A Personal Comment on Wellbeing During COVID-19

The term unprecedented has been loitering in our news reports over the past few weeks. Meaning never done or known before, it is certainly an apt description of what’s occurring globally. With news of Aotearoa increasing our ‘Alert Level’ after only mere days of the models introduction, it was with haste that preparations were made to organise ourselves for working and living in self-isolation.

After a week of confinement in my own home, adjusting to this new normal, and having plenty of time to reflect, the idea of wellbeing has been on my mind. Last year I led the wellbeing initiative, alongside Fe Tomich, for Auckland Central Community of Schools. During this time we attempted to find a robust, research informed definition of what it meant to be well. Many great minds had attempted this task and few stood out above the rest. Throughout the rest of this personal comment, I will be referencing two definitions, both simple yet profound. To be well means/refers to:

“feeling good, functioning well and doing good” 

“the balance point between an individual’s resource pool and the challenges faced”

Some of the challenges that I have faced in this last week were surprising. Before the week began, I was genuinely excited about spending more time at home. It meant being around family, as well as the removal of traffic, early wake times, formal attire and some of the more mundane elements of my day-to-day. This gave a sliver of hope among the uncertainty of what was to come. The first few days were interesting and stressful, requiring more from me than I had anticipated.

After a few more days, it became apparent that an undercurrent of anxiousness was present. Though waves of stress, concern and worry weren’t unexpected, especially in this situation, what was unexpected was how it presented itself. Though details of this are unnecessary, the occurrence (and in this case, the persistence) of said stress highlighted my own need to rebalance my resource pool to ensure that I felt good, functioned well and was able to do good.

My current strategies have heightened my sense of wellness and though we’re not out of the woods, I am certainly feeling more equipped for the coming weeks. Having conversed with colleagues, friends and family, it’s apparent that my experience was not uncommon. With that in mind, I wanted to offer a few thoughts and a couple of questions that may help to motivate and clarify actions you could take in order to rebalance your own resource pool and improve your own sense of wellbeing.

In a meta analysis of research investigating wellbeing, one of the greatest findings was that ‘it’ is highly unique to an individual.  Shin and Johnson (1978) defined wellbeing as a “global assessment of a person’s quality of life according to (their) own chosen criteria.” Following on from this, the world health organisation defined quality of life as “an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.” Additionally, wellbeing is not a single entity, rather it is a web of interconnected facets that all contribute to your resource pool. Autonomy, environmental mastery, positive relationships with others, purpose in life, realisation of potential, self-acceptance, ability to fulfil goals and life satisfaction are all at play when creating wellbeing. Essentially, the result (of feeling well) we’re hoping to achieve is the same but the path travelled to get there will differ from individual to individual.

What this means for us, is that we are charged with the responsibility to identify what being well looks like for us and take the appropriate action to achieve this. How exactly can we do this? One way is to identify elements of wellbeing that stand out to you e.g. environmental mastery. From here,  think about their importance to you and what it would look like / feel like in your current circumstance e.g. environmental mastery might mean taking control over the physical space you’re working in:

• Could you set-up an office space that is filled with natural light or a breeze of fresh air? 
• Could you adjust the hours in which you work and the length of breaks? 
• Could you spend time practising and exploring online tools that you’re needing to use in the coming weeks?
  
  

Once you’ve ascertained specifics, make a plan to put these in place. Start with something small and allow the momentum to build. 

Unfortunately there’s no silver bullet or quick fix to wellness. This will take time, grace and grit. Remember though, while our current circumstances are out of our control, when it comes to your wellbeing, you’re in charge. Within you is the capacity to enact what it takes to feel good, function well and do good. Some encouragement for you over the coming weeks:

Mai i te kōpae ki te urupa, tātou ako tonu ai

From the cradle to the grave, we are forever learning

What's Happening in the World of Wellbeing

This week, I had the opportunity to connect and grow at a wellness conference. The focus was ‘wellness at work’ and featured a plethora of presenters sharing their wellness journeys and tips. It was inspiring to hear of all that’s occurring around New Zealand workplaces and the implications this has for our future. It is also heartening to see a nation with strong desires to see it’s people be well. Here is a summary of ideas that appeared time and again across the different presentations:

Remove barriers so that we can talk about our wellbeing

This idea, focused primarily on our mental health. In essence, employers are aware that an individual needs to bring their ‘whole selves’ to work. This includes potential facets that people fear will deter their progression or highlight them in a negative way. Ensuring that people can talk freely and truly bring all of who they are will go a long way to improving our wellbeing.

