Research for Teachers

There was a period early in my leadership journey when I thought being effective meant staying organized, solving problems quickly, and getting things done efficiently.

If a task was completed, I considered that success.

If meetings ran smoothly, deadlines were met, schedules were organized, and initiatives moved forward, I felt I was doing my job well as a leader. Leadership, in my mind, was largely about operational competence. It was about managing systems, coordinating people, and ensuring that all the necessary boxes were ticked.

And to be fair, those things do matter.

Schools are complex organizations. Strong systems matter. Communication matters. Organization matters. A department without structure can quickly become chaotic and unsustainable.

But over time, my understanding of leadership began to change.

The shift did not happen all at once. It happened gradually through observing teams that functioned exceptionally well together. The strongest teams I worked with were not necessarily the most efficient teams in a technical sense. They were the teams where people genuinely believed in one another. They trusted each other. They felt proud of their collective work. They experienced a sense of belonging within the group.

Most importantly, they believed that together they could make a meaningful difference for students.

That belief changed everything.

I started to realize that leadership is not only about managing tasks. It is also about shaping culture, identity, and collective confidence. The most effective leaders I observed were not simply coordinating work. They were helping people feel connected to something larger than themselves.

They were building teams that believed in their own capacity to succeed.

Research strongly supports the importance of this collective belief within schools. Bandura (1997) describes collective efficacy as a group’s shared belief in its conjoint capability to organize and execute the actions required to achieve desired outcomes. In schools, collective teacher efficacy refers to the shared belief among educators that, together, they can positively impact student learning.

That distinction matters.

It is not simply individual confidence.
It is shared confidence.

Over time, I have come to believe that some of the most important leadership work happens in the way leaders help construct that shared belief system within teams.

This becomes particularly important during difficult periods in schools. Challenges are inevitable. Curriculum changes happen. New initiatives emerge. Student needs evolve. Workloads fluctuate. During those moments, technical systems alone are rarely enough to sustain momentum.

What often determines whether teams continue moving forward is whether people believe they can navigate challenges together.

Goddard, Hoy, and Hoy (2000) found that collective teacher efficacy significantly predicts student achievement, even when controlling for factors such as socioeconomic status. Their findings suggest that when teachers believe in their collective capacity to help students succeed, schools are more likely to produce stronger academic outcomes.

That research deeply resonated with me because I could see versions of it reflected in my own professional experiences.

The strongest departments I have worked in were not built solely on accountability structures or managerial oversight. They were built on shared identity. People felt that they belonged to a team that was competent, collaborative, and capable of improving together.

That sense of identity changes how people approach their work.

Teachers become more willing to share ideas openly.
Collaboration becomes more authentic.
People feel safer taking instructional risks.
Feedback becomes less threatening.
Challenges feel collective rather than isolating.

Leadership, then, becomes far more relational than I initially understood.

Leithwood and Jantzi (2000) argue that transformational leadership influences schools not only through organizational management but through building commitment, fostering shared goals, and strengthening collective capacity within teams. Effective leadership is not simply about directing people toward tasks. It is about helping people see themselves as part of a capable professional community working toward a shared purpose.

I think this is where I misunderstood leadership early on.

I thought leadership was primarily about producing outcomes through efficiency.

Now I think sustainable outcomes are often produced through culture.

Tasks matter, of course. Schools cannot function without organization, communication, and accountability. But I no longer think those things are sufficient on their own. Teams perform at their strongest when people experience both competence and connection. When individuals feel valued within the group, they are often more willing to contribute, collaborate, and persist through challenge.

In many ways, leadership became more meaningful for me once I stopped viewing teams as collections of individuals completing tasks and started viewing them as communities constructing shared identity together.

The best teams I have worked with were not perfect. They experienced disagreement, tension, setbacks, and moments of uncertainty like any other team. But they possessed something incredibly powerful: a collective belief that they could navigate those challenges together.

That belief shaped the culture of the team.
And ultimately, it shaped the work itself.

I still appreciate strong systems and efficient organization. But now, when I think about leadership, I think less about whether every box was ticked and more about whether people feel connected, trusted, empowered, and collectively capable.

Because in schools, the work is never done alone.

And the teams that believe in themselves often become the teams most capable of helping students believe in themselves too.

References

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Educational Leadership, 55(4), 34–37.

Goddard, R. D., Hoy, W. K., & Hoy, A. W. (2000). Collective teacher efficacy: Its meaning, measure, and impact on student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 37(2), 479–507. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312037002479

Leithwood, K., & Jantzi, D. (2000). The effects of transformational leadership on organizational conditions and student engagement with school. Journal of Educational Administration, 38(2), 112–129. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230010320064