Careers advice at school. It really did fail to inspire, didn’t it?
You used to answer a long list of questions & were informed by the “mystic Meg” of computers what profession you should take up. Things have moved on in schools, but the focus is still purely on academic achievement. We all understand why, as it is easy to measure and allows schools & governments to benchmark their performance each year.
But grades don’t provide the complete picture of a school’s effectiveness to teach. What about the development of leadership skills, innovation and entrepreneurialism. I am sure there are schools out there that are helping young people become the leaders & innovators of the future, but they don’t get any credit or extra funding because of the long lead times needed to find out about the success stories.
Heather Rabbats is a great example of someone who left school with very few qualifications. But instead of becoming a statistic she went on to have an extremely successful & varied career. She was on Desert Island Discs this weekend talking to the lovely Kirsty Young. By the way, if you don’t listen already you are really missing out as they have some of the most interesting people on the show.
Heather left her school at 16 with 2 x O-Levels but went on to become a Barrister before moving into local government. In 1995 she became the youngest Chief Exec of a local council. The role she took was advertised as “probably the worst job in local government” apparently. After helping to improve the fortunes of the infamous Lambeth Council she went on to be CEO of Millwall Football Club. She’s been on the board of the BBC, Royal Opera House & lots of others.
In the interview she talks about life at Lambeth Council, how her job has impacted her family life, her management style & how she got to where she is now. Mixed in with a bit of Bob Dylan & Bob Marley it really is 45 minutes well spent.
>> Listen to or download the podcast.
Granted, it isn’t as in-depth as our lunch & learns, mentoring sessions or boot camps but it is another interesting insight into life at the top. Enjoy!
