Building capacity in others is one of the most important things that leaders do, not only in the people we serve, but in ourselves as well. This is an oft-overlooked but important aspect of our leadership since much of leadership focuses outwards towards the people that we serve rather than inwards at enhancing our own practice. The better equipped that we are to lead in general, the better equipped we are to face the individual day to day challenges. 

Stephen Covey would call this, ‘sharpening the saw.’ For those unfamiliar with the phrase, this expression comes from a story (or some variation) of two woodcutters who spend the day cutting down trees. One woodcutter keeps cutting down trees one after another, while the other cuts a few and periodically rests. At the end of the day the one who took breaks has cut down more trees. He mentions to his colleague that all the times he looked like he was resting, he was actually sharpening his saw. 

We sharpen our own saws and build capacity in ourselves by continually improving and building on our experiences and skill sets. When our province got hit with COVID and we found ourselves in lockdown, one of my earliest thoughts was, “I'm not prepared to lead through this.” To be fair to myself, I don’t think anyone was actually prepared for it, and even if they were, I’m not entirely sure it would have helped given the number of times the word unprecedented was used to describe it. 

However, it was a trigger for me to upgrade my practice. I dove into my professional learning journey with a fervor so I could level up my leadership to better serve those I lead. I read a lot of professional literature (books, articles, etc), listened to podcasts, joined book clubs, attended online PL, and consumed whatever I could get my hands on. As cliche as it sounds, I feel it was successful in many ways. While I certainly have a long way to grow (and find me a leader who doesn’t), I reflect now on my pre-COVID self and my post-COVID self and feel they are noticeably different, with a stronger leader having been forged through the process. 

Unfortunately, this also wasn’t sustainable to the level I had taken it. I began to notice that while I was feeling better professionally, I was also struggling a little more in other areas. So after fuelling this passion, sometimes to my detriment,  for a few years, I am now also trying to re-calibrate and temper it with self care. This is not to say that I have abandoned my passion for learning, in fact, it has never been brighter. But, I can also balance my professional growth better than I could before. Taking care of myself through diet and exercise, putting limits on the workday. My family gets more of the best of me when I get home now than simply getting the rest of me. 

This re-calibration of personal and professional I think is essential for any type of longevity in a leadership role. If we are not good to ourselves we cannot be not good to the people we serve. You can have the skill set to be the best leader, but if you are burned out or spiralling into negativity none of that will matter since you won’t be able to bring it to the forefront of your practice every day.

The many, many tasks that take away from the joy of our roles is something we need to be on guard against. If we spend too much time on these tasks that empty our cup and not enough time on those that fill it, we will quickly find ourselves with a hole in the bottom of that cup! Be sure to make time in the day for joy or something you are passionate about. Maybe it is a time with particular students or colleagues, maybe it is pursuing a project that you have a lot of interest in. If you are fortunate enough to work in a school with Kindergarten, be sure to swing by daily because they sure have a way of brightening your day. Whatever does it for you, be sure to make it a part of your everyday schedule since refilling your cup will make you more effective overall when challenges arise.

While you are re-calibrating your priorities, be sure to continually re-calibrate your perspective as well. So often I hear from teachers, ‘it’s so frustrating because it’s always the same few kids.’ I can’t help but think in a building with several hundred ‘well, it’s only always the same few kids.’ Sure it is frustrating, especially if that’s all you can see. But you can also take some solace in the fact that over 95% of your students did pretty much what they were supposed to without any major interventions required. As far as numbers go, those are pretty good when you think about it!

Finally, try framing challenges as opportunities for growth. As Dr Jody Carrington says, ‘we are wired for hard things.’ So we absolutely can face these challenges, but instead of trying to survive them, we should aim to thrive through them. Do they all work out that way? Nope, sometimes they just suck and leave you feeling drained and defeated. But, hopefully you gain some lessons or insight so the next time they happen, maybe you can get through them marginally better. 

Our capacity is a metric of how much we can thrive, and how much we can survive. Increasing either should always be a goal of any educator at any level. For leaders, it is crucial since if we are leading, then others have to follow and we have the potential to affect too many people if we are burned out. The more time we can spend thriving the less we have to spend just surviving, and really, I don’t think any educator wants to make a career of simply just surviving.