Independent Education Autumn 2021

62 Independent Education • Autumn 21 Why emotional agility matters now more than ever BY MARION MACKINNON A t St Benedict’s Junior Preparatory School (part of St Benedict’s College) in Bedfordview in Johannesburg, Gauteng, one of the many phenomena truly testing us at the moment, is our ability to deal with the emotional turmoil brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen the impact on our school leadership teams, staff, pupils, and parents. It has become more important than ever to find ways to be effective with our response to these emotions, while staying true to the unique values that define our school. If there is a time to become more emotionally agile, it is now, while the ground is shifting under our feet. Establishing clear principles has become more critical. The term ‘emotional agility’ was first coined by Susan David and Christina Congleton in a ‘Harvard Business Review’, edition 1 and has been defined as ‘Approaching one’s inner experiences mindfully and productively’. According to Susan David, 2 in her book, Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life, 3 the way we navigate our inner world – our everyday thoughts and emotions – is the single most important determinant of our life successes, because this is what drives our actions and relationships. We must learn about these drivers and be flexible with our thoughts and feelings so that we can respond optimally to unexpected situations. Instead of allowing our emotions to control us, the idea is that we acknowledge them and process them as data. By creating a pause, we can step back and take a view from above. This broadens our perspective, so that we can use the data to make choices in line with our values, rather than let our emotions derail us. A powerful strategy Because this approach is grounded in connecting with our values, it is a powerful strategy to incorporate into our schools. School leaders are called upon to enrich the well- being of their community and make decisions that align with its ethos, so staying true to our values is critical for navigating through stressful situations. This is particularly important at this time when teachers, parents and pupils are being confronted with a spectrum of emotions; their sense of fear and anxiety is being heightened with the spread of the virus and stories on social media. David offers the following steps to cultivate emotional agility: 1. ‘Showing up to your emotions’ requires us to face our thoughts and feelings. Instead of pushing them aside or allowing them to control us, we accept them and see them as data, creating a space between the emotion and ourselves. 2. ‘Stepping out’, means detaching ourselves from the emotion. We need to label the emotion accurately and be curious about it. Only then can we ask ourselves why we feel that way and what the emotion is telling us. This leads to acceptance which is a prerequisite for taking concrete steps to change. 3. ‘Walking your why’ is about living by our own personal set of values. These are the beliefs that give our life meaning. We need to ask ourselves if what we are doing reflects who we want to be in the world. Our emotions are signposts to act. 4. The last step is cultivating the habits through small deliberate tweaks that align with our values.