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Secret to serving others: Taking care of self
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
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
(Continued on page 21)
Dr. Richard Voltz
IASA Professional
Development
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 practices what he preaches as he
runs in the ‘Super’ 5K at last year’s IASA Annual
Conference
