S1 E43 Heartfelt Leadership: Supporting Staff Through the Holidays and Beyond

Welcome to School Leader Soundbites, a podcast dedicated to empowering K-12 leaders with the latest insights and strategies in marketing and communications! Today, we are discussing Heartfelt Leadership: Supporting Staff Through the Holidays and Beyond.

◾Acknowledge that there are seasonal stressors

-Holidays can bring about a lot of mixed emotions, stress, and financial strain

-In education, we are halfway through the school year and starting to feel exhausted- seasonal affective disorder can also impact staff and students this time of year

◾Lead with sensitivity to all cultural beliefs

-Some communities may not celebrate the same holidays we do or celebrate at different times

-Practice inclusivity and include acknowledgement of other cultures’ celebrations

◾Empathy-driven leadership- how to show that you care

-Some are born with a lot of natural empathy and some are not, that’s ok, you can develop it

-Create a safe space for communication and sharing ideas, make sure everyone feels safe

◾Be flexible and supportive if someone needs to take time off

-Support staff to find work-life balance and take time off if needed

-Mental health is so important, we must give them safe spaces to express things they might be struggling with

◾Promote self-care

-Model self-care- drink water, remind others to drink water, model and encourage walking

-Ideas: Positive affirmations, walking challenge, no meeting days, handwritten notes about what you are thankful for with staff

◾Look ahead and set the tone for the new year

-Set a positive tone for staff returning after the break, ask them about the fun things they did

