At the end of January I found myself in front of a big group of eager teachers at our annual beginning of the year teacher only day. Before the group, on a big white board, I sketched out a ten week timeline. The Term ahead.

And then I asked, “how many of you have run a half marathon before?” Three or four of them put their hands up, but most looked at me in confusion, and a few disbelievingly. Was I about to spring on them all that we were going to spend the term preparing for the ultimate team building event – the staff half marathon? I’m sure that some of them flinched at the thought.

And so I painted them this story.

In September, I ran the Dunedin half marathon. Just over 21 kms of placing one foot in front of another. I told my team that the beginning of the race was just like week one and two of any given term. The runners, like teachers, were all excited; they were prepared, they had their individual goals in mind, and the enthusiasm, energy and passion of everyone about to start was infectious. This was just like my teachers on this teacher only day. They too were prepared, enthusiastic, and full of energy.

Weeks 1 through to 4 are like the first ten or so kilometres of a run. Just like in the run, our teachers are talkative, friendly, encouraging, helpful and inclusive. The energy continues to flow. Just like the race, the school is a great place to be a part of.

At some point in the run everything goes quiet. The runners begin to hit their wall; they begin to notice the pains creeping through their legs and in their shoulders. They worry about the twinging feeling in their calf and wonder if that tightness is the resurfacing of an old injury. They stop talking as proactively to the runners around them. They get nippy and impatient with people running through or shoving. It’s variable but it’s likely to be around the 15km-17km mark. In term time this is around Week 7 of a ten week term.

Teachers too, stop talking as proactively as in the first few weeks. Pressure builds up, accumulates and looks to be never ending. Energy begins to trail away and with it a lot of patience. Like the runners they find it harder to make positive connections with others. They look inward instead of outward, and for many they wonder how they’ll make it. For some this might begin in Week 6, for others later on. But just like the runners they all meet a mental wall. If things are going to get angsty in the school, then it’s likely to be a three week period from Week 7 through to 9.

At about the 20km mark, runners tend to move out of their fug. It’s about this time they realise that the end is in sight and it’s only a km or so away. Mentally they reason that this is between 6-8 minutes away. They realise that although things might be painful, it’s certainly do-able and will soon be over.

Week 10 of a term is just like that. Teachers head into the week tired and spent, but during that last week of term you can feel the mood lifting. Teachers know it’s only 5 days to work through. They can see the end in sight.    

I mapped out the key times on the whiteboard and then we talked about what it was like to be teaching in a school during the back end of any given term. My teachers all told similar tales. They were tired, they were more anxious, all sorts of pressures were compounding and made school, their work place, uncomfortable. 

I told them that they were all half marathon runners as a result!

And because we were refreshed and feeling energetic, having just come back from holidays, talking about feelings and energies about the “term-wall” could be discussed in a positive light. We started discussing key strategies that we could all use when we reached our term walls so that we  finished the “race” with head held high 🙂

So during those more difficult  weeks we agreed to refocus on connecting, being active (physically and mentally), taking notice and most importantly giving. Instead of being insular, inactive, failing to notice, and always take, take, taking.

Heads nodded, faces smiled. And then we ate lunch and icecream, and someone said; “mmm, the proof will be in the pudding!”

I’ll report back in Week 8 of the term to tell you how things are going.

 

Steve

During the Xmas holidays I found myself sitting with a chocolate nut icecream and a box of popcorn at the latest Star Wars movie … Rise of Skywalker. 

There were a number of irksome little things in the movie that annoyed this long term Star Wars fan, but on the whole I imagine that for a newbie going along to their first encounter that they would’ve walked away with the same feeling that I walked away with back in 1977 when the very first Star Wars movie came out. I was only ten at the time, but boy was I impressed!

As I walked from the movie theatre, blissfully unaware of the melted chocolate smudged all over the rear of my jeans, I couldn’t help but build an analogy in my mind about the Rise of Skywalker and the start of a new school year. In the movie, against all odds, the rebels rise up; never giving up hope; full of energy and resolve; to take on the might of the empire and win against all the odds.

I reckon that our new year in principalship is very much the same. We come back refreshed, bubbling with energy, and an uncanny positive belief that any of the old crap from last year can be resolved, and that we can all move on in collective happiness! Rise of Skywalker indeed!

Yes, it’s probably a bit of a misguided view. But, hell, why not! What’s the alternative? A cynical look at the start of the year as more gloom, doom, festering relationships and false starts, with the darkness of the “empire” hovering in the background? No, there’s no power in that at all. If you head into the new year like that, then you might as well admit defeat and not come back at all.

