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What Shakespeare Can Teach Us About Wellness
BY MARIE T. WILES/School Administrator, June 2022

COVID‑19 HAS put everyone through the drama and the trauma of a once-in-a-century pandemic, placing social-emotional wellness high on the agenda.

While many have reflected on the impact on students and school staff, the former English teacher and the 21-year superintendent in me wonder about the toll these last two years might have taken on district leaders and what, if anything, the master of drama and trauma, William Shakespeare, might have to say about it.

It turns out, plenty. But I will focus on the cautionary tale of one of Shakespeare’s most iconic but tragic leaders, Macbeth. He and his wife are textbook examples of what not to do if you want to be a socially and emotionally healthy organizational leader.

At the start of the play, Macbeth is a brave, respected Scottish general, but then he is visited by three witches who prophesize that he will one day be King of Scotland. He is immediately consumed by ambition. Lady Macbeth is taken with the idea of being Queen and goads Macbeth to murder his long-time friend, King Duncan, and take the throne for himself. In no time, he is wracked with guilt and paranoia and needs to commit more murders to protect himself. He becomes a tyrannical leader, isolated from all his former friends, associates and ultimately his wife. And because this is a Shakespearean tragedy, you know his ending is not a happy one.

Wonders of Sleep

As a group, superintendents tend to be fairly ambitious individuals. Unlike Macbeth, whose ambition drove him away from every single person or group that cared about him, socially and emotionally healthy superintendents need to do the opposite. We need to actively build and sustain relationships, develop strong networks and ask for support from trusted colleagues when we need it.

This work includes the conscious effort to build trust, collegiality and a spirit of shared professional growth with those we work for, our boards of education and those who work for us: our leadership teams, faculty and staff.

Another timeless lesson to be learned from Macbeth: the wonders of sleep! After committing his murderous deeds, Macbeth and his complicit wife no longer can rest. They spend their nights roaming their drafty castle, tortured by their guilty conscience, even hallucinating bloody daggers. One late night, Macbeth laments, “Macbeth doth murder sleep … Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care … sore labour’s bath … Chief nourisher in life’s feast.”

In other words, sleep is important to recover from the difficulties of the day. Yet many superintendents speak about not sleeping as if it is a badge of honor. We are planning, writing, worrying, puzzling through problems, all of which is far better than lying awake steeped in the regret of a decision or an action that went wrong. Most of us actually do need to rest to function at our best.

So here’s the advice: Follow the tips we all hear about good sleep. Have a routine, turn off your screens, and go easy on what you eat and drink at night. But most important, always strive to do the right thing for the students you serve. When you can be confident of that, you can rest a little easier.

Hamlet’s Counsel

Finally, what might be the most profound advice the Bard offers those of us who lead during turbulent and unsettled times comes from another tragedy, “Hamlet.” To be truly healthy, both socially and emotionally, always remember this: “To thine own self be true.”

MARIE WILES is superintendent of Guilderland Central School District in Guilderland Center, N.Y. Twitter: @suptwiles