Jun 22

How to leave school again … and again … and again …

I have been reflecting a lot recently on what it means to leave school – that moment of transition from being a school student to not being a school student, leaving behind 13+ years of formal schooling mandated by the state, and facing up to a future of possibilities, choices and responsibilities. These reflections have been particularly prompted by two events – a speech I am due to give (virtually) at the end of next week at Wisbech Grammar School, at which I will be speaking to the Year 13 leavers, and the fact that my son has just left school himself, which sparked a wave of emotions in me which I have been trying to unravel. (You may recall that I wrote about him a year ago, when he Did A Run Every Day (DARED) in June 2020, mid-lockdown, in aid of CIRCLE, supporting families in Scotland, and I was incredibly proud of his achievement in running and raising money; he is doing this again this year, and I’d love you (just because you can!) to follow his progress and share in my pride – he has posted all of his runs, and stuck relentlessly to a schedule despite having exams and a range of other commitments. Here is the link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/harry-wright14 – and if you can contribute even just a little, I promise it will go to a good cause! NB You may also recall from last year that I can quite safely write about my son online without him knowing, because although I seek to communicate meaningful thoughts to the wider world through my blog, as far as he is concerned, I am just his mother, so why would he follow me? 😊

Anyway, back to my musings about leaving school … Leaving school is often regarded as a momentous occasion – and in many respects it absolutely is, because it marks a visible step change in life. Come August or September, the students who are now ‘leavers’ will not have a timetable to follow at their (former) school; they will no longer be on the school roll, and their erstwhile teachers will be busy stretching the minds of others. Much, too, can be attributed to this moment of leaving school – a sense of ‘freedom’, perhaps, or a ‘coming of age’ moment, of going ‘out into the ‘real’ world’. I quite like momentous occasions … they are great opportunities to pause and celebrate achievement, although I recognise (from the perspective of an educator and parent) that one of the main reasons that I like them so much is that they provide a platform to be able to articulate inspirational thoughts that look forward, drawing on the best of the past to weave into a stronger, better etc future. Now that I think about it, celebrating leaving school feels like a bit of a (good) excuse to help shape the future of the world …

This celebration of leaving school is also, very importantly, about acknowledging the past, and particularly the past of our time as a child, and I have learned very powerfully in my work as an executive coach just how important it is to recognise, engage with and make peace with this past, every moment of which has helped to shape our personal identity. School is a massive part of the childhood past of everyone; for school leavers, proportionate to their entire life, this is even more so the case. School is not synonymous with childhood, but they are often inextricably interwoven in our past. Leaving school is to some extent a symbol of moving from childhood to adulthood, and it is worth reflecting on this. Moreover, the past has happened, while the future has yet to happen; the past is known, while the future is not … taking time to reflect on our memories what is behind us can be a rich and grounding source of inspiration for the future … and there again is that sense of ‘looking backwards to look forwards’. Amidst all the uncertainties we face in the world, the certainty of time tells us that we will, inexorably, move forward, second by second, day by day, year by year. Our time on this planet is limited … and everything I have learned over the past few decades has certainly taught me that we have it within ourselves to make the most of this time, for our own sake and for the sake of others in the wider world which we all share. With this in mind, it is absolutely right that we should take the opportunity – any opportunity – to pause, note the past, honour the past, and use our learnings from the past to help galvanise us as we move into the future.  

Now … here is the interesting thought that is brewing in my mind … Leaving school is not in fact as clear cut as we may think, no matter how much we seek to mark it with a ‘passing out’ ceremony of some kind – leavers’ lunch, speech day, or similar. There is of course the moment at which the school student steps over the threshold of the school boundary, and thinks ‘I’m not going back’ … but the chances are that this school student will actually go back into the building anyway at some point in the future, either to drop off study materials, or to visit a teacher, or to pick up siblings on the school run. Anyway, that moment is essentially a private moment, which may in fact be overlooked in the whirl of other things happening, or if it happens in mid-conversation. In celebrating ‘leaving school’, we are in any case creating an artificial construct in time; we are choosing to pause and reflect, and to look forward. Moreover, arguably, school never actually leaves us… our learnings from school – informal or formal, pleasant or painful – remain lodged in our minds and shape us daily. I know I invite this kind of conversation because of my profession, but I can’t think of a single person I have ever met who has not at some point in our relationship used the words ‘At my school’, or ‘when I was at school’, or similar. School never leaves us; do we, perhaps, then never leave school?

