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

If you need any assistance with this, head to veronicavsopher.com. If you want more info, please contact me or drop questions in the comments and be sure to share this episode with your colleagues! If you have any questions or suggestions for future topics, I'm here to listen. Thanks for tuning in to School Leader Soundbites.

Find me at: https://www.veronicavsopher.com/

Social: @VeronicaVSopher

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Episode Transcript

Veronica Sopher (00:01):
Hello and welcome to School Leader
Soundbites. I'm your host,Veronica V. Sopher, and I have
the opportunity to come to youevery week and talk about all
the things I love in the K 12space, advertising, marketing,
public relations, brandingandleadership. And today we're
going to be talking about how wesupport staff through the
holidays and beyond. So makesure you get your pin out. You

(00:22):
are not going to want to misssome of the great topics we talk
about today. Let's take care ofa little bit of housekeeping
before we dive in. Though, ifyou are listening on the
podcast, make sure you hitsubscribe. We don't want you to
miss any episodes of SchoolLeader Soundbites. And if you
are watching our YouTube orFacebook, drop some comments,
because I would love to connect.
All right, let's go ahead andget this episode started.

(00:46):
Now, as we think aboutsupporting staff to the holidays
and beyond, we know that it's astressful time of year, so the
first thing we need to do isacknowledge that this is a
difficult time, that there aresome seasonal stressors that
some of our staff experience,and we need to acknowledge that
for some families, this is veryemotionally draining. There's
sometimes a lot of mixedemotions. Sometimes the holidays

(01:10):
bring about some financialstrain on families, other family
responsibilities, personalchallenges that someone might be
going through, the loss of aloved one that they've had. And
then, of course, just in publiceducation in general, it's
halfway through the school year,so we're starting to really get
that exhausted feeling. So firstand foremost was acknowledge

(01:30):
that sometimes the holidays orthis time of year can really
come with a lot of naturalstress built in. And once you
acknowledge it, then you can dosomething about it, and now
everyone will process a littlebit differently, so we do have
to be mindful of that, and wealso need to acknowledge that
sometimes people have differentways of dealing with stress. But

(01:51):
what we do know is a little bitof research is that that some
environmental healthprofessionals tell us is that
that we have Seasonal AffectiveDisorder. Now a lot of our
counselors and our caseworkersare working with students who
are experiencing SeasonalAffective Disorder, also known
as SAD but there's a lot ofstaff that are also dealing with

(02:14):
it. It impacts our moods, itimpacts our energy levels, it
impacts our blood pressure, howwe actually digest food. So
sometimes people are reallydealing with some physiological
responses to the stresses thatthey're experiencing it. So when
you have an opportunity toshare, maybe what some of the
benefits are that are associatedwith their employment, maybe

(02:35):
your employee wellness program,or your employee program that
might be designed to help withmental health supports let
people know that it exists,remind them of how to access it,
and really encourage for themthat these resources are built
into their compensation, and soif appropriate, to tap into it,

(02:56):
make sure that people feelwelcomed to get that information
right.
So then we also want to talkabout leading with inclusive,
inclusivity and sensitivity toall cultures and beliefs. Now we
want to just recognize that nomatter where you are in the
country, not everyone iscelebrating the same way, same
way that you are celebrating,right? Not every community is

(03:17):
celebrating Christmas or orHanukkah even, and so maybe some
communities are focused ondifferent types of celebrations.
So we want to make sure that weare including everybody, and
that we are emphasizing thedifferent ways that people
celebrate, right? We includeeveryone. We are not just using

(03:40):
Christmas decor, that we'reincluding other decor if
appropriate, and we're makingall of our staff feel included
and valued so much so that we'reinviting them to share some of
their celebrations, so that wecan learn as lifelong learners
right on what makes and makesthat successful for us all. And
then, you know, when we talkabout the celebrations, when

(04:01):
we're having these events wherepeople are bringing food,
encourage people to bring foodsthat are meaningful to them, and
then share some of thoserecipes, right? Make sure it's
low pressure, though. We don'twant people to feel like they
have to be the onlyrepresentative of their cultural
group or their religion. Invitethem, but don't make a big deal
about it if they're notcomfortable doing it, because

(04:23):
not everybody will be highlighton focusing what we're grateful
for, right? The inclusiveinclusivity that we all share,
rather than one particularcelebration or one particular
holiday, just make people feelwelcome and encourage them to
share when appropriate.
Now the next thing I want you tothink about is empathy driven
leadership, how to show that youcare everyone. Process is

(04:46):
different, and we all show updifferently in our own
leadership. Some of us were bornwith a lot of natural empathy,
and some of us weren't, and someof us are still working on it.
No one is wrong or right for theway they show up. But we do need
to be mindful that empathy canreally help in our leadership
journey. So if you're lookingfor a way to develop it, then

(05:08):
talk to some of your teammembers who are really great at
it, and share some of the bestpractices that they're using.
Create a safe space forconversation. Encourage your
leaders to open up about withtheir staff about some of the
things that they might beexperiencing on the campus or
maybe on a team, maybe someonedid lose a loved one. So
encourage them to speak up ifthey feel comfortable doing so,

(05:30):
and then again, redirect them tothose groups where there might
be some resources available atthe end of the day. You just
want to make sure everyone feelssafe, because being at work as
can sometimes really makesomeone feel like they're not
allowed to show their feelings.
And so there is absolutely atime and place to do that, and
we have to remind people abouttheir professionalism and what's
appropriate for students to seeand for others to see, but just

