EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP – FOUR DECKS
Building on the same common principles of succinct, visual frameworks as the Learning Deck, there are four distinct but connected leadership decks that provide leaders with the insights necessary to be successful in leading others.
These leadership decks are part of the broader Synnovate Suite providing common approaches and language for coherence from the classroom to the boardroom.
Complexity isn’t the enemy of leadership
- a lack of clarity is!
The LEAD DECK provides succinct insights into the different modes of leadership with practical applications to help map possible strategies for strengthening your repertoire of skills.
The power of the Lead Deck is in providing a tangible visualisation of the different modes of leadership and to connect insights to good practice.
The TEAM DECK is designed to provide leaders with a clear understanding of their role in shaping team culture and to test ideas by playing with different scenarios and tactics. And because great leaders ask great questions, there’s a range of insightful questions included, plus a bonus set of questions specifically for interviewing candidates for your team.
The PLANS DECK provides a framework to help frame situations and problems that make for more informed decision-making. There’s a lot of different perspectives to consider – bias, impact on other people and balancing short-term wins with long-term goals. The scenarios provide the quickest path to exploring these competing considerations. And of course compelling inquiry questions to prompt reflection and growth.
Many leaders quite naturally avoid difficult conversations. Arguably those leaders who enjoy the difficult conversations might think they are imposing themselves, yet be ignorant to the irreparable relationship damage. The FRAME DECK changes all this by providing a structured approach to tough conversations in the workplace. Knowing exactly what to say, and being aware of the potential traps being set is a critical skill for all leaders.
Culture and systems are invisible forces - the Dynamics Deck makes them visible.
Bridging Culture and Systems
Every school runs on two invisible forces: culture and systems. Culture is the shared beliefs and behaviours that shape how people work together. Systems are the structures, processes, and routines that organise daily life. Both profoundly influence a school’s effectiveness – and both are notoriously hard to see.
That’s where the Dynamics Deck comes in.
The Dynamics Deck is a practical framework for naming and navigating the hidden patterns that undermine performance and trust. Instead of reducing issues to personalities or blame, it helps leaders and teams see challenges as dynamics – recurring patterns that can be recognised, discussed, and changed.
Using scenarios, reframes, and practice strategies, the deck provides a safe way to surface difficult issues, shift perspective, and build healthier culture. It connects the human side of culture with the structural side of systems, giving schools the clarity to turn tension into dialogue, and dysfunction into growth.
Problems are patterns. Patterns can be changed. The Dynamics Deck helps you see them.