If so, then what a wonderful opportunity we have! With a stretch of our phenomenal human imaginations, we could conceivably conduct the equivalent of school leaving ceremonies as often as we like! They may be more low-key, and involve fewer people (if any …), but this would not prevent them from being momentous. We could choose – as often as we like – to pause, celebrate what has gone before us reflect on what has gone before us, and then, determinedly, turn our thinking to help shape the future. We could, indeed, ‘leave school’ again, and again, and again ..

If you are a school leaver this year, enjoy your school leaving ceremonies, and see them as a model for many more in the future. Appreciate and enjoy …

Now, I really must get back to writing that speech …

Jun 07

Avoiding complacency in the application of Growth Mindset

I really enjoyed speaking to an assembled global audience of actuaries last Friday, when I delivered a lecture on how research into Growth Mindset, coupled with research into how students learn effectively, can support the actuarial profession as it tackles the current and future issues for which it has immense responsibility. I have found it extremely stimulating to contribute ideas, thoughts and insights to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in a lay, non-executive capacity over the past 3 years; I have met (and continue to meet) so many interesting people, and the panel which followed my lecture on Friday was no exception: thank you to IFoA President Tan Suee Chieh, former IFoA President Nick Salter, and IFoA Council Members Kalpana Shah and Keith Jennings, for their remarks, views, and shared sense of challenge and possibility for the future!

The concept of Growth Mindset is simple – so simple, in fact, that its power can sometimes be underestimated. It is not ‘pseudo’ or ‘pop’ science – it is underpinned by reams of research conducted over the years by Professor Carol Dweck and her team – and its premise is that intelligence is not static (or something that we are just ‘born with’), but that it can be developed through effort. A fixed mindset – which is often encouraged, unwittingly, in young people and adults who do well in passing exams, because they receive praise for being ‘smart’, or for having ‘done a good job’ – can lead to a reluctance on the part of these young people and adults to take risks, to be entrepreneurial, and to stretch the bounds of possibility in their thinking and experimentation. And the one thing we do know about our world and its future – the one certain thing in a world of uncertainty – is that we need flexible, adaptable, experimentational thinkers and do-ers if we are to confront and solve – increasingly urgently – the global problems we all face. A Growth Mindset is needed now more than ever. 

The concept is so straightforward, however, that it is easy to fall into the trap of complacency. ‘I enjoy learning, therefore I must have a Growth Mindset’, I can hear you say … and the response to this is, of course, that a predisposition to enjoying learning is great, and to be welcomed. Amongst other challenges I set the IFoA and the wider profession on Friday, however, was the challenge to reflect on their own perceptions of themselves as successful professionals. I pointed out that if we still harbour the notion that we have been successful largely because we were born smart, then our growth mindset is not as strong as it could be. Similarly – and many women fall into this category, still – if we are harbouring a lack of confidence because we think we have ‘only’ done well because we worked hard, then we are not valuing the growth mindset which has in fact driven us; if we don’t value it, we won’t exploit it to maximum effect.

It is very easy to slip into the trap of a fixed mindset, and so we must catch ourselves – and catch others, challenging them when we see examples of a fixed mindset creeping in. Moreover, we need to change our language: as followers of Carol Dweck’s work will know, she talks and writes much about the power of the word ‘yet’, and how by adding this word to our sentences about achievement or progress, we can transform our relationship with the situation we are describing … ‘we haven’t been able to do this … yet’, or ‘it isn’t possible … yet’.

So … here is a challenge for you (whether actuary or not) … make a conscious effort to add the word ‘yet’ to as many statements and sentences as possible over the next week. Note how this changes your perception of the context, and note how it almost immediately opens a figurative door in your brain to a series of possibilities, for which you can now start planning. Enjoy the surge of potential, and the ideas that unfold; and resolve not to rest on your laurels – which, as you now realise, could perhaps be a precursor to you teetering on the brink of sliding into the complacency which you – quite rightly – might wish to avoid.

As Muhammed Ali once said, “Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare.”

Enjoy daring to grow …

May 10

How to learn to be a better Board member

One of the hidden elements of really good courses run by professional educators is the expertise, careful consideration and detailed planning that goes into ensuring that the course has really impactful outcomes for its participants. This means that the course needs to be designed in such a way and to set up the learners (for that is who they are) really to absorb the learning effectively, and then to be able to translate this learning into action. The facilitation of learning is an art – a real craft, in fact – and yet all too often not nearly enough attention is paid to the HOW of the learning, not just the WHAT (which is why so many online courses, if I were being uncharitable, are quite frankly a bit rubbish!).

