Technolandy

In his annual year end blog, Chris had some good questions… here is question 

25. How can we make educational leadership less lonely?

1. Early in my blog history I made a point that I felt more connected to a group of principals in Arkansas than I did to educators down the highway…  philosophy is as important as geography
2. In our province, there is a decades old lingering disconnect when the PVPs were taken out of the teachers federation… the is/them/dark side tropes remain real… I still let new VPs and educators who are thinking about education leadership that you will be surprised which friends ghost you… 
3. The pay discrepancy is better, but still puts many PVPs into competition with each other…and debates if principals with a bigger school (and bigger team) should be paid more than principals of smaller schools (where they are the team)…. heck – most educators wont even talk about jobs they’ve applied for because of the worries of a) who else is applying and b) what happens when you don’t get it… 

Actions:

Three Obvious/Easy Strategies:

1. Regular Peer Networks & Mentorship:

• Continue our District/Provincial learning groups, mentorship pairings, and learning cohorts to reduce the “I’m the only one” feeling.

2. Transparent, Supportive Supervision:

• Superintendents or directors who check in with curiosity instead of compliance help create psychological safety. Just knowing someone has your back matters.

3. Professional Learning Communities for Leaders:

• PLCs aren’t just for teachers. Structured inquiry around leadership practices (e.g., difficult conversations, building school culture, navigating policy) fosters collegiality. Remember that PLCs are not top/down…

Three “Other” Ideas:

1. Leadership Exchange Sabbaticals or “Job-Swaps”:

• For 1–2 weeks, two leaders switch schools or districts (even virtually) to observe and shadow each other. This disrupts isolation by offering a new lens, empathy, and shared problem-solving — kind of like an exchange student for principals.

2. Creative Reflection Spaces (Podcasting, Comic Journaling, Public Blogging) in non-traditional formats…

• Invite leaders to tell their story — anonymously or publicly — building on Bcpvpa’s  storytelling formats. This could be an ongoing blog series (“A Principal’s Week in Five Feelings”), podcast panels, or even comic-style diary entries (my Comic Con work would vibe well here).

3. Designated “Unlonely” Days:

• Build a monthly “connection day” into the school calendar — not for meetings, but for shadowing a peer, visiting a school outside the district, or hosting a “Leadership Studio” day where leaders co-work in shared space with facilitators, not agendas.

Three Bigger Possibilities:

1. An Elder Circle: community elders (retired principals, Indigenous knowledge keepers, wisdom holders) provide mentoring and cultural anchoring, helping the leader feel rooted and less adrift in times of stress. Meet monthly or seasonally with active school leaders to offer perspective, presence, and stories.
2. Leadership Residency in a Non-Educational Field: Every 5–7 years, give leaders the chance to spend a short sabbatical embedded in another high-stakes, service-focused field: healthcare, emergency response, theatre production, etc.

• This isn’t PD — it’s displacement to provoke empathy, recalibration, and fresh social connection.

• Imagine a principal spending three weeks with a fire crew or as part of a local arts collective — no leadership hat, just learning and being.

3. Gamify a “Lonely Leader” Simulation or Roleplay Network

Let’s have the BCPVPA develop an immersive, multiplayer simulation or alternate reality game (ARG) designed by and for school leaders.

1. Think of it as a combo of Dungeons & Dragons meets SimCity meets therapy: scenarios mimic real leadership dilemmas, but players have to co-navigate as a team, with limited information, trust-building, and support strategies.
2. Could be run asynchronously, with leaders “playing” over the course of a term, building shared narrative arcs — and relationships.

Play fosters connection, lowers ego barriers, and builds deep bonds in unexpected ways. Dimension 20 has built a fabulous community – maybe D20 – the principals office can be the next ‘bus’ (if you know you know)…

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Leaders are often expected to carry the culture — but they also need safe, creative places to share the weight. The loneliness lessens when vulnerability is normalized, creativity is encouraged, and connection is baked into the job instead of being an optional add-on.