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Finding Your Balance
Personal and Professional Wellness Strategies for Effective Educational Leadership
Explore the vital link between personal well-being and professional success in this guide to educational leadership. Drawing on personal experiences, author Joshua Ray offers practical strategies, relatable anecdotes, and templates to help leaders thrive professionally and personally. Learn to prioritize work-life balance, overcome impostor syndrome, and lead intentionally, while discovering wellness strategies that help educational leaders be effective and efficient with wellness in mind.
Benefits
- Learn how to prioritize emotional and physical well-being while evolving as educational leaders.
- Implement simple strategies to balance personal wellness with professional commitment.
- Embrace the unique values educational leaders bring to the role and styles of leadership.
- Encourage colleagues in growth and development as educational leaders.
- Build supportive leadership teams to introduce and maintain positive, effective change.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Balancing Work and Life
Chapter 2: Making Time for Physical Wellness
Chapter 3: Being the Leader You Aspire to Be
Chapter 4: Leading Change
Chapter 5: Sharing Leadership
Epilogue: Putting It All Together
PRINTABLE REPRODUCIBLES
Chapter 1: Balancing Work and Life
- Figure 1.1: Fear-to-Behavior Tool
- Figure 1.2: Personal and Professional Priorities Tool
- Figure 1.3: Priority Protection Tool
Chapter 2: Making Time for Physical Wellness
- Figure 2.1: Food Journal
- Figure 2.2: Educator Wellness Self-Rating and Reflection—Physical Wellness Routines
Chapter 3: Being the Leader You Aspire to Be
Chapter 4: Leading Change
- Figure 4.2: SCARF Individual Resistance Assessment Tool
- Figure 4.3: Lippitt-Knoster Systemic Resistance Assessment Tool
Chapter 5: Sharing Leadership
SUGGESTED RESOURCES
Books
- Boogren, T. H. (2020). 180 days of self-care for busy educators. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
- DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. W., Mattos, M., & Muhammad, A. (2024). Learning by doing: A handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (4th ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
- Kanold, T. D., & Boogren, T. H. (2022). Educator wellness: A guide for sustaining physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
- Martin, T. L., & Rains, C. L. (2018). Stronger together: Answering the questions of collaborative leadership. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
- Mattos, M., Buffum, A., Malone, J., Cruz, L. F., Dimich, N., & Schuhl, S. (2025). Taking action: A handbook for RTI at Work (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
- Muhammad, A. (2018). Transforming school culture: How to overcome staff division (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
- Muhammad, A., & Cruz, L. F. (2019). Time for change: Four essential skills for transformational school and district leaders. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
- Vander Els, J. G., & Ray, J. (2024). The foundation for change: Focusing on the four pillars of a PLC at Work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
