The Via Negativa of SLT: what they are not

I love this! So true and relevant. And as I embark on the DH role this year, there comes to mind a few colleagues from past experience who I would love to have this list displayed upon the wall of the staffroom as a constant reminder! Thanks for a brilliant summary and for attempting to gain an understanding of the role of a leader in school.

i miss chalk

I’ve read quite a few tweets and blogs that, I think, might make the heart sink of anyone who has ever been part of an SLT. There seems to be quite a lot written about things that SLTs are getting wrong, often written by people observing those roles from outside. In response I wanted to write a description of the work of members of a Senior Leadership Team by describing what they are not.Being a member of SLT is not:

• About leaving your humanity behind. It’s all too easy to describe a decision as made by ‘management’ or ‘SLT’ because it dehumanises teachers into a thing, an object, that is making life difficult, rather than talking about people
• Easier than being a teacher with a full timetable, it is different, a different job with different challenges. Each role is of value and essential to the smooth running of the school

View original post 577 more words

My secret to getting rid of burnout permanently

Interesting article I found about something I am determined to avoid. Funny how you may not be aware of your own burnout. I too have fallen pray to the need for a ‘holiday getaway ‘ but is it really the answer?

As Covey puts it by being ‘pleasure-centred’, it means you can all too soon get bored with each succeeding level of ‘fun’ and end up constantly crying for more and more. In turn, leading to feeling unfulfilled, the opposite of the intention!

http://kentnguyen.com/personal/getting-rid-burnouts/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

Influence

3 types of influence exist, direct, indirect and reciprocal. All three can be seen in the work of school leaders, be they head teachers, deputies, assistant heads or middle leaders. Sometimes this influence can be negative rather than a positive as how each act of influence occurs varies.

It’s important to know that as a leader, you can have influence but mostly by working indirectly with and through others. Sometimes influence occurs when you are not even purposefully creating it so leading by example is very important in our roles as leaders.

Have you ever felt influenced by others? Or by the actions of someone you work with? either directly or indirectly? I think I often am influenced and have to call on my inner source, beliefs and values to check that the outcomes of the influence are aligned and will have a desired positive effect.

Once verified, it leads to a feeling of collaboration through shared influences.

Listen more, talk less

This I believe is something I will definitely be practising more of. It allows for reflection in the moment and also to breath before formulating a response. Additionally, others don’t always want a response but want to be heard.

 

Just write it!

“You write because you have an idea in your mind that feels so genuine, so important, so true. And yet, by the time this idea passes through the different filters of your mind, and into your hand, and onto the page or computer screen — it becomes distorted, and it’s been diminished. The writing you end up with is an approximation, if you’re lucky, of whatever it was you really wanted to say.”

– Author Khaled Hosseini, “How to Write,” the Atlantic