The use of technology in supporting people to engage with wellbeing practices

There were several cases of organisations who have begun tapping into their technological resources in order to distribute (knowledge), track and improve wellbeing. There were some innovative ideas of how the masses can be reached and educated, as well as incentivised. If you’re looking for a small step: podcasts and webinars are great tools to share ideas that need to be widespread.

Having wellness first aiders, people who have skills and tools to address different facets of wellbeing 

This idea centred around equipping those in the workplace to support one another. A first aider volunteered for this role and was upskilled with the tools and knowledge needed to help those they work with. This took shape in different ways, such as a wellness window, a wellness first aid kit and a centralised place to share information about practices and events. Essentially, it is the next step after forming a wellness committee.

Ikigai: supporting people to find meaning and purpose in their work

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that looks at aligning the challenges and needs of the world, with passion, values, skillsets with remuneration. A quick google image search will display an organiser that shows the relationship between four aspects. If all of these aspects can be met, then purpose and meaning can be achieved, impacting positively on the wellbeing of an individual.

The tension of wellness being a tick box/another thing to do vs. being authentic

With wellbeing making a mainstream appearance, it can be difficult to purposefully and sincerely introduce practices and incentives in the workplace. It can quickly become another thing we need to do or appear as though boxes are trying to be ticked. A word to the wise suggested that weaving initiatives and ideas into the existing fabric and organisation of a company is the best way to ensure that practices are authentic.

Te Whare Tapa Wha: a model of holistic wellness

This model was mentioned several times and for good reason. The focus on ‘health’ and ‘wellness’ within workplaces has evolved throughout the past three decades, eventually settling on a holistic approach. This model captures the essence of holistic wellbeing, using the model of a whare (house) to describe how the different aspects of an individual relate to one another.

People drive, leadership supported

Like a double-edged sword, if wellbeing is to be achieved, there needs to be an alignment between leadership and its people. Effectively, ideas need to arise from within an organisation, validating the voices of those whose wellbeing we’re trying to improve. If leadership are able to support ideas that resonate with our schools, then we have a higher chance of success. 

Understanding the language people use to describe their challenges/pressures and responding appropriatelyThis one also focused primarily on mental health and suggested that the way in which we discuss this aspect of our lives doesn’t use words you may expect, given the connotations attached to them. To use the term ‘anxiety’ to describe your feelings towards elements of your job may not come naturally, but people will attempt to capture this idea using more work-friendly terms. Understanding what these phrases are and responding with care, concern and grace is essential.

Reframing stress and pressure in the workplace through language to improve the culture

The excellent presentation discussed the nuances between conscious and subconscious brains. He discussed how stress arises and how your body and mind respond to certain cues, as well as ways to reframe this. A memorable example suggested substituting the word frustrating for fascinating can do wonders for dealing with more challenging situations and people.

Data-driven and evidence based

This may seem rather obvious but centred primarily around the idea that it’s difficult to quantify something as complex as wellbeing. While no answers were reached, this is an excellent question to consider when trying to improve the wellness of your colleagues: how can we continue to measure success and know we’re doing better than previous years?

Don’t reinvent the wheel

There are a myriad of organisations, toolkits, ideas, initiatives, practices and resources available to us. It is easy to try and recreate the aforementioned, but where you can, use what’s already available.

Centralise our documentation and policies to ensure that wellness know-how is readily accessible and available

While this idea applied more so for larger organisations and corporations, it is still essential. The reality is, this is a call to the ministry of education to provide every school in our nation with what they need to improve the wellness of every person who serves our young people.

As you can see, we are well on our way to ensuring our lives have more purpose, more joy and more health. What do you think?

Complex Times: More than just a leader with Tom Hoerr

Keynote 1: Tom Hoerr 

On August 20th, Learning Network NZ put on a conference for middle leaders entitled “Complex times: More than just a leader. Tom Hoerr was the first keynote speaker, and below is a summary of his presentation with 5 key take-away lessons. 

At the outset, Tom made it clear as to his “biases” as he called them. Tom believes that:

• Teachers make the school
• A leaders job is to facilitate and support everyone's growth in the school
• A leaders job is not to make teachers happy, but to make teachers grow
• Leaders are change agents

Tom then asked the audience: “What if staff meetings were voluntary”?

Who would attend? Why would they be there? Who wouldn't and why not? How can this type of thinking influence leadership within our schools?

Using French and Raven’s 5 forms of power framework as a basis, Tom added a 6th and very important source of power, relationship power (also referred to elsewhere as relational trust).

