Calm Leadership

Patrick Cozier is an experienced secondary school head teacher. He leads Highgate Wood School in Haringey. In addition to his day job, he is a member of the Headteacher's Roundtable, who consult and advise senior officials on national education policy. He serves as a trustee of the national charity Show Racism the Red Card (on which he is co-vice chair). More locally, he takes a leading role in the work of the Haringey Racial Equity Group (part of the Haringey Education Partnership) on its focus to reduce racial inequality and improve the outcomes and experiences for children of colour. As a member of the black community, he is passionate about seeking equality, justice and fair outcomes for people of colour.

A novel approach to taking up the reins, Calm Leadership is both an inspiring reflection on overcoming the challenges of leadership and a practical guide to harnessing the power of emotional intelligence in the workplace. Drawing on 20 years of successful leadership experience, Patrick shares not just his own authentic insights but also a deeply human journey to which we all can relate. Calm Leadership grapples with issues from impostor syndrome to budget deficits and shines the light on a better way forward for our future leaders: leading not with an iron-fist but with empathy, purpose and perspective. These are qualities that, Patrick argues, are far better suited to the complexities of modern working life than the hard-line approaches of old. Against a backdrop of high head-teacher turnover and stubbornly poor ethnic representation in senior roles, Calm Leadership offers an antidote to the self-doubt and insecurity that plague too many of us. It provides a breath of fresh air our schools - and our society - have desperately needed.David Lammy