Category: Wellbeing

SBLs often report that theirs can be a lonely profession so, whether it’s talking to other members of staff or fellow SBLs, it’s important to stay in contact. In honour of National Conversation Week, Laura Williams discusses the importance of keeping in touch…

It has been said that the role of a school business leader is ‘boundaryless’ – and, having been an SBL, I completely agree.

SBLs are solo operators, very much like headteachers. We may lead a number of teams and work alongside the SLT, but nobody in the school has first-hand knowledge of the demands of our role, or the capacity required to deliver it. Being the ‘only one’ can lead to us feeling rather lonely and isolated – and often means that we end up struggling in silence.

Though we might feel alone when we’re sitting in our offices with five spreadsheets, SIMS and the payroll file open, it doesn’t have to be this way! Here are five ways that we can get in touch – and stay in touch – with people who know where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going.

1. Networking and joint learning

Studying for a qualification and attending workshops, seminars and conferences are great opportunities not only for CPD, but also for meeting up with other SBLs. Events such as these usually build in time for networking and allow us to spend time talking with fellow SBLs about what’s happening, how we’re doing and sharing inspiration. When the workload is high, it’s tempting to avoid leaving the building – or to even cancel a delegate place you’ve already booked; but planning in advance, and committing to just one day out per term, can have a huge impact on both your sanity and your perspective.

2. Social media

If you’re comfortable with social media, why not join in with? There’s a great network of SBLs on LinkedIn and Threads who are friendly, approachable and keen to share their experiences and provide help and support to other SBLs. It may seem intimidating at first, but please don’t worry – follow some SBLs, introduce yourself, and you will make some great connections.

3. Projects and collaboration

Many local networks and professional associations not only run conferences, but also facilitate great opportunities for sharing practice and collaborating on projects. Visiting other schools, unravelling big compliance changes – like GDPR – and sharing policy templates and supplier recommendations will help you practically, as well as personally.

4. Coaching

If you feel like you’re really struggling, and the thought of sitting in a room full of other SBLs only makes you feel more anxious at this point, then undertaking coaching could be the answer you’re looking for. Working with an independent, professional coach, one-on-one, can help to provide you with focus, a fresh perspective and the clarity you need to move forward. The coaching process is structured, time-limited and focuses on your specific needs and goals at this time. It’s also a safe and confidential space – which means you don’t have to worry about how you are perceived by your fellow colleagues.

5. Mentoring

If you don’t feel comfortable networking or putting yourself out there, and coaching isn’t your thing, then perhaps working with a mentor could provide you with the touchstone you need to provide you with support and a sounding board on a regular basis. This could be with someone you know or someone recommended to you through your network. Again, the arrangement would be confidential, but it’s more informal and fluid than coaching.

However you decide to move forward, know that you don’t have to do so alone. Find somewhere, or someone, that can provide you with the support you need – and know that asking for help does not lessen you; it gives you the tools to become more.

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Written for: EdExec Magazine

Many things can affect how we feel about our jobs. I have both loved and hated my job in the same week – sometimes in the same day!

But if you’re feeling down or unhappy and have been feeling like this for some time, it’s hard to know whether you’re really falling out of love with your job or whether it’s just a rough patch. 

Looking back on the reasons that help me decide I wasn’t in the right job, they vary pretty wildly:

• My boss was leaving and I didn’t want to work for his replacement
• I wasn’t challenged enough and the role was too monotonous
• I felt that I had both hit my ceiling in the organisation I was at and a new opportunity came my way that was very appealing
• I no longer felt aligned with the organisation and where it was heading

To help you figure out how you truly feel about your job and whether you should consider a change, I’ve put together a list of ten ways you can pinpoint exactly how you feel, why you feel that way and what you can do about it.

You & the Workplace

First, spend some time thinking about how your job makes you feel. It doesn’t matter if you work for the best organisation in the world if you don’t enjoy what you do.

