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4/3/2015

Thanks to the many colleagues who have spent time thinking about the lessons from their careers and distilling their thoughts into short enough elements to be memorable.

To view the original blog and follow the comment thread for many more words of experience, click here to go to that webpage. Please feel free to add your own thoughts. The more the merrier.

1 Comment

Lisa Pettifer link

5/3/2015 04:36:51 am

sorry it's not 'short' but feel free to cut.

This is my 25th year of teaching. Here's what I've learned.

On you

Never lose it. Emotional outbursts are memorable, so a two minute rant might take you two years to live down!

Rarely put off until tomorrow what can be done today - you can save time in the long run, just don't try to do EVERYTHING a today!

Sometimes do things differently. Don't get stuck in a rut and repeat previous habits just because you haven't stopped to reflect and evaluate for a whole. Try to see the benefit in someone else's way of doing something.

Often think about family and friends who might be missing out on your time and energy because of the amounts of both that get sucked into work. Draw the line.

Always listen to your body, your partner, your children, your inner voice.

On children

Never be mean to a child. You are the grown up and whatever behaviour you exhibit, a child somewhere will emulate you.

Rarely raise your voice to a child. If you have to, do it with control and demonstrate very soon afterwards that calm is restored. Use a slow, low tone to get across serious messages.

Sometimes call for reinforcements. Enlist a parent, TA, colleague or a peer of the children to help out in a tricky situation.

Often remember that the children we meet are not the 'finished product' yet. Even as teenagers, they can say and do daft things. Don't hold it against them and they will grow through it.

Always listen...to all sides of an argument, to all their questions, their dreary weekend news. You never know, one day you might be the only person listening.

On management

Never do nothing. Always act, whether in thought or word or deed. Never live with regret. If you owe an apology, sort it sooner rather than later. And mean it. If someone owes you one, understand why why it might be hard for them. And move on.

Rarely leave things unresolved. In exceptional circumstances, defer to a later discussion, but not without checking your current understanding and finding points of agreement for next steps.

Sometimes we have to admit that we'll have to ask for help on that one. Be open about what you can and can't do. Recognise and acknowledge those who have given support.

Often delegate to others in their areas of expertise and then show your appreciation for their input. Leaders need to grow more leaders and give more junior colleagues chance to shine.

Always listen...as much to what is not being said as to what is. If you ask "so, that's OK?" in a meeting and no one responds, they're not telling you that it's OK!

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