It takes a lot of resilience to be in leadership right now. A primary reason is that superintendents and their teams are working in the gray; there are no clear answers and with every decision at least one group of constituents is unhappy. Working in this environment can be exhausting, especially when one does not know how long this will last nor how severe it will become.
Questions present in superintendents minds today include what if a student or staff member in my district contracts the virus, or worse yet passes away? How will I handle such tragedies? Unfortunately, some superintendents are already dealing with such concerns…
Again, it is a tough time to be in leadership, but we must focus on how we (and our teams) survive this time period. What can we individually do to overcome and how can we take care of those we lead? Let’s look at some of the possibilities.
First, I believe to survive the many stresses superintendents currently face one needs a Professional Support Network (PSN). Individuals need a group where ideas can be shared, and feedback can be obtained if needed. I have always believed that those leaders who are “integrated decision-makers” tend to be most successful. In other words, you don’t operate making decisions in isolation, but rather you “integrate” other’s thoughts into your decision making processes to achieve the best outcomes. A PSN can come through personal contacts, a professional organization in your region, or possibly through your state superintendents association or through AASA. Regardless, we all need one.
Next, resilient leaders persevere in large part because they are grounded. One might be grounded through their belief that serving students is their mission in life, or that they have been called to make students’ lives better, or that service to their community is a necessary endeavor. Regardless, to persevere requires that we identify something beyond ourselves which compels us to move forward in the face of adversity. Identify what it is that grounds you in the superintendency and encourage your leadership team to do the same. At points in time when we face our biggest challenges we must be able to identify why we do what we do so that we can face another day.
Finally, we must “lighten our load”, even if it is for a brief time period. We can take a walk, go play golf, watch a favorite TV show…etc. Resilient leadership is not possible without some form of renewal. Sure, one might be able to keep pace without renewal for a season, but eventually it will catch up with you. If we don’t take care of ourselves, and lighten the load every so often, we will fail to finish the journey which impacts not only us but our team too.
So, to survive this time period superintendents must be resilient, BUT for that to occur, individuals must have a support network, be grounded, and periodically lighten their load. It is a simple formula to describe, although difficult to follow. I hope this post will encourage you to reflect upon your personal resilience and the methods you can follow to overcome. We simply can’t sustain our efforts if we don’t take this important step.
Please post below any methods you personally use to maintain your resilience or provide any other comments which you believe would be helpful. As always, we all gain wisdom when we share and collaborate with each other.
6 thoughts on “Resilience, Exhaustion and Overcoming”
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As always Howard, thanks for your support and thought-provoking posts!
Thanks, Andy. I hope you are doing well and staying safe and healthy!
Thanks, Howard. As we mentioned in our last conversation, networking has never been so important and for reasons none of us expected. We may need to work long days ~ but then we need to (try to) leave work at work when we go home.
Yes, we definitely need some way in our lives to “lighten our load”. If we don’t we are simply piling more and more on without taking anything off. As you state we need to try and leave work at work, although I realize as superintendents that is difficult to do – at least it was for me.
Thanks Howard! Another piece is recognizing the need for Social Emotional Learning through connection with our team members. I recently started the habit of asking people to turn on their videos and say hello to everyone. Another way to build connection for resiliency is to ask team members a question related to their well-being or what’s on top for them and add it in the chat room of the video conference. Without the ability to regularly be physically present with people, we need to purposefully find ways to do so virtually.
Good point and the idea of turning on your video to say hello makes perfect sense. Hopefully through strategies like this we can create greater well-being and connection. Although it is not the same, I agree that just seeing someone on the screen can make a difference.