So let me lift the curtain just a smidgeon on some of the planning that has gone into ensuring that the #betterboards course for Board members in international schools, which Matthew Savage and I are running again soon, starting on Monday 17 May …

First, we thought about Board members and their availability (or lack thereof) – we wanted to set up the learning environment so that the information is routed to the pre-frontal cortex rather than the limbic or automatic brain. To reduce the stress which might make this latter (and less desirable) destination more likely, we therefore organised the course so it could be accessed at any time online, to meet the preferences of busy people who will undoubtedly have different preferences about when they learn and think best. We also designed the course so that lessons are only released at certain points, to avoid overload or a sense of overwhelm of information.

Then we thought about how to make the content really engaging, and so we planned short bite-size pieces of input, including videos, online links, written instructions which are clear and reassuring, and other interactive activities – including, very importantly, the ability to meet and interact with other learners through the forums, building a network in a very structured manner, as the participants are responding to specific questions, to help guide some of this interaction.

As part of our careful design for effective learning, we also thought about how we could ensure relevance and real-time engagement with the participants’ schools, in a non-invasive, non-demanding but still purposeful and useful way. And so we built that in too. Of course, the content is all excellent as well – we know our stuff.

Sign up now

One thing, though, learning only works if learners turn up … we’ve made it as straightforward as possible for you, so if you or a Board Member you know wants to find out about how to create #betterboards, come and join us.

Spoiler alert for those of you who are coming to hear us speak at the annual COBIS conference on Tuesday about #betterboards … but here is one of our final slides, explaining how much the Board members who attended our last course benefited from the experience.

See you there …

Apr 26

Why learning for the sake of learning is transformational

I spent half an hour the other day learning about aphids. Did you know that there are 500 species of aphid in the UK alone? And that colonies of aphids often consist of females only, who give birth to live young who develop from eggs which are simply clones of the mother? And that they will often only develop wings if they need them – to move to another plant, for example, because their plant has become overcrowded? It was a really, really busy day, so I did not just happen to fall into this learning because I was bored, or just surfing the net. Nor did I have a practical reason for this learning, although it was prompted by an ‘I wonder why …’ question that in turn had been prompted by watching greenfly on my chilli plants a few days before. No – I chose to stop what I was doing, and to spend half an hour learning about aphids because I was putting into practice something that I believe is important, namely learning … and learning for the sake of learning, because learning itself is of fundamental significance in our journey as human beings.

As is often the way, I was reminded of this importance of learning for the sake of it through a number of different conversations I had last week with people in my professional network. I spent a fair bit of last week in interviews for the new Head of Mentoring and Operations at Light Up Learning, one of the Edinburgh-based organisations I chair, and one of the questions my co-interviewer (and Founder of the charity) asked each of the shortlisted candidates was how they would use LUL time – the dedicated (paid) time which each employee is given each month to learn about something they love. (Our premise is that we want employees who can live the love of learning which they are helping young people develop.) I also had another conversation last week with the MD of Mark My Papers, whose Advisory Board I chair, and who was passionate, as ever, about the value of examinations for young people, in developing a rigour in their learning – a rigour which risks being undermined as schools, parents or the students themselves chase a grade rather than the knowledge which should really underpin any grade (a particular problem this year, again, with Centre Assessed Grades). I appreciate that there is a risk of surrounding oneself in an echo chamber of ideas – one of the pitfalls of today’s uber-connected world – but it really did seem to me that these were timely conversations, and that I needed to prioritise my own learning, in amongst the hubbub of my other work.

And what did I gain from learning about aphids … well, in addition to the insights I acquired, I noted an increase in my creativity for the rest of the day, as I found sparky solutions to knotty problems, inspired as I was by thinking about the world from a different perspective. I also felt my mind was sharper, and my wellbeing was enhanced by having become absorbed in something other than my regular activities. I also had an enormous sense of satisfaction from having added to my knowledge of the world. I also have a far greater respect for greenfly.

Learning for the sake of it … the question is not ‘why?’, but ‘why on earth not?’ What will you spend your LUL time on today …?

