International school leadership is often described in terms of strategy, governance, and academic vision. Yet one important dimension of leadership is often overlooked: the leader’s personal well-being.
International School Leadership, like all leadership, is fundamentally about setting a clear vision, then a plan, and persisting with it over an extended period despite barriers and excuses. Research shows that if you create specific plans for your goals, then you’re much more likely to achieve them. The barriers look smaller, solutions are more easily found, and passionate, motivated leaders don’t seem to find excuses for failure.
Personal discipline and self-awareness are also central themes in Authentic Leadership and Calm Leadership in Schools, where integrity and emotional balance are presented as key leadership qualities.
Insert: John Maxwell, Tony Robbins, Peter Drucker, Danial Goleman, Stephen Covey, Dale Carnegie …… and some motivational music, quotes and fanfare. (Yes, I read them too)
As leaders, we tend to be strategic, calculated, and we act on proven research. We follow the global leaders and aim to emulate them.
But let’s reflect openly on other areas where some leaders are not doing such a great job. Reduced stamina, weight gain, increased blood pressure, increased susceptibility to illness, reductions in cognitive performance, achy joints, fatigue, and fairly regular all-around irritability. Job performance compromised, increased risk of conditions like diabetes, heart disease, dementia, and stroke. The bottom line is that some leaders are not taking care of themselves, and it is hurting their school leadership.
For many leaders, it is easy to focus on self-improvement research in traditional work performance areas, but not in their personal lives. For some reason, making health a priority does not reach that list.
Maybe it is time to make health and well being core business. At least that is what we are telling our students and staff to do, isn’t it? International School Leadership demands balanced leadership.
Why Leader Wellbeing Matters
Leadership requires sustained cognitive performance, emotional stability, and clear decision-making. Leaders who neglect their own wellbeing often experience reduced stamina, impaired judgement, and increased stress.
Nutrition and brain performance
Good nutrition delivers significant health benefits and fuels your brain. If success and achievement are our mission, we need to ensure we are well-equipped to make good decisions. While there are many opinions on diets and weight loss, let’s focus on the key foods that provide nutrients for a healthy body and mind.
As a general rule, we need to eat more unprocessed foods and increase the balance of plant-based foods to fuel our brains with good nutrition. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and spices, when consumed in balanced quantities, provide chemical compounds that aid in combating oxidative stress and inflammation within the body. A good diet improves working memory, staves off or reverses cognitive decline, and increases our ability to manage complex learning tasks.
The benefits of fibre are well known, but it also improves brain function by helping regulate blood glucose levels. We also know that it can make us more alert and reduce stress.
As a general rule we improve nutrition when we focus on unprocessed fruits, vegetables and proteins located away from the central aisles of grocery stores. These foods are dense in nutrients, satisfying, and fuel your body with sustainable energy. They are essential for creating mental clarity.
Sleep and cognitive recovery
Switching off can be really tough. We have learnt that success is achieved when we stay focused, work hard, and increase efficiency and output. We seek out motivation experts, coaches, podcasts, and conferences, all designed to make us feel energised and work harder and for longer. But if we can reframe this belief, realising that an investment in rest and sleep will actually reap greater rewards, maybe we can create a different paradigm. If we can shift the boast of “working longer hours” to “working more efficiently in less time”, we would be more effective and healthier.
We tend not to get enough sleep because we work too much. But we are not getting enough work done or being efficient, because we are not getting enough sleep and rest. In his TEDx talk “The Science of Sleep (and the Art of Productivity),” Dr Matthew Carter argues that “You’re able to get more done on a good night’s sleep, not less.”
Sleep and rest quantity and quality, including insomnia, sleepiness, and snoring, are all associated with decreased work productivity. We need to consider sleep as an essential element of workplace health and core business for school leadership.
Physical activity and mental clarity
Many of the great, high-profile leaders commonly brag about their exercise regimen, and it is not just because they are “influencers” trying to project a great physical image. They know it is a core business for great leadership.
Exercise significantly improves brain function, and research shows it positively impacts long-term memory, reasoning, attention span, problem-solving abilities, and creativity.
Exercise improves mood, reduces anxiety, depression, and negative thinking. It encourages an optimistic outlook, self-efficacy, and general happiness. When we exercise vigorously and regularly, we actually create new blood vessels in the cerebellum, the hippocampus, and the motor cortex of our brains. This natural process declines with age, so maintaining consistent levels of exercise as we age helps prevent this decline. These blood vessels improve circulation and flow, which improves oxygen and nutrient delivery. Memory formation is highly dependent on oxygen and also functions to remove waste. Increased blood flow improves cognitive processes and helps prevent conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, which is associated with reduced flow.
Aerobic exercise also enhances levels of several neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine. These neurotransmitters play a role in mental health, mood enhancement, and wakefulness, among other things.
Higher-intensity aerobic exercise, when completed as part of a regular routine, increases the production of neurochemicals that promote the growth and repair of brain cells. It keeps existing neurons young and healthy, and encourages the formation of new cells in the brain. Put simply, exercise nourishes the brain.
If we are serious about being great leaders, we need to make exercise part of our core business. The business of International School Leadership includes balance.
Mindfulness and focus
If it is not our community and our supervisors who are expecting even more from us, we are very likely to have higher and higher expectations of ourselves. We pressure ourselves to be productive and available 24/7 for anything that is required. Although this may seem honourable, it can lead to a highly fragmented work environment, with a large number of distractions and increasingly complex, innumerable demands. Our attention spans are becoming shorter as we struggle to navigate this complicated and demanding minefield. This then creates an environment with many obstacles and limitations for rational decision-making and calm, confident leadership. Are we fully or partially attentive?
“We cannot afford to make decisions with unbalanced and distracted minds. Too often we react instead of responding thoughtfully. We need to train our minds to pause when required and to lead deliberately but calmly with focus and clarity.”
Greg Parry
We are motivated and committed. We frequently commit to courage and determination, with a focus on work output, but too often without balancing the complete plan.
If we are truly serious about becoming great leaders, then we need to make balance a key priority of our core business.
Related Leadership Articles
You may also be interested in these leadership insights:
Authentic Leadership
https://www.gsineducation.com/blog/authentic-leadership
Calm Leadership in Schools
https://www.gsineducation.com/blog/calm-leadership-in-schools
Leading by Intimidation: The Weakest Leadership Style
https://www.gsineducation.com/blog/leading-by-intimidation
20-Point Checklist for Effective School Leadership
https://www.gsineducation.com/blog/20-point-checklist-for-effective-school-leadership-in-an-international-school
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CEO and Education Expert Greg Parry
Internationally renowned for his expertise in educational leadership, Greg Parry’s vast experience includes leading projects for educational institutions across Australia, the Middle East, the United States, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and China. Recognised for his numerous contributions in the education arena, Greg has received the Minister’s Award for Excellence in School Leadership based on improvements in school performance and a range of successful principal training and leadership development programs, as well as the School of Excellence Award for Industry/School Partnerships and the School of Excellence Award for Technology Innovation. His company GSE (Global Services in Education) has been recognised as having the Best Global Brand in International Education in 2015 and 2016.
Considered one of the premier experts in his profession, Greg has trained teachers and principals throughout the world in areas such as critical thinking, language development and leadership. His expertise in school start-up projects, leadership and curriculum development has made him a sought-after authority in these disciplines.
Global Services in Education sets up and operates schools across the world. Guided by a philosophy of global citizenship, every member of the GSE team shares a passion for shaping international education and student achievement through inspiration and collaboration.
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