You can go beyond just 'managing'
This immersive course is designed for aspiring and current middle leaders who want to do more than just manage their teams.
With timeless, proven leadership principles we will teach you how to turn your ideas into strategic components of your school’s work.
For decades, middle leadership in schools has been misunderstood and underutilised.
Research shows it’s seen as a thankless stepping stone to senior leadership, or an administrative job to keep a small team organised and accountable to senior leaders’ directives.
Nearly 50% of middle and senior leaders don’t take up any opportunities to develop their leadership skills and knowledge.
We believe great leadership isn't rocket science or about your personality. It's about understanding tried and tested frameworks and developing simple skills. Join us to learn them and put them into action from day one.
Over 700 successful alumni
Our alumni say they’re more effective at:
- managing their time;
- building stronger relationships with peers;
- prioritising what really matters;
- pushing back on busywork;
- understanding their role in the strategic plan;
- seeing how to create a shared impact.
Since its launch in 2020, the flexible online format of Leading from the Middle has resulted in a 100% satisfaction rate of participants from hundreds of schools in over 50 countries, including:
Still need convincing?
See what previous participants think:
"I talk less, listen more, and ask more questions. The team has started to come up with collective solutions.”
Nancy Teskey, Band Director, American School of Warsaw
“This really helped me refine my ideas and gave me the confidence and tools to start important conversations.”
Jacob Johanssen, Head of Secondary Maths, American School of Budapest
"My leadership style has changed. I became more open, more supportive. My team's confidence has grown and change is happening.”
Jamie Williams, Head of Admissions and Extra Curricular Activities, Ecolint, Geneva
"The methods of gathering data and the idea of 'agile' in education really stood out - I've used them since!"
Matthew Lautenbach, Director of Student Activities & Athletics, American Embassy School, New Delhi
"It has changed my perspective. I am a better leader and ready to inspire others."
Leticia Daza, Vice Superintendent, Pan American School of Bahia
"I am now more aware of how to evolve ideas. I've started to overcome hurdles by celebrating the successes of others."
Matthew Kirk, High School Director of Teaching and Learning, Boston International School - Wuxi
100% guarantee
If you don’t love the course for any reason, simply let us know within the first 30 days for a full, no quibble refund.
BUY WITH CONFIDENCEOne course. Three sprints.
16 live sessions.
Hundreds of profound takeaways.
Imagine this: You walk into your day with clarity, knowing exactly what to focus on, and how to navigate every conversation and challenge ahead. No more getting bogged down by endless emails or feeling overwhelmed by constant demands. You’re ready to lead with confidence, and your team feels it. Here’s what you’ll gain:
- Stop letting email control your day and maximize your most productive hours
- Get people to buy into your ideas — without worrying about pushback
- Communicate exactly what’s needed, with no extra fluff, and win over your team
- Clear the clutter in your mind so you can focus on the work that matters most
- Prioritize like a pro and free yourself from the feeling that everything is urgent
- Test your ideas before launching, so you know how they’ll land in advance
- Spot where collaboration can speed up progress and get things done faster
- Tackle disagreements with ease by anticipating them and designing stronger conversations
- Turn pushback into a chance to create even stronger initiatives
- Save time, clear your head, and deliver more value in every project
- See ‘no’ as a stepping stone, not a setback
- Overcome resistance to your ideas and negotiate like a true leader
- Lead with a small team and make a big impact across your school
This is the kind of leadership that moves projects forward,
builds trust, and turns challenges into opportunities for growth.
Want to pay by bank transfer in your currency?
Request an invoice from [email protected]
BUY WITH CONFIDENCEWhat's in the course?
Three sprints develop personal, team and organizational leadership skills, with an emphasis on immediate application in the field and capturing evidence of impact. Each sprint kicks off with five days, where we meet for one hour each day, to focus on one key aspect of quality leadership. Sessions are recorded so you can catch up.
Between each sprint, we leave you at least a month to apply what you learn to your own project in school.
