Academic Leadership: Fundamental Building Blocks
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You may feel in reading this example that the Academic Coordinator is right and has
every reason to feel the way they do. Well, yes and no. The feelings are legitimate but
you can see how holding onto these feelings reduces the Academic Coordinator's
personal effectiveness, power and well-being. What the Academic Coordinator needs to
do is to overcome the negative feelings and to eliminate any irrational thoughts or
beliefs. For example, the Academic Coordinator feels that all people should be polite
and respectful. While a lovely concept, it is irrational in that people are not always polite
and respectful. To get upset and have negative feelings as a result of what somebody
else 'should have done', makes you the victim, and the other person the winner. The
Academic Coordinator needs to let go of these judgements, feelings, attitudes and
expectations, and basically act appropriately in terms of what is best for the Academic
Coordinator, the student and the organisation. Otherwise getting caught up in a cycle of
negative self-talk reduces personal effectiveness and outcomes. This concept is
illustrated in Figure 9.
Self-talk or mindfulness is a concept that can be developed so that you can become
more competent in your personal life and work life by identifying negative thoughts that
reduce your effectiveness, and by replacing them with more positive thoughts. By
actively intervening in the development of your self-image, you can influence, in a
positive way, how you deal with situations and stress. It requires work, however, and
you must choose to participate in this transformation. Self-awareness is necessary as
you must have the ability to reflect upon situations in a way that enables you to manage
your self-talk.
