What kind of schools could we build if every leader saw teaching as the foundation of leadership?
We could build schools where adults learn with the same care and intention we offer students. Teaching has taught me how people learn, how they feel safe, and how they thrive. These lessons are now shaping how I imagine leadership in schools.
As educators, we often think of leadership as something that happens in offices, meetings, or formal titles. Yet, through my years in the classroom, I have come to understand that leadership is something we practise every day—through our relationships, our choices, and the way we show up for others. Teaching has shaped how I think about people, learning, and community, and it continues to shape how I imagine leadership.
Recently, I completed the course Management Excellence at Microsoft: Model, Coach, Care with Joe Whittinghill and Microsoft senior leaders. The ideas shared in the course felt deeply familiar. In many ways, they mirrored the values that have guided my teaching practice for years.
This reflection has led me to explore humanistic leadership—a way of leading that centers people, relationships, and growth.
Humanistic Leadership is not simply being kind. it is the practice of designing structures, expectations, and accountability systems that honour human development while maintaining high standards.
Leadership as a Living Planner
I often think of leadership as a teacher’s unit planner. As teachers, we begin with expectations, success criteria, and learning goals. But effective teaching is never rigid. We adjust lessons based on student feedback, classroom dynamics, and emerging needs.
Leadership in schools is similar. While leaders hold a vision and goals for the school, humanistic leadership requires flexibility, reflection, and responsiveness. A living planner is co-created with students; a living leadership plan is co-created with the school community.
Relationships Are the Foundation of School Culture
In classrooms, relationships are the foundation of learning. No matter how carefully planned a lesson is, if students are not socially and emotionally ready, or if they do not feel safe and supported, even the best lesson plans will not succeed. Learning happens through connection, trust, and belonging.
The same is true for schools as organizations. A school may have a clearly written vision, an inspiring mission, and a carefully crafted strategic plan—but these documents alone do not create success. The school’s vision comes alive only when educators feel socially and emotionally supported. Without that human foundation, even the most thoughtful plans remain words on paper.
Humanistic leadership recognizes that relationships are not an extra task—they are the infrastructure of a thriving school.
Leadership as Mirror and Window
As a mirror, leadership invites reflection. It helps educators see their strengths, their growth areas, and their impact.
As a window, leadership opens possibilities. It connects educators to new ideas, research, and pathways. Leadership is not about control—it’s about expanding horizons.
Leadership as a Living Inquiry Process
Teachers often use inquiry cycles to improve student learning—asking questions, gathering evidence, reflecting, and adjusting practice. Humanistic leadership takes the same inquiry stance at the organizational level.
It asks questions such as:
- Who is thriving?
- Who feels marginalized?
- What structures need to change?
- What are we learning as a community?
Humanistic leaders remain curious, reflective, and responsive. Leadership becomes an ongoing learning process, not a fixed destination.
Care: Humanistic Leadership as Energy Stewardship
Schools are emotional spaces—filled with hope, stress, joy, urgency, and care. Humanistic leaders understand that their actions shape the emotional climate of a school.
Leadership is stewardship of energy. It involves protecting time for collaboration, reducing unnecessary pressures, acknowledging emotional labour, and nurturing hope. When leaders care for the well-being of their teams, schools become places where people can sustain their passion and purpose.
Growth as a Core Value
If we are not growing, are we standing still? We either progress or regress—stagnation is not possible.
Humanistic leadership fosters a culture where growth is expected, nurtured, and celebrated. People within a school community continue to move, learn, and stretch beyond yesterday’s boundaries. Every course taken, every skill explored, every new perspective embraced contributes to that growth.
In this culture, stagnation is impossible; we either rise with purpose or drift backward. As leaders, we support that journey by providing opportunities, resources, and guidance to help people rise—and gentle support when they drift—so no one is left behind. By embedding this belief in progression into the heart of a school, leaders create a living ecosystem where teachers, staff, and students alike are empowered to reach further, dream bigger, and evolve together.
That is the school I want to create—a community where care, growth, and collaboration guide every choice.
