Frank and Stan Chat with our very own Neil Jurd and Glyn Potts

About this podcast

It is a privilege to have the chance to chat colleagues who have had impressive careers and are now making a difference through their support for others on their leadership journey. Today, we chatted to Glyn Potts, a former Headteacher who has been a guest while a headteacher on our weekly chat. He was joined by Neil Jurd, the former military senior officer and author of The Leadership Book and a previous guest. Neil has developed the Leader-Connect online platform, and both are now collaborating on a new leadership programme for school leadership teams.

The chat covers their work in developing the new leadership programme and why we all feel that many existing programmes do not prepare senior leaders well enough for the ‘white heat’ moments they encounter. Glyn and Neil explain how they have recently worked with the entire senior leadership team at Dallam School, using it as an example, and what they believe staff have gained from the short and intense development programme. Oh, by the way, their programme leads to a formal qualification from the Institute of Leadership.

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Meet the Host

Frank and Stan

Frank Norris and Stan Johnson have been friends since 1995. Both have had successful and lengthy careers in education. Frank was a very senior HMI with Ofsted for 11 years and was CEO of the Coop Academies Trust for 6 years.

Stan was seconded to Ofsted for a year and then returned to headship before working as a senior adviser with Lancashire LA. He has latterly led a successful education consultancy in the North West. Prior to Covid-19 the two colleagues would meet in Manchester for a pint or two but the pandemic put an end to that.

On 1 May 2020, they recorded their first video chat as a way of recording their emotions and reactions to the pandemic. After putting the video on Youtube as a safe place to store their discussions they realised that some followers began to appear and were interested in their leadership perspectives. Now, with over 170 weekly episodes and usually an eminent guest joining them, they have a growing and increasingly influential following.