The dominator and the influencer: reflecting on two key leadership styles in schools

Gordon Cairns

By Gordon Cairns
Community contribution / September 21, 2020

Evolutionary biologists identify just two styles of leadership – the dominator and the influencer. As current world events have shown, these styles have different levels of effectiveness. So how do they play out in schools?

Unfortunately today we seem to have a plethora of dominating leaders from across the world’s continents; Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Jair Bolsinaro spring easily to mind.

It is the first day back at work after a long northern hemisphere summer holiday and it is fair to ...

Primary Teacher - Lancaster

Veritas Lancaster

Teaching - Early childhood / Dec 09, 2025

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Veritas North West London

Teaching - Primary / Dec 09, 2025

Administration Officer - Kingston State School

Department of Education and Training (Queensland) Logan

We are looking for an applicant who is energetic, enthusiastic, and friendly towards students, families, and staff, and who is eager to learn new skills, as outlined i...

Teaching - Secondary / Dec 09, 2025

School news / ‘Catalytic role’: philanthropists mobilise for national curriculum reform

Appetite for significant curriculum reform is brewing, as experts warn Australia risks lagging behind on the international stage when it comes to ensuring all students – but especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds – reap the benefits of a ...

Community / A different kind of ‘Back to school’: learning in safety and with dignity

At 11 years old, Aschila watched her life unravel as conflict swept through her village in northwestern Ethiopia.

School news / ‘Climate obstruction dressed up as education’: alarms raised with museum sponsor

Primary and secondary students are learning about ocean acidification with no mention of fossil fuels and researching carbon capture technologies through museum classroom materials adorned with gas company branding.

School news / A new education chapter: First Nations teachers Hub to address yawning gap

For what seems like an eternity now, Northern Territory’s regional and remote schools have largely been staffed with a revolving door of short-term teachers, parachuting in for their obligatory two years mostly in a rural school, and then gone, ne...

School news / Nation’s lowest paid: Vic educators rally demanding better pay and conditions

Victorian public school teachers, principals and education support staff representatives have rallied today on the steps of the state’s Parliament House.

School news / ‘Crude rankings’: open letter slams News Corp over stigma-inducing school league tables

News Corp have been accused of engaging in ‘lazy, click-bait journalism’, as some 41 education heavyweights sign an open letter imploring the media organisation to immediately stop the publication of ‘crude’ and harmful school league tables based ...

School news / ATT: Ben Carroll, the principal stabbing speaks to our broken school system

Dear Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll, a teacher stabbed a principal on Tuesday, and I can only see that his actions are a very clear symptom of a system that is broken.

School news / New bid to protect kids from being accidentally exposed to harmful online content

Search engines will be required to blur pornography and high-impact violence as tech giants prepare to comply with Australia's social media ban.

School news / Social media ban warning: teens remain confused about implications and impact

Experts are urging parents, carers and teachers to stay vigilant in the face of the new age restrictions for under 16s, with a continued need to strengthen safeguards, clean up harmful content and build digital literacy skills.

School news / Overlooked crisis: call for inquiry into sliding boys’ education

A parliamentary inquiry into boys’ education has been called for by the Federal Opposition, as a growing body of experts warn boys’ worsening underperformance and over-representation among the most academically at-risk students amounts to one of t...

Comments