The Case for Slowing Down Leadership Recruitment

Schools are some of the busiest environments anywhere. The pace is relentless – terms move quickly, demands are constant, and there’s always something that needs attention now.

So, when a key leader announces their departure, the instinct to move fast makes sense. Parents want certainty. Staff want to know who they’ll be working for. The board feels the weight of the decision and wants it resolved.

But this is precisely the moment to pause and ask: what does this decision actually deserve?

Urgency vs Intention

Moving quickly isn’t the problem. Moving quickly without clarity is.

A rushed process often means recycling a position description from last time, advertising broadly, shortlisting based on CVs, and assessing candidates on how well they present in an interview. It can work. Sometimes you find the right person.

But often, the process skips the questions that matter most: What does our school actually need right now? What kind of leadership will work in our context, with our culture, at this point in our journey? What does success look like – specifically, not generically?

These aren’t questions you can answer in a hurried board meeting. They require space, reflection, and input beyond the selection panel.

What This Decision Means

A principal appointment touches every part of a school community.

For students, it shapes the culture they learn in – whether the school feels calm, purposeful, and safe. It influences how they’re known, how they’re challenged, and how they experience belonging.

For teachers, it determines whether they feel supported, trusted, and able to do their best work. It affects whether they stay or start looking elsewhere.

For families, it signals what the school values and how it will engage with them as partners. It shapes their confidence in the school’s direction.

For the broader staff – administration, grounds, wellbeing teams, learning support – it affects whether they feel seen and valued as part of the community.

For the board, it’s one of the most consequential decisions they’ll make. Get it right, and the school moves forward with stability and confidence.

This is why intention matters. Every stakeholder has something at stake.

The Reality of the Leadership Landscape

There’s no avoiding it: schools are operating in a challenging environment for leadership recruitment. Fewer candidates are putting themselves forward. Experienced leaders are leaving the profession. The pool feels smaller than it used to.

This pressure can push boards and selection panels toward speed – take what’s available, fill the role, move on.

But this is precisely where a different approach matters most.

A process that’s human, considerate, and supportive doesn’t just serve the school – it serves candidates too. Leaders considering their next move want to know they’ll be genuinely understood, not processed. They want to be assessed for fit, not just filtered by CV. They want to join a community that took the decision seriously.

In a tight market, how you recruit becomes part of your value proposition. A thoughtful, rigorous process attracts the kind of leaders who want to be part of something done well.

What Becomes Possible With Time

Taking more time doesn’t mean dragging the process out. It means being intentional about what really matters.

You can understand your school first. Before writing a position description, you can do genuine discovery work – surveying staff, speaking with families, examining culture and strategy. This surfaces what your school truly needs, which may be different from what you assumed. It also sends a powerful message: every voice in this community matters.

You can define success with precision. Instead of generic descriptors like “visionary leader” or “strong communicator,” you can articulate what success looks like for this school, at this moment, with its particular challenges and opportunities. That clarity shapes everything that follows.

You can assess candidates against your actual context. When you know what you’re looking for, you can evaluate candidates meaningfully – not just their credentials and presentation, but their values, their leadership style, their genuine fit for your environment.

You can support wise decision-making. Selection panels do important, difficult work. With time and structure, they can move beyond gut feel toward decisions they can genuinely stand behind.

You can plan for transition. A leadership appointment isn’t a finish line. With time built into the process, you can think about how to support your new leader through their critical first months – setting them up to succeed rather than simply handing over the keys.

The Opportunity

Schools will always be busy. There will always be pressure to move quickly.

But not every decision should be treated the same way.

A principal appointment shapes a school for years. It touches students, teachers, families, staff, and the broader community. It deserves a process that reflects that weight.

The opportunity is this: in a sector that often, understandably defaults to urgency, you can choose intention. You can slow down just enough to do the work that matters. You can make a decision you’re genuinely confident in.

And you can set your next leader – and your whole school community – up to thrive.