Maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but in all the conference sessions and workshops I attended over the past four decades, were there any about what happens when you step down from being a school head? After handing out the last set of diplomas late May of 2023, I’ve had a chance to ponder and reflect on what comes next in a way I never did along the way.
Thinking about the number of heads starting their new gigs this month and the heads who are leaving their posts, here’s what seem to be the possible pathways for those of us who’ve either met their term limitations or just figured the clock has run out on toting the load—but still have some tread on our tires.
Joining a Search Firm
At the top of the list of options, at least from a pecuniary perspective, is working fora search firm. Especially as head of school turnover rates accelerate, there’s a crying need for wise, weathered souls to corral herds of candidates for consideration––and who better to do that than someone who just “graduated” from the head’s role? Given that the compensation for an in-demand search consultant is typically a healthy fraction of a starting salary for a new head, closing a handful of these deals generates a very healthy annual income.
Admittedly it’s an inherently itinerant experience, due to the need to visit schools and conduct interviews, but what a golden opportunity to parachute into a campus and make a meaningful difference. When it works––when it’s not just a sales job––everybody wins.
Becoming an Interim Head
An option that allows for a deeper dive into the idea of helping a school find its way forward is to serve as an interim head. This is another role that’s become more prominent by way of the hefty percentage increase of open positions, especially those that are unplanned and take a school by surprise.
Interim posts typically last for a year, sometimes for two or even three, depending on the school’s particular situation. Having just finished one of those gigs, I can confirm that it’s real, 24/7 work, complete with decent pay. However, it’s a different experience when you know your expiration date on your start date. The situation does risk whiplash for the interim head and for the school as they learn to dance together. At the same time, spending time with the varied constituent groups, making suggestions, holding up a mirror, opening a window to the wider school world, and building bridges to success for the incoming permanent head may be the most genuine form of consulting work.
Consulting
Entering into the wider world of consulting for governing boards, heads themselves, those who report to heads, or for particular program needs, such as academic, co-curricular or admissions, stands as a different kind of option.
Average onlookers may assume this option would be a natural next act for experienced school leaders, but developing a consulting practice in the independent school world means hustling hard to build credibility and visibility. For one, these engagements tend to be pricey, and school budgets are tight. Also, the number of potential consultants almost certainly exceeds the number of opportunities available. However, for the right person with the requisite skill set, this is a chance to create a boutique firm or to join one of the already known larger general-purpose enterprises in our sector.
Executive Coaching
Independent schools started buying into the concept of executive coaching––borrowing from the for-profit world––in the last 20 years or so and have now fully embraced it. This might be the fastest growing subset of all these consulting-like specialties. Now, a range of credential-offering institutions have produced a burgeoning cadre of coaches, with the option to work as much or as little as they prefer, assuming that there’s an available client base.
The whole movement is a fascinating phenomenon to track, a response to a growing consensus: Given the emerging demands on their days, heads of school face challenges that likely require some measure of direct external support in order to excel.
What the Post-Tenure Landscape Looks Like
What’s else is out there? What are people actually doing? I’d love to see some hard numbers on how many heads truly go straight into retirement. Who makes a complete career shift? Who wins the lottery and lands a coveted spot on a corporate board, as college presidents on occasion do, complete with stipend? Who stays on, again following the example from higher education, as some sort of emeritus head to help their successor? And who chooses, by distinct contrast, volunteer service for their “third chapter”?
For those of us who started out as classroom teachers, as was often the case historically, but is surely far less so today, can you go home again? Is any former head welcome back as a front-line faculty member? Of course there are adjunct roles at schools of education and community colleges, and maybe even more full-time spots, generally with a hefty step down in compensation but a nice payoff in psychic income.
As for me, my recurrent dream of working in a favorite local cheese shop fell apart when my credentials were deemed unworthy—a genuine reality check. Then, remembering the pronounced difficulty we faced in finding decent substitute teachers, (especially since COVID), it occurred to me that going through the HR hoops to put my name in at the K-12 school down the street might be just the right tonic. It’s both low stakes if and when I do fully retire, and a way to do something meaningful that meets a real need.
With the urgency of studies to predict and understand why some head of school appointments stick for many years and others flame out early, I’m hoping there might be a corresponding effort to track what happens post-departure. Turns out that the path to obscurity for a former head, however celebrated or unwelcome that status change might be, can be shorter and swifter than you had ever guessed. Now to see what’s next.