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Sir Michael Wilshaw was chief inspector of Ofsted from 2012 to 2016, having formerly been a headteacher, executive principal and teacher. He writes:

I suppose I was a pretty irritable leader but, hopefully, one with a generous and compassionate heart. It was because I hated to see children and young people being let down and failed by the system. I always had to remind myself, and the staff in the schools I led, that youngsters have just one chance of a good education. They rarely get that chance again.

If it meant that things got done quickly to raise standards for children then it was worth showing the odd flash of anger at those factors which, so often, get in the way of school improvement: everything from low-level disruption and litter in the corridor and classrooms, to unsupportive parents, unreasonable union representatives and bureaucrats in town halls or the Department for Education.

Good leadership stems from having high standards for yourself and those around you, particularly those in leadership positions. Leaders have to set an example to the rest of the staff and be good role models on how to behave and interact with colleagues and students. That is why, as a head, I was probably much more demanding of my senior leadership team than others.

To know that my example of school leadership has helped a future generation of school leaders is a source of great professional pride and satisfaction.

Irritability and empathy are not mutually exclusive characteristics. I hope I was a leader who understood the pressures of the classroom and the difficult career journeys that staff have to make. I was, of course, a teacher myself before headship in an educational world very different from today but with many of the same pressures of performing in front of children every lesson, every day. The greater complexity of school life now and the added stress of school accountability is making teaching an even tougher job than when I started in the late 1960s.

It’s absolutely imperative to have experience before headship, to go up through the rungs of the leadership ladder before the top job. You learn so much on the way, particularly the importance of constant self-evaluation.

Good heads always question whether they’re doing the right thing and adjust their thinking, policies and practices when necessary. Inflexibility of approach and a stubborn adherence to ideology can be as bad as constant flip-flopping and changes in leadership style.

When you do make waves and people come back at you, don’t panic! The turbulence can be upsetting for you as a leader and for the whole school community, but change and reform are always better than stasis and stagnation. But that is the time to pause, reflect and consider whether you’re doing the right thing. If it is, stick by your principles. The turbulence will pass!

I hope those who worked with me would say that I created the conditions, framework and culture in which they could teach and in which children could learn, and that their experience of working in the schools I led had persuaded them to remain in teaching.

Structure and discipline liberate children from sometimes unstructured and occasionally chaotic homes. Going the extra mile, particularly for poor children, is a moral duty for all staff and we should be rightly sceptical of educational fads and fashions that have little impact on standards.

I think my staff were always prepared to forgive my occasional bad tempers because they knew it stemmed from my impatience for change and improvement. They also knew that I would always be on their side in any difficulties with recalcitrant students or their parents and that I would manifest the same intolerance for their bad behaviour.

Great leaders aren’t afraid to take risks and “think outside the box”. The greater risk is not to do or say anything, be too cautious and not push the boundaries. I know I was sometimes a controversial figure at Ofsted but there is a real danger that, because of the high-profile nature of the job, a chief inspector says very little and has a minimal impact on standards.

Michael Gove was a risk-taker and controversial figure but one of the most consequential education secretaries we’ve had. Perhaps his untimely departure at the DfE is a lesson for all radical, turbulent leaders. Sometimes you’ve got to pause, reflect, gather your thoughts and ask yourself whether you’re taking enough people with you and whether the pace of change is just too frantic. The trouble is that politicians never have as much time as heads to get stuff done so I don’t blame Michael for taking one too many risks.

Teaching is such a noble profession and to be a leader in our profession is such an honourable calling. We shape young people’s lives and, through them, the society in which we live. Not a day goes by when I don’t miss the buzz of school life and the joy of seeing children doing well.

I certainly missed school life at Ofsted but hope that those who sometimes bridled at my pronouncements and inspection judgements could also see that I was driven by the right motives. An irritable His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, but quite a nice one.

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