(05:52):
recognize that there might betimes where we need to pull
someone out of their space tojust give them a chance to
express what they might befeeling again, lean on
yourcounselors. Lean on some ofthe professionals that you have
already in the building, and,more importantly, value active
listening, right? Make sure thatyou are celebrating when someone
is is sharing something withyou, and don't immediately go to

(06:15):
solve their problem. They're notcoming to you for you to solve
their problems. Sometimes usproblem solvers have to be
reminded that it's not ourproblem to solve, and we just
need to be an active listener,someone who's expressing some
compassion and empathy so thatthe other person feels heard and
valued.
So make sure you take time outof your day to check in with

(06:38):
your folks that might bestruggling, to just lend them an
ear, someone to lean on whenappropriate, and more
importantly, be flexible andsupportive when people need to
take timeoff because they mightbe struggling. Now, I know that
isn't always appropriate,especially during testing
season, but when you do haveopportunities to give people

(07:01):
some a chance to flex some oftheir hours. Maybe we let them
do that. If it's the anniversaryof someone's passing or they
might be dealing with somemedical issues, let's give them
a little bit of time to grieveor to process through
information that they've gottenfrom from a medical
professional, and encourage themto find some work life balance,
which is really hard sometimesduring the holidays, when

(07:22):
there's a lot of thingshappening, a lot of excitement.
But we know, you know, from fromour professionals, that we've
got to be able to support ourstaff to find that work life
balance. The AmericanPsychological Association tells
us that we have to set up safespaces for people to set
boundaries for themselves.
Mental health is so important,and if we want our teachers to

(07:42):
do their best and to show up forstudents, we need to give them
those safe spaces to be able toexpress what they might be
struggling with. And sometimesthat means bringing somebody in
from Central Office onto acampus to help with that.
All of it comes together in thisidea of promoting self care.
Now, you've heard me talk aboutwellness and self care a whole

(08:04):
lot. It's something I'mincredibly passionate about.
You've heard me say that overand over again, and it's not
just something I talk about,it's something I live out and
when I'm not, luckily, I'msurrounded by people who remind
me that I do have to take careof myself, right? So, positive
affirmations, positive language,wellness, challenges, maybe

(08:25):
walking challenges, or having ano meeting day, just to get
everybody outside, walking whenyou would normally have a staff
meeting might be important,especially during the holidays.
Now we're also probably eating alot more than we usually do,
because I know no matter whatcampus or department I've been
in, there's always lots ofsweets and goodies during the
holiday season, and sometimes wehave a tendency to not work off

(08:49):
some of those extra calories. Soas a leader, if you can build in
some wellness and make it fun,then you'll start to see some
really great results. And modelthat self care that's important
take time out of your day todrink plenty of water, to remind
people about drinking water, totake some of those walking
breaks, to go visit a classroom,to park farther away from the

(09:11):
front door than you normallywould, just to some model some
of that self care, and getpeople encouraged to do the
Same. And celebrating andappreciating staff in meaningful
ways. It's incredibly importantduring the holiday season,
especially when you've got teammembers who are struggling,
personalize some of thatgratitude. Write those
handwritten notes, sharespecific examples about what you

(09:34):
are thankful for this season inthat person or something that
you saw them do. And if ahandwritten note isn't the best
way for you to communicate.
Personalize some of thoseemails, you can do that too, or
just pick up the phone and havea conversation with somebody no
matter what you do, make surethat 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. Makesure you're doing something

(09:58):
that's. Reasonable andappropriate. Now I know no
matter where you are in thecountry, there's going to be
unique challenges that areregional, so be mindful of that
and check in with your team andother leaders to find out what
has worked well and what hasn'tdone well.
Now here's my big tip for theday, this is looking ahead and
setting a positive tone for thenew year. In other words, create

(10:21):
a re entry plan after theholiday, staff may still be a
little sluggish, so you wantthem to come back feeling
refreshed and not overwhelmed,right? So set a positive tone
for that re entry plan. Thatfirst day back, celebrate people
resting, ask them what booksthey read or what they did to
take care of themselves on thebreak right, and then tell them

(10:42):
what you plan to do, so thatwhen you come back as part of
that re entry, you can sharewhat you have done, check in on
leaders that you know might bestruggling, and do your best to
also pour into yourself. Say,take some time for yourself,
regroup, get refocused and sitinside of gratitude, because, as
I've shared with you before,when you are grateful and you

(11:05):
are in appreciation, you cannotexperience negativity or stress
inside of that, inside of thatmindset that you have. So make
sure you're protecting yourmindset so that when your staff
come back from the holidays,they are ready to be their best
and to show up for students. Andmost importantly, share what
you're doing with your parentsin your in your newsletters that

(11:27):
you're sending out at the end ofthe semester. Share what your
plans are for the holiday break,how you plan to regroup and
refresh and be ready forstudents to come back. And
encourage families to do thesame too, because when we are
meeting people where they are,we can find ways to really
elevate the energy and make adifference on our campuses, in
in our districts.

(11:48):
So I hope this information washelpful. The holidays are just
around the corner, so make sure,as a leader, you're prepared,
and that you are doing your bestto set your organization up for
success. So that wraps this.
Wraps up this episode of schoolleader sound bites. If you are
listening on the podcast, makesure you hit subscribe. We don't
want you to miss any episodes ofSchoolLleader Soundbites. And if
you are watching on YouTube orFacebook, drop some comments,

(12:11):
because I would love to connect.
If you need any other greatideas on how to grow in your
leadership journey, I've gotplenty of blogs on my website,
at veronicavsopher.com I wouldlove to hear from you, and I
hope this information washelpful. Wishing you a very
happy holiday season.