My View
In Uncertain Times, Showcase Your Humanity
BY JASON A. HAY/School Administrator, December 2020

I SUFFER FROM seasonal allergies. The Willamette Valley in Oregon, where I live, produces a large percentage of grass seed for our world. And before there is seed, there is pollen. Lots and lots of pollen. As many know, managing allergies isn’t about managing one individual allergen. It is about managing your allergy load. Managing stress is like this, too.

Most of us in school system leadership have a pretty high stress tolerance. One stressful event doesn’t usually throw us, but we need to take notice when multiple events start piling up.

In this time of considerable stress and uncertainty in public education, it is important to reflect on who you are, why you lead and how much you care. When we reflect on these things, and bring them forward to the people we lead, we better manage our stress and showcase our humanity.

Showcasing Values

Information to school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic often has come quickly, and like all developing details in the midst of a crisis, the information does not necessarily arrive during our regular office hours. I know I’m not alone digesting information from the Centers for Disease Control, our state health authority, the governor’s office and state education agency at all hours of day and night. There are webinars and Zoom meetings stacked on top of each other to attend, internal and external communication to develop and so many other leadership functions to manage with so little time.

So in such a pressure cooker, how do we showcase our humanity as leaders?

»Remind ourselves and our community of our core values. This is who we are.

What are your core values? Author Brené Brown, in Dare to Lead, has an exercise in which she challenges readers to identify two central values. She says, “Our values should be so crystallized in our minds, so infallible, so precise and clear and unassailable, that they don’t feel like a choice. They are simply a definition of who we are in our lives.”

Take some time to identify your two central values. Share them with your family, team and the people in your organization. Doing so will truly show who you are.

»Remind ourselves and our community why we lead. Show how much we care.

Reflect on the power of your leadership and the good that you do. Remind yourself why you became an educator. Read or watch something that inspires you. Find a way to share some examples with the people that you lead. Model and encourage others to do the same. Share why you lead, and it will show how much you care.

»Model self-care and stress management. Take care to take care of others.

Get the best sleep you can. Be sure to create a nighttime routine where you stop doing thought work an hour or so before bedtime. Try to have your bedroom dark and cooler than normal. When you are tired and hit that point where it is late enough to go to bed, go to bed. Do not stay up for that “second wind.” Read a fun book and relax. You’ll likely fall right asleep and wake much more rested.

You cannot underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep to reduce your stress and improve your cognitive function. Manage caffeine and alcohol intake. Go for a walk or a bike ride and get some exercise. Take a moment to breathe, reflect and have a quiet moment. Talk to a colleague, friend or family member about what is on your mind.

Transparent Actions

Simple things like these are hard to do. Make sure you are transparent about modeling these qualities among those on your team. When we do them well, we can be well. When we are well, it is easier to manage our stress and share who we are, why we lead and how much we care.

JASON HAY is assistant superintendent of the Linn Benton Lincoln Education Service District in Albany, Ore. Twitter: @jasonhay16