All individuals who work in the field of education have an extremely difficult job. Specifically, school administrators are faced with regulatory issues, personnel problems and budget concerns. How do you stay sane in the midst of all of these pressures? It’s actually pretty simple. You either manufacture the conditions that create stress or you manufacture the conditions that create peace in your life. So, if you don’t like stress, stop operating in the system that is producing the stress. Make a decision in 2012 to only manufacture peace and regain your sanity!
Ok…I know that sounds overly simplified but let me explain. Do you remember your first car? Yes, the one with the loud muffler, dents and rust spots. Despite the defects, you were extremely careful and protective of that contraption…I mean car. If someone wanted to borrow it, you would ask a hundred questions just to make sure they wouldn’t break or damage anything. When they returned, you would carefully inspect the car from every angle to ensure that it was returned with the exact same number of dents (as if one more would suddenly devalue the car).
While this may be a good practice for your first automobile, this is not good practice for a district or school. As an administrator, if you want to regain your peace and sanity you have to practice this one principle – The Art of the Release. Make a decision right now to release everything that you have been trying to fix by yourself and empower your staff, principals or teachers to develop creative solutions to solve those problems. The longer you try to overextend yourself and solve every issue, the more stress you will accumulate. Now, someone is reading this blog and thinking, “I could never turn THAT problem over to my staff.” NEWS FLASH: Your staff, principals or teachers are highly capable and, by the way, THEY WONT BREAK ANYTHING! Don’t treat your school or district like your first car where you were hesitant to turn over the keys (or give authority) because you thought someone would damage something. Empower your team and regain your sanity so you can focus on more important issues such as improving student achievement.
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