Education leaders are exposed to all the issues.

Families are the nucleus to create an environment where children feel safety to grow and experience boundaries to protect. The reality is that in our society, we struggle to provide this space for children due to need to cope with change, uncertainty and personal challenges. Whether through a lack of personal resources, financial resources or both, the efforts to cope can increase pressure in the home. This pressure can reduce the level of psychological safety for children. In many cases, as parents, we believe we are doing what is best for our children without fully appreciating the impact below the surface.

Leaders in the education system are exposed to all these issues. As the school community and the general public, we often have no idea about the challenges that each student faces. Each situation of unruly behaviour, disrespect and laziness has its own unique and personal story. Principals and teachers gain exposure to it all.

Education leaders feel the pressure to support.

The challenge for education leaders is to determine how do to best support each student without experiencing burnout. As we are presented with each case, our human tendency is to fix things for others. Our desire, supported by the prevalent messaging in society, is to change the trajectory for students by creating a path for success. And when we struggle to achieve this in the system, we eventually lose confidence and question why we work so hard when we don’t see opportunity for success. We can easily disconnect – sometimes merely for survival.

Work hard and we will be successful. Do things the right way and we will see results. Keep everyone happy and we will have a great place to work. These drivers, known as Kahler’s Drivers, can create additional pressure on already challenged resources. In a relaxed environment, these drivers are what motivate us. In an intense environment, these drivers can become dysfunctional. We feel that we can never do enough to meet the demands of the system. We burnout.

How to support leaders in education.

We can all benefit from relieving some of the pressure that we feel to create an environment that provides safety to grow and boundaries to protect. As leaders, it is not our job to fix everything but rather to create a space where others can move forward with purpose and passion. Logosynthesis, developed by Dr. Willem Lammers, provides a powerful model to shift our energy.  This creates a sense of calm and purpose. Whether we tend to push through our beliefs, avoid others or emotionally react, we release the triggers that activate us. As education leaders, the opportunity is to hold a space for teachers and students where they can teach and learn. And it would be beneficial if one of the tools was a technique to relieve the pressure that we all feel.

Watch a CTV interview explaining the method, click here.

Read about the background and method, click here.

Receive further information, contact us.