New academic year, new you – leading self.
One of the things I love about working with schools is the opportunity to ‘recharge and reset’ every term, and the start of the academic year in September, after the summer break, is key. Every child has a new year group to join and courses to follow, and many staff have changes of roles and responsibilities, and new students to support.
Education is a serving profession, and so we’re very aware of ensuring we cater to others needs to enable our students to make the most of their experiences. They only get one shot at each lesson or course, so we want to make it count for them. In doing this we can sometimes lose sight of our own needs, and yet I will argue that without meeting our own basic needs we are in no position to support others with theirs. At least not sustainably so over the longer term. Why else is there such an issue with burnout and retention within the profession? I think we can address this by supporting colleagues to ensure they know what they need, and that they meet those needs regularly, and I don’t mean that a 9-5, 35 hour week, should be the aspiration.
There will be some reading this thinking that I’m being unrealistic. That demands placed upon them make it impossible to get ‘work-life balance’ in term time. Of course, education is a profession with ebbs and flows of demands upon our time, and sadly the culture of some institutions and leaders is less than conducive to us meeting our own needs – which must change. But I prefer the term ‘work-life integration’ to balance. Does the personal and professional integrate? Are you an integrated professional? To be integrated is to accept those ebbs and flows, and find the time to reenergise within what is going on, rather than fight it.
When we have the time to recharge, what do we do with it? This summer I’ve been walking along the Camino, spent time with family, friends and crafting, and enjoyed working outside in the sunshine when I can. It can feel impossible to manage to do these things when the term starts, but some forward planning can help. For example, making a list of friends to call during the term, if not meet for coffee, joining a regular exercise class or booking a couple of theatre trips or sports games – different things suit different people. Also helpful is developing a realisation that doing these things, looking after our needs, means that we will bring a more positive and purposeful energy to all we are doing, because we aren’t feeling as pressured or resentful, even if it is only slightly so. Something is better than nothing, and work on ourselves is our work too, not something to be sacrificed for work. Positive Intelligence techniques can be useful to enable us to take micro breaks to reset our mindset in the flow of work or personal challenges. We are human beings not human doings.
Part of the issue is that we aren’t always aware of our needs, because we don’t make time to reflect upon them. If we don’t have clarity over what would help us, and what difference it will make to us to do it, then our motivation is low to plan, prioritise, do and maintain these things we know work for us in providing a sense of peace and fulfilment.
Gaining clarity is a key element of the group coaching programme, with a focus upon self-awareness, before moving on to developing those leadership skills of developing team, persuading and influencing people to want to do what is necessary. We cannot most effectively lead others if we can’t lead ourselves to be our best selves. Energy and mindset are important elements of this – properly managed, they give us the leadership presence our roles require. They enable us to have effective conversations because we are bringing the energy the situation needs from us, not just ‘what is left in our tank’.
Even if we are aware of our needs quite often, in the thick of the term, our good intentions to re-energise ourselves – whether that is exercise regularly, eat well, or give friends a call, - can slide away, and we don’t have mechanisms to hold ourselves accountable. This is where a group coaching approach can help. Sharing the process with other like-minded people with their own goals, supporting each other and holding each other to account, ensures that habits are formed and embedded. These groups often support each other long after the programme has ended, and a commitment to reflection upon the sessions between each week ensures the most progress possible is made.
So, new academic year, new you… setting ourselves up for sustainable success this term and beyond starts with self-leadership, underpinned by self-awareness. What will you do to support yourself in this? Sign up asap, as we start on Tuesday 3rd September for Senior Leaders and Wednesday 4th September for Middle Leaders.