There is nothing that quite surpasses the delight of real human contact!
There is nothing that quite surpasses the delight of real human contact! Leaders need this. Virtual contact has been useful, necessary and convenient, but the most pleasurable aspect of my last month has been meeting people in the flesh at the conferences and schools I’ve been to, and it’s the conversations I’ve had in the margins that have provided the difference and extra spark. School leaders have enjoyed FINALLY properly networking in person with their colleagues, sparking those creative thoughts and ideas together and providing mutual reassurance and support and a realisation that we are not alone in the situation we are in.
Some say ‘it’s lonely at the top’. I’ve never found that, because I’ve been fortunate to have surrounded myself with others who understand, by joining networks to get ideas, and been open to support from outside my place of work. Leadership can be lonely if you don’t look after yourself in that way. At every level of leadership you can feel isolated if you don’t reach out for help, support and reassurance from others in similar situations. The relationships made sustain you. And the realisation that, while you may be grappling with X difficulty, at least you don’t have Y on your plate right now, which someone else does, can be helpful, while providing insights in case Y comes your way at some point! When I’m under pressure the grass can seem greener elsewhere, when the reality is, it’s just a different shade because I’m looking at it from a different angle. Real human contact helps me see this clearly – and I hope you too.
I’m not advocating we should all be ‘back in the office’ however. WFH has provided flexibility and control over our lives that people have craved for a long time, providing a balance to life that provides us with even more positive energy to be even more productive. Our ‘blended’ lives work. And we need a balance. The leaders in other industries I’ve been speaking to have said how much they’ve enjoyed seeing their teams, building those relationships and trust again with people they sometimes haven’t met before for real, and yet they’ve now been working with for a couple of years. There needs to be a balance of being able to build and sustain team, developing that human element of trust to enable real positive challenging conversations to happen, alongside the flexibility.
So to all the Deputy Heads and Senior Leaders, Junior Heads and EAs, PAs and School Secretaries and staff in schools I’ve met in person over the last month – and there have been a lot! – well done on getting out and getting that sustenance! As leaders we need to keep our ‘emotional resilience jars’ topped up for the times we need them – work on ourselves is the work! We’ve drawn on those ‘jars’ significantly and they have become pretty depleted over the last couple of years, and so it’s time to look after ourselves and enjoy that human contact. Leaders need this. We must value the positive energy it gives us, which enables us to be even more effective in our places of work, rather than not take the opportunity up because we worry about the mound of work we might come back to.
Reflections:
What impact does getting out and networking with others have on you?
Who do you turn to when you feel alone with a work problem?
Which people or networks provide you with human contact, support, reassurance, creative ideas?
How do you keep your ‘emotional resilience jar’ topped up?
How do you ensure you bring the right energy to everything you do? What else could you do for yourself?