Back in September 2020 in my article Is an Epidemic of COVID Burnout Awaiting our School Leaders? I shared my own experiences of an occupational burnout diagnosed the year before. I also shared my concerns about the potential for an epidemic of school leader burnout in the face of the COVID 19 pandemic. Four months…
Many thanks to all those 721 school leaders around the world who took part in my online survey last month. I have prepared an infographic to share the highlights. A complete report, which will include full demographic information as well as an analysis of the qualitative data, will be available sometime in December. To ensure…
The COVID 19 crisis is increasing the huge levels of stress already experienced by international school leaders. While some are thriving in the face of the challenge, many are overwhelmed and coming close to burnout. There is no hard data yet on the impact of leading through COVID but anecdotal evidence mounts on a daily…
In my doctoral research “International Schools as Emotional Arenas: Facing the Leadership Challenges in a German Context” (2017) an emerging theme that went largely unexplored was the heightened sense of responsibility or “over-responsibility” that some school leaders feel. In considering how school leaders may alleviate the overwhelming stress that many of them are experiencing at…
A year ago, at the start of the 2019-20 school year, I took the decision to retire from work at the end of the year, at the age of 56. I feel no shame in admitting that 15 years as a senior leader in international schools has taken its toll on me. In May 2019,…