SPRINT 1: Lay the foundations and build personal effectiveness
February 17-21, 2025
(One hour a day, 12:00 noon GMT/London)
Learning what it takes to become your own leader
Day 1: Find your Cause
Day 2: Create your Vision
Day 3: Find out what you're starting with
Day 4: Looking, Listening, Learning
Day 5: "Just doing it"... with your team
Additional BONUS online support on the themes of:
- Workflow and Getting Things Done
- Understanding Yourself: the voices in your head and strengths-finding: your Growth Edge
- How to Initiate Connection
- Acting Collaboratively
SPRINT 2: Understand how your goals fit the school's strategic plan
March 31-April 4, 2025
(One hour a day, 12:00 noon BST/London)
Learn what it takes to put your leadership into action with a team
Day 6: Make your Ideas Better - a Pre Mortem
Day 7: Define Objectives and Key Results
Day 8: Recruit for an Idea
Day 9: Act Agile
Day 10: Build Momentum
Additional BONUS material on:
- Empathetic Leading
- Life-long learning and leading
- Emancipatory Leadership
SPRINT 3: Scale up and influence the system
May 12-16, 2025
(One hour a day, 12:00 noon BST/London)
Learn what it takes to influence the system and grow your ideas to some scale
Day 11: Act Collaboratively: how to work together and enjoy it
Day 12: Generate Trust
Day 13: Build Relationships
Day 14: Negotiation and Hard Conversations
Day 15: When the going gets tough...
Final Conversation:
Day 16: Reach your Growth Edge
How does it work? Read on:
A three-part course to supercharge your growth as a middle leader
Senior leadership can't carry it all. Leaders throughout a system need to have a common language. In Leading from the Middle, learn how to build relationships as a peer leader, inspire collaboration and scale up your team's ideas from one to some to everyone.
As schools try to delegate more, without overwhelming staff, this course will help middle and aspiring leaders develop the space, efficacy and attitude to take on more responsibility.
Cohort 6 Dates 2025:
SPRINT 1: February 17-21, 2025
(One hour a day, 12:00 noon GMT/London)
SPRINT 2: March 31-April 4, 2025
(One hour a day, 12:00 noon BST/London)
SPRINT 3: May 12-16, 2025
(One hour a day, 12:00 noon BST/London)
REFLECTION, CELEBRATION + NEXT STEPS EVENT: June 11, 2025, 12:00 noon BST/London)
Get an email text to edit and send to your Manager or Director
We get it: someone else holds the budget. The investment in you will pay back many times over to your school.
Our email template will give you what you need to show the value in your school's investment. Complete your details and we'll send it to you now, with no obligation
We'll send you a template right now. We'll also send you Monday's newsletter, TheProvocation. You can unsubscribe any time.
Meet your facilitators
The team at NoTosh have worked with over 700 aspiring and current leaders in Leading from the Middle. You can join them for live sessions and one-on-one drop-ins throughout the course.
Ewan McIntosh
"Senior leadership teams are stretched thin, juggling management tasks alongside running a school. The solution? Tapping into the untapped potential of middle and aspiring leaders—going far beyond traditional training to truly share the load. Real leaders don't want to learn about the theory of leadership alone - they want to put ideas into action right now."
With a life path that involved narrow misses with investment banks and the British Army, Ewan's love of learning and teaching was the dream job that led him to start NoTosh in 2009.
Since then he's worked with hundreds of schools in over 70 countries, and taken over 700 educators through Leading from the Middle.
Ewan was a classroom teacher who ended up as Commissioner at broadcaster Channel 4 Television Corporation. He’s led design projects with countless schools and major corporates (Burberry, BBC, Channel 4, talktalk plc, thyssenkrupp).
Jeremy Weinstein
“The face of training our people and of education itself is changing drastically, and will continue to do so as technology progresses. I've really enjoyed helping teams to embrace these changes, while ensuring they remain true to their values and their humanity.