Instead we should bask in the knowledge that our budgets are full once again, that everyone has had a significant amount of time away, (possibly enough to quell any simmering resentments), that there are new relationships to forge with the excitement of new ideas and opportunities. And in the middle of all this is you, the principal … the Skywalker of your school, who can stand up with Ralph Waldo Emerson whispering in your ear; 

“Finish each year and be done with it.

You have done what you could.

Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in:

Forget them as soon as you can.

This year is a new year; begin it well and serenely 

and with too high a spirit to be

encumbered with your old nonsense…”

So arise Skywalker! Onwards and upwards. All the best, everyone for a positive and enjoyable start to the new school year.

Steve

A few weekends ago I was hanging out in a Dunedin op shop looking for second-hand books. In a pile that had no real purpose or description sat a copy of Donkeys Egg, the junior reader that I read at school when I was a six year old. I was amazed at the release of positive emotion that I got by just picking the book up and flicking through the pages. Back then the words made no impact, but the pictures did, and for a brief moment I was transported back in time to my own story that I had made up to accompany the pictures. A time when I was allowed to make my own limited decisions about stuff, any stuff.

 

This thought led me to one of my favourite memories of primary school – lying on my back in the grass of the back field at Redcliffs school in Christchurch, watching the cotton ball like clouds drift over the cliff face, listening to the wonderful tone of Mrs Smith reading a book – a brand new book called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.  As an 8 or 9 year old it was a magical time, so simple, yet almost enchanting. Yes, my whole world waited for me to explore it, but all I had to do was lie there and listen to the exploits of Charlie, Uncle Joe and Veruca Salt. That was the only decision I had to make. To lie there and listen, and so I lay there, and I listened. Perfection.

 

Fast forward a few crazy years and here I am, still in a primary school. And to be honest I yearn for that time when I had only one decision to make, just to lie there and listen to Mrs Smith read.

 

I really hope that all the decisions I make as a principal, day in and day out, have the same effect though, and that there are many pockets of children in my school also enjoying similar “mono decision” Mrs Smith-like experiences. Imagine that. Perfection.   

 

Let’s talk about decisions though for a moment.

 

Out there, somewhere in the distant past an expectation was developed. It’s an expectation that has followed all principals through the mists of time. It’s an expectation that states in very basic terms; if you are the principal then you make the decisions and your decisions always need to be 20/20 perfect. You get paid the big bucks to front up and make those decisions, and that because of your experience, standing and mana, that those decisions will always be correct and right. That’s a pressure point right there.

 

This is fine. It’s our responsibility to make decisions and for the most part, it’s both our privilege and pleasure. However, there is a limit to the number of decisions any one human (let alone a Super Principal) could (and possibly should) make in any one hour, day, week, month or term. That number isn’t finite. It’s not that we can say, “that’s it, I’ve made my 24 decisions and I’m out of here”.

 

The point that I’m trying to make though, is that although your decision making isn’t number restricted, your ability to respond positively to each of the challenges that your decision making presents, is. The more times that you are called upon to make a decision, and your response to the default ripples that your decision makes, is energy sapping. Until recently I thought this was just me. But now I know that there is a term for this:

 

Decision Fatigue.

 

Google it. Suddenly it is everywhere. Everyone is writing about it, including yours truly! 

 

Jory MacKay in his piece “Decision Fatigue: What it is and how it’s killing your focus, motivation, and willpower” describes Decision Fatigue as; “the deterioration of our ability to make good decisions after a long session of decision making.” And “the more decisions you need to make, the worse you’re going to be at weighing all the options and making an educated, research-backed choice.”

 

Gulp! As a principal I make so many decisions everyday. No doubt you do as well. For this blog piece I was going to make a record of the number, but then, with a certain irony, I decided not to. 

 

I’ve got to be honest, this is a concern for me. I find that the more decisions I make, especially at the sharp end of the year when the important decisions around staffing, finances, class lists, reports and behaviour are made on a daily basis, the more stunted the process becomes for me. There are times when even the idea of making a decision can be anxiety inducing. I really yearn for just that one decision … to lie in the grass and listen to Mrs Smith read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

 

So, what is the work-around here? How can you continue making decisions, but not slip in your ability to make good decisions. Luckily Google has a few answers and I like the following, in no order of importance, that I’m going to try myself. Maybe you’ll do the same.

