Organisational change is already fragile. In a private independent school, where tradition meets expectation and community sentiment runs deep, it’s even more so. Add a toxic culture to the mix, and it’s less a strategic initiative and more a psychological obstacle course.

Ironically, it's often these environments that most need transformation.

But toxic staff can weaponise change itself—using new initiatives as opportunities to sow confusion, question leadership credibility, or undermine momentum through performative compliance. The challenge, then, is how to drive meaningful, lasting change in an environment where trust is thin, cynicism is thick, and the saboteurs may be seated at the leadership table—or in the staffroom.

To make change stick in such contexts, school leaders must shift their focus from pure strategy to the human systems that either support or suffocate progress. Change succeeds when it rewires how people think, relate, and behave—not just how they operate.

And that starts with tackling the cultural toxins head-on.

Create Psychological Safety

One of the most foundational shifts a school leader can make is creating psychological safety—a climate where staff can speak candidly without fear of ridicule, punishment, or reprisal. This becomes even more critical in the context of private independent schools, where longstanding norms and hierarchies often go unchallenged.

Amy Edmondson’s research underscores that people who fear embarrassment, retaliation, or exclusion stop sharing ideas and start playing defence. That’s deadly during change. School leaders should kick off any new strategic direction not with a “here’s the plan” speech, but with listening.

Ask what’s broken. Acknowledge the unspoken. Give people air cover to name elephants that have long been hiding in staff meetings and corridor conversations.

Consider a real-world example: A principal at a large private girls' school began their strategic review process by anonymously inviting small groups of teachers to share their perspectives, using a third-party facilitator. Staff were encouraged to share the ‘unsayable truths’—those issues that lingered in the background but never made it onto meeting agendas.

To the leadership’s surprise, one repeated theme was a fear of speaking out due to past instances of public shaming in staff meetings. The principal responded by overhauling meeting protocols, committing to follow-ups on raised issues, and openly modelling vulnerability during professional learning sessions.

Within a year, anonymous staff surveys showed a marked improvement in perceived safety and openness. This foundation made it possible to launch a wider curriculum redesign with staff support rather than resistance.

Using Your Data to Detect Behaviour Signals

This openness, however, can’t stop at the surface.

Donald Sull is a senior lecturer at MIT and co-founder of CultureX, a consultancy that uses big data (like employee reviews) to analyse company cultures. An academic-turned-practitioner, he has recently focused on quantifying toxic culture and its impact on performance.

Sull’s data-driven approach reminds us that culture is more than an attitude—it’s observable and measurable. Toxicity shows up in patterns: exclusion, disrespect, unethical behaviour. But sabotage can be subtle. Leaders should look for signs like a sudden drop in meeting engagement, selective obstruction of new initiatives, gossip that undermines leadership credibility, or unexplained turnover among high-contributing staff. Resistance may wear the mask of procedural delay or exaggerated 'concern'.

Principals and executive teams that want to shift culture must treat it like a living dataset. Run internal diagnostics. Use staff and student voice tools with surgical precision. Monitor shifts in language across feedback platforms, especially around themes of blame, burnout, or fear.

Change doesn’t begin with slogans—it begins with signal detection and a willingness to confront what those signals reveal.

Clearly Defining Behaviour Expectations

And when signals point to sabotage?

Christine Porath, author of Mastering Civility and co-author of The Cost of Bad Behavior, offers no illusions: one toxic individual can do the work of three disengaged ones—undoing morale, performance, and trust with astonishing efficiency. School change initiatives must draw a clear line around what behaviours are no longer tolerated. This is not about witch hunts or zero-tolerance posters. It’s about building a new baseline of respect and civility—and refusing to let “brilliant jerks” continue unchecked because they’re longstanding or loud.

One practical approach is to codify behavioural expectations in the Staff Code of Conduct. This creates clarity and consistency, ensuring that all staff understand what constitutes incivility—be it eye-rolling in meetings, backchannel gossip, or subtle public put-downs. But policy alone is not enough. When incivility does occur, it should be addressed promptly, privately, and directly.

A one-on-one conversation can serve as both a mirror and a boundary—"This is what I observed, and this is why it doesn't align with our culture." When leaders handle these moments early and without drama, they set the tone that change is real and that respect isn’t negotiable.