Apr 12

The Pattern Seekers – insights into how different brain structures have saved humanity

If you are looking for a well-referenced, very readable and intriguing but satisfying book which explores why difference in human brains is of value in our development as human beings, then you should read ‘The Pattern Seekers’, by Simon Baron Cohen. It was recommended to me by a very good friend a couple of months ago, but it took me until last weekend to read it … in fact, it only took a few hours, although it would have taken me a lot longer, had I followed up all the notes – many hours of reading and pursuing the topic remain, should I so wish!

The main premise of the book is that human beings have evolved, uniquely amongst other living species, to have systematising as well as empathising functions, and that we possess these in different degrees, probably passed on through our genes, to the extent that there exist now both hyper-empathisers and hyper-systematisers. These latter people – the pattern-seekers – who have a higher number of autistic traits than other human beings, and who are often underappreciated by society, are, the author argues, inordinately responsible for human inventions and technical progress. ‘If we want to nurture the inventors of the future … we are more likely to find them among autistic people, and among those who have a high number of autistic traits because they are hyper-systemizers, than among the general population’ (p.136).

‘Neurodiversity is simply a fact, just like biodiversity is a fact’, he writes on page 137, and uses the rest of the book to set out structures that would better support and enable autistic people in their life and work. ‘The Pattern Seekers’ does not answer every question one might have about the autistic, pattern-seeking brain; in fact, as many good theses do, it poses instead many more questions about how we translate this into steps forward. What I liked particularly, however was what it dares to promise, as it gives a glimpse into a future where we all genuinely appreciate and value difference.

As he says in his final words, however, this is up to us.

Mar 29

The importance of discipline in a successful life

I spent a glorious hour last week tuning into a live talk with the author Alexander McCall Smith, hosted by the Caledonian Club in London, but of course all on Zoom (which made it much more accessible, if less social). Anyway, he was, as ever, a delightful speaker – entertaining, modest, self-deprecating, intelligent, with a wealth of experience in life and work behind him. He is also (as his fans will know, and very much appreciate) a prodigious writer, and he was very clear in his talk about how he achieved this – through discipline and focus. He has a system – a certain number of words a day minimum, and a certain time of day when he writes – and if he does not follow this structure, he feels discombobulated … and he knows that he does not produce what his publishers, his audience, the world at large – and he – desire and need from him. Without Alexander McCall Smith’s self-discipline, the literary world would be a far less rich and interesting place.

This is a tale I have heard told multiple times over the years by authors speaking at the International Edinburgh Book Festival about their success and how they achieved it. I have also heard it from successful entrepreneurs, from professional sportspeople, from senior leaders in schools … from everyone, in fact, who has ever been successful at anything. Setting your mind to something, with rigour and focus, and sticking to it, finding ways to make it a part of your daily existence, is – it is probably fair to say – a necessity if you want to self-develop. This isn’t a novel idea – Aristotle pretty much had it nailed, in fact, when he wrote back in the 3rd century BC that ‘through discipline comes freedom’.

So what stops us? Perhaps it is the fear of what ‘rigour’ or ‘focus’ might mean in practice? Or the fear of change, of something different? Or perhaps we have tried before and ended up not quite achieving what we wanted to? My simple advice would be – quite simply – bin all of these thoughts, as they aren’t serving you well. You can’t change the past (although you can change how you think about it); you can, though, change the future, so do. Just take any inhibiting thoughts by the scruff of the neck, acknowledge anything they may have helped you with in the past, and then just put them firmly and definitively on the side of the path you are planning to follow. You need never be alone in this pursuit of a goal – choose your companions, guides and coaches, and you will set yourself up to succeed … and enjoy doing so. If you are looking for a modern, straight-talking guide to developing self-discipline, with exercises to help you, then I recommend Willpower by the fabulous Ros Taylor, executive coach and businesswoman extraordinaire. One of her key recommendations is to remember that the self-discipline or willpower required to fulfil your goals is a mindset: “Willpower is limitless, but remember: acquiring a willpower mindset is a journey, not a leap.”

So – take heart and have courage on this journey, and above all embrace it. Discipline … the key to success. Enjoy!

Mar 15

The global power of language learning

I loved reading this article in The Guardian last week about a ‘video pal’ scheme instigated by the University of Warwick during the pandemic and consequent lockdowns; designed to support university students in developing their French language skills despite being unable to travel, it started with 5 students and now has almost 7,000 enrolled, and it has clearly had a huge number of additional benefits for all those concerned, not least in helping older (and sometimes lonely) citizens feel connected. Learning, communication, connection … what is there not to like in this scheme?

