Understanding My HBDI Profile

Awhile back Tetli shared a fantastic HBDI app during a Smackdown and it provides tips on what to do when under pressure. As I have been under a lot of pressure lately, I thought this would be a valuable time to look at the tips.

The biggest shift in my profile whilst under pressure is the relational goes out and experimental goes in.

My profile says that 'more pressure for me is when others emotions shut others down.'  It says to take time-out to compose yourself before coming back to the situation.  Interestingly, I did take a break from the situation and spoke to others for support, which definitely helped me approach the problem in a positive and carefully constructed way with great results.  

'I can create more pressure for myself with the need to talk it out which wastes time and distracts.' I found the conversations very helpful and essential to overcome the problem, but they were problem longer than needed and I may have had more than needed. Their tip is to try writing down your thoughts before communicating with others to allow clearer thinking. Fortunately, I always write notes for meetings via the agenda and the discussions helped bring clarity to my thinking. However, I could do this more often - its definitely a weakness of mine ie articulating my thinking.

After reading the notes for experimental, I was incredibly surprised. I believed the relational was the problem but the notes here could be more the reason for my stress.

The pressure makes you feel mentally stuck, with a few obviously unsatisfactory ideas. This was so true, I wasn't only stuck - I was completely concreted in!  During one of more frustrated meetings I definitely articulated that I couldn't think of anything else, it was blockage to everything else I needed to do.  The recommendation is to take a break, a walk  or seek out a friend to shift your mindset away from the details at hand. I certainly 'seeked' out professional support, but maybe I should have 'seeked' out more personal support. Maybe this could be a strategy I use more often, talking with fellow professionals actually, in many cases, compounds the stress. Talking with someone not connected with the school will help me gain a more rounded perspective and shift my thinking away. Doesn't help living with teacher!

Therapy!

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the Education industry. I am particularly frustrated with the lack of clarity and direction to Senior Leadership. My pathway was clear in the UK and with every school in New Zealand being a separate entity, its incredibly hard to know what to do next to ensure a step into Senior Leadership.  

Every school I have been to I have quickly adapted to the vision of the school and done everything I can to put myself in a position to move on. Unfortunately, this approach is not the way to go. New appointments for Leadership tends to come from outside the school based on an unknown criteria/agenda. 

More importantly, this frustration is compounded massively by the insane amount of research and articles shared via social media. It's incredibly frustrating as you constantly looking around and hearing how amazing other schools are being based on practices or understandings you are not doing and I feel I am falling behind.

However, Simon Sinek has put my mind at rest. :)

"Put simply, best practice are not always best. It is not just WHAT or HOW you do things that matters, what matters more is that WHAT and HOW you do things is consistent with your WHY? Only then will your practices indeed be best.

There is nothing inherently wrong with looking to others to learn what they do, the challenge is knowing what practices or advice to follow. Simple test to find out exactly WHAT and HOW is right for you - Celery test.

Ideas - M&Ms, rice milk, Oreo, Celery - WHY - healthy - filters decision.

With a WHY clearly stated in an organisation, anyone within the organisation can make a decision as clearly and as accurately as the founder. A WHY provides the clear filter for decision-making."

I am going to focus on the 'Why' at SPS and not worry about what is happening around NZ, I can only influence the environment I work in and there is plenty to become immersed into here! My leadership capabilities and knowledge has taken a new direction at SPS and I am certainly growing, which is all I can ask for.  Action: turn off social media around Education. 

Readings, readings and more readings!

During the summer I thoroughly enjoyed reading a variety of books on leadership, so much so it has become a daily habit. All the books were so good that I have taken an incredible amount of notes and will over the year refer back to them and blog about them. Why?

My Current reality is that I have understood the benefit of reading about leadership and it is certainly helping me articulate my thoughts and understandings around the decisions I make. My Desired Reality is to 'action' this research/reading.  I am determined to articulate the 'why' as best as I can, and using these readings has helped me greatly.

For example, there has been a huge discussion around aligning our values as a team and also understanding my own! I used the Trust Matters quote as a lead into our discussion around our teaming BPP.

"Trust matters. Trust comes from being a part of a culture or organisation with a common set of values and beliefs. Trust is maintained when the values and beliefs are actively managed. No clarity, discipline and consistency- trust starts to break down. You must work actively to remind everyone Why we do things. We need to hold everyone accountable to the values and guiding principles. It's not enough to just write them on the wall - that's passive." 'Start with the Why' - Simon Sinek Let's discuss our 'Teaming BPP' and quickly discuss how we are getting on..."

Also, to help explain the why it is important we get the 'core' of students learning right ie reading, writing and maths. By securing the students progress in these areas will give us the platform to take risks knowing that we have the 'net.'  Emergence of Trust Trapeze will not attempt a totally new death-defying leap without first trying it with a net below. Besides it's obvious advantage of catching you if you fall, the net also provides a psychological benefit. Knowing it is there gives the trapeze artist the confidence to try something he's never done before. Remove the net and only do safe tricks. The more he trusts the quality of the net - the more he will take personal risks to make the act better. They must trust that their leaders provide a net - practical or emotional. There is a big difference between jumping out of a plane with a parachute on and jumping without one. Both produce extraordinary experiences, but only one increases the likelihood of being able to try again another time.