leadership portrait. I have not wandered from the informed and intuitive principle, commitment, and investment in the profession that each one of us can lead if conditions allow. My responsibility is to create the relevant conditions for distributive leadership. Policy, and appropriately translated procedures and implementation, strategies, understandings, and wellbeing are significant frameworks to inform leadership growth.
Leadership at any given time is richer if it traverses influential formal positions, and esteemed voluntary and emergent roles. The narratives offered highlight how leadership is facilitated through inclusion, equity, respect, aspiration, courage, skilling, expert resourcing, and a trust in the profession with minimal political interference. These real-life practical illustrations of significant events tested my leadership principles, and my rhetoric and public narrative, whilst echoing these same elements.
Regardless of education reform policy, and in fact despite education reform, we must nurture, respect, honour, and maintain humanity (including the required qualities and capabilities) in leadership development. I am cognisant of the need of a leadership legacy for the future of the education communities I have led, continue to lead, and serve.