Indeed, reading this Guardian article helped me to overcome my slight irritation at reading an article the previous week in The Spectator, where the author – well-respected and eminent in his field – effectively communicated that learning languages wasn’t really worth the hassle for a native English speaker. I do him a slight disservice; he made a very good point about ‘hidden asymmetries’, by which (as he explains) he means that what works in one direction might not work as well in the other – a Swede often has more powerful pragmatic reasons to learn English than a native English speaker might have to learn Swedish.

The author gives himself away, however, with the phrase ‘Much as I would like to learn Italian…’; while learning Italian might not offer him some financial or practical advantage, he has (wittingly or unwittingly) touched on the core value of language learning – that of human connection and exploration. Every language in the world is a gateway not just to transaction, but to an understanding and a deep appreciation of the different perspective on the world offered by a particular swathe or sliver of humanity who have experienced the world through a different lens, in the past and in the present (and, of course, in the future – a future which entices us, if we seek to share in this development together). Often this lens is similar to our own, although it is never the same; often, though, this lens is very different, and can be both – in equal measure – exciting and challenging to embrace.

We all know that the future of the world depends on co-operation across cultures, and on humans understanding one another, in order to work together more seamlessly. Fundamentally, however, this understanding will not just appear if we do not take responsibility for working to connect with one another, and to understand one another. Language is an easy first step – no-one is expecting fluency or native capacity from language learning, but I am more convinced than ever that every little step towards learning a language really, really counts in our progress as a world. This powers me in my advisory capacity to the lovely team of passionate educators at Dragons Teaching, just as it does with my own children, who I continue to encourage to learn language. And in case you were wondering, I learn some new language every day, too … my personal contribution to the global project.

So – learn some new words in another language today. Take every opportunity to extend your understanding of the human race. You will be helping to ensure the future of the world.

Mar 01

Dusting down and revamping your Board Strategic Plan – 3 easy steps

I wonder … how relevant is your current Board Strategic Plan? You may, of course, have a sparkling, succinct, highly relevant Strategic Plan, which has adapted to the challenges of the last year, and which sets out clearly your goals for the next few years, as well a roadmap and timetable for how you are going to achieve them – a Plan which is owned and known by all your stakeholders, who feel just as enthusiastic as you, and who are highly motivated to turn your collaboratively-sourced ideas into reality … if so, please don’t feel any need to read further. In fact, definitely stop reading now – you might become overwhelmed by your complacency, and that probably isn’t good for your health.

If, on the other hand, you have a nagging and lingering worry that your Strategic Plan is not quite up to scratch … in fact, where did you put it? Did you ever actually have a proper plan? … then now is the time to grasp the nettle and do something about it. I write having just participated in an uplifting and energising Strategy session with one of the charity boards I chair (watch out for the photos on Twitter!), and I wanted to communicate more broadly my key learnings, to support others in their quest to ensure that their organisations are well set up strategically for the next few years. So – here is my 3 step guide to creating a new Strategic Plan …  

Step 1: give yourselves a break

If you don’t have a really good strategic plan, don’t fret. It is what it is; there is no point wasting time or energy in regret or blame. We are often being reminded that these past 12 months have been the most turbulent in the history of humanity since WWII; I think this should be enough to allow yourselves to give yourselves a break. You are where you are as an organisation; don’t look back – only look forward, and think about what you would really like from your Strategic Plan.

Step 2: set a date, and then plan for it

A date in the diary is a marvellous stimulation for action. Work out when you think you can all get together, ideally avoiding evenings, when you are more likely to be depleted of ideas at the end of a long work day. If it has to be a couple of hours at the weekend, so be it – this is not something you will make a regular event, and if this is what it takes to get you all together and focused, do it. Once you have a date, plan for it – and, in this planning, start where you are. The shelves of bookshops groan with the weight of ‘how to’ business books, each of which will set out its own approach to strategic planning; only you as an organisation know where you need to start, however, and what will be of most use to you. Do you need to revisit your old Strategic Objectives and update them? Or do you need to re-evaluate where you are headed as an organisation, and what you want to achieve? Perhaps you have had a number of new Board members and you need to re-establish what your organisation does (and could or should do)? In any case, plan carefully, make sure someone (typically the Chair, but not necessarily) leads it, and that everyone has plenty of time in advance to prepare their own thoughts to bring with them to the meeting.

