Leadership Trauma is Real

Leadership Trauma is Real

Recently, I listened to a podcast where the guests gave their perspectives about leading underresourced and Title 1 schools. Their conversation about the struggles brought back memories of my tenure as a principal in an urban Pre-K-8th grade school. I found myself shaking my head in agreement many times about their joys, successes, frustrations, and determination as school leaders. At the same time, I remembered the politics, stress, and the many times I had to go to war for my students. It was an epiphany moment, and I realized I had experienced leadership trauma. More importantly, leadership trauma is real!

Leadership trauma is not a part of many discussions. If you Google the term, most results are about trauma-informed leadership. Trauma is exposure to an incident or series of emotionally disturbing or life-threatening events with lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being.    (Source) The sources of trauma are usually based on past events, and there are three types of trauma. They are acute, chronic, and complex. The difference between leadership trauma is that its base is future events.  

Leadership Trauma is Relational

When I mentioned leadership trauma to some colleagues, they thought I had made up a term. While it’s not usually a discussion among educators, more research and resources about business CEOs and their experiences with leadership trauma are available. School leaders possess the same skills, knowledge, wisdom, struggles, and pressures as business leaders. So making comparisons is not too difficult.

Leadership trauma is relational and has an entirely different orientation of time than other traumas. Things that could happen in your future haunt you. So instead of flashbacks, you have flash-forwards of disaster, either explicitly in thoughts or implicitly, in your body as you fill with anxiety.    Leadership trauma is composed of the fear of failure, shame, and humiliation. Add self-blame to the mix and think of examples when you experienced one or more of these emotions.

A Principal’s Vulnerability

Being vulnerable is difficult, but I will share part of my professional story. Several examples come to mind when I reflect on my time as a principal. In my school district, the pressure to increase test scores was intense. To add to the intensity were the fear and threats of school closings. If the scores did not drastically improve, principals were browbeaten and told the district would reconstitute the school with new staff and administrators. 

 Once I worried so much about the test scores that I experienced hives and an anxiety attack. If the school closed, who could I blame other than me? To have a school fail during my watch would have been the ultimate shame during my career.    

Also, during my tenure, The mayor threatened to close 50 schools due to enrollment declines and other political reasons. My school was on the closing list, and my staff, parents, and community members had to fight to keep our school open. We won that fight, but it wasn’t an easy battle.

Fear, Shame, and Humiliation

I know the feeling of humiliation, too. The urban school district where I worked for 27 years is very political and has many pockets of toxicity. School leaders often feel not well respected or honored for the difficult job.    

During my last year of tenure, I was pushed out of school and lost my career. Not only was I blindsided by politics, but also humiliated professionally and personally. All of the hard work and dedication went in a matter of weeks. There was no easy way to explain or describe the traumatic event’s emotions, thoughts, anger, or sadness. Although I didn’t know it, leadership trauma is real. 

The responsibility of being the captain of the ship is heavy. A leader walks a tightrope every day. Have you any fear of failure, shame, humiliation, or self-blame? Do you lay awake many nights fearing the unknown or what will happen to your students, families, or staff members if you fail?    

School leaders walk a tightrope and have a range of emotions.

The Struggles are Real

Principals put out fires every day. You have to make on-the-spot decisions. Have you feared being shamed because of a difficult decision or reaction to a difficult situation? Do you worry that your morals and values will not pass the test of politics or directives? All of these questions are legitimate and can contribute to the causes of leadership trauma.

Your job will present an array of struggles. The pressures of the role are impossible to ignore. Here are a few examples of efforts that may cause your blood pressure, fears, and anxieties to rise. 

  • A struggle is when you ask yourself why you took the principalship in the first place.
  • A struggle is when the school budget drastically decreases; you have to lay off staff members and are still responsible for the exact expectations.
  • A struggle is when your staff does not buy into your vision and necessary improvements.
  • A struggle is when the district, state, or federal mandates do not represent your values or morals.
  • A struggle is when the parents and community members are not supportive of your decisions.
  • A struggle is when you read negative and divisive posts on social media about you or the school.
  • A struggle is when you wake up in the morning and have to talk yourself into going to work. 
  • A struggle is when you question your own decisions and morals.
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It’s a Lonely Job

Being a leader can be a lonely and unhappy position. It comes in many forms and can touch lives even in the leadership role. When leaders discuss their negative experiences and emotions, people don’t want to believe them. Some can’t imagine that being the boss comes with fear, pain, and shame. How can you be traumatized if you’ve made it to the top? None of us are immune to trauma. 

It is essential to continue to have discussions about the trauma of leadership. Reflect on your fears and anxiety or the things that keep you up at night. If you feel you have leadership trauma, commit yourself to a coach or therapy.   