1. How you talk about your job to other people

When someone asks you ‘what do you do’ how do you answer? If someone says that your job sounds great or interesting, do you agree? Or do you say it’s great, but you feel yourself cringe inside?

The language you use when you talk about your job with other people is a good indicator of your true feelings. If you’re not sure, ask your partner or your friends. Do they think you’re happy at work? Maybe you don’t realise how much you talk positively (or negatively) about what you do.

If you find yourself talking negatively about your job, ask yourself:

• Where does this bad feeling come from?
• How long have I been feeling like this?
• Am I just going through a bad patch?

2. The tasks that you do

When you think of a typical week (ok, in education there’s no such thing so let’s say a half term), how much of what you do, do you enjoy? When you think of doing the things you don’t enjoy, does it colour your view of your job or do you accept that every job has parts that aren’t satisfying? Consider the ratio of good parts to bad parts and how happy you are with that.

If you’ve found yourself in the position where most of what you do, you don’t enjoy, ask yourself:

• Has it always been this way?
• Is this a temporary situation and if so, when will it change?
• Is there anything that I can do to shift the balance?

3. What your days are like

Does the time fly, or do you find yourself constantly clock-watching? If you’re clock-watching, consider why that is. Are you struggling to concentrate? Are you behind on a deadline or are you just anxious for the day to be over already? 

If the time flies, is it because you’ve got way too much to do or are you having fun? 

Whether you’re strapped for time or are an avid clock-watcher, ask yourself:

• Is this how I like my working day to be?
• What changes can I make to my role or the way that I work to make this better for myself?
• Do I need to speak to someone about this to get some support and help me improve the situation?

4. Your work/life balance

How easy is it for you to switch off at the end of the day? Do you find yourself compromising family time to get work done at home? Do you find yourself getting in super early and staying as late as you can (i.e. until the caretaker kicks you out)? 

Work/life balance isn’t a science. Everybody has different thresholds and mechanisms for managing their time and workload. 

If your work/life balance isn’t what you’d like it to be, ask yourself:

• Is this a blip or has it become routine?
• What does a good work/life balance look like to me and what am I comfortable and not comfortable with about my current situation?
• Am I controlling my work schedule or is it controlling me? What can I do to address the balance?

5. Your plans for the future

When you think of the future, do you see yourself in the same job? Or do you see yourself in another job entirely? Have you outgrown your role or do you see that happening in the near future? Maybe you know that the job you’re in right now isn’t for you in the long term. But have you considered where you’ll go next? 

Maybe you’ve got your eye on a promotion or maybe you’re waiting for a vacancy to come up in another organisation. Either way, having an eye on the future can help you address some of the issues that you have in the present.

If you’re not sure what the future holds and you’re feeling stuck, ask yourself:

• Do I want to carry on doing the job that I’m doing now and if so, for how long?
• Do I want to progress to another role in the future?
• Should I be planning to move to another organisation or can I continue/progress where I am?

The Workplace & You

Now spend some time thinking about your workplace. It might be that you have the best job in the world but you’re not sure if you’re working for the right organisation.

6. The values and culture of the organisation

When people ask where you work, are you proud to tell them? If someone asks you if they should apply for a job in your organisation, what do you say? Do the vision, mission and values of your organisation motivate you? What is it really like to work there?

Maybe it’s great, maybe it’s so-so or maybe it’s hell, no! Regardless, ask yourself:

• Does your organisation operate by its values or does it contradict itself?
• Does how I feel about my organisation impact on my feelings about my job or my capacity to do my job well?
• Do I really enjoy working there?

7. Your relationship with your Line Manager

Think about the interactions that you have with your Line Manager. Are they positive? Are they respectful? Does your Line Manager support you? How do you feel right before you’re due to go into a meeting with them?

Did you know that approximately 70% of people leave their job because they don’t have a good relationship with their direct line manager? That’s a pretty big number. Nobody is saying that you have to be BFFs but at a minimum, the relationship should be professional, respectful and supportive.

