Leadership succession: Future-proofing pipelines

Abstract

The challenges in deaf education illustrate the requirement and importance of leadership in this specialized field. The significant and impending talent depletion unfolding as baby-boomers retire, positions leadership succession planning as a strategic issue. This mixed methods study is the first of its kind in New Zealand. The aim is to understand leadership demographics and assumptions to determine the need for strategic succession planning to identify and address leaky pipelines. The findings from 82% of the deaf education workforce through a questionnaire and interviews with seven senior leaders reveal that senior leaders do not appear aware of four key areas that dissuade and shrink the pool of potential leadership aspirants. The four areas are prioritizing family; safeguarding health; concerns about bureaucracy, paperwork, and workload; and, a reluctance to move away from teaching. Aspirant identification appears informal, as there is no formal succession plan in place, which suggests a leadership crisis is imminent in New Zealand deaf education provision. Recommendations are provided that may help address this situation in New Zealand and other first-world nations if sufficient leaders are in place to deal with the challenges facing deaf education today and in the future.