 

1. Make the most important decisions in the morning …. If you’ve got big decisions to make, get them out of the way when you’re feeling fresher.
2. Choose simple options for less important decisions …. Not every decision you make is an important one, identify the decision for what it is and choose a simple solution and then move on.
3. Plan your daily decisions in advance … a lot of the decisions we’re called on to make daily are out of the blue. However, many aren’t and if you can, add these known components to your daily to do list. Leave them on your list until they’re made.
4. Don’t make big decisions when you are hungry … this is a crucial life hack that is also important outside of your professional role.
5. Don’t make big decisions when you are angry … the same with number 4. Take time away to calm down, assess the issue, get the facts, and then make the decision.
6. Don’t make big decisions when you are overly tired … tricky when you’re in a role that can sap the life out of you regularly, but try to avoid making a decision when you’re exhausted. Timetable it for the next day, or for a time when you have had a breather.
7. Aim for good enough, not perfection … don’t beat yourself up on the quality of your decision. As Baz Lurman said in his fantastic 1999 hit song “Everybody’s free to wear sunscreen”; “whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either, your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.”  
8. Remove unnecessary distractions … nothing worse than when you’re trying to make an important decision on something and someone else comes along with a totally different issue that they need a decision on. Close the door. Give yourself some space, remove any unnecessary distractions.
9. Wait … this is a personal favourite. Sometimes if you wait long enough you don’t even have to make a decision. Waiting helps to give you clarity over the decision, time to weigh up the options. Don’t be pushed into making a decision if you’re not ready to. Some might judge this as procrastination, but seriously, that’s their issue, not yours.
10. Get someone else to make the decision … perfect. Get someone else to do it. You’re still the boss, but it doesn’t mean you have to make every decision going. It’s fine if someone else gets to make the executive decisions.
11. Focus on momentum – chain similar tasks together … a bit like batching. Do like minded decision making at the same time. If you’ve got difficult decisions to make, you might as well ruin one whole morning working through them all, then ruining a whole week piecemealing the process.

 

And what about Decision Fatigue recovery?

First of all, look after yourself. David pulled out a wonderful line in his piece last week when he said, “Slow the heck down. You need to (temporarily) step off the hamster wheel and sit out to the side on a lilypad”.

 

If you’re finding yourself swamped, then give yourself time. Take a quiet walk around the school (pretend to do a playground inspection if needed); leave school early; do something just for you; make some decisions that only affect you (such as go buy a coffee, or shout yourself a lime thickshake). Take an afternoon nap. Just give yourself a break. 

 

One crucial solution is to put yourself on a strict low information diet at home for a little while. This means forgetting about social media, or the news, or anything that’s going to encourage you to make many decisions – e.g. what to click on, who to respond to, what to say. Eliminate that noise from your life for a while. This will do wonders for you both at home, and when you get back to school to make those tricky decisions that have been weighing you down. Try it.

 

Of course, few of the decisions in your role will ever be so important that they have to happen right then and right now if you’re not feeling quite up to it, so don’t feel guilty about taking some time for yourself.

 

Which reminds me of a story I heard when I first became a principal in a sole charge school. The principal in the neighbouring school had just retired. He told me of the principal before him who used to get sick and tired of making decisions about which school bills to pay. So, as they arrived, he’d take them out of their envelopes and throw the accounts into a box. Once a month he’d close his eyes and pull out five or six from the box and he’d pay those. Simple accountancy. Imagine making that sort of decision today!

 

Right, I’m off to find a patch of grass to lie on, to look up into the sky at the cotton ball clouds and the blue sky and to reminisce to a time when I only had one decision to make at a time. The class lists can wait for fifteen minutes. Thank you Mrs Smith.

 

Steve

 

I often wonder what would this principal lark would all look like if it was easy?

I’m wondering this because here I am at 7:30am looking at my desk that is, unsurprisingly, just like I left it. Skewed piles of paper and a shattered “to do list”.

Nothing went to plan yesterday. 

To be honest, nothing went to plan the day before either, or the day before that. If I think about it for a second, nothing has gone to plan for quite a while now. And by my “plan”, I mean the important work that I know that I need to have done with a series of deadlines looming.

It’s left me feeling like I’m flying this school by the seat of my pants. If it was a glider and I was the only one on board, then that might be just about perfect. It’s not.

My current plan is being quickly eroded by my current predicament which is a mixture of a child’s behavioral problems, the wave like negative effect that this has on certain parents, and a budget that ended its life 2/3s of the way through the year. Throw in a busted water mains pipe and I’m feeling just a bit swamped!  