If you think your relationship with your line manager could be better, ask yourself:

• What are the specific issues that contribute to how I feel about my line manager?
• Would speaking to them about how I feel help to improve the situation?
• What action can I take to improve or mitigate the negative elements of this relationship?

8. Your relationships with your colleagues

Throughout the course of the working day, how many interactions do you have with your colleagues? Overall, are they positive or are they negative? Do you have colleagues that you can talk to about what’s going on at work? Do the people you work with treat each other well and with respect?

We spend so much of our waking time in the workplace that having nobody to talk to or working in a toxic environment can really impact on how we feel about our jobs. 

If you think that your working relationships with your colleagues could be better, ask yourself:

• What is holding me back when it comes to building relationships with my colleagues?
• How can I improve these relationships?
• Do I have at least one trusted colleague that I can talk to about how I feel and give me some advice?

9. The opportunities that you have

Think about your job and the skills that you have. Does your job give you enough opportunity to use your top skills to best effect? How often do you feel challenged in your role? Is your organisation invested in your development and do they support you with appropriate CPD? 

• What are my aspirations for myself and my role, both now and in the future?
• Does my organisation know what my aspirations are?
• Who do I need to speak to about how I’m feeling so I can be supported?

10. The way you are treated

Think about how your organisation treats you, as an employee. Are you treated fairly? Are you paid fairly? Do you feel secure in your job? If you have an issue, how is it dealt with? Is the value that you add to your organisation recognised?

If you work for an organisation that you don’t feel a part of and you’re worried that someone is plotting to get rid of you, then this will, of course, have a direct impact on how you feel about your job. 

If you don’t feel that your organisation treats you the way that you deserve to be treated, ask yourself:

• Is it one incident or have there been many incidents that make me feel this way?
• Is it just me that feels this way or do others feel the same way that I do?
• Do I see this changing and if not, what am I going to do about it?

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Source: My blog vault

“You need to feel the fear!”
 
Or so Joey and Chandler tell Rachel in Friends when she says she’s sick of working as a waitress and wishes she could get a job in fashion. They say that as long as she has that job, she doesn’t have the motivation to go out and get the job she really wants.
 
Watching this episode got me thinking about confidence, and about how sometimes we need the right set of circumstances to push us forward.

I’m a ‘feel the fear’ type of person. I do my best work under pressure (especially when I’m skating too close to deadlines) and some of the best things I’ve done are the ones that I crapped myself doing, or when the clock has been ticking and I’ve not had time to talk myself out of it. The magic happens for me when I’m pushed forward by circumstance, or other people who believe in me – even if I don’t.
 
Over time I’ve got better at generating that ‘fear’ myself – stepping forward before I think I’m ready, and speaking out when I’d normally stay quiet – but it does take work!
 
I’m not saying for a minute that you should quit your job – no way – but if you’re feeling held back somehow, think about what it is that you want to achieve and why you feel like you can’t. I know external factors play a part in this but, when it comes to building the confidence to deal with these, that’s down to us.
 
Confidence is a fluid thing and, in order to understand how to tap into it, it’s useful to spend some time unpicking the reasons why we feel that we can’t or shouldn’t do the things that we really want to.
 
Reasons may include…

• You don’t believe that you’re capable of it.
• You feel that the goal is too big, or unachievable.
• You’re worried it won’t work, won’t be good enough or will go wrong.
• You’re not naturally outgoing or assertive or [insert other appropriate adjectives!]
• You’ve had some bad experiences in the past and you don’t believe this time will be any better.
• You’re worried about what will happen if you do it; what people will say or think about you.

Understanding what’s holding you back is the first step to moving forward; whatever your reason is, ask yourself what you can do to create the momentum you need.

So…
  
What’s your goal?
What’s stopping you?
What’s the one action that you feel ready to take?
 
You don’t have to be a ‘feel the fear’ type of person to create momentum – it might be that you need to take smaller steps, or to unpick some of that negative self-talk, until you’re left with logic instead of doubt.