Continue the Dialogue

 Do not ignore your pain or suffering. A traumatized person should not try to handle it alone. It’s not good to continue to push yourself through adversities. Instead, find time to connect with colleagues, coaches, or mental health professionals. 

If you are traumatized, understand your reality and put your problem-solving skills to work. Prioritize what needs completion and in what order. Leadership trauma affects our effectiveness. If you are shamed and dehumanized, you cannot effectively do your job. Focus on your values and ethics to help bring more balance and healing. 

Let’s continue to keep the dialogue ongoing about the trauma of leadership. I wish that I had recognized the signs when in a leadership role. As a school principal, I did not know the trauma that was happening at the time. Many of you probably did not think of the possibility, but now we have more information. Awareness is the first step needed to tackle the problem.

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Five Tips to Recover and Rediscover Yourself 

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Recover and Rediscover

Another school year comes to a close. School administrators and teachers look forward to the summer months. It is a time to unwind and try to get some personal things done. Let’s look at the summer months a little differently. Look at it as a time to recover and rediscover yourself.

 Recovery and rediscovery are just another part of becoming a healthier educator and human being. As teachers or administrators, you know that time is a luxury. There is never enough of it! For example, you have probably made statements like these. “ I can’t get anything done!.” Or you have said, “I’m so busy that I don’t have time for myself!.” Then there is the statement, “ I wish there were more hours in the day..” Before you know it, you are unhappy, overwhelmed, and stressed by everyday life and work issues. 

Self-care and Wellness

We want to encourage educators to focus on self-care, healing, and wellness. Self-care requires personal reflection, too. It can lead to physical, mental, and spiritual healing. Once some healing takes place, you can reboot your life in a new and healthier direction. Next, it is time for you to recover what’s left of you. Then, there is room to rediscover self. Please note that self-care is not the only way to heal or recover. Sometimes, you may need additional support or assistance by seeking professional counseling.

Both recovery and rediscovery take time. A new and healthier you will not happen in a few days or months. It is a process, not an event. . Think of how much time it took to become unhealthy. So becoming healthy again takes time and having a plan. Here are some tips to get you started on recovering and rediscovering yourself.

In order to recover and rediscover, you must work on yourself, by yourself, and for yourself.

Recognize Your Struggles

Many of us want to be strong and invincible. We are afraid to admit our weaknesses or failures. This is especially true in the workplace. Neither teachers nor school administrators want to admit to a supervisor that they do not have the physical or emotional bandwidth to complete a task or handle a specific situation. It is also difficult to admit that in our personal lives it’s difficult to be all things to everyone. Always remember that you are human! You have strengths and weaknesses. Guess what? It’s normal and you should not beat up yourself for being an ordinary person. Recognize your areas of struggle and feel comfortable informing others. 

Do What You Want

Do what you want to do. Step back for a minute. Maybe step back for a few more minutes. Think about what would really make you happy. Yes, you’re an adult with plenty of responsibilities. Perhaps you have children, a spouse, or aging parents. But where do you fit in this equation? When do you matter?

Moreover, how do all of the responsibilities make you feel? You’ve lost sight of yourself. You can’t be everything to everyone. Learn to say, “NO!” It’s time to do you! 

Limit Distractions

Limit distractions in your life. Yes, there are always distractions that take up your time, too. For example, how often are you reading emails, sending text messages, or checking your social media accounts? As an experiment, make a note each time you check emails or social media. You will be amazed how the minutes add up. Unless it’s an emergency, responding to text messages can wait. Set aside a specific time in the day to respond to emails or indulge in social media. Also, look at your daily schedule for tasks you can delegate to others. Hand it over! Just tell the person it’s a part of your recovery and rediscovery. Move the distractions out of your way.

Set Goals

Set goals for yourself. Write a wishlist of things you would like to do. Then prioritize the list. What is most important to you? Furthermore, what will make you happiest? Create a schedule of free time. Then, stick to the plan! Fill your free time with a hobby, movie, exercise, etc. Most of all, don’t let others hijack your free time. It’s your road to recovery and rediscovery. Remember, it’s time to do you! Spend time with yourself.

Learn to Rest

Lastly, learn to rest. Your mind and body cannot be on ten all of the time. Eventually, a part of you will break down. Then the time it takes to recover and rediscover yourself will take longer. If you step back for a moment to assess your life, you’ll discover things you didn’t know. Also, you may find some things that you don’t like about yourself. Make that list of things you want to do or accomplish in your life. Accomplish your goals by giving up distractions and delegating what you can. Schedule your free time and have fun. Learn to say no to people who usurp your time. Afterward, you will be on your way to a full recovery and rediscovery of yourself.