To be honest though this isn’t unusual. My plan is always being eroded by my current predicament. The predicament changes like the wind, but it is constant and it is always there. 

I worry that I’m not getting through my work as planned, but in reality there are always bigger things in play. Maybe I’m not being supported enough? Maybe my plan at that very point of time just isn’t relevant enough?

 . . .

I’ve been asking myself this: if this job was easier, what would the support look like for something such as the current behavioural erosion that’s going on? It doesn’t take long to think of things such as; immediate response from the Ministry of Ed. with behavioural issues, backed up with on the ground trained personnel here to support the school until the issue is solved, non-judgemental support from my management team, support from the family to work with the school to solve this issue, a BOT who will release extra funds to help this child (also non-judgemental), and a child who will respond quickly and consistently to any changes that we put in place. That sounds easy. 

And if this was the case, I could simply go back to my plan, whatever that was for the day/week/month.

Also, what would the financial support for my ailing budget be if things were easier? A BOT happy to dip into the savings to make ends meet, without judgement or any prejudice. Maybe a budget that never ran on empty?

. . .

Of course, none of this is easy. We are dealing with humans after all. Like me, they can be inconsistent in the ways they act and respond. Some can be relied upon, but all are also dealing with their own plans that are also being eroded by any number of other issues as well. You’d think that this would make for a sense of common ground. But it doesn’t, at least not at the start. That doesn’t come along until crisis time. In fact it may take a long time for everyone to grasp a sense of common ground at all. 

Most likely this is because others are not seeing the issue from your perspective.

For example let’s look at how different people view the current behavioural issue eroding my ability to stick to my daily plan.

The Ministry of Education look at any behavioural problem as a priority and capacity issue: are there other children who require their support with bigger needs? Do they have the capacity to support your case? It’s cut throat. Sadly, it appears that support has more to do with money than need. But this is their reality and the overriding context that they see your issue from.

Your management team looks at it from a different perspective. Being teachers first up, their focus is on their own class. And so it should be. Unless the child is in their class, they don’t see the minute to minute behaviour and they don’t feel the heat of stress that goes with it. They’ll be there in a flash if it starts to affect their class though, and until then they’ll provide tacit support and offer advice from the side lines. Again, their reality means they see your issue in a different context.

Your Board of Trustees/Governance Team? Well, quite possibly unless their child is in the class with the behavioural issue, they will be slower to react, otherwise the pressure will be on to make the “right decision” and quickly. This perception of the “right decision” is dependent entirely on the belief systems of each individual BOT member. Some will feel the right decision is to release more funding and do everything they can to keep the child in the school, but within the safety confines of everyone else. Some will feel that they have to be decisive, act quickly, and move the kid on (literally, to another school). Some lie somewhere in between, sitting on the fence. It doesn’t affect them. Yet. They are a group, but they all bring individual biases and personal contexts to your issue.

The whanau/family: if the behaviour “issue” is their child, there will be all sorts of biases, contexts and opinions that will relate to the way that they see the issue and, just as importantly, how they see you, as principal, dealing with the issue. Likely there are contexts beyond the school that also flavour their response. They bring all this to you. If the behaviour “issue” is affecting their child, the contexts can change dramatically.

And then there’s you, the principal. To be honest, if you are like me, you’re likely to be as inconsistent as everyone else. Although you may think it from time to time, you don’t have an unobstructed view of the issue, or of any issue. You have your own things to do, and all of these require time. You’re ready to invest your time, but you don’t desire that layer of judgement that comes with it, if and when you don’t react like others think you should. Let’s face it, they get to see your role only from the, “what would this look like if it was easy”, angle. Everyone comes to every issue from a slightly different context. 

. . .

And then of course you’ve got your daily plan.

In situations like this I believe it’s OK to just let go of your plan, whatever that is. Obviously your day, or days, are going to be stuffed and this might continue for the foreseeable future. How long? Who knows? It doesn’t actually matter. Eventually there will be a time when you can get back to your plan. We all wish that this happens sooner, but in our roles we simply don’t have tools in our toolkits to bend time. You’re not Doctor Who! People take time, and it’s as simple as that, so don’t let the lack of progress on your plan get you down. When it comes to people, your plan plays second fiddle. 

Of course, there are other things that also come along to interrupt your plan. School is full of positive daily events and excitement that are always popping up that need you to be a part of. My advice is do what makes you human – get involved, give your time, because it’s the best thing that you can give. 

