The Leadership Zombie Outbreak

You know that feeling when you walk through your school and something just feels… off? It’s as if a slow-moving leadership zombie apocalypse has taken hold. Once-energised teams now move through routines with dulled expressions. The infection spreads from classroom to staffroom—initiative fades, authentic collaboration stalls, and the once-bright pulse of school culture starts to flicker.

The symptoms are easy to spot: leaders who feel they must always have the answers, staff who wait passively for direction instead of innovating, and a culture where knowledge is guarded instead of openly shared. This “hero leader” mindset—where principals or school leaders believe they must carry the entire school on their shoulders—leads to burnout and disengagement. Instead of empowering educators, it turns them into professional zombies who simply comply rather than contribute.

What's Creating These Leadership Zombies?

Here’s the hard truth: many schools are unintentionally creating leadership zombies through outdated systems that feel productive but actually stifle the community. When school leadership focuses too heavily on policies, checklists, and rigid oversight—the educational equivalent of zombie groaning—it breeds environments where compliance replaces curiosity and risk-taking is replaced with routine.

Often, leadership development efforts unintentionally reinforce the problem. One-off workshops or expensive external consultants swoop in and out, offering advice but rarely supporting leaders in the real-time situations that matter most. Meanwhile, research continues to show that the most effective professional growth happens within teams—when leaders are coached to coach others, building capacity from the inside out.

The real problem? We've treated school leadership like a solo act, when it's meant to be an ensemble performance.

Your Anti-Zombie Leadership Strategy

Escaping zombie leadership isn't about slogans or away-days—it’s about fundamentally rewiring how leadership works in schools. Start by examining the everyday leadership habits that feed isolation and control. Are leaders holding tight to information as a way to stay in charge? Do they avoid vulnerability and feel pressured to know everything instead of facilitating team learning?

The antidote lies in building coaching skills within leadership teams—so they support staff growth, not just oversee it. This means creating a culture where asking powerful questions matters more than having perfect answers, where reflection is encouraged, and where it’s safe to learn through mistakes.

This isn’t about tweaking your leadership model—it’s about reimagining it entirely. Picture a school leadership team with zombie-resistant DNA: one that promotes shared thinking, adaptability, and trust. You’re not just repairing broken systems—you’re building a learning culture that can thrive even in complexity.

The goal isn’t to revive burned-out leaders—it’s to prevent leadership zombification altogether by fostering approaches that bring out the best in every educator.