Coaching for the Soul Connecting School Improvement with what matters most in School Leadership

What are your reasons for being here today? What could jeopardize your reasons for being here today?

What it means to be a school leader today Overview What it means to be a school leader today The inner and outer work of school leadership Re-connecting with what matters most

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SCHOOL LEADER TODAY Visit the quotes around the room and stand next to the one that resonates with you the most

What does it mean to be a school leader today?

School Leadership Today “ What emerges is a picture of school leaders who must staff schools, meet pupils’ needs, attend to staff personal and professional problems, keep open lines of communication to parents and the community and, of course, handle a the paperwork, all within the constraints of time and energy” Stoll and Fink: Changing our Schools

THE INNER AND OUTER WORLDS OF SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

Above and Below the Water Line What is it that others see of you that enables them to make ‘judgements’ about your own levels of effectiveness as leader? [top of the iceberg] What is it that they don’t see that impacts on what is above?

Bringing Alignment The efforts that are necessary to achieve effective school leadership [ that which is visible to others] to a large extent remain hidden The hidden part of the iceberg stand figuratively for the inside world of the leader and how s/he manages it in order to achieve excellence for self and others

Bringing Alignment The higher levels are not an indication of whether one is able to maintain/sustain effective leadership It is the lower levels of the iceberg that drive the higher levels

Re-connecting with what matters most

A Question “How can we nurture teachers and school leaders for the long haul & stop putting subsistence strategies ahead of deeper needs?” The Centre for Courage and Renewal

How Often Do You Ask Yourself…. Questions that really matter? Why am I here serving this school community? What is headship like for me when I am my best self? [how do you feel? How do you ‘show up?’ how do others respond?] How have I grown as a result of this role? What have I learnt about the nature of growth as a school leader?

‘To Listen’

Reflection: Being the Coachee LISTENING How did it feel to be listened to? What were you thinking? SUMMARISING How did it feel when what you said was summarised and said back to you? What were you thinking? QUESTIONING How did it feel when you were asked a question?

Listening can enable you to ... Refill your emotional, mental and spiritual reservoirs Embrace and develop new mechanisms for coping with the challenges of school leadership Identify what courage feels and looks like for you Time which will enable them to: Stop, pause and reflect Refill their emotional, mental and spiritual reservoirs Embrace and develop new mechanisms for coping with the challenges of school leadership Strengthen their inner foundations Re-align themselves with all things, both personal and professional, that are of the greatest importance to them.  

The Challenge?

The ‘Norm’!? Up until that moment my ability to grandstand had meant that I had been able to hide my true feelings from myself as well as others. I was caught in the Sacrifice Syndrome with no apparent way out. In an attempt to find solace, I turned to the counsellor who worked with some of the most vulnerable children in our school. I just needed someone to talk to, someone who did not require anything of me, someone who would listen to me and not judge, someone who could create a space for me just to be myself, not Viv Grant, the head teacher. Just me.

The Reality!

“ But extroversion sometimes develops as a way to cope with self doubt “ But extroversion sometimes develops as a way to cope with self doubt. We plunge into external activity to prove that we are worthy, or simply to avoid the question” Parker J Palmer

Reconnecting with our own humanity Fear Loneliness Vulnerability

Vulnerability “ Uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure” Facing up to: Self doubt Hurt Fears

What needs to be understood.. “ “ A school leader’s vocational vitality, or capacity to be vital, present and deeply connected …. is not a fixed, inedible condition, but a state that ebbs and flows with the context and challenges of the leadership life” [Intrator & Kunzman, 2006]

School Leadership is …

Therefore, we must attend to … Deepening Self-Understanding Developing Emotional Resources Sustaining a sense of vocation and purpose Bringing congruity to original ideals and current realities

Reclaiming Who You Are “Remembering ourselves and our power can lead to revolution, but it requires more than recalling a few facts. Remembering involves putting ourselves back together, recovering identity and integrity, reclaiming the wholeness of our lives” [Parker J Palmer – The Courage to Teach]

A Maserati without Brakes! “ When driving a car, there are many occasions in which the ability to stop is as important as the ability to go” Gallway: The Inner Game of Work

A Maserati without Brakes! “ It’s very beneficial to have a mental engine that can do both and that responds to the wishes of the driver. The faster my car, the more important it is that I know how to slow it down”

A Discovery Session? Do you want to: Let go of self-doubt and worry? Build your emotional resilience and self-confidence? Overcome the sacrifice syndrome and feelings of isolation? Create a sense of clarity about the life you want as a Head teacher?

Hope for the Way AHead By the end of the Discovery Session you will come away with: A greater feeling of control A greater sense of clarity Deeper knowledge of where you are personally and emotionally on your leadership journey A better understanding of the actions you can take to regain a sense of balance purpose and joy in your role

Personhood is everything!