Once you learn to accept this, worries or anxieties about planning based deadlines start to diminish. Yes it’s good to have a plan, yes it’s good to have a set of goals, yes it’s good to start the day with a to do list. Most importantly though, it’s healthy to understand that your plan is likely to head south at any given moment for whatever reason, positive or negative, and that that is simply fine. 

So next time something comes along to blow away your plan, let it go, go with the flow.

Steve

 

It’s Board meeting week. To be honest, it’s probably been Board meeting fortnight. The work before the Board meeting always takes up a lot of time. And energy. There are reports to write, documents to put together, and people to communicate with. (I always wonder about the inordinate amount of time that we put into preparing written documents that in all effect will only be read once – but that’s another issue altogether).

Anyway, back to Board meeting week. Board meeting week is a classic example of how the ebbs and flows of our profession can be used to our advantage.

The lead up to a Board meeting is always pretty frenetic. It’s busy. You’re cramming your daily routine (if you can call it that) with the pressure of having to produce a written report and schooling up to be adequately prepared to answer any questions that will come your way on the night. 

The Board meeting itself is pretty intense as well. If your meetings are anything like mine, you’ll spend the majority of the time doing the talking, doing the explaining, guiding and supporting. This isn’t a criticism of my Board, or anyone’s really, it’s just a fact of life. At a Board meeting, if anyone is under pressure, it will be you – the principal. It doesn’t matter how long the Board meeting is, the pressure on you can be intense. And with that intensity, the aftermath can be lethargy inducing.

I find the days after Board meetings to be a mixture of tiredness and relief. Especially the day after. The monthly (or six weekly) accountability cycle has grown like the crest of a wave, and exhausted itself on the shore. Ebbs and flows.

This is where our 40 hour principal principle plays its’ hand nicely. In working towards the meeting, and of course the meeting itself, you’ve likely done some “extended hours” to put it nicely. And rightly so, it’s important to be adequately prepared. But that day or two after the meeting you need to take stock and look after yourself.

As David outlined last week, make sure you batch some hours the morning after your Board meeting. Use this time to catch up with any residual outcomes of the meeting the night before. Deal with it as quickly as you can within the uninterrupted confines of the batching principle!

I’ve known principals who would go to their Board meetings, finish up at 10pm, and then continue into the night at school, driving home at 1pm, after dealing with the Board aftermath. I don’t recommend this. I’ve gotten by just fine over the last 25 years by not going to this extent. You don’t have to either.

Instead, shut yourself away in your office the next day and get it done.

Once this is over you have two options. I’ve seen Principals go both ways. 

1. They see an opportunity to “get in front of the game” with the time now freed up from the Board prep madness.
2. They see an opportunity to “clear the head”, “recharge” and look after their “well-being”.

I have been in both camps before. To be honest I find the allurement of “getting in front of the game” tempting. A bit like a shiny button, the possibility of getting ahead looks attractive. But like a shiny button, in reality getting ahead is purely functional, it helps you for a little while, but just like an ordinary button it too can fall off, and be tainted by the reality of school life. I’ve seldom been able to get ahead straight after a board meeting. And if I have, the experience has been fleeting and at the expense of my own well-being. My well-being has suffered, I’ve become tired and flat, and ill equipped to cope with the next wave. By trying to get in front of the game I’ve ended up behind.

Better to opt for the second option. I’m not advocating going AWOL for a week. Just make the deliberate choice to leave school at 3:30pm. 

Put this in your diary. Take deliberate action to leave the school grounds early.  Use this time to recharge, to clear your head. And do this without guilt, in the knowledge that you are using the natural cycle of the job to ready yourself for the next wave. 

Why stop at Board meeting week? There are plenty of other times throughout the year when it’s absolutely fine to run the same strategy. What about those big events such as school fairs, matariki evenings, parent/teacher interviews, school concerts, or school disco dj-ing duties. If these events have taken a lot of your time and energy and you feel that you need some time to recover, then take it.

Some may say describe this as time in lieu. I’m not sure I would because this implies that the school owes you and that your time is a limited resource. Your time is a limited resource (as it is for everyone) but you’re not being paid by the hour. You are on salary and therefore there are times when you need to work long hours. Equally there are  times when you can balance this up a bit, and those times when you need to recover are best done away from school.

So diary that time in now. Consider even doing it for the next two days after a busy event, or choosing to start school later in the morning. But do it guilt free in the knowledge that you are doing it for both you and the school. A recovered principal is much more useful to your school than a stuffed one!

