ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at what sort of leader is needed to enable a trust revolution to happen in a school. It suggests that moving towards trust is about moving away from dominance and control and allowing more expansive being and connection.
This approach needs a leader, or leaders, who themselves can embrace trust rather than fear. Yet the chapter acknowledges that fear is beguiling and will repeatedly try to lure leaders back to irrational, power-based ways of being. Leaders will need to work to be self-aware enough to resist this temptation. The chapter emphasises that whatever position someone holds in a school, they can create trust rather than fear. This is important as the chapter argues that the distribution of power is the only way to achieve brilliance within a school.
The chapter explores how the research underpinning the book shows that leaning into the Trust Revolution Model enables a less fearful, commanding leadership style even if it is not initially present.
The chapter concludes by showing that the Trust Revolution Model is a process of awakening people and sets schools on a route that leads to ease rather than hard slog. The chapter acknowledges the great strengths of the current education system but returns to the statistics in Chapter 1 which show that it is broken in terms of what it offers those working in it. It encourages school leaders to jump into this trust-based way of being to enable a place of wellbeing, learning and connection.