-Refocus and sit inside of gratitude

-Share what you are doing with parents and encourage families to do the same

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Transcript

Veronica Sopher: 0:01

Hello and welcome to School Leader Soundbites. I'm your host, Veronica V. Sopher, and I have the opportunity to come to you every week and talk about all the things I love in the K 12 space, advertising, marketing, public relations, brandingand leadership. And today we're going to be talking about how we support staff through the holidays and beyond. So make sure you get your pin out. You are not going to want to miss some of the great topics we talk about today. Let's take care of a little bit of housekeeping before we dive in. Though, if you are listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe. We don't want you to miss any episodes of School Leader Soundbites. And if you are watching our YouTube or Facebook, drop some comments, because I would love to connect. All right, let's go ahead and get this episode started. Now, as we think about supporting staff to the holidays and beyond, we know that it's a stressful time of year, so the first thing we need to do is acknowledge that this is a difficult time, that there are some seasonal stressors that some of our staff experience, and we need to acknowledge that for some families, this is very emotionally draining. There's sometimes a lot of mixed emotions. Sometimes the holidays bring about some financial strain on families, other family responsibilities, personal challenges that someone might be going through, the loss of a loved one that they've had. And then, of course, just in public education in general, it's halfway through the school year, so we're starting to really get that exhausted feeling. So first and foremost was acknowledge that sometimes the holidays or this time of year can really come with a lot of natural stress built in. And once you acknowledge it, then you can do something about it, and now everyone will process a little bit differently, so we do have to be mindful of that, and we also need to acknowledge that sometimes people have different ways of dealing with stress. But what we do know is a little bit of research is that that some environmental health professionals tell us is that that we have Seasonal Affective Disorder. Now a lot of our counselors and our caseworkers are working with students who are experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD but there's a lot of staff that are also dealing with it. It impacts our moods, it impacts our energy levels, it impacts our blood pressure, how we actually digest food. So sometimes people are really dealing with some physiological responses to the stresses that they're experiencing it. So when you have an opportunity to share, maybe what some of the benefits are that are associated with their employment, maybe your employee wellness program, or your employee program that might be designed to help with mental health supports let people know that it exists, remind them of how to access it, and really encourage for them that these resources are built into their compensation, and so if appropriate, to tap into it, make sure that people feel welcomed to get that information right. So then we also want to talk about leading with inclusive, inclusivity and sensitivity to all cultures and beliefs. Now we want to just recognize that no matter where you are in the country, not everyone is celebrating the same way, same way that you are celebrating, right? Not every community is celebrating Christmas or or Hanukkah even, and so maybe some communities are focused on different types of celebrations. So we want to make sure that we are including everybody, and that we are emphasizing the different ways that people celebrate, right? We include everyone. We are not just using Christmas decor, that we're including other decor if appropriate, and we're making all of our staff feel included and valued so much so that we're inviting them to share some of their celebrations, so that we can learn as lifelong learners right on what makes and makes that successful for us all. And then, you know, when we talk about the celebrations, when we're having these events where people are bringing food, encourage people to bring foods that are meaningful to them, and then share some of those recipes, right? Make sure it's low pressure, though. We don't want people to feel like they have to be the only representative of their cultural group or their religion. Invite them, but don't make a big deal about it if they're not comfortable doing it, because not everybody will be highlight on focusing what we're grateful for, right? The inclusive inclusivity that we all share, rather than one particular celebration or one particular holiday, just make people feel welcome and encourage them to share when appropriate. Now the next thing I want you to think about is empathy driven leadership, how to show that you care everyone. Process is different, and we all show up differently in our own leadership. Some of us were born with a lot of natural empathy, and some of us weren't, and some of us are still working on it. No one is wrong or right for the way they show up. But we do need to be mindful that empathy can really help in our leadership journey. So if you're looking for a way to develop it, then talk to some of your team members who are really great at it, and share some of the best practices that they're using. Create a safe space for conversation. Encourage your leaders to open up about with their staff about some of the things that they might be experiencing on the campus or maybe on a team, maybe someone did lose a loved one. So encourage them to speak up if they feel comfortable doing so, and then again, redirect them to those groups where there might be some resources available at the end of the day. You just want to make sure everyone feels safe, because being at work as can sometimes really make someone feel like they're not allowed to show their feelings. And so there is absolutely a time and place to do that, and we have to remind people about their professionalism and what's appropriate for students to see and for others to see, but just recognize that there might be times where we need to pull someone out of their space to just give them a chance to express what they might be feeling again, lean on yourcounselors. Lean on some of the professionals that you have already in the building, and, more importantly, value active listening, right? Make sure that you are celebrating when someone is is sharing something with you, and don't immediately go to solve their problem. They're not coming to you for you to solve their problems. Sometimes us problem solvers have to be reminded that it's not our problem to solve, and we just need to be an active listener, someone who's expressing some compassion and empathy so that the other person feels heard and valued. So make sure you take time out of your day to check in with your folks that might be struggling, to just lend them an ear, someone to lean on when appropriate, and more importantly, be flexible and supportive when people need to take timeoff because they might be struggling. Now, I know that isn't always appropriate, especially during testing season, but when you do have opportunities to give people some a chance to flex some of their hours. Maybe we let them do that. If it's the anniversary of someone's passing or they might be dealing with some medical issues, let's give them a little bit of time to grieve or to process through information that they've gotten from from a medical professional, and encourage them to find some work life balance, which is really hard sometimes during the holidays, when there's a lot of things happening, a lot of excitement. But we know, you know, from from our professionals, that we've got to be able to support our staff to find that work life balance. The American Psychological Association tells us that we have to set up safe spaces for people to set boundaries for themselves. Mental health is so important, and if we want our teachers to do their best and to show up for students, we need to give them those safe spaces to be able to express what they might be struggling with. And sometimes that means bringing somebody in from Central Office onto a campus to help with that. All of it comes together in this idea of promoting self care. Now, you've heard me talk about wellness and self care a whole lot. It's something I'm incredibly passionate about. You've heard me say that over and over again, and it's not just something I talk about, it's something I live out and when I'm not, luckily, I'm surrounded by people who remind me that I do have to take care of myself, right? So, positive affirmations, positive language, wellness, challenges, maybe walking challenges, or having a no meeting day, just to get everybody outside, walking when you would normally have a staff meeting might be important, especially during the holidays. Now we're also probably eating a lot more than we usually do, because I know no matter what campus or department I've been in, there's always lots of sweets and goodies during the holiday season, and sometimes we have a tendency to not work off some of those extra calories. So as a leader, if you can build in some wellness and make it fun, then you'll start to see some really great results. And model that self care that's important take time out of your day to drink plenty of water, to remind people about drinking water, to take some of those walking breaks, to go visit a classroom, to park farther away from the front door than you normally would, just to some model some of that self care, and get people encouraged to do the Same. And celebrating and appreciating staff in meaningful ways. It's incredibly important during the holiday season, especially when you've got team members who are struggling, personalize some of that gratitude. Write those handwritten notes, share specific examples about what you are thankful for this season in that person or something that you saw them do. And if a handwritten note isn't the best way for you to communicate. Personalize some of those emails, you can do that too, or just pick up the phone and have a conversation with somebody no matter what you do, make sure that it's low stress. Ifyou're going to be hosting a gathering, don't expect people to spend 20$30 on a Secret Santa gift. Make sure you're doing something that's. Reasonable and appropriate. Now I know no matter where you are in the country, there's going to be unique challenges that are regional, so be mindful of that and check in with your team and other leaders to find out what has worked well and what hasn't done well. Now here's my big tip for the day, this is looking ahead and setting a positive tone for the new year. In other words, create a re entry plan after the holiday, staff may still be a little sluggish, so you want them to come back feeling refreshed and not overwhelmed, right? So set a positive tone for that re entry plan. That first day back, celebrate people resting, ask them what books they read or what they did to take care of themselves on the break right, and then tell them what you plan to do, so that when you come back as part of that re entry, you can share what you have done, check in on leaders that you know might be struggling, and do your best to also pour into yourself. Say, take some time for yourself, regroup, get refocused and sit inside of gratitude, because, as I've shared with you before, when you are grateful and you are in appreciation, you cannot experience negativity or stress inside of that, inside of that mindset that you have. So make sure you're protecting your mindset so that when your staff come back from the holidays, they are ready to be their best and to show up for students. And most importantly, share what you're doing with your parents in your in your newsletters that you're sending out at the end of the semester. Share what your plans are for the holiday break, how you plan to regroup and refresh and be ready for students to come back. And encourage families to do the same too, because when we are meeting people where they are, we can find ways to really elevate the energy and make a difference on our campuses, in in our districts. So I hope this information was helpful. The holidays are just around the corner, so make sure, as a leader, you're prepared, and that you are doing your best to set your organization up for success. So that wraps this. Wraps up this episode of school leader sound bites. If you are listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe. We don't want you to miss any episodes of SchoolLleader Soundbites. And if you are watching on YouTube or Facebook, drop some comments, because I would love to connect. If you need any other great ideas on how to grow in your leadership journey, I've got plenty of blogs on my website, at veronicavsopher.com I would love to hear from you, and I hope this information was helpful. Wishing you a very happy holiday season.