Abstract
This book builds on the importance of school leadership for school impact by providing an innovative way of thinking about developing future leaders through the nurturing of ‘talent’. With the support of helpfully constructed reflective points, insights from practice, assessment exercises and various practical models, Talent Management in Education contextualises the role of schools in leadership identification and development and provides a much appreciated framework to ensure a pool of talent that can be drawn upon. As with any organisation, staff are the highest costly resource, and Davies and Davies have provided a text on how to identify, develop and manage those with potential for the ever-changing nature of schools in the future.
What really filters throughout the book is the vast amount of experience, practice and insight both authors have in educational leadership. Starting from the ‘strategic talent developers' from within the school, the book develops an understanding of the types of individuals who are responsible for the nurturing of staff talent. As ‘thinkers, learners and strategic influencers', the role of these individuals is clearly defined along with the schools' strategic framework and vision which must be heavily influenced and informed by values. It is through this strategic planning and internal value system that talent can be matched to the needs of the school and from which an organisational culture should exist where talent can be mapped, supported and developed. The threads of essential leadership potential that echo throughout the book are values, working with others, personal qualities and strategic acumen.
The book is divided into three sections. The first is ‘Talent Identification’, which highlights the inadequacies in how talent is identified within organisations. The section builds a step-by-step route into what performance evaluation should look like, emphasising the role of behaviour in performance. The section discusses how performance actually differs from one’s potential, all narrowed down to the context in which it occurs. Performing well in a certain role does not necessarily indicate that one has the potential to fulfil another. Theoretical models have supported and demonstrated the need for building a climate of trust along with a motivational culture when identifying talent. Research by the Hay Group’s (2008) Rush to the Top has informed Chapter 4 in highlighting the characteristics of potential leaders.
The second section focuses on ‘Talent Development’. A model for stages of leadership by Benzia et al. (2001) has been adopted here to identify the skills needed at each stage to develop talent. Davies and Davies outline five stages and the traits that come with it. The NCSL research, Review of the Landscape: Leadership and Leadership Development (2008) which focuses on accelerated talent-development programmes, has been used to support the development of talent and what this should entail. The authors move away from the traditional ‘staff development’ concept and bring to the forefront the notion of learning being part of professionalism. Exemplars of good practice provide insight into how school-based research projects, international visits, school-based masters courses and reflective reading groups can be effectively used to develop leadership, but only with an empowering, communicative and shared culture of the school which supports potential leaders.
The third section ‘Talent Culture’ looks at creating and developing this culture within schools. It emphasises the role of schools in focusing on culture and internal value systems and how these affect the talent identification and development process. The section goes on to look at collaborative approaches to talent management, not just within one school but across more than one school so that ‘well networked leaders' can ‘draw on wider resources and partnerships in the development of talent’ (p. 167).
The book concludes with ‘the way forward’ by offering a talent management model for schools. An exceptional example of whales and a shoal of minnows are used to demonstrate the difference of what a school with a number of talented staff, incorporating the contents of the book, can look like. It advocates that schools need to come away from the bureaucracy in staff development to a more talent management approach. Easier said than done, but it’s a start! And this is exactly what this final part does: it provides the beginnings for thinking about talent management in your school and mapping how one can go about this.
The book is generally engaging and provides a detailed examination of the issue of future leadership. It has a clear and approachable style for readers. Another book on leadership may be shunned, but here Davies and Davies have set a new milestone in ensuring the development of future leaders from within. As a previous manager myself, I have had the experience of high staff turnover and when promoting from within, not necessarily on potential, but need and present performance, issues have arisen. Therefore this book provides a way forward to develop future leaders in the right way and for the right time. The book should be of interest to a range of people involved in education, but mostly those engaged in developing educational leadership and those who have a responsibility to lead staff development.