Innovation starts with personal growth

This is sponsored content for the University of New England (UNE).

For regional and rural towns across Australia, a local high school is far more than just a collection of classrooms.

It is the beating heart of the community, a central hub where local businesses look for apprentices, families gather, and the next generation of regional leaders is forged.

Nobody understands this symbiotic relationship better than Quirindi High School's principal, Ian Worley.

Ian champions the rural lifestyle after growing up in a rural area himself, attending the University of New England (UNE), and building his career in regional Australia having spent the past 17 years as a principal, 10 years at Quirindi High School and seven at Nundle Public School.

"Our school is the central point for 2500 people. When the community supports us, we grow, provide an excellent education, bring more professionals into town, and help each other," Ian said.

"The beauty of regional Australia is how welcoming it is and how much communities encourage new people to move to the region."

As the leader of Quirindi High School, Ian has encouraged and forged many different pathways through his leadership.

The focus is on giving students and the community what is needed and encouraging his team to come up with ideas to meet these needs.

Some of these initiatives include a mentorship program pairing year 12 students with a staff member to guide them through job and university applications, a learning-from-home skills development program to assist students during their HSC and higher education, and an accelerated HSC program where year 9 students sit their HSC Agriculture exam. The focus is on letting students learn at the level they need.

Ian's leadership ethos is to trust his team and always default to "yes" if his team comes to him with an innovative idea.

"I encourage teachers to try innovation across the board," Ian said.

"Using innovative thinking with research to back what they want to do, we can take an educated risk that could work well for kids, and we always review to ensure it benefits the kids.

"I see my role as a leader as finding people who can do their jobs better than I could do it. If I do that, then I've succeeded.

"I step back from micromanagement; I oversee and ensure there are policies and procedures in place to provide a framework. I want people to put their hands up and say they want to do something."

This community-first mindset and willingness to innovate are qualities Ian experienced first hand during his years as a tertiary student at the University of New England (UNE).

Ian was the first in his family to attend university, where he completed a bachelor's degree in economics while living on campus at Earle Page College.

"I loved my time at UNE. It was a fantastic uni for me," Ian said.

"I made lifelong friendships there. I often tell my students that when you get to uni you will make lifelong friends.

"You choose to be there with a group of people who are very like-minded; you all want to learn and are interested in the same thing."

For Ian, university is where he met his wife, Nicola. The couple have two children, Jackson and Ella, who both attended Quirindi High School and have gone on to university.

Today, Ian uses his positive experiences at UNE to guide his own students who are interested in higher education, proving that non-conventional pathways can support real regional lives.

"A university education helps you understand the world better and kids who gain tertiary education have a better earning capacity and they're able to have greater leverage in the workplace," Ian said.

Like his students challenging themselves and attending university for the first time, Ian stepped outside his comfort zone and challenged himself when he took part in the Muster Dogs series earlier this year.

Muster Dogs is an ABC documentary series following five puppies from the same litter given to different handlers to train to be working dogs over a one-year period.

"Putting myself out there for Muster Dogs was a risk and a challenge," Ian said.

"I stepped foot into a world so far removed from my world and met fantastic people who were so authentic.

"It was a fantastic experience, it caused a lot of reflection. There is no ability to rush in that space, everything you're doing needs to have a purpose.

"As a professional, work is always rolling around in your head but you have to be in the right headspace for training, you can't be flipping between tabs in your mind, you have to focus.

"It enforced disconnection, I was forced to switch off from work."

These realisations have flowed through to the workplace, with meetings becoming more purpose-driven and deliberate.

Focus became more singular on the task at hand, and breaks from work were encouraged and taken by Ian and the team.

"I've encouraged my team to take breaks, it builds longevity into your career and helps you stay in the job longer," Ian said.

It's not just the break from work that will revitalise and motivate, a challenge is also vital.

"As you get older you realise that the regret you live with isn't what you did but the missed opportunities you didn't take," Ian said.

"It's so important to do something that challenges you, no matter what age you are.

"If the opportunity is there to challenge yourself and do something different that interests you then roll the dice on it, that's what makes life exciting."