Ep 3 - Talent, teamwork and leadership: Coaching strategies for school leaders with Graeme Murty

This episode is the 2nd of a special 2-part interview with Graeme Murty. Graeme is a former Premier league footballer and current Sunderland Under 21s manager. In this episode we’re going to shift our focus from developing young performers to developing adults, and from nurturing talent on the pitch to building high-performing teams off it. Graeme’s experience leading elite level coaching teams offers powerful insights for school leaders, whether you’re managing a department, a phase or an entire school. We’ll explore how leaders can cultivate collaboration, place the right people in the right roles, and create an environment where staff thrive professionally while feeling supported personally.

We discussed:

• What strategies do you use to ensure that everyone in a coaching team shares the same vision and is open to collaboration, whilst also bringing their individual strengths to the table? What lessons can school leaders take from this?
• Striking the right balance between giving autonomy and providing clear direction is a key skill for leaders. How do you build trust and confidence among your coaching staff, so they feel empowered to take initiative? How might school leaders adopt a similar approach with their teams?
• Building strong talent identification processes are key to finding hidden potential in people. What key attributes or behaviours can signal untapped potential, and how can teachers and leaders apply these insights to identify and nurture talent within their own staff teams?
• In any high performing organisation, placing the right people in the right roles is critical. How do you assess individual strengths within a coaching team so that you get the right people in the right seats in the bus, and how can school leaders use similar methods to ensure staff are in roles where they thrive?
• How do you support experienced professionals in continuing their growth and development, even when they’ve been in the game for a long time? How can school leaders apply this to long-serving staff?
• What strategies do you use to help adults or experienced players to unlearn bad habits or outdated practices, and how might this apply to education when supporting teachers in refining their craft?
• In elite sport, physical and mental wellbeing are critical to sustaining high performance and avoiding burnout. How do you ensure coaches and staff maintain their energy and motivation, whilst also looking after their wellbeing?