After many hours speaking with school executive managers I’ve noticed the following as trends in the biggest problems they face.
Almost half the people I worked with have a tendency called ‘Obliger Tendency’.
This is really interesting. The book “The Four Tendencies” by Gretchen Rubin outlines what it means to be an ‘Obliger’.
In a nutshell, you basically put everyone’s needs first, and if you’ve got any time left over you’ll tend to something that is for you.
This makes ‘obligers’ really good employees and often good at running and organising things but over time they suffer from overload and burnout. This is due to a reluctance to set boundaries.
A “crunch time” follows where things aren’t making sense, they feel burnt out and unmotivated. They’re not able to see a solution because they’re unaware of what’s going on. That it’s up to them to get control back over their time by setting some boundaries, by ‘pushing back’.
I found “The Four Tendencies” an extremely helpful framework, particularly for people that are struggling to get into good habits. The habits required to look after themselves as well as lead a hectic lifestyle that comes with having a demanding role like being a part of an executive team running a school. There are lots of demands, lots of changes and often your schedule is impacted by unexpected events.
If you’d like to know more about obliger tendency and what to do if you if that is your natural tenancy, please get in touch. I’m happy to share what I know.