"Leading from the Middle has been a chance to reinvent how educators learn while also making an impact in their school right at that moment."
Born and raised in Melbourne, and a mechanical engineer by training, Jeremy’s career has seen him take on a wide range of roles and challenges and, after a decade as an award-winning film maker, he cemented his passion for media and communications by completing a PhD in this field. With a wealth of experience in industry and in university teaching, Jeremy brings unparalleled depths of knowledge, ideas and connections to the leaders taking part in Leading from the Middle.
Kate Wadsworth
"Wherever you focus your attention, that becomes your reality. After 20 years of teaching, I dare not think about the number of staff meetings I sat through where the focus was anything but focussed:
tweaking the curriculum (again); prioritising short-term gains for accountability purposes; obsessing about conformity rather than alignment around a common idea of success...
"All that instead of focusing on the only way a school can truly improve: by listening to and responding to the needs of the people in it."
Kate has been an elementary teacher and school leader for over 20 years and is a qualified "Coaching Within Education" specialist. When she realised that her "outstanding" performance came at the expense of "feeling outstanding" she wanted to do something about that.
Build strong relationships
Learn to use key strategies that build empathy between teammates
Develop momentum
Create a prototyping culture that gets ideas off the ground quickly
Influence the system
Use pragmatic strategies that take an idea from one to some to everyone
"I have obtained great value from this. It's the best PD our leadership team ever did.
"I'm inspired to sign up the rest of our Senior Leadership Team."
Janecke Aarnaes, International School Director
100% guarantee
If you don’t love the course for any reason, simply let us know within the first 30 days for a full, no quibble refund.
BUY WITH CONFIDENCE
"I have increased my awareness of the importance of continuously sharing and communicating ideas, goals, and projects."
Dr. Silke Marina Scholer, High School Principal, Santa Cruz Cooperative School
"I am now more comfortable with delegating."
David Bremner, Vice Principal, Canadian International School of Beijing
"I have developed an increased awareness of looking at the 'big picture' and how my project has ripple effects."
Jay Carl Inman, Head of Science, Marist Brothers International School
"Having meaningful discussions about education can have a huge impact."
Stephanie Chattman, Principal, School of Modern Skills, Dubai
"What resonated most was how to draw people to your ideas. There were so many useful insights given on how to do this."
Max Henson, Deputy Head of Secondary, Canggu Community School, Bali
"I feel that I am now more ready and able to listen to what my colleagues need. The agile management ideas were particularly helpful in getting a project off the ground."
Aaron Ciuffo, IT Curriculum Coordinator, American School of The Hague
Unlike any other leadership course out there.
Unlike many middle leadership courses, this program focuses on what actually works in real schools, helping you lead with confidence, clarity, and impact from day one. So here’s what we promise NOT to do:
- We’ll not overload you with theory that doesn’t translate to your day-to-day work.
- We’ll not give you a one-size-fits-all experience that leaves you struggling to adapt to your unique team.
- We’ll not waste your time with irrelevant tasks or busywork: everything is designed to make change happen in your context, right now, while you learn.
- We’ll not push you into silly role-play scenarios that feel disconnected from real leadership challenges.
- We’ll not suggest quick-fix solutions that leave you unprepared for long-term leadership growth.
- We’ll not leave you to manage in isolation—this course focuses on real, collaborative leadership, not top-down control, and we provide drop-ins along the way to focus just on you.
- We’ll not leave you with vague advice and no practical tools to apply immediately in your role.
- We’ll not focus on outdated or irrelevant leadership models that don’t fit the realities of schools today.
How much time will this take?
Is there any one-on-one support?
Will this help me clear some time and build some energy?
Why does the course run in three parts?
Can a whole team of middle leaders do this?
Does this only take place online?
100% guarantee
If you don’t love the course for any reason, simply let us know within the first 30 days for a full, no quibble refund.
Request invoices from [email protected]
BUY WITH CONFIDENCE