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Beyond Individual Talent: Why Effective Teams Drive School Success
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Michael Lowery
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Director of Sport & Senior Leadership Consultant
GEMS Metropole School, Dubai
6 min read
October 2025
Focusing Beyond the Individual
Within schools, we often discuss developing the individual teacher, conducting lesson observations, KPIs, and, most recently, instructional one-to-one coaching. These are all really positive steps, but I believe that we are forgetting about the fundamental way that complex organisations function: teams. The reality of education is that we rarely get precious one-to-one time, either due to the pressures of our role or the never-ending bell for the next lesson to begin. We are most often working within a team, department, or in collaboration with others. I believe that we are neglecting the need to support our leaders in how to run effective teams.
The Power of Leadership in Teams
The ability of a leader to be inspirational, motivational, and, most importantly, to create a degree of psychological safety within a group isn’t really something in fifteen years of Tuesday night CPD and “leadership training” I’ve ever been part of. We always discuss on the sports pitch that a team of the best individuals can be overcome by the less talented but more cohesive group, and I implore you to read Culture Code by Daniel Coyle for some real-world applications of this lesson.
Why Some Leaders Stand Out
I believe there is a reason why Physical Educators are disproportionately represented in senior leadership, and I don’t buy the usual trope of “it’s because they are the loudest.” I think we need to look at the reportedly high numbers of CEOs across multiple industries who have a background in high-level team sport, and ask ourselves why.
Learning from Experience
I’ve been fortunate enough since a young age to have significant role models who have been in teams (my own father, a young leader within a highly pressurised industry, deputy, coal mining) and to have held leadership positions myself within school and sport. From an early age, I made constant mistakes and had to learn what makes people tick, the pushing and pulling forces that operate within team ecosystems, the constant need to put the “we before the me,” and the fact that you’ll do work that no one sees, no one will ever praise you for, but without it, the job just wouldn’t get done.
The Role of External Support
A few years ago, I had a formative experience in building a team that is now achieving remarkable results, but I couldn’t do it on my own. I had to seek external support from an organisation called Braver Leaders (ironically, I had to be brave to hold my hand up and ask for help). They held the mirror up to me, gave me some basic tools, and the confidence to stay the course in some aspects, but radically change others.
Leadership is a Journey
What I’ve learned is that leadership is never finished. When I am mentoring young leaders or educating coaches, I often refer to my own lived experience: “There are lots of ways to be a good leader/coach; there is only really one way to be a bad one: you lose your curiosity and the ability to reflect. If you keep these, you will always be improving.”
For me, I needed the mirror to encourage others to buy into the shared purpose we had created. To do this, I needed to create space for them to feel safe enough to grow their own ambition within the team.
Key Message for Leaders
If I could offer one message to middle and senior leaders, it is this: don’t neglect the team; without them, your organisation will not function effectively.
Ask for help, as it often requires an outside perspective to shake the status quo, and, above all else, remain curious and reflective in your own leadership journey.
About the author - Mike Lowery is a highly experienced leader within the education sector. He has spent 12 of his 15 years developing teams of teachers that have achieved exceptional results in both the UK state sector and international private sector. He has a deep passion for developing leaders, coaches, and above all, teams that create high-purpose, psychologically safe environments where staff and students can thrive. He is a regular keynote speaker at conferences such as GESS and also works for Braver Leaders as a senior leadership consultant, developing behaviour-change programmes for executive C-suite teams in medium-to-large corporate organisations.
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