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Let’s Mind Our Business 

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Let’s Mind Our Business

Educators, it appears that everyone minds our business. Lately, we cannot tell who is watching our store. Our business is teaching and learning, but currently, many people with no education experience want to be the subject matter experts. Politicians, parents, organizations, and strangers on the street want to tell us how to teach,/ what to teach, when and where to do it. Can we do our jobs please without so much interference from the non-educators? We want to mind our business!

We want to mind our business of teaching and learning. Our role is to make informed and intelligent decisions about instructional strategies and practices to achieve various outcomes with and for students in our classrooms. A teacher’s role is to decide how best to support their students’ learning in the environments in which they teach. Teachers do so competently, thoughtfully, and with appropriate caution when considering their values and those of their students and others within the school community.

The Pandemic and Disrupters

Two years of a global pandemic is hopefully on its way out. However, the pandemic changes inflicted on our school systems raised more questions than answers. Lately, a slew of roadblocks is negatively harming many educators. The pandemic also gave people a bird’s eye view of inequities of funding, resources, and more. The restrictions of COVID also gave too many disrupters time to think about crazy reform ideas, laws, and political initiatives that are sending educators for the door. The disrupters want to mind our business instead of letting us do our jobs confidently.

The disrupters are creating laws like the Education Matters bill, SB 167, that was introduced in Indiana State. “The bill proposed schools would have to post curriculum online, hold meetings for community members to decide school curriculum and give parents the option to opt-in or out of certain educational lessons they may feel uncomfortable with their kids learning.”  The bill did not pass and teachers were avidly opposed to it.

Banning Books

School librarians are fighting against the effort of banning books. In the New York Times article, Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S., the authors state that “ Parents, activists, school board officials and lawmakers around the country are challenging books at a pace not seen in decades. The American Library Association said in a preliminary report that it received an “unprecedented” 330 reports of book challenges, each of which can include multiple books, last fall.”

In the same article, Britten Follett, the chief executive of content at Follett School Solutions, says, “It’s being driven by legislation, it’s being driven by politicians aligning with one side or the other. Educators, everyone is minding our business and threatening arrest or loss of one’s career. And in the end, the librarian, teacher or educator is getting caught in the middle.” 

Teachers are the experts. We got this!

Critical Race Theory

Critical Race Theory is another giant political bomb thrown at educators. The topic has caused significant discussions, arguments, and upheavals lately. What is Critical Race Theory? The many politicians and parents fighting so hard against CRT probably cannot define it. Even though Critical Race Theory is not taught in elementary or high schools, the disrupters are convinced otherwise. Educators have to teach more critical thinking and problem-solving skills moving forward! According to Edweek,  “Critical race theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.”  People should research reputable sources, reflect, and critically think before going nuclear over an issue. 

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Blurring the Lines

According to the article, The Politics of Post Pandemic Education, “the pandemic is blurring the partisan and racial cleavages around public education and creating new coalitions that could remain powerful players in local education politics. These coalitions are making it more difficult for teaching and learning to take place. Next, they are helping to create a mass exodus of teachers and making it difficult to attract people to the profession. We want to teach! That is our business! At stake is the fate of our public education system itself.”

We all know that education is prone to political influence and interference. Education is a necessity in our society. Educating our students should be a social experience, not a political one. Politics are activities that promote specific interests or authority. We see the federal, state, and local politicians jumping on the particular bandwagon and pushing their agenda. We’re seeing school board members recalled over mask mandates and Covid and safety protocols. Unfortunately, schools and classrooms do not operate in separate silos. 

Politics Influences Education

When politicians, agencies, and organizations use their platforms to make decisions that affect teaching and learning, we, the educators, must respond. We must mind our business so that others don’t tell us how to do our jobs. Politics already influence these areas: financing, curriculum design, development, and evaluation and assessments. Don’t forget about teacher unions because they are political organizations, too. 

Teachers and school administrators, our say matters when decisions affect us daily. As subject matter experts, someone should ask us what we think is best for schools, students, and the field of education! We are in the trenches every day and keep our hands and minds on the pulse of what goes on in classrooms. We should be the influencers, not politics.

Control Our Narrative

When we recognize our power and are a political force, things will change. Education and teachers have a public relations problem! We want respect as professionals. Everyone knows our role and wants to dictate what we can and cannot do. Some special interests groups want to instill fear in us by threatening our livelihoods or careers. Do not be afraid to do what’s suitable for our schools and children. Let’s control our narrative! It’s time to mind our business of educating our children.

RESOURCES

The Politics of the Pandemic

The Politics of Post-Pandemic Education

Black Voices: Does education matter or is this just politics?

https://www.idsnews.com/article/2022/01/black-voices-does-education-matter-or-is-this-just-politics

What is Critical Race Theory and Why is it Under Attack

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05 
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