The Appointment That Changes Everything
What organisations in Christian education deserve when their leadership search begins
"In the end we were able to appoint first time round, which had been our hope and dream."
Ven Nicky Fenton, Chair of the Derby Diocesan Board of Education
"This has resulted in a very successful and exciting appointment. The Board has no hesitation in highly recommending you and your team."
Angela M Pae, Vice Chair, Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham Multi Academy Trust
Behind both of those sentences is a story. A governing body or trust board facing one of the most significant decisions they will ever make. A community depending on the right outcome. A process that could have gone in any number of directions, and that arrived, in the end, at exactly the right place.
Those outcomes are not accidental. They are the result of something that begins long before the shortlist is drawn up or the interview panel convened. They begin with the quality of the partnership chosen at the outset, and with whether that partner genuinely understands what this kind of appointment is actually about.
The moment everything pivots
There is a moment, in the life of almost every Governing Board, Diocese and Multi-Academy Trust, when everything quietly pivots on a single decision.
Not a budget decision or policy decision, or a decision about curriculum or estate, but a people decision. The appointment of a senior leader who will shape the culture, direction and daily reality of a school(s) or trust community for years to come. An appointment whose effects will be felt long after the recruitment process itself has been forgotten.
Most organisations facing that moment do not feel ready for it. They feel the weight of it. A small team, often without dedicated HR expertise at this level or communications resource. A community depending on the right outcome. A role that demands not only professional excellence but a genuine fit with the values and Christian character of the organisation itself. And, in many cases, a realistic awareness that the strongest candidates are not sitting in a waiting room somewhere, ready to apply. They are leading other schools and trusts, already committed, not looking.
Choosing the right recruitment partner in that context is itself a significant act of leadership. And the organisations who make the very best appointments are, in my experience, those who think most carefully about that choice before anything else begins.
What the right partnership feels like from the first conversation
The Derby DBE described comparing three recruitment firms who had each recently recruited to the same role elsewhere. Their decision came down to one thing.
"We chose Emmaus because of the way they understood our vision, values and Christian distinctiveness and how important spiritual discernment is to us in the process."
Ven Nicky Fenton, Chair of the Derby Diocesan Board of Education
That word, discernment, is the one that matters. The other agencies understood recruitment. What the Derby DBE were looking for was someone who understood what this kind of recruitment is actually for. In a faith context, the appointment of a senior leader is not simply a professional transaction. It is an act of discernment. It requires someone who can hold the weight of that alongside the practical demands of running a rigorous process.
SNMAT described a similar experience from their very first meeting with Emmaus.
"Through your succinct questions and observations, you demonstrated that you had a good grasp of our situation and indicated that you were prepared to work in partnership, get to know us thoroughly and had much to offer in terms of both advice and a pragmatic approach to our recruitment process."
Angela M Pae, Vice Chair, SNMAT
That quality of attention, present from the very first conversation, changes the character of everything that follows. It is the difference between a recruitment partner who manages a process and one who genuinely understands the organisation they are serving and brings that understanding to bear at every stage.
The first conversation with a recruitment partner is not a preliminary. It is evidence. It tells you whether this person can hold the weight of what you are trying to do, whether they will listen for what is particular rather than what is general, and whether the relationship will be one of genuine partnership or managed service delivery. Those are very different things, and the difference shows in the outcome.
Reaching the leaders who are not looking
Both organisations reflected on something that is easy to overlook when a vacancy first arises. The strongest candidates for senior leadership roles in Catholic, Church of England and wider Christian education are rarely found through advertising alone. SNMAT described Emmaus "reaching deep into the national pool of potential candidates, including those already in post who were not necessarily looking at alternative situations."
The Chair of the Derby DBE put it plainly. They needed help "reaching a good range of people with appropriate levels of experience and skills," and they needed the capacity to keep the profile of the role high and to engage well with interested candidates. Twelve people expressed interest. Eleven applied. The shortlist was difficult to reduce to four. They appointed first time round.
Those numbers tell their own story, but behind them is the work that made them possible, relationships built over years, networks that reach into communities of leaders who trust the conversations they are being invited into and the ability to approach a leader who is not looking with enough honesty and care about the opportunity that the conversation is worth having.
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
The right appointment, made at the right moment and with the right preparation, can shape a community for a generation. That is the outcome a good recruitment partnership should be working toward from the very first conversation.
More than a recruitment process
SNMAT described in detail what a well-designed process can look like when it is built around the needs of both the organisation and the candidates it is seeking to attract. Informal conversations before application. A promotional video giving candidates "a genuine sense of the people they would be working with." A two-day selection process designed not only to assess candidates but to give them the opportunity to share their attitudes, personality, leadership characteristics and commitments.
That approach matters because it changes the quality of the decision made on both sides. A candidate who has been given honest information, real access to the people they would be working alongside, and a process that treated them as a person rather than an applicant, arrives at their decision with genuine clarity. And when both sides have arrived at genuine clarity, appointments hold. They are not simply made. They last.
What we carry from the organisations we serve
The organisations we have worked with have been generous in reflecting on what the experience was like. What stays with me most is not the language of professionalism or process, though I am glad when those things are right. It is the moments of genuine feeling in what they share.
A diocese describing the appointment of a new Director of Education as "our hope and dream, realised." A trust board describing a leader who is taking them into their next chapter with the whole organisation on board. Those are not recruitment outcomes. They are community outcomes. They are the reason this work matters.
Every organisation in Catholic, Church of England and wider Christian education deserves that quality of partnership when a search that matters this much begins.
If you are facing a significant leadership appointment and would like to think it through with someone who knows this world well, we would be glad to hear from you.
Not a pitch. Just a conversation.
About Liam Dowds
Liam Dowds is the Managing Director of Emmaus Leadership and has spent over two decades working alongside school leaders, governors and dioceses in Catholic, Church of England and wider Christian education. He has supported leaders at every stage of their professional journey, from those considering their first headship to those stepping into the most senior roles in faith education nationally. He is known for the depth of his relationships with the leaders he works with, and for the care and discretion he brings to every conversation.
📞 01737 652 043
ldowds@emmausleadership.me
About Emmaus Leadership
Emmaus Leadership is a specialist senior leadership recruitment consultancy working exclusively within Catholic, Church of England and wider Christian education. We support dioceses, trusts and schools in finding leaders who are not only professionally exceptional but vocationally suited to the distinctive character of faith education. Every search we undertake is shaped by a deep understanding of the sector and a genuine commitment to the communities we serve.
Find out more at emmausleadership.me