Step 3: remember that the plan is only a beginning

‘Aye, there’s the rub’ … in fact, your Strategic planning meeting almost certainly will only be a beginning. There is a very simple reason for this – like governance (about which I have written extensively in the past), strategic planning is not actually something which can be ‘achieved’ or ‘completed’; it is a constant process – of checking, nurturing, re-evaluating, adapting … and yes, this is so much easier to do when you have some clear objectives in writing, which you can use as a base point. Do not imagine, however, that the creation of a written plan will happen after a single brainstorming session; and even if it did, if you are doing your job properly as Board members, you should be looking at this plan regularly, asking how it is progressing, and making sure that it is still relevant. Static plans are – I might argue! – artificial constructs. Admittedly, they make it easier for reporting mechanisms to function; in an agile, nimble organisation which seeks to make change happen in an increasingly fast-moving world, it is a fair bet that you are going to have to keep looking at and re-evaluating your strategic plan, while not losing sight of the central aims of your organisation, and while creating a stable enough environment for your executive team. Whoever said that the work of a Board member was easy?!

Anyway, the essential message of this article is that you can do it. Start with Step 1 today …

Dr Helen Wright is a Board Chair, Education Advisor and Executive Leadership coach. She currently chairs 4 Boards and regularly advises Boards and Board members about best practice in Boards, focusing on pragmatic and effective solutions.

Feb 15

In praise of low self-esteem …

I am currently adding another tool to my executive leadership coaching toolbox by training to deliver the Thomas International TEIQue test, which measures traits underpinning emotional intelligence. As with all psychometric tests, this test uses a series of questions to capture insights into ourselves, which we can use to articulate and understand ourselves; in many cases, I find, this process can be not only revelatory but transformational – and certainly I see this time and again when I use one of my most favourite tests ever, the Thomas International PPA (Personal Profile Analysis), which explores work behaviours and preferences, based on the long-established DISC assessment. Delving into the indicators which emerge from these tests can take leaders on a journey deep into themselves, and can help them explain, ‘own’ and challenge their own behaviours, as well as often understanding better – and forgiving! – the behaviours of their colleagues. If one of our overarching aims in this world is to improve human relationships, then psychometric tests – well handled, and built on appropriately through coaching – go a long way towards this goal.

Anyway, as part of my initiation and training, I had a really good conversation the other day with a qualified TEIQue practitioner, to start looking in detail at the test.  Based on K. V. Petrides’ 1998 trait emotional intelligence theory, and registered with the British Psychological Society, as it has been audited against the technical criteria established by the European Standing Committee on Tests and Testing, the TEIQue explores 17 facets of emotional intelligence, and compares them to a representative group of the working population to establish where individuals place themselves in comparison with others – in which percentile, in other words, do they find themselves? This could, if you were not careful, lead to inappropriate interpretations of the scores, if we assume that ‘low’ equates to ‘bad’, because everything depends on context; after all, as one of the training materials pointed out, someone in a job such as an auditor who scored high on ‘optimism’, and who therefore assumed the best future intentions in everything, might not actually be very good at their job.

In the course of the conversation with this qualified practitioner, we also explored the concept of ‘self-esteem’, because again we are so used to being told in our society that low self-esteem is undesirable, and we should all be working on raising our self-esteem. This drive towards higher self-esteem can, I have noticed over the years, have a number of unintended consequences, because – if we define self-esteem as a trait – then in fact it is not very likely to change over time, and while it may be more comfortable and indeed more pleasant for individuals if they have higher rather than lower self-esteem, I am reminded of a conversation with a rather cross teenage girl a number of years ago, who said she was fed up of always being told that she needed to improve her self-esteem … she saw the world in a certain way, she was perfectly fine with this, and if her teachers kept going on about this self-esteem business, it was just going to make her feel inadequate and worse, so could they please just stop! She had a very good point.

Moreover, I have realised in the course of my training so far that many of the most successful sportspeople and other high achievers often have low self-esteem. We often say ‘suffer from’ low self-esteem, and yes – such high achievers do suffer to some degree, because it is not always easy to feel that you are less good than others, especially when, objectively, you aren’t less good, and could even be considerably better. When this turns into a downwards spiral of choosing not to engage with the wider world, and not to make the most of what the world has to offer, then – yes – it is harmful, and it is worth having interventions from trusted adults – parents, teachers, and so on. But when this low self-esteem turns into a driver, a desire to do better, to push the boundaries, to prove oneself … well, is it actually that bad? And couldn’t it actually be a good thing? Look what can happen when people are driven to practise, practise, practise in order to improve …

So – a few words in praise of low self-esteem. If you have it, flaunt it … And certainly embrace it as your friend. You are the best, most unique, special version of you there ever has been or ever will be, after all. Enjoy your low self-esteem as part of the whole ‘you’.

