Steve Munby - Imperfect Leadership: A book for leaders who know they don’t know it all

This is the most perfectly brilliant book about imperfect leadership that any great leader could possibly write. There is no other book like it. Unlike most political memoirs, it is not a tedious recollection of meetings and events. Unlike corporate leadership texts, it is not a narrative of vainglorious self-congratulation either. Nor is it a self-indulgent confession of failure and wrongdoing. Instead, Steve Munbys Imperfect Leadership is an honest, open and articulate account of a life of leadership lived as a public servant for the public good in constantly changing times.

If you are or aspire to be a leader in the education or social sector, and if you have even an ounce of integrity, Imperfect Leadership is a must-read.

Andy Hargreaves, Research Professor, Boston College,
and Visiting Professor, University of Ottawa

Imperfect Leadership is an important book. Its important in its subject matter, in its point of focus, and most of all in its unblinking honesty.

Like Steve Munby, Ive led organisations and teams with mixed results, and during the journey Ive discovered one great truth: you learn far more from your failures than your successes. Through a rigorous and sometimes painful process of self-questioning, Steve offers all of us the opportunity to reflect, to improve, and to possibly even inspire those around us.

Lord David Puttnam, Chair, Atticus Education

From small groups to large countries, its hard to overestimate the impact of leadership on the culture and effectiveness of organisations. For that reason, theres a burgeoning library of scholarly research and popular books on leadership. Imperfect Leadership is something different, however. Part memoir, part social history and part practical handbook, this book gives us a deeply human, close-grained account of Steve Munbys evolution as a leader as he steered a key national organisation through the white waters of educational change in England. Resoundingly honest and soul-searching, Imperfect Leadership is also an inspirational and practical guide to handling the complex challenges and navigating the steep learning curves that caring leaders face.

Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, educator and
New York Times bestselling author

Its rare to come across a book as wise about leadership as this one. Beginning with the title itself, this is no sentimental, misty-eyed account of a hero leader; instead, its about authentic, resilient leadership that acknowledges our own imperfections, recognises the anxieties that gnaw away at all true leaders, and goes on to inspire others to give their best.

With an extraordinary mix of personal insights and his insiders knowledge of recent education policy plus a range of perspectives from various international experts Steve Munby deepens our thinking, nudges us to be more ambitious in our aspirations, and inspires us to understand and then enact all that great leadership can achieve.

Imperfect Leadership is a book of breathtaking wisdom. I cant recommend it highly enough.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary,
Association of School and College Leaders

As the world changed around us, Steves integrity was always a fixed point, to be relied on completely and in Imperfect Leadership he provides deep insights into two decades of education reform and improvement in England. The book is a guide to personal leadership in education and how it can make a difference, and Steve brings to its pages as he brings to everything wisdom, self-knowledge and wit.

Anyone interested in learning what it takes to bring about a school system that delivers both equity and high standards will benefit from reading Imperfect Leadership.

Sir Michael Barber, author of How to Run a Government
and founder of Delivery Associates

Imperfect Leadership is an extraordinary book. It is a story of highly successful adaptive leadership, of a quest for personal and professional growth and the exercise of principled influence both with and through others and above all it communicates the power of imperfect leadership.

At once disarmingly honest and penetratingly insightful, it will inspire all educators, particularly school and system leaders.

Anthony Mackay, President and CEO,
National Center on Education and the Economy

Imperfect Leadership is an inspiring, globally resonant leadership tour de force that outlines the experiences and challenges that Steve Munby has faced as a leader over more than three decades.

It is a self-reflective study of the qualities needed to be a successful leader in the education sector, and is a revealing and fascinating look behind the scenes of the contexts and structures where Steve has been a leader tracing the humanity and humility that he has brought to every organisation he has led.

The structure of the book enables us to remind ourselves of the passionate and thoughtful speeches Steve has made throughout his career. Each provides a different building block to help him construct a leadership framework that we can all follow and can become part of his legacy for system-wide improvement. The opening chapter shows us that asking for help is a strength, not a weakness and the chapter on power and love is drawn from a speech I remember well, having been in the audience on the day he presented it. In this Steve speaks about the morality of leadership: describing the need to go beyond having good intentions and wanting the best for children, to having the single-minded determination to make a real difference. As an MAT CEO at the time, I needed to hear that message, and I drew on it on multiple occasions to reassure myself that the changes I was leading were changes that would have long-term benefits for the children I was accountable for.

We live in an era where the understanding of leadership is expanding quicker than at any time I can remember. If there is one book that describes how we lead in complex times, that reveals the development of an education system over 30 years, and that reminds us about the heart and soul of leadership, then this is it. Imperfect Leadership is the story of our lives as school leaders.

Steve Munby is a man of his word who set out to make a difference. He delivered!

Sir David Carter, Executive Director of
System Leadership, Ambition Institute

Steve Munbys Imperfect Leadership is a fitting tribute to his leadership journey, his moral compass, his fierce devotion to sustainable principles, and his adherence to values-informed leadership. It transports us to the pinnacle of what world-class leadership looks like, and, delivered in Steves own inimitable way, provides honest, soul-searching insights into what leading-edge leadership looks like.

Guided by his core, sustaining values, Steve deftly untangles the complexities of leadership and illuminates various leadership types, styles and possibilities. He dispels myths and false dichotomies, identifies his own highs and lows and moments of exhilaration, and subtly flexes his muscles by deconstructing leadership and its potential impact.

At a time in our history when leaders must address issues such as rising nationalism and generational shifts in visions, values, mandates and expectations, the takeaway for me from Imperfect Leadership is the need to pay attention to the sleeping, newspaper, mirror and teenager leadership tests that he discusses: to focus on the inner voice and to exercise moral purpose as a tribute to the moral compass that Steve himself has exercised over a lifetime of exemplary leadership in education. For all the hurdles we face as leaders across the globe, we all want to share his humility, quiet confidence, fidelity to moral purpose, and the legacy of his ability to influence the educational outcomes and life chances of the students he has advocated for throughout his illustrious career. I offer rapturous applause to Steve, who we have grown to rely on to take us to places that we would not have gone without him.