Why having that neutral ground to touch base with, outside of the work place, has being crucial for my wellbeing.

In the 2017-2018 academic year my wonderful Principal nominated me for the Ambition Institute’s Teaching Leaders 2018 cohort. This meant, amongst other things, that I would embark on an intense leadership journey like no other.

The first part of the two year course consists of attending the Summer Residential, a five day EduConference-style event where we would meet our fellow leaders and access a series of keynotes and workshops. For someone who truly feels uncomfortable rocking up to unknown locations and introducing themselves to unknown people this was a daunting prospect – for all the show I put on about being a confident extrovert, it is just that, a performance, a ‘fake it until you make it’ if you will – and I genuinely thought it would be an awful experience where I would be that weird Billy-No-Mates who awkwardly laughs at others’ conversations in an attempt to be accepted by another group.

Upon arriving at Warwick University (I still don’t fully understand where this is or how I managed to drive there by myself) the night before, because I am the type of person who worries about getting lost and showing up late, I was near enough backing out of the programme altogether (and if you haven’t guessed yet, I’m a bit of a drama queen) as I was already embarrassed about the potential embarrassment of being embarrassed, that hadn’t even happened yet. Stupid, I know.

Luckily for me, this absolute lifesaver called Georgia rescued me and in a whirlwind of introductions somehow managed to gather and herd seven of us into a group that we then stuck with for the entirety of the residential. These girls have become my Teaching Leaders Tribe, who I share all of my proud moments as well as all of my oops moments with.

As the only person in my family and from my group of childhood friends who works in a school setting, it is ridiculously difficult to offload about a tough day or bask in the glory of an educational feat without having to edusplain the history of the British education system first. Which, even when you put on your best Ofsted-ready performance for them, still results in baffled looks and a quick search for an escape route… There is only so much educational conversation my husband can digest, although to be fair to him he adores all of the corridor gossip and could probably school some of my teacher friends on the latest educational trends… He’s a software salesman by the way.

So here I am, feeling like I need to collaborate with Kelly Rowland and Nelly on Dilemma Part 3 because I’ve been burnt in the past by talking to people in school who I thought I could trust, but also needing someone to talk to who will fully understand the situation without having to edusplain the whole thing first.

After a typical digression from me there, it’s important that I talk about why I needed people to talk to that didn’t exist within my workplace.

This is where my tribe comes in.

They are a soundboard when I need to vent about a situation and figure out the best solution, giving me the chance to talk it out so I don’t go storming in like a bull in a china shop. But, they aren’t afraid to tell me if I’m in the wrong which, although I might not like to admit it, I can be.

More importantly than this, we are each other’s cheerleaders when things are going well and we champion each other’s successes – something that unfortunately can often be rare in education. I recently read a post on the #WomenEd blog that said ‘behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have her back.’ and I couldn’t agree more.

If you haven’t found your tribe yet, don’t panic, they’re out there waiting to champion you; in the meantime remember to champion the women around you because ‘when women support each other, incredible things happen.’