How do you support staff well-being and resilience in the face of challenges and stress?

Employee and coworker recognition can happen at every level, not just from leadership. One of the best qualities someone can have, is being generous, kind and empowering those around you. Give recognition to all stakeholders and take a moment to thank and share in meetings and presentations why you are in the place you are and who is with you. Chances are, someone helped you get there - and if they didn't, you get a chance to be better and help someone with a seat at the table.

In my 18 years as an educator, mentor, and now as leader, I have learned that appreciation even in the smallest most simple form is paramount. People deserve to be recognized for their efforts. Not everyone exhibits the same effort in the same way and we need to recognize that. What might be second nature for some is a monumental step for others, especially on those days when it takes everything they have just to show up.

Leaders should always consider the effort being made by staff. Gestures of kindness always go a long way toward promoting morale building and work ethic. These symbols of appreciation (gestures) can come in all sizes. It is not the size, but the thought of giving that always counts. People always like to know that they and/or their work has been noticed and is appreciated.

Coaching is an incredibly important factor in maintaining faculty/staff well-being. I run a boarding school and this can be an intensive lifestyle, but with proper life and career coaching, as the school leader, I am validating what my staff is encountering. I have done their job and I know the pressures, the challenges of maintaining personal and professional boundaries, as well as feeling like a valued contributing member of the team. An added bonus to coaching is that it allows for us to get to know those who are executing the most important parts of our students' education. When you know what excites your staff, you can be innovative and sometimes marry their interests with education. Often, I find that helps with motivation.

One thing I witnessed is the power of leadership that is intentional about creating spaces to simply connect with others. Collaboration of thought, feeling and experience builds connection through being vulnerable and sharing. It is the path towards a culture where people feel seen, heard and valued. Humankind in collaboration to connect.

This is often mentioned but rarely action is taken to support work-life balance. There are too many pressures on teachers and on schools to put results as a priority and results driven management becomes pushy and bossy. We all want to work in a school with a good reputation buy maybe we should look less at results and more at how caring and encouraging a school is within a community. Does it encourage community involvement? Does the school work on ethical choices? What makes a school reputable?

Work life balance or as I prefer to call it, harmony between home and work, and self-care needs to be practised by school leaders too. The promotion of self care and boundaries need to be embedded within the culture of the school and this can be better achieved if modelled by school leaders. Leaders often put themselves at the bottom of the pile when it comes to their own well being but this is so vitally important. I believe that trusts and governing bodies have an important role to play in this too. If we are to retain school leaders in the profession then we need to ensure that they get the support that they need.

Leaders who actively ask for staff input rarely use those suggestions. Experienced staff often have ideas to achieve a leader's goals, but when a leader ignores these recommendations, the staff becomes resentful. This resentment quickly spills onto others, and the leader's goals remain unfulfilled. Leaders must acknowledge that they do not always know what works. This humility leads to empowered staff who feel in control of their place within a system.

As a leader who have played different roles in the education environment, I have seen how the school community is need of being seen and heard. One of the main challenges the school community encounters is the amount of requirements, standards, and empty content that needs to be applied in the classrooms plus the collection of trivial evidence that needs to be shown to families to keep them at peace and out of contention. The school community is in need of having guidance in how to develop awareness and sensibility in order to keep a balance state.

I always found saying “you can do it “ very motivating and inspiring. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or money motivation never hurts