When You're The Chain & The Paperclip: Examing Your Own Belief in Leadership

It is early November and every educator is ready for a break. The kids too, if we are being honest. This time of year brings a need for a reset for many reasons. Assessment data comes in and it is not what you hoped. Students feel the upcoming break, and they start to turn all the way up. Teachers want time off and PTO requests increase. Every role feels the weight of this season in a different way.

This blog has always reflected how I see myself and my belief in my work across my middle school math journey. This one sits deeper, though. This one feels like something leaders carry but rarely say.

Tired seasons leave space for doubt. You hold on to your why. You wake up and push yourself forward. You walk into your workday searching for a strength that does not always match what you feel. Your internal voice is quiet. You lead others while questioning your own clarity. Steadiness trades for dizziness.

Then you reach the moment where you examine your own efficacy. The belief you hold in your ability to lead with purpose. That belief shifts when you move through blurry seasons. You feel tired in ways sleep cannot solve. You push through mornings when your thoughts spiral into questions you cannot answer. You work because you are committed to your people even when your own belief feels unsteady.

I think about efficacy often. Not only in math. Not only in teachers. Leadership carries its own form of belief. Efficacy grows with support. It erodes in silence. Some seasons are filled with a silence that feels louder than anything else. It changes how you see yourself as a leader.

Many leaders know this feeling. They show up strong while feeling fragile. They deliver excellence while doubting their identity. They pour into others while ignoring their own needs. They stay steady for everyone else while their inner story drifts.

And it brought me to this thought.

If leadership rests on belief, what do you do when that belief feels like it is slipping and you need to get it back?

Because it is still there.

Faith is believing even when what you see in front of you does not make sense or align. In this season of tiredness, this is your reminder to keep your faith, rest, and renew your belief in yourself in the ways you know.

My quiet question is, how do you restore it for yourself when the things around you start to erode your belief?