3 hacks to help you stay in your headteacher role for the long haul

In my last few years as a coach/supervisor working with headteachers, one theme has emerged more than any other – how can I keep going in this job?

I’ve noticed that lots of leaders have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the job. They’re passionate about their school community and really committed to ensuring kids get the most out of their education. But it takes so much out of them that they don’t know how if they can stay in their headteacher role for the long haul.

The thing is, there are lots of opportunities around for those who decide to leave. I followed a route out of being a headteacher and into leadership coaching, which I love. But that’s not for everyone, and it’s not without its problems, not least the financial aspects of that move. Going from having a substantial monthly income, with healthy pension contributions to having to learn the new skills of running a business, marketing yourself and generating enough income to live on, is no mean feat. These last few years have been a rollercoaster ride for me.

So how can you stay in the role right through to retirement, if that’s what you want?

As I’ve coached and supervised heads, I’ve noticed a few sustainability hacks that can really help:

1.      Taking back control of your life and remembering ‘it’s a job’

Being the head can really take over your life. It’s a huge role that requires a lot of thought and a huge amount of commitment and dedication. That can take everything out of you, leaving not much left for your family, friends, hobbies or anything else.

Stepping back and reflecting can help to gain perspective and make you realise that the job can actually take up the space you want it to take in your life. Of course, there are restrictions and parameters, but you can broadly decide what you want your relationship with the job to be, and what other things you want in your life. I often describe this as work life harmony. As Paloma Faith sings it – ‘making your own kind of music’!

2.      Getting systematic about workload

I’m happy to say that lots of heads I’ve worked with have managed to get more on top of their massive workload. So many things can get in the way of productivity, such as having an ‘open door policy’ which results in constant interruptions. Another one is the sense of guilt we often feel about taking dedicated headship time or working from home, even though what we most need is distraction-free time. The distractions are many and varied, and sometimes we can get into habits that lead us to distract ourselves, like the pull towards multi-tasking – keeping the email browser open while you’re working on things, for example!

I believe that getting more systematic and organised in the way you approach workload management can really help. In my online ‘Workload Management Tool for Headteachers’ I take leaders through some simple steps to getting a personalised system set up. Core features are setting boundaries, putting aside distraction-free time for reflection, planning and scheduling and developing a ‘second brain’ to take the strain off the real one!

3.      Making it less about yourself and more about your team

Illness affected me in my last couple of years as a head, and yet, surprisingly, I consider that my leadership was at its best at that point! It’s because I was going through the process of letting go of things. I was returning to my values to prioritise and make decisions, rather than being pulled by my emotions into reactivity.

In my earlier years of headship, my behaviours were very influenced by who was watching and what I perceived they might be thinking of me. When my health was worse, I had to delegate more, trust my leaders and work through my team. That actually felt really natural to me, as I was tuning into my core value of empowerment. At that point that I became more ‘coach-like’, which led me towards my current role.

If you’d like to tune in more to empowering your team to do great work, I’ve actually created an online resource called ‘Being a Coaching Leader’, which helps you to bring more of an ethos of coaching into your leadership, delegate effectively and take a bit of the pressure away from yourself.

If you’re a head, I think it’s worth having a long term plan. You could start by considering the length of time you want to spend doing this massive but wonderful job. Then you can think about what actions you need to take to ensure that you can keep going in a healthy way over this timeframe.

When you start prioritising your own health and wellbeing in this way, something shifts. You start changing your relationship to the role.

If you are in it for the long haul, you can consider developing some new habits such as those described above that will make your job more sustainable.

Headteacher supervision is a great tool to help your role become more sustainable. Having regular slots for reflection with a trusted and skilled partner can make a huge difference.

How long do you want to keep going in your role as a head? What do you need to do to get through without losing your health and wellbeing?