In the world of professional football, the transition from star player to successful manager is notoriously difficult. Legends like Diego Maradona, Frank Lampard, and Wayne Rooney dazzled on the pitch but struggled to replicate their brilliance from the dugout. Their stories are a powerful metaphor for the education sector, where outstanding classroom teachers are often expected to evolve seamlessly into effective school leaders. But just as technical skill and game intelligence don’t automatically translate into managerial success, pedagogical excellence doesn’t guarantee leadership prowess.
In education, the career trajectory is often clearly mapped: early career teachers begin in the classroom, and over time, many aspire to become middle leaders, senior leaders, and eventually head teachers. This pathway is well-trodden, but it’s also fraught with assumptions. Chief among them is the belief that great teaching naturally leads to great leadership. Yet the skill sets required are fundamentally different. Teaching demands subject mastery, classroom control, and the ability to inspire students. Leadership, on the other hand, requires strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, and the capacity to develop others.
This is where executive coaching becomes not just beneficial but essential.
Executive coaching equips leaders with the tools to reflect, adapt, and grow. It fosters self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to lead through influence rather than authority. In schools, where the stakes are high and the pressures relentless, these qualities are indispensable. A coaching qualification doesn’t just enhance the leader’s own performance; it enables them to cultivate a coaching culture throughout the organisation.
Such a culture, driven from the top, transforms schools into learning communities. It encourages open dialogue, continuous feedback, and shared responsibility for improvement. Teachers feel empowered to take risks, reflect on their practice, and support one another. Leadership becomes less about command and control, and more about enabling others to thrive.
Contrast this with the footballing world, where perhaps many former players entered management without the necessary support or development. Their failures weren’t due to a lack of passion or knowledge, but perhaps due to a lack of coaching culture. Without mentors, structured reflection, or leadership training, they struggled to manage egos, build cohesive teams, and navigate the complexities of modern football. The absence of a developmental framework left them isolated and ill-equipped.
Education can learn from this. If we want our future head teachers to succeed and not just survive, we must invest in their leadership journey early. That means embedding coaching into the DNA of our schools. It means recognising that leadership is a craft, not a promotion. Most importantly, it means ensuring that those who guide our schools are not just experienced educators, but trained, reflective, and emotionally intelligent leaders.
An executive coaching qualification is not a luxury, but rather, a necessity. It bridges the gap between teaching and leadership, between potential and performance. Just as football clubs now invest heavily in managerial development, so too must schools invest in the leaders who shape the future of education. Talent alone is never enough. It’s what we do with it, and how we develop it, that truly matters.
Created with
