Capacity vs Ability to Lead

I have helped hundreds of aspiring leaders write their first applications for a leadership role. They want help because they don't have any experience acting or relieving in the role they are applying for but know, deep down in their heart, they can do it if they were given the chance. This is where the power of understanding the difference between capacity versus ability can help leverage their extensive teaching career to build an application.

In this article, I'll delve into the nuances of capacity and ability, their significance during the application process, and why having any amount of both will help you secure a leadership positions.

 

What is capacity to lead?

As an aspiring leaders, you can demonstrate capacity to lead by showing you have experience that is similar, not the same, to the role you are applying for. For many teachers, this similarity comes from the process you followed, but not the level of influence and impact.  You can demonstrate the capacity to do a leadership role by leading a small group of staff, even if you didn't have a formal leadership title, and clearly explaining the steps needed to solve a problem.

 

For many teachers, being a coordinator for a subject is showcasing your capacity to lead. When leading a subject tea, there are other teachers involved, problems to be solved and students that are impacted by the work you do with this team. This is you building your leadership capacity. It is not a whole faculty, but a smaller subsection of the whole. You work with the team to resolve issues with that subject, such as refining assessment tasks and delegating resource creation.

 

When applying for a leadership role this type of example will help you project into the role as you have a similar experience in leading curriculum change, even though it's not the whole faculty or all subjects.

 

What is ability to lead?

 

Ability means you are in possession of having the direct skills and experiences to do a role requires. It is demonstrated when you have been in a leadership role before such as acting or relieving in a leadership role for a few weeks. It can also be shown when you are leading  a initiative whole school but without the title, such as a teacher being the literacy coordinator for upper years and now they're applying for the HoC role in the upper years.

 

Ability to lead can be you've been a Head of Department for 3 weeks when your boss was on long service leave. You were responsible for running the faculty. You lead meetings and ensured all staff completed their reports at the end of term, proof reading, providing feedback to staff and supported new staff in the process of writing reporting. This is demonstrating your ability to lead.

 

Distinguishing Between the Two

 

A key difference between capacity and ability lies in the official title held during the leadership demonstration. If you were formally designated a leadership role, it means you've shown the ability to lead. Conversely, leading projects while maintaining a teacher title, demonstrates the capacity to perform leadership tasks without the formal recognition.

 

Why it matters as an aspiring leader?

 

Many times teachers tell me that they have no leadership experience. This is 100% not the case. What they have misunderstood is the difference between capacity and ability. They have extensive experience demonstrating their capacity to lead. These teachers have been leading projects in their teams for years, always raising their hand to help and jumping on new initiatives in their schools.

 

Almost all aspiring leaders lack demonstrated ability because they haven't had a chance to be in an acting/relieving role before. That does to mean they are not ready to be a leader. It simple means they have lots of demonstrated capacity with little demonstrated ability in leadership.
 

Which is more important as an aspiring leader?

Both.

Identifying all of your examples of your capacity to lead will help you see that you do in fact have lots of leadership experience. This helps all aspiring leaders see themselves differently. Where before they defined leadership experience as having been in a leadership role, they now see leadership experience as any tie they have lead other staff in making change and this begins to change their perception of themselves.

 

When applying for roles, ability to do the role is rated higher than someone who has capacity...

 

But here is where it gets interesting though is then a teacher with demonstrated ability to the role is not the successful applicant and a teacher who has only demonstrated capacity wins the promotion. This is because they have clearly articulated their ability to lead better than the other person.

 

Ability does not always trump capacity.  This is because there are many factors that will effect who is successful. For now, all you need to know is that examples of capacity are not lesser

 

In conclusion

 

Aspiring leaders can embrace both capacity and ability,  recognising the wealth of experience that can be used to show their capacity to lead. By empowering educators to articulate their leadership potential effectively, you can be the successful applicant an a role you apply for.

 

As you embark on your leadership journey, remember that both capacity and ability are invaluable assets, each contributing uniquely to your growth and success.

 

Next Steps

 

If you're eager to delve deeper into the transition from Teacher to Leader, a free training session is available for you. Sign up here to watch the replay and gain valuable insights into navigating the path towards educational leadership.