Something I see in a lot of my clients is a reluctance to associate work with pleasure. They see work as work and fun as something that should be enjoyed out of office hours. This makes a lot of sense on some level, but what it’s actually doing is making your work environment so much harder to enjoy.

It is not your job’s job to make sure you have a fun time at work. The only person responsible for making work a pleasurable experience is you. We’ve talked about every other aspect of scheduling this month, but now, it’s time for the good stuff.

 

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I recently looked at the job posting for a job as a principal, just out of curiosity, and I was slightly shocked to find no less than 40 bullet points for different tasks that were expected of the applicant. That is a huge number. It’s little wonder that our school leaders are feeling increasingly more pressure in their jobs.

There is nothing more disempowering than being given way more to do than there is time for in your workday. So, what can we do to take some of that empowerment back and still do an amazing job?

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Devastatingly, in the week leading up to me recording this episode, there were three mass shootings in our country – one of those was a town very close to where I live. This got me thinking, while it seemed like everyone was looking for someone or something to blame, what can we do as school leaders to remove the stigma around mental health?

I believe that mental health should get as much focus as physical health. We have physical education programs in schools and there is never any shame around hiring a personal trainer or joining a gym. So how can we integrate awareness around mental health in the one place where kids go for no other reason than to learn?

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We are taught from a very young age, and we still teach kids today, that if we are upset, it’s because somebody else has done something to make us feel that way. Now, if you’re a regular listener, you will be familiar with the STEAR Cycle, essentially the concept that how we feel has nothing to do with anybody else but everything to do with our thoughts.

When something happens in our lives, that is a circumstance, and every circumstance is completely neutral. However, when we are in the heat and stress that school leadership can bring, it’s easy to lose sight of what is a circumstance (a fact) and what is our opinion about a circumstance (a thought). When these wires get crossed, we are not acting with the integrity required from a school leader.

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We have now reached September, which means your kids are settling in and you’re starting to see how your staff for this year is shaking up to be. So with that in mind, the topic for the podcast this month is team-building.

When you’re building your various teams for the year and deciding who belongs where and who will work well together, there is so much to consider. And that’s not even the whole challenge. Building a great team is one thing, but what’s the secret to nurturing your team in a way that they are self-sufficient but they also respect you as their leader?

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