Leadership Matters August 2014

Secret to serving others: Taking care of self

It was my first week as a superintendent and I was still working in my school office around midnight. I was startled by a knock on the window behind me. I turned quickly to see the face of the district’s school board president staring at me. I motioned for him to go to the front door and I let him in the office. He was an elderly farmer who no longer had children in the school system but who was a very active school and community civic person. He told me to go home and he gave me sage advice: “No one will put on your gravestone that you were working at midnight.”

Dr. Richard Voltz IASA Professional Development

cleanse itself of conflicting thoughts and solutions and helps one focus on the real issues at hand. Obviously, family conflicts occur due to the many hours worked by school administrators. These conflicts are sometimes harder to solve. It took me

As I enter the twilight of my career I am able to reflect on both past successes and failures. Earlier in my administrative career I remember “elder” school administrators telling me to calm down because this crisis (you could insert any major problem school administrators have in this space) will soon pass. Of course, as a young, energetic and passionate school administrator I felt the need to solve the crisis now . That board president was wise. I doubt if anyone at our visitation will discuss or remember the solution to the “crisis” we solved. My bet is that family, faith, friends and good times will more be the reflections that are shared. That brings me to the subject of this article: “Taking Care of Self.” The message for those of us who are so consumed with our jobs is that if we do not take time to take proper care of self we will not be able to serve others – and that visitation mentioned above might come sooner than expected. Educators spend an enormous amount of time doing their work if they do it well. During my administrative career I spent three to four nights per week at school activities, board meetings and community affairs, plus hours working in my home office for the school district. As many of you know, I am an avid exerciser and I run at least three miles almost every day. I also lift weights two to three times a week and for the last several years I play or practice golf at every opportunity. Many ask me when I find time to exercise. I learned early in my career that the best time to exercise is early in the morning. If I wait to exercise in the evening it seems like something always gets in the way and school administrators have to attend many night activities. The job of being a school administrator can be very stressful and exercise is a great way to alleviate stress. It burns the unwanted calories from poor eating habits due to snacks at meetings or a rushed fast food lunch. Exercise also allows the body to

Dr. Richard Voltz practices what he preaches as he runs in the ‘Super’ 5K at last year’s IASA Annual Conference

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