What does your team have in common with a class of primary school pupils?

What does your team have in common with a class of primary school pupils?

Probably less glue, fewer hands in the air and no cheerleading tournaments.

But psychologically? They are running the same operating system.

I have been a Governor at a primary school for a few years now. I took it on a few years ago and am now proud to say I am Chair. I thought it would be a good thing to do for the community. What I didn’t expect was how much it would give back to me.

It has changed the way I lead. Genuinely.

Here is what I have learned.

1.Every brain needs to feel safe before it can perform

A child's brain will not engage in learning unless it can answer two basic questions. Am I safe? Do I matter?

Sit with that for a moment.

Because I can say the same about your team. And mine. People do not think clearly, take risks, speak up or give their best when they feel unsafe or invisible. That is not weakness. That is neuroscience.

2.Wellbeing is not a nice to have. It is the whole game.

Schools are in the middle of a teacher wellbeing crisis. I see it every day. The pressure is relentless, the expectations are enormous, the resources are stretched and the impact on performance is clearly visible.

Sound familiar?

If we can work out how to fix the wellbeing and pressure epidemic in schools, we can fix it in any organisation. The conditions are the same. The human beings are the same. The solution will be the same too.

3. The leaders who quietly changed how I lead

Being a governor has brought me into contact with some genuinely remarkable leaders. The headteacher at our school is one of the most inspiring I have worked alongside – and she has nothing to do with the world I operate in professionally. She doesn’t talk about strategy or targets. She talks about whether her staff feel seen and whether the environment she creates allows people to do their best work.

What I have taken from watching her lead, I now bring into my own world every day. Wellbeing is not a programme or a benefit. It is a culture built in small moments in whether you notice when a colleague goes quiet, in whether people feel they can tell you the truth. She showed me that the most important leadership work often happens before the agenda starts. When I walk into a room to lead, I am not just thinking about what I need to deliver, I am thinking about who is in that room and what they might need to feel present and able to contribute. That lesson came from watching a headteacher do it for a school full of 3 to 11 year olds. It turns out it works just as well for a room full of adults.

4.Governance has made me a better strategic thinker

Sitting on a governing body means making decisions without always having full information. We have to balance short term need with long term direction. We have to ask uncomfortable questions of senior leaders. And we have to go on training courses.

It is a masterclass in governance that most leadership training does not come close to.

5.It gets me out of my bubble

Leadership can become very insular very quickly. You spend time with the same people, in the same sector, solving the same problems.

Being a governor forces me to see leadership through a completely different lens. The problems are unfamiliar and the stakes feel different. Stretching myself is exactly what makes me sharper back in my own world.

Why I would recommend it to anyone

What you put in, is totally up to you. It can be daily work, weekly work or termly work. Whatever role you want to play.

But what you get back is perspective and humility. A reminder that leadership is leadership wherever it happens. And a genuine contribution to something that matters far beyond your own organisation.

The children in that school have no idea who I am. But I think about them when I am making decisions about my own team. I think about whether the people around me feel safe and whether they feel like they matter.

Because if they do, everything else tends to follow.

I would love to know whether you do any voluntary or community roles and what they have taught you. Or if you have been thinking about becoming a governor and want to know more, feel free to reach out.

Zoe Sinclair