LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE
TA L K I N G A B O U T T R U S T
Close Encounters of the Rhino Kind: Building Trust in Education In this article, CONNY BRANDT shares her extraordinary encounter with a wild rhino in South Africa, which inspired her reflections on the fundamental role of trust in school business leadership
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ome years ago, I had the opportunity to spend time on a wildlife reserve in South Africa, where I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life – standing within a few metres of a group of wild rhinos. These were not zoo animals, who are used to being fed and cared for by humans, but actual wild animals, and getting so close to them was a rare privilege that would normally not be available to tourists. What allowed this to happen? In one word: trust. Our group of travellers trusted Dr Lynne MacTavish, the reserve manager and our guide, to bring us as close to the rhinos as she could without putting us in danger. The rhinos, meanwhile, recognised Lynne’s voice (she lives on the reserve and is a familiar presence) and trusted her not to bring them any harm. What, you ask, does any of this have to do with school business leadership? To me, it perfectly illustrates the power and the importance of trust. If school staff trust the
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leadership team, everyone can work together to achieve common goals. If staff mistrust leadership decisions or instructions, they may decide to follow different courses of action and work at cross purposes. TRUSTING IN OTHERS I have come across numerous examples in my school where success was built on trust. For example, at one point I was producing a booklet about our school’s history. It was a fun project that I was enjoying, and I was initially not pleased when I was asked to pass the materials that I had gathered to a member of our marketing team for them to finish off the production. However, I trusted their expertise in the subject, and sent them my work. They turned it into a beautiful and attractive leaflet, that still used my words, my content and my overall layout, but made it look far more professional than I could have done by myself. I am trusted to manage my own workload and organise my time. This allows me to