Steve

During the year, our teachers have been working on a well-being inquiry as part of their local Kahui Ako focus. It’s been great watching the team think about and then re-think about their roles with well-being the driver.

I was excited about the staff talking about well-being at school as it’s such an interest of mine personally. But there are a few “mmmmms”, and “aha moments” that have risen as a result of the inquiry. 

None of which I was fully prepared to hear.

Recently I found myself sitting in on a group of teachers who were working on a well-being survey to send around the staff. There was obviously a lot of discussion going into the wording of the survey, and plenty of thinking going into what should be asked. For me as the principal, each of the questions also had an underlying implication. For example, there was a question about meetings …”how many meetings this week have you attended?”, and a question about hours, “how many hours did you spend at school last week?”

The implications being, if we cut down on meetings, how do we preserve a sense of togetherness in our decision making, and if we cut down our hours, then how do we preserve what we currently offer our students? This made for an interesting conversation to listen in on as my teachers debated the pros and cons. All very healthy stuff. It felt empowering.

The next week I received an email with the draft questions that were to be asked. 

And there it was –  the biggie that affected me. “How have you found the principal this week?” Hold on! What?

What does that even mean? How have they found me? What sort of question was that?

The survey even gave the question a 1-10 scale.

Don’t get me wrong, my teachers are a great bunch, but I was struck at the insensitivity of the question. Put the question aside (after all this is what you can expect to receive in an appraisal like situation), it was the wording that blew me away, especially the two words “the principal”. This was a well-being survey, not an appraisal one, and I actually felt that with those two words my place as a person on the staff was taken away. I was  just “the principal”. And in that single line I was reminded of how isolated and vulnerable we are in our principal roles. 

I guess this is a problem with surveys, and yes it would’ve been equally bad had the wording been “Steve”, but at least that would’ve made me human. Obviously the words “the principal” were an attempt to remove me personally from the question and address the issue (whatever that was!) professionally. Given this was a well-being survey, it found a weak spot in my sensitive soul and pushed it hard. I felt that my well-being had been completely ignored. Where was my collective right?

I made them change it. I wasn’t going to have that. And I told them – take the whole bloody question out. What does that have to do with well-being?

Of course the point of this isn’t that Steve’s a sensitive soul and needs protecting. No, it’s that if we are serious about talking about well-being in our schools, then everyone needs to realise that this includes, and involves everyone. There are no exceptions. We are all humans irrespective of our roles. Surely that’s the super power of it all.

And at that point I had a lightbulb moment. You, the reader, may have realised this all along! Well-being can and should be a personal thing (make it a goal if you want) that we all work on. It’s individualised and runs appropriately alongside the needs of the individual.

But when it comes to workplace, well-being works even better when it becomes a collective.

In our schools, if we fail to see well-being as a collective, then we run the risk of people opting in and out of a whole host of things using their individual “well-being” as an excuse. Well-being shouldn’t be used as a tool to shirk on your responsibilities, instead it should be used to enhance them.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t about increasing workload or hours, it’s about building a team and sharing the load. It’s about building a collective understanding that there will be times when we all need support and it doesn’t matter whether you are a teacher aide, a teacher or an isolated principal. The school will look after you because you are a well-being school all on the same page. In a well-being school that “isolation” word should vanish!

If we use the Mental Health Foundation “Five Ways To Well Being” strategies we can see the power of what this means if adopted as a group. For example MHF recommend the following with the accompanying by-lines.

Be Active

Do what you can, Enjoy what you do, Move your mood

Take Notice

Remember the simple things that give you joy

Connect

Talk and Listen, Be there, Feel connected

Give

Your time, your words, your presence

Keep Learning

Embrace new experiences, See opportunities, Surprise yourself

Imagine using Be Active, Take Notice, Connect, Give, and Keep Learning as a collective keystone for the way in which your staff, (and you), run the business of the school.

Imagine the collective power of a school that expects everyone to talk and listen (Connect); to surprise themselves by embracing new experiences (Keep Learning); to appreciate all those things that are going well in the school (Take Notice); to know how to move their mood (Be Active) and; to understanding the need to give time, words and presence (Give). 

It sounds remarkably like an old fashion code of conduct I guess. But it’s been given a new shine. (Although I’d certainly hate to see this used as an appraisal goal – imagine the irony in that!)

Of course, you can use any well-being model. The Mental Health Foundation example is just one. You could be bold and make your own. Just remember that at your work place, the power of a collective understanding about what well-being looks and feels like is so much more valuable than pockets of it here and there

 

Steve

 

In the 2019 Cricket World Cup, New Zealand almost pulled off a huge upset to win the whole tournament. Almost. But for a count back system that was used to separate two sides who couldn’t be separated on the field. Sadly New Zealand came out on the wrong side of that count back. Such is sport.

