Another Brick In The Wall

Michelangelo

This month I wanted to share some thoughts on an area I am whole-heartedly fascinated and passionate about…

Education – children’s, adult’s and executive’s education.

Casting my mind back to my school days I was reminded of the first time I heard Pink Floyd’s song ‘Another brick in the wall’ on Top Of The Pops ( 1979). The video was striking, the music was striking but what really struck a chord was the choir of children singing ‘Hey teachers, leave us kids alone.’

Here we are 27 years later and nothing much has changed.

However, let’s ask the question – who are the teachers?

We are now the teachers

As parents, coaches, guardians, friends, family members, managers, leaders, neighbours,role models, celebrities, politicians – lets round it up to ‘Adults’ – we are all teachers.

Yes – that includes you and me

How exactly have we changed in the last 27 years to support out children learn, develop and evolve any better than before.

Let’s take a couple of simple check points to identify where we continue to contribute to build walls of stress:

Go out today and ask a Junior Cert student (15 years old) how much stress they feel under to perform well in their exams.
Follow that up with a Leaving Cert student (17-18 years old) how much stress they feel under to get high points for college
Go ask young men ( early 20’s) how confident they feel about their future
Go ask young women ( mid 20’s) how confident they feel about their career trajectory
Go ask men ( late 20’s) how secure they feel about their future
Go ask women ( late 20’s) how much pressure they are under to find a life partner before 30
It goes on and on and on

We can take another perspective and look at where we have introduced great techniques for dealing with stress

When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears

Look at all the mindfulness courses that are now available
Look at the rise in health and wellness coaching
Look at the amazing work we are doing to support mental strength
Look at the demand for personal effectiveness courses around assertiveness, confidence and resilience

There is no doubt that we are coming back fighting to break down the walls we have built – brick by brick. Each brick another barrier in the way of our opportunities for ourselves and our kids.

What are the bricks made of that cause us such stress?

They are bricks of Self-Limiting-Beliefs ( SLBs)

On a school report they say ‘Not good enough’ – ‘Should consider a lower grade class’ – ‘Not a subject they are strong at’

On a performance review they say ‘Not their area of strength’, ‘Should consider another role’, ‘Does not meet expectations’

While we can’t avoid the truth – we need to take responsibility and accountability for the power or our language and how limiting it can be

When you offer feedback, report on progress or evaluate success in any of your many roles, are you enabling growth and development or are you giving them another brick for their wall?

DO your best today