Could your suitability for headship be based on your height or the shine of your shoes? The long and the short of it, says Carl Smith, is you shouldn't judge a book by its cover...

Tall orders

Last year, Liz Truss had the distinction of being both the shortest prime minister by time in office (44 days) and, according to some reports, the shortest prime minister by height (5ft 3in). 

Similarly, Michelle Donelan was the shortest-serving Secretary of State for Education (48 hours), though at 6ft, as some claim, she would have been one of the tallest. In contrast, you will be delighted to know that the longest-serving education secretary was none other than David Eccles (height unknown) who did the job for almost five years in total, despite, no doubt, putting up with frequent jokes about being the ‘current’ education secretary. 

Curiously, the second longest-lived education secretary was one Edward Short (height unrelated), who, despite his name, had the pleasure of living to the long old age of 99. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, but it occurred to me the other day that, before I became a head, every head I had served under had been taller than me (two women and two men). 

Admittedly, I am not exactly a giant at 5ft 8½ inches (don’t forget the half), but it got me wondering whether tall people were more likely to become school leaders and, if so, why? 

More commanding 

Maybe governors think tall people are more commanding, though if we don’t apply that logic to our prime ministers (Rishi Sunak, the present incumbent, is reported as being a modest 5ft 6in), why should we do it for our headteachers? 

Are leaders of ASCL taller than the membership as a whole? Is Geoff Barton literally a giant in the world of education? I reckon Geoff is about 6ft 1in, but that’s beside the point. The fact is people jump to conclusions about tall people. Tall people tend to be strong people, and 50,000 years ago that mattered. 

When we see a tall person today, our brains still think it’s best to do what they say, just to be on the safe side. It seems we’re stuck with a brain designed for an age when jumping to conclusions meant not dying. 

It’s not so good now. Just ask that Russian submarine commander who thought the Americans had already pressed the button in the Cuban Missile Crisis only to be talked out of doing the same at the last minute by another officer who decided they really ought to check first. 

Thankfully, one of them didn’t jump to conclusions and, for all I know, it might have been the shorter of the two. 

Unpolished shoes 

I was once turned down for a headship with the feedback that my shoes weren’t polished enough. The fact I’d had to walk across a muddy car park seemed of no importance. After all, who wants a head who doesn’t polish his shoes? Particularly a short one. 

School and college leaders make decisions all the time though, hopefully, they think a bit about them first. Jumping to conclusions may make us look decisive but, as Elvis once said, “Only fools rush in...” 

At the moment there seem to be a lot of people rushing in, jumping to conclusions and making hasty decisions. It’s what we do when we feel under threat, which is most of the time right now. 

So, whether you’re an Abraham Lincoln (6ft 4in) or a Winston Churchill (5ft 6in) you can still be a good leader, as long as you don’t jump to conclusions. And if you meet a head with muddy shoes there might be a reason. After all, who wants a head who always wears clean shoes? They’ve probably walked nowhere at all. 

Carl Smith is Principal at Casterton College in Rutland 

Want the last word?

Last Word always welcomes contributions from members. If you’d like to share your humorous observations of school life, email Permjit Mann at leader@ascl.org.uk ASCL offers a modest honorarium

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