Social Power

People do our bidding in response to various forms of social power:|

• Reward power (diminishes over time)
• Coercive power (diminishes over time)
• Legitimate power (ie by position such as principal or DP)
• Referent power - (ie charisma)
• Expert power (ie expertise)
• Relationship power

Tom then systematically went through 5 key lessons: 

1. Focus on the positive (Rule of 5)

Based on the work of the Gottman Institute, there is evidence to suggest a “magic ratio” of positive to negative comments to build and maintain relationships. This ratio is 5 compliments to 1 criticism. That 1 criticism however also covers neutral comments and missed opportunities. For example, if a principal walks into a classroom where a teacher is leading an amazing lesson or trying something new or challenging and the principal fails to comment on it, that missed opportunity is effectively the same as a criticism. Maintaining a 5:1 ratio is essential for all positive relationships - whether they are personal or professional. 

2. Mistakes can be good

Making a mistake is not always a bad thing. In fact, some mistakes are to be encouraged! Imagine this for example: A moderately sized school where Senior Leadership observe every staff member teaching as part of their appraisal process, leaders already know they are going to see high quality teaching and learning when they walk into certain classrooms. Those top 20% of teachers however are the ones most at risk of stagnating. What if the senior leaders said to them in advance, “I want to come and see you make a mistake” - what message does that convey to those teachers? It has been said that if you are not making mistakes, you are not trying hard enough. Isn't that what we tell our kids? Growth without mistakes is somewhat limited. There are three types of mistakes we can make as teaching professionals - which ones are you making?

Kinds of mistakes	What they mean	What they are
OLD mistakes	Repeat errors. Lack of learning	Dumb
NO mistakes	Error free - but no learning	Not smart
NEW mistakes	Trying new ideas	Brave and wise

3. Decision Making

Think of a decision that “inflamed” staff at your school - that caused friction. How much of the upset was about the decision itself, and how much was about HOW that decision was handled and communicated? Often leaders put a lot of thought into WHAT is decided, whereas in actual fact it is often more important to consider the HOW of decision making. Decisions can empower or reduce people and it is human nature that we implement best that which we helped to frame. Good decision-making is done with intent and transparency. If school leaders have decisions to make, what sort of decisions are they? Are they your decisions, my decisions or our decisions? Ensuring clarity around who decides can avoid unnecessary conflict amongst staff.

4. Drop your Tools

This lesson centered around the true story group of “smoke jumpers” (highly trained parachuting firefighters) in Mann Gulch, USA, in 1949. A large forest fire broke out, and a newly assembled team of professionals were flown in to control the blaze. They jumped from a higher altitude than usual to avoid turbulent winds and high levels of smoke. The radio was damaged in the drop, so they lost communications from the outset. Additional to this, the fire separated the men. Each firefighter was carrying their usual equipment set, weighing in at just over 20kg worth. They initially thought the fire was relatively easily controllable, but later found it was anything but. 

High winds meant that the fire was advancing at a rate of 200 meters per minute and the flame front was over 10m tall. It soon became obvious that these men were in a race for their lives. The leader made the call “drop tools and run for your lives!” Sadly, the first part of that message was lost, and all bar 2 attempted to outrun the fire still carrying all their equipment. “Drop tools” was not a command or strategy they were familiar with - it was not an instruction they had trained for. All except 2 of those smoke jumpers perished in the fire as they were unable to move quickly enough through the long slippery grass while still carrying 20kg worth of kit. 

What lessons can we take from this?
Firstly, these highly trained professionals relied on their tools to perform their jobs and indeed to save lives. There was no shared understanding of the problem and the response that it required. As it turned out, most of the crew didn't even recognise the problem until it was too late, and they paid the ultimate price. Additional to the lack of shared understanding, there was also unclear communication. The firefighters became separated by the blaze, and this separation, the damaged radio equipment, and the noise and pressure of the situation meant that the “drop tools” message was not clearly and adequately communicated. Lastly, the “drop your tools” order was counter-intuitive. “Which tools? Why? Where do I drop them.” 

So to bring this back to a teaching and leading context:

1. What are the implications for leaders of schools?

2. What are our tools? (as middle leaders)

3. What are their tools? (as teachers

5. Excellence vs Perfection

The final lesson was entitled “excellence or perfection” and it centered around a school cafeteria. At this school, the principal was having problems getting the students to stack their food trays after lunch. Approximately 95% of students did do the right thing and tidy up after themselves, however the remaining 5% left a mess and additional work for the cafeteria staff. As annoying as this, the question becomes, what lengths do you need to go to in order to achieve perfection - the full 100%? Would getting total compliance mean that school leaders had to be punitive to the detriment of the 95% who were already compliant? So this begs the question - when is excellent enough. When can we forgo the ideal of perfection and settle for excellent? This is a question that applies to teachers and educational leaders alike, the world over.

Want to read more by Tom Hoerr? Try these two texts:

Alaric Nicholls
Across Schools Leader
September 2019