School Leadership Archives - Azimuth | Education Consultancy & Fractional Digital Strategy

Digital Strategy & AI

8 May, 2026

Clarity and Coherence: The Two Tests of a Digital Strategy

Most school digital strategies fail before the first tool is procured. The reason is rarely technical. It is almost always a failure to meet two simpler demands: clarity and coherence.…

José Picardo 1

Digital Strategy & AI

4 May, 2026

What AI cannot replace in teaching, and why it matters for school leaders

Expert teaching is much more complex than it first appears. This is obvious to anyone who has done it, but the Dunning-Krugery that sometimes comes from those whose most recent…

José Picardo 0

Leadership & Coaching

23 April, 2026

Why Schools Keep Promoting the Wrong People

A head I once worked with led an oversubscribed independent girls’ school in suburban Surrey. By every available measure she was a successful head. Results were strong. Parents were satisfied.…

José Picardo 0

Leadership & Coaching

6 February, 2026

Pushing Back in Leadership: When Confidence Slips into Hubris

I should say at the outset that I have been fortunate. Every inspection of a school I have taught in or led has returned a positive verdict. I write, therefore,…

José Picardo 0

Leadership & Coaching

16 January, 2026

Leading Words: The Language of Leadership

Leadership is often described in terms of vision, decisiveness, or character. In schools, it is experienced in a more immediate and persistent way: in language. It appears in the sentence…

José Picardo 0

Leadership & Coaching

29 December, 2025

Six Damaging Metaphors We Use In Schools, And How to Avoid Them

Schools run on stories. I get that. I once worked with a headteacher who began assemblies by saying, “What I am about to tell you never happened, but it is…

José Picardo 0