I tell people all the time that on September 27, 2019 (yes, I remember the exact date!), I was sitting with my Challenge Success team in a conference room on the Stanford Campus, and we were asked to share what we did for our version of Playtime, Downtime, and Family Time (PDF) — what brought us joy? 

I only half-listened to everyone on my team sharing because I was contemplating the entire time whether to lie and say something generic or tell the truth—that I don’t engage in any (or extremely limited) PDF in my own life. I was mortified and sad at the same time. I was the principal of an amazing school–a nationally ranked school full of beautiful, stressed-out, anxiety-ridden humans, but as their leader, I saw that I was also part of the problem. I knew as much as our school needed some healthy changes, I also had to lead by example. 

When I got back home I took to some pretty deep reflection and made some pretty drastic changes in my own life – changes that I could be proud of.  

I decided I needed to be less available at work and set some boundaries because I could not engage in PDF if I was always working. I used to wear it like a badge of honor that I was accessible 24 hours a day. That changed. 

I made appointments that benefited my own physical and mental health and treated them as I would a work meeting. Those meetings could not be changed, and it was okay to prioritize being healthy, working out, and being present for my family and friends. 

I prioritized eating foods that made me feel good. 

I eliminated friendships and projects outside of work that were not healthy.

I started taking a day off here and there. I had accumulated over 6 months of paid time off in my 8 years! 

By the time the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, I had created a life I was so happy with and so proud of that not even a pandemic could get me down. I counted the pandemic as a blessing to focus even more on my family, my health and spending time doing meaningful PDF. 

During this time I had also started a book club for students on my campus to talk about a growth mindset and perfectionism. I spoke candidly with students about how even as an adult I still had to work on these things that were difficult for them too. I think it is important as adults that we share with students that we are not perfect and that taking care of ourselves is important too. 

Some times I have to be incredibly intentional about PDF, and other times it comes naturally. Through this re-focusing, I am a healthier leader with more realistic expectations and more empathy for both my faculty and students. I am walking the talk, and I am thankful that Challenge Success was able to show me that, as educators, we still have a lot to learn and that it is important to model the same healthy habits we want our students and families to use.

Dr. Amy Cislak first started working with Challenge Success in 2019 while she was the principal of nationally ranked University High School in Tucson, Arizona. She now leads one of the state’s top high schools, Tanque Verde High School where outstanding relationships, culture, and community are at the forefront of every decision.

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School teams that work with Challenge Success learn to create SPACE so students become more engaged, less stressed, and have a mindset conducive to intrinsic motivation and growth. This systemic approach which looks at: Students’ Schedules, Project-based Curriculum, Authentic Assessment, Climate of Care and Education of all stakeholders within the school community, helps promote engagement, well-being, and students who take pride in their progress and process as learners. 

Are school leaders, those facilitating these system-wide efforts, attending to their own well-being and long term sustainable success? Speaking from personal experience and listening to stories from others in leadership positions, it seems that leaders, too, need some SPACE — resources in terms of practices, tools, and networks of support to stay centered, present, and resilient amidst busy schedules, competing demands of multiple stakeholders, and externally imposed standards of success.  

Perhaps the following model of SPACE, adapted from the framework developed by Challenge Success, can provide a map so school leaders can best address their own personal effectiveness and well-being, and so they can in turn, best attend to all others they serve. Creating SPACE for leaders consists of: cultivating inner resources and Strengths, mindful Pacing, Accountability to one’s own declared values and standards of success, tending to a Culture of collaboration and support, and Education that feeds the body, mind and hearts of all involved. 

Take a quick personal inventory to see if you are providing yourself with the SPACE necessary to be as balanced, poised, resilient, inspired, and effective as you would like to be, and as the rigors of your job requires. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Strengths: Are you cultivating your inner resources in ways that enhance your leadership presence, sense of relaxation under pressure, and resilience? As psychologist/brain researcher Rick Hansen says, it is about having “the supplies in your pack as you make your way down the twisting and often hard road of life…as stable traits and enduring sources of well-being, wise, effective action, and contributions to others.” Having a centering practice has been essential to my well-being, resilience, and success. Centering includes: physical embodiment of an upright, open, dignified and receptive posture and state of being; setting positive intent in alignment with one’s purpose and values; reflecting on previous positive experiences of connection, courage, resilience and joy. 

Pacing: Do you mindfully schedule conversations, meetings, professional development throughout the day, week and year? Do you find opportunities to take “sacred pauses” and use time wisely to maximize your energy and performance? 

Accountability: Have you articulated for yourself meaningful measures of success, and have you been faithful to your own values? In the classic business book Great by Choice, Jim Collins uses the metaphor of a “20 mile march” (a way to hike across the country by consistently walking 20 miles per day) to portray the process of setting shorter tangible benchmark goals to keep us focused, moving forward and on track with regard to our broader vision of student success, even in the midst of confusion and uncertainty. It is easier to find evidence of smaller accomplishments, great efforts and noble attempts — bright spots that can be acknowledged and celebrated and which gives us momentum for larger-scale successes.

Brené Brown challenges us to narrow our core values to a set of two, then identify concrete behaviors aligned with these values and live by them. At the end of each day, can we look in the mirror and say to ourselves, “I have listened well, I had the courage to speak my truth in the most compassionate way possible?”

Culture of Collaboration: What are your declared aspirations, operational norms, and protocols that best align with your vision, values, and actions? This sets the context for others to partake on their own leadership journeys, and to collaborate in a spirit of mutual respect, to take risks, be accepting, forgiving and supportive of one another.

Education: What meaningful professional development opportunities do we design for self, staff, and parents that promote resilience and well-being, and engage the community in themes mentioned above?

As a martial artist (Aikido) for forty years, educator for 35, administrator for 20 and Challenge Success “associate” for 15, I know how hard it is to remain open, vulnerable and courageous; to remember we are not alone in our stories of accomplishment, setback, and sometimes even failure; and to remain faithful to our values and calling. Let’s take the SPACE for ourselves, and in doing so, be best equipped to serve others.

Alan Vann Gardner, Ed.D. currently serves as Principal of Apple Blossom School in Sonoma County. He has worked in both public and independent schools as a teacher, principal, and superintendent for over thirty years. While principal at Del Mar Middle School, Alan collaborated with Challenge Success for ten years, leading his teams through systemic change efforts resulting in portfolio assessment and new grading practices, changes to student recognition and scheduling, and inclusion of mindfulness and restorative practices within advisory, PE and leadership programs. He is also a senior practitioner and teacher of aikido, a non-violent martial art whose principles are readily applied to leadership, team development and conflict resolution.

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