In a moment of pure and wonderful self-indulgence last week, I booked a last-minute – by which I mean actually on the day – ticket to see Cole Porter’s ‘High Society’ at the Barbican in London … and it was fabulous. It had an amazing cast, including Felicity Kendal and Helen George, a brilliant orchestra, and a sparkling set. It was, quite simply, phenomenal: such fun, so silly, so enjoyable, so memorable, and so wonderfully uplifting.
There was, however, a reason for this indulgence — or at least, there was a very good reason for me to recognise that it was exactly what I needed. First thing that morning, I had been in conversation with a superb trio of leaders in education who are passionate about wellbeing — Dean Clayden, Caz Jude and Berna Bouwer — as we recorded the latest Outstanding Schools webinar, which is now available here. Please, please do request to watch it, because it was a wonderful discussion, with profound insights (I personally found the discussion genuinely inspiring), and also with practical learning that is immediately implementable … you really must watch it!!
So inspiring was this conversation, in fact, that when two of my meetings that afternoon were postponed because of the heat, I leapt at the opportunity to do something different, in order to feed myself, and restore my balance, in a way that I know works for me. For me, that means something deliciously high-quality, uplifting, sensorially rich, unusual, and out of the ordinary. Throw in a dash of having to navigate some complex logistics to ensure that I could get there, enjoy it, and still accommodate my later online Board meeting, and my bliss was complete.
One of the key messages of the Outstanding Schools webinar was that we need to know ourselves first, in order to be able to manage our wellbeing; and leaders, in turn, need to know their staff before they can begin to determine what wellbeing actually means for them. Wellbeing is not, as we sometimes think, a fluffy concept. Wellbeing, when done well, is a honed and disciplined approach to ensuring that we are in the best possible place to do what we are really tasked to do – mentally, physically and emotionally. It is also something over which we have more agency than we sometimes realise – or remember.
This ownership of our personal wellbeing does not mean that we should berate ourselves for falling short of some imagined, Insta-perfect lifestyle; quite the opposite, in fact, especially given how toxically anxiety-making such threads can be. Our goal, therefore, is not to ‘perform’ wellbeing, but rather to focus on understanding ourselves well enough to nourish ourselves appropriately, and to recognise what restores us, what energises us, what steadies us, and what enables us to be at our best.
So, step one: work on getting to know yourself better. Step two: give yourself what you need in order to be the best of yourself, and to thrive. Because when you thrive, those around you are more likely to thrive too … and when everyone thrives, so too does the world. So – in the week ahead, work on your understanding of yourself, and don’t be afraid to jump at opportunities that emerge.
I, meanwhile, am still humming the tunes from ‘High Society’!
PS I am really enjoying curating some webinars for Outstanding Schools – if you are interested in being on a panel, and helping me create some brilliant webinars, do get in touch … and do sign up for the next webinars! Here is the link you need – https://www.outstandingschools.com/ , or contact me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/drhelenwright/