Feb 01

“Diversity is not an absolute”

I have had such fun this past week! Genuinely! My kind of fun, just to be clear, involves engaging in uplifting dialogue with potential change-makers, with a view to making the world a better place; when I do, in whatever format this is, I come away energised, determined, positive, optimistic … what is not to like in that?! Last week was the first week of the online course Matthew Savage and I are running for international school board members across the world, and the way this course works is that course materials and videos are released every week for 5 weeks, and in the interim we turn to dedicated forums where participants comment on what they have seen, share their experiences and swap ideas; Matthew and I engage in the forums too, and pose additional questions as well as contributing to our experiences too. What is emerging already is a rich resource of ideas, and what we hope for the participants is that they will have been able to reflect on their own practice, and that of their boards, and will be spurred on to take action.

One of the two key themes of last week was diversity on boards and it was a pleasure to tussle again with what diversity actually means. I would like to think that the case for the importance of diversity on boards was well made by now (I recognise that this might be optimistic), but I have noticed time and again that people’s understanding of diversity can vary in its depth. At its shallowest, diversity becomes a tickbox exercise – ie ‘we need to be seen to look or sound a little different, so let’s find some token different people and be seen to be thinking seriously about their inclusion’; and sometimes, the ‘protected characteristics’ which we are now used to, certainly in the UK, can feed this. If we are seen to look for people who are ‘different’, and can satisfy ourselves that we have been open and honest in doing so, then we feel that we are valuing diversity, and our embracing of diversity can effectively stop there.

The question, of course, is … who do we think these people are ‘different’ from? Do we mean ‘different from us’? In which case, are we harbouring a sense of bringing difference into the equation of our board simply as an add-on to a ‘normal’ core …? Gosh. What does that say about our sense of entitlement? Our sense of being ‘right’? At its deepest, though, I believe, an appreciation of diversity is a fundamental appreciation of collective, shared difference – you and I together create wonderful difference simply by talking together, sharing together … and in doing so, each of us is able to gain glimpses into other understandings and views of the world which enrich and enhance our own. In a board context, this leads us to gain a wider, deeper perspective – and therefore to make better decisions. And what is there not to like in making better, more grounded, more informed decisions?! If we could put our effort, therefore, into practising listening to others, and seeing the world through others’ eyes, taking time to find out what this experience is like, then we might have a better sense of being different together. And that difference will itself differ according to who is around the table, because every grouping of human beings is a unique body of people. Diversity is not an absolute; it is, as the word itself suggests, gloriously diverse.

In tackling our understanding of diversity, and in really, truly embracing it as a shared construct, we have to tackle our expectations of others – our unconscious bias – because this gets in the way of us being open to diverse thinking. I was in a meeting just the other day where I made a profound point that came out of left field (I like left field thinking)– and I know it was profound, because it caused people to stop, think and discuss it, and then to note down that this really should be thought about further. Then the Chair drew the discussion to a close by thanking a man (who had made a couple of supportive comments) for raising the issue; it was obviously easier for the Chair to forget that I had raised it than to assume that the eminent man in the (Zoom) room might have raised it. This is still not unusual, I find. Sigh. Bottom line – if a kind, thoughtful Chair who I would regard as largely open to change can make such a mistake, we have a long way to go. (I don’t intend to demonise him or others – just to highlight that we have a lot of work to do).

So, such fun awaits us all if we engage in thinking about diversity! I do believe that if we all took even a tiny little step each day in our journey towards appreciating the diversity we create by joining together with others, then the world could be a vastly better place … and certainly, so could Boards. Our #betterboards course is only for Board members of international schools (although we hope to launch a course for UK schools later in the year); if you are involved in an international school, and would like to join us, then registrations are open for the next course which starts on Monday 19 April – do pass on this link to anyone who might benefit from it.  https://www.lsceducation.com/betterboards-online-course-for-international-school-board-members/

And in the meantime, enjoy creating difference!