Choosing the right coach for you is an important process.

If you subscribe to my e-mails or you’ve read my other blog posts, you’ll know that I’m a big advocate of coaching. 

I’ve seen first-hand the difference that coaching can make in terms of improving mind-set, increasing confidence and setting and meeting goals. It really can be a transformative experience both professionally and personally. 

One of the first questions that I get asked when I recommend coaching is…

How do I find a coach? 

Quickly followed by…

How do I choose a coach?

Choosing the right coach is a critical step to achieving success through a coaching programme. It can be an intense process and whilst there are many factors in play, the relationship that you have with your coach is essential to you being able to engage, progress and succeed.

Here are my top tips on how you can choose the best coach for you:

Reflect

Before you start the process of choosing a coach, you need to spend some time thinking about what it is that you want to achieve from the coaching process. Ask yourself:

• Where am I right now?
• Where do I want to be?
• What difficulties am I currently experiencing?
• What do I want coaching to help me achieve? 
• What do I want from my coach?
• What style of coaching would I respond best to? 
• Am I actually ready to commit to the coaching process?

If you’re not able to fully answer these questions, don’t worry. A good coach will work through this with you when you get started but if you at least have an idea of what you’re looking for (or what you’re not looking for), it will make the selection process a lot easier.

Research

There are lots of ways to source a coach – word of mouth, online, through professional networks etc. However, once you’ve got some names, it’s time to dig a little deeper.

• Look at their LinkedIn page, website and/or blog if they have one and see how they describe their services, who they work with and how they articulate their offer
• Look at their social media feeds and see what type of content they’re putting out there
• Look at their testimonials and client feedback to find out what other people are saying about them
• Look into their background, what sectors they have worked in, what sectors they work in currently, what type of coaching they offer and whether they understand your sector and your challenges (if that’s important to you) 
• Look at all of the above as a whole and determine what feeling you get overall; how do they come across, is this someone that you can see yourself working with? Do you believe that they can help you in your current situation?

By doing some due diligence, you’ll quickly be able to draw up a short-list of potential leads to follow up.

Interview

Never start working with a coach until you have had some form of contact with them, ideally face-to-face or over the phone. You are the client. You can and should ask as many questions as you feel you need to. Good coaches not only ask questions of you but are also keen for you to ask questions of them to ensure that you feel as comfortable as possible. Questions you should consider asking are:

• What type of clients do you work with?
• What type of clients do you prefer not to work with?
• What kind of issues do you help people to overcome?
• What is your approach to coaching? What is your style?
• What can I expect from you as my coach?
• How many sessions are typical for the type of issue that I have?
• How are the sessions structured?
• How frequent and how long will the sessions be?
• Do I need to do anything to prepare for the sessions or after the sessions?
• How much will it cost?

If you’ve not been able to find out something that you really wanted to know from your research i.e. specifics about their background, ask about this as well.

Once you’ve finished your telephone call, hang up the phone and sit for a minute. Consider how you feel immediately after talking to them. Are you encouraged, inspired, uplifted? Did they make you feel comfortable? Do you feel like they ‘got’ you?

All of these things are important to consider when it comes to reaching a final decision.

Agreement

When you’ve reached a point where you’re ready to select your coach, make sure that you have a written agreement in place with them before you get started. 

This should:

• Identify the specific goals that you’re working towards or areas that you’re going to focus on
• Outline the agreement you’ve made in relation to the number, length and cost of sessions
• Articulate clearly the expectations of the coaching process, of yourself as the ‘coachee’ and of them as the coach
• Outline other relevant areas such as payment terms, contact protocols, confidentiality and data protection

Having a clear framework to refer to throughout the coaching process will help you to stay on track and ensure that you’re getting what you need from the process.

Choosing a coach to work with to support your professional development is both a big step and an important decision. Whatever decision you make, make sure it’s well informed and that it’s right for you and where you’re at right now.