Balance Truth-Telling with Empathy-Holding

Leading in a toxic environment isn’t about wielding a hammer—it’s about using a scalpel. Kim Scott’s Radical Candour strikes this balance with surgical clarity: care personally, challenge directly. School leaders implementing change must be truth-tellers and empathy-holders. Tell the truth about what’s broken, what’s changing, and why. Then shut up and listen. Invite dissent. Validate fears without capitulating to them.

It’s uncomfortable—but comfort is the enemy of transformation.

This is especially crucial when dealing with legacy players—the ones who hold institutional knowledge and cultural inertia. Don’t mistake compliance for alignment. Passive-aggressive sabotage is still sabotage. Instead, reward those who adopt the change and elevate the team in the process. Behaviour, not tenure, should be the currency of influence.

Maybe Your Performative Reviews Aren't Working!

Of course, structure matters too. Patty McCord, author of Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, advocates ditching rigid HR “best practices” in favour of radical transparency and employee trust.

McCord’s experience at Netflix shows us that freedom and responsibility go hand in hand. In schools, bureaucratic workarounds often morph into policies no one believes in, but everyone performs. What if you scrapped those performative processes—like formulaic reviews or tick-box consultation—and replaced them with real-time feedback loops and adult-to-adult expectations?

In a school setting, this might involve establishing short, fortnightly check-ins where staff can reflect on how they’re contributing to change initiatives, what barriers they’re facing, and what support they need.

Rather than waiting for an annual review, leaders respond in the moment—offering affirmation, redirection, or resources. These regular loops make the culture more agile and reduce the risk of sabotage festering in silence.

Likewise, adult-to-adult expectations shift the conversation from compliance to contribution. Instead of dictating new initiatives, leaders pose challenges—"Here’s the goal; how do we make it work together?" This signals respect for teachers’ professionalism and builds ownership rather than resistance.

The result? People become invested not just in what is changing, but in how it changes.?

Giving Your Strategy Implementation the Best Chance of Success

Strategic change, especially in a culture of sabotage, requires a radical rethink of control. It’s not about micro-managing behaviour—it’s about building clarity, trust, and a shared sense of responsibility.

McCord’s key insight? Most people rise to the level of trust you place in them. And those who don’t? You’ll find out faster.

None of this will matter, though, if your strategy lives only on paper. The change must be visible, human, and narrative-driven. Start small with "islands of progress"—faculties, campuses, or programs where new behaviours can flourish without interference. Let success there become contagious. Tell the stories. Celebrate the wins. Make your internal communications louder than the hallway gossip.

In fact, storytelling may be your best cultural tool. As the old culture fights for survival, your job is to starve it of oxygen—attention, legitimacy, airtime—and flood the organisation with stories of what’s now possible.

Culture, after all, spreads through social proof.

Here’s the twist: you don’t need everyone on board. Not at first. You need critical mass, visible commitment from leadership, and enough progress that the saboteurs start to look isolated rather than influential. Toxicity is often fueled by the perception that “everyone feels this way.” Your job is to break that illusion.

Organisational change in a toxic culture isn’t about waiting for the perfect conditions—it’s about using the chaos to reset expectations, relationships, and working methods. Lead honestly, reinforce respect, measure what matters, speak with clarity and compassion, and trust your people to rise—or step aside.

Actionable Insights for School Leaders

• Conduct a Cultural Audit First: Use anonymous surveys, interviews, and pulse checks to understand your staff's true emotional climate. Don't rely on gut feel.
• Redefine What Good Looks Like: As part of the strategy rollout, set clear behavioural expectations. Make culture and conduct as important as curriculum.
• Make Psychological Safety a Measurable Goal: Provide regular opportunities for staff to speak up, receive anonymous feedback, and work in error-friendly environments.
• Use Anchor Teams to Pilot Change: Choose departments with a mix of influence and openness. Resource them well. Celebrate their success loudly.
• Call Out Toxicity Early and Consistently: Ensure a consistent response to undermining behaviour, regardless of the person’s popularity or longevity.
• Involve, Don’t Perform Consultation: Design processes where staff and students shape change, not just comment on it.
• Support Principals and Middle Leaders: They are the culture carriers. Train them in radical candour, emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution.
• Use Storytelling as Culture Fuel: Turn small wins into institutional folklore. Amplify momentum through newsletters, assemblies, and team meetings.

Change isn’t about fixing culture first. It’s about creating the kind of culture that makes change not just possible, but inevitable.

And when done right? The saboteurs either evolve… or exit.