Anyway that’s not why I’m writing this post. We’re educationalists, not cricketers! One of the positives that did come out of the World Cup though, was a one-liner from the New Zealand cricketer, Jimmy Neesham.

(To provide some context, Jimmy had been a fringe player in the team for quite some time and had struggled to cement a permanent position. It had become so frustrating to him that at one point he thought about giving the game away altogether. Luckily, he was persuaded to give it another go, and there he was, in the playing eleven at the World Cup.) 

In his post-match interview, one comment resonated with me, “Once you realise you’ll survive without the game, you’ll enjoy it for what it is.”

Wow, that’s a pretty positive, mind-blowing thing to say. It got me thinking. What if I used this one-liner in my role as principal?

“Once you realise you’ll survive without being a principal, you’ll enjoy it for what it is.”

In our book, The Forty Hour Principal, we talked about what we called “an elephant in the room”. We talked about the many of us who are getting “longer in the tooth” but who are still miles away from retirement. Many feel as though their mortgages are wrapped around their throats. The elephant in the room being that many have to do this job as a financial necessity, and that this necessity has an adverse effect on the well-being of the principal and, ultimately, the quality of the school.  This all sounds rather grim.

Of course, there will be those who say that we don’t do this job for the money. I totally agree. However, it is the security of the money that keeps many of us in the job, and that’s a totally different type of pressure beast.

This got me thinking again of Jimmy Neesham’s comment. What would our job be like if we realised that we didn’t have to do it at all? What would our daily attitude to our work be if we weren’t so financially invested in staying? What would our days be like if we didn’t feel trapped in the role by a range of pressures, not just financial, both in and outside of our schools?

Would we enjoy being a principal more, “just for what it is”?

As an aside, it reminds me of a conversation that I had with my brother when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He said getting the diagnosis was a terrible blow, but there was a silver lining to how he began to view things. Many of the worries and anxieties he had in his daily life suddenly seemed to have no relevance at all. In that moment, it was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Obviously, being a principal is nothing like having cancer, but hopefully you can see the point I’m trying to make (and by the way, my brother is in full remission, ten years later! Good on you Bruv!).

If you think about it, this is all about picking a positive mindset. 

For example, I’m here because I want to be here. I work with these people because I want to work with these people. I come here daily because I want to help people. I get excited by the daily buzz of the place. I value my role as principal because I know it’s a privilege being a positive part of so many people’s lives.

What would our roles be like if it actually was as easy as all this?

So I decided to try an experiment. For a few weeks I told myself every day, “I don’t have to be here, I can pick up a job anywhere at any time”. I stuck reminder notes up around my computer screen. I left little reminders in interesting places for me to find … like the bottom of my lunch box, or underneath the phone handset. “I get excited by the daily buzz of this place”, “I am here because I want to be here”, “I work with people because I love working with people.”

I worked to change my mindset so that I understood my role wasn’t defined by me having to be here. Each day I choose to be here, not because of outside pressures, my bank manager or worse still, my fear of the unknown. Instead I choose to be here because I WANT to be here.

Blog guru Seth Godin puts it nicely; 

“Humans are unique in their ability to willingly change. We can change our attitude, our appearance and our skillset.

But only when we want to.

The hard part, then, isn’t the changing it.

It’s the wanting it.”

This is all about changing our mindset and attitude. When we start to look at our role that way, then enjoying being a principal, just for what it is, becomes a lot easier.

Steve

 People Don’t Change https://seths.blog/2019/07/people-dont-change/

 

In our book, The Forty Hour Principal, we wrote about a phenomenon in schools – the “cult of busyness”. To be busy is the thing that we often seem to end up aspiring to and judging ourselves on. This is supported by almost everyone around us. There’s an unspoken assumption that “busy” is ok, it’s important to be busy, and that it’s what we should desire and aspire to. On the flip side, the assumption is that not being busy means you’ve been unproductive or worse still, lazy.

 

I’m wondering about this as I watch my teachers walk into the meeting room after school one day. There are those who arrive first. Haven’t they had things to do straight after school? I wonder. And those who always arrive last, rushing in, often flustered, usually slightly embarrassed, and always “incredibly busy”. Why are they so much busier than those who arrived first?

 

Being busy has a time component built into it. Too much to do, too little time. But those coming in last to staff meeting never seem to consider the time that they are taking from the other people in the school, those who have arrived first. Invariably, staff meetings start five minutes late, and so our early birders can have easily been waiting for nearly fifteen minutes. (To be honest, they’re probably using the time to take a breather, to grab a coffee and to have a chat, but it’s still their time that is lost.)

 

When they’re asked later in the day how their day has been, they will answer, “crazy, busy!”, even though a portion of it has been wasted by someone else. How much of our days are actually wasted by someone else or by doing unproductive things?

 

Research by Salary.com found that wasting time at work is pretty common. Up to 89% of people waste time at work every day. The top 10% waste over three hours! That’s fifteen hours per hour of week!

 

What constitutes wasted, or lost productivity time though, is in the eye of the beholder. Having a break, grabbing a coffee, getting to the toilet are all good for our physical and mental well-being. Let’s face it, we all need a break. Teachers not taking a break are often those who are the most stressed and ironically, those with the least amount of available time!

 

Meetings are obviously a first point of call for principals to look at if they’re hoping to reduce potentially unproductive time for their staff. It’s certainly not a bad mantra to say, “Let’s get the job done bloody well, and all get home early”. 

 

Staff meetings are curious beasts. For many, a staff meeting is a cultural necessity. 

 

“I believe that our meetings at school are important as they foster the inclusive learning environment that we want to maintain…and I’m actually good with that.” 

“What’s the alternative? Lots of decisions made in the principal’s office, with no input from us? Meetings give me a chance to have my say.”

 

Of course, holding a meeting at 3:15pm on a Tuesday afternoon isn’t always conducive to that dream of everyone having input. Some people, frankly, are well past their best at this time. Including many principals!

 

As the Harvard Business Review puts it, time is zero-sum. This means that every minute we spend stuck in a meeting that is going nowhere, is also a minute lost towards making a real difference. No amount of money can buy back that time. It’s gone forever. Time therefore needs to be treated more preciously, and not just by that fine measure of economics. Time is precious because no one really knows how much they have.

 

So, what’s the alternative? 

 

As a principal you have power over a lot of things. Meetings are one of them. You can decide when they are held, and how often. This particular power could become one of your superpowers!

 

Take time to review your meeting schedule. Do they have to happen weekly? If so, why? Which meetings are best conducted with everyone – is it important for everyone to attend? Have you considered using email or social media to free up meeting time? If meetings are a necessity, have you considered the best time to have them? 

 

For some reason, many schools appear to work on the notion that the more meetings crammed into a normal week, the more organised and “up with the play” the school must be. 

 

However, when faced with multiple meetings per week, teachers begin to make trade-offs concerning how and when to get on with their classroom work. Sometimes this is to the detriment of their class programmes. Sadly, more often than not, our teachers pinch and borrow from their own personal time to get that work done. Research has shown that this can lead to burnout and/or staff turnover.

 

If you are committed to lots of meetings, what other ways can you consider to free time for your teachers? Can you minimise the length of meetings or reduce the energy sapping brain work that may be expected of your teachers after a full day in the classroom?

 

To make your meetings more productive, consider the following: 

• Stick to an agenda that is relevant to everyone. Meetings that run with agendas full of stuff that has already been discussed and decided by others can be a waste of time. This sort of information can be shared in other ways.
• Share the lead of the agenda items with others. You don’t need to be responsible for all the talking.
• If you need people to be prepared, then give them the time. 
• If you are raising new issues, be clear as to what the next steps are going to be, who is going to do them and how everyone will know it’s been done. 
• Start your meetings on time. Tough luck for those coming in late.
• Oh, and the elephant in the room … cellphones. You don’t need people checking their Facebook accounts during meetings. It’s rude, it’s unnecessary and it’s distracting. (And, just quietly, it’s an indication that you need to improve your meetings!)
•  

 

Of course, it’s not only you as principal who likes to call meetings. It’s important that you get your management team on board as well. Review the timing of your meetings with theirs. Look to free up time by alternating meetings over a two week or even four-week period.

 

Professional Development is an important key to success in your school. Take time to consider whether this important key is really worth the time and money on a tired Tuesday afternoon. Where’s the value in this for anyone? Your professional development sessions are probably best batched into a super Teacher Only Day instead.

 

I started this post talking about the cult of busyness. If being busy is the thing that you hang your hat on at your school, then at least give your teachers the time and respect to be busy in the places that really make a difference – their classrooms. It’s worth a thought!

 

Steve