Growth often comes from adversity. During a recent session, a participant shared the distress caused by poorly handled layoffs at their institution, highlighting the problematic practice of offering personal counselling as a remedy. This raises the question: are we shifting the burden of systemic issues onto individuals? Despite these challenges, I remain hopeful. By focusing on relational workplaces and reconsidering outdated business models, we can create environments that genuinely support well-being.

In our workplaces, the act of gathering is like setting the table for knowledge, understanding, and respect. Gathering, itself, is a “learnable skill” and one to which I think we could pay a bit more attention. Why do we gather? What is the value? How do we make workplace gathering impactful and meaningful when we do get together?

FREE webinar where Gail Markin delves into the importance and impact of cultivating a culture of belonging to support workplace well-being. Gail combines research and stories from the field to show how belonging and connection significantly influence our health, happiness, and success.

Take away actions and ideas to support a culture of belonging for all.

Sometimes with the topic of well-being, it feels like I am entirely responsible for my own well-being and if I am not well, it is some kind of a character flaw or lack of toughness or effort. That is not true, of course, but it feels that way because our traditional support strategies are set up with that assumption. Workplaces provide self-care advice (newsletters, videos, counselling even) to people who are struggling in situations that don’t fall solely into the “self” category but in “other” such as a toxic work environment or “system” such as an unmanageable workload.

In a provocative episode of a Facebook Live and podcast episode, guest co-host Dawne Tomlinson and I dug deeply into the complexities of conflict. Although I always feel energized after recording these conversations, with this episode I was worried that it wasn’t our best offering. It didn’t really feel as energetic and inspiring as it usually does. In the online content creation space, you can’t worry too much about that because live is live after all!

September brings a new school year, but school culture, story and history is developed over time. What if you are a leader of a team where something difficult or potentially traumatic has occurred? If you have left in June with staff not speaking to each other or the crisis response team in the lobby, then embedding well-being into this year is definitely possible but it needs a little bit more attention and intention. How can you keep that freshness and promise of the new school year and embed well-being when you are starting from behind?

September is looming or maybe it is beckoning? Whichever way you are feeling at this moment, heading back to school has an innate sense of freshness and promise that most of us can feel, or at the very least, remember. Summer has provided some time to rest and play and well-being feels possible in this transition space.

How do we keep well-being going through the year and sustain that “start-up” feeling of possibility in our teams?

There is a move to change the words safe space to brave space and many of my respected colleagues have changed to this language for good reasons … I am leaning towards using the term, safer space, and I am hoping you will join me in thinking about this.

Beyond Self Care, episode 182

Moving Beyond Self-Care

Your Role in Promoting Staff Well-Being in Your School

Belonging in the Education Workplace

When School Staff Are Well, Students Are Too - Strategies To Avoid Burnout

Longterm Happiness Depends on This, episode 149

Workplace well-being in the time of COVID-19

The Secret to Health & Happiness, episode 79

When School Staff Are Well, Students Are Too - Strategies To Avoid Burnout