You're an Educational Leadership professional with a new role. How can you develop resilience?

1 Identify your strengths

Resilience is not about being tough or invincible. It's about recognizing and using your strengths to cope with challenges and overcome obstacles. As an educational leader, you have many strengths that you can draw on, such as your vision, your creativity, your communication skills, or your emotional intelligence. Take some time to reflect on your strengths and how they have helped you in the past. Then, think of ways to apply them to your current situation and goals. For example, if you have a strength in communication, you can use it to build trust and collaboration with your team and stakeholders.

3 Practice self-care

Self-care is not selfish or indulgent. It's essential for your well-being and performance as an educational leader. Self-care means taking care of your physical, mental, and emotional health by engaging in activities that nourish and recharge you. Some examples of self-care are getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising, meditating, or spending time with friends and family. Self-care also means setting healthy boundaries, saying no when necessary, and asking for help when you need it. By practicing self-care, you can reduce your stress, boost your mood, and increase your resilience.

5 Reflect and learn

Resilience is not a fixed trait that you either have or don't have. It's a skill that you can develop and improve over time. One way to do that is to reflect and learn from your experiences, both positive and negative. As an educational leader, you can use reflection as a tool to evaluate your actions, outcomes, and emotions. You can also use reflection as a way to learn from your successes and failures, identify your areas of improvement, and plan your next steps. You can reflect by writing a journal, having a conversation, or using a framework, such as the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

You're an educational leader with a new role. You have the potential to make a difference in your field and in the lives of others. But you also face many challenges and uncertainties. By developing your resilience, you can cope with stress, overcome adversity, and grow from it. You can use these tips to build your resilience and thrive as an educational leader.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?