Energy in Motion - September 2025
- Catherine Hulme
- Sep 1
- 5 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Welcome back! I hope that you were able to make good use of the summer break, enjoying rest, recreation and reconnection in whichever ways work for you.
In the same way, transitioning back to our “work self” is a highly personal experience: some will be chomping at the bit to get back into routine and crack on with the fresh challenges and opportunities of the new academic year; others will be reluctant and low, sad to leave their “summer self” behind as they start to feel the pressures of external expectation build back up; many will be somewhere in between.
As we all step into a new academic year together, we may well be walking into a maelstrom of emotions (and this is before we consider those of the children and young people we serve!). Leadership - especially in education - is deeply human work, and emotions are always an integral part of that lived experience. Yet too often, we rush past them in the pursuit of “getting things done”.
This month, I encourage you to be intentional in recognising your own emotions, and those of your colleagues, to set the tone for person-centred leadership in the year ahead, enabling both yourself and your colleagues to thrive. Even if none of what follows is new to you, I share it in the hope that it acts as a timely reminder of the value of introspection in becoming both a stronger leader and a more fulfilled individual.
Emotions are complex psychological and physiological responses that help us react to important events or situations. Sometimes described as “Energy in Motion”, they often feel like energies moving through the body eg. your heart races with fear, your chest feels heavy with sadness, or you feel a surge of warmth with joy. We know from modern Neuroscience that emotional changes trigger many unnoticed physiological changes across the body too (eg. in hormone release, digestion and breathing). Emotions are complex brain-body processes and have played a key role in human evolution, helping our ancestors react and adapt quickly to their surroundings. Even Charles Darwin's work on emotional expression shows how feelings like fear and happiness helped us survive!
As leaders, it can feel easier to project calm while pushing frustration, sadness or worry aside. But unacknowledged emotions don’t disappear; they leak into our decisions, our relationships, and our school culture. By taking responsibility for what we feel, we set a powerful example for staff and students alike, that emotions are signals to be respected and understood. I am reminded of the recent example of Rachel Reeves crying in the House of Commons and have been heartened by articles such as this one expressing support for discussing emotions in the workplace in order to avoid reaching pressure points like this. Handling emotions constructively through self-reflection, conversation, or other healthy practices, protects wellbeing and strengthens leadership, enabling us to make wiser choices, build stronger trust, and create environments where others feel safe to bring their whole selves to the work. And in schools, that kind of environment doesn’t just benefit adults of course, but shapes the experience of every child.
Whilst it is a vital leadership skill to be able to regulate your emotions effectively, it is also important to make time to sit with them so you tune in to what they’re trying to tell you. To help you do this, I’d like to share a resource I created at the start of my coaching career which I think still holds the key to successful emotional processing: Giving your emotions the NOD: Name it, Own it, Deal with it.
Naming our emotions is the first step to being more in control of them, rather than being driven by them. Using a Feelings Wheel (freely available in a quick online search) can help to bring clarity and help us understand what is going on. Often, there will be an overlap of several emotions at play, so spending time identifying each can be helpful in moving onto the next stage.
Owning our emotions means accepting that: they have been created by us for an important evolutionary or self-preserving reason. We need to work through any guilt or shame we are carrying for holding these, as they are ours. Often it is because a trigger, stressor or stimulus has tapped into our core values. Understanding this normally allows us to be kinder to ourself, and more reasonable with others.
However, it is also important to recognise that these emotions are temporary and will pass:
Rather than “I’m so overwhelmed” try “I’m currently experiencing overwhelm.”
That simple shift creates space between ourselves and the emotion, allowing us to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively. Framing emotions as “energy in motion” encourages us to let them flow and pass rather than suppress or cling to them.
(Note: It is of course vital to to draw a clear distinction between “the ups and downs of normal everyday feelings” and “mental illness”, as helpfully explained by Adrian Bethune on Matthew Wright’s Breakfast Show. This article is only referring to the former. Professional medical support should be sought for chronic negative emotions which may be a sign of clinical mental illness.)
Dealing with our emotions then becomes a proactive choice, rather than a reactive impulse. Paul McGee’s SUMO model (outlined in this 2min video) reminds us to Stop, Understand and Move on. Scientifically, when our amygdala is “hijacked” by strong emotions, our prefrontal cortex shuts down, preventing our brain from thinking rationally.
Just as we regularly advise our young people, let’s remember that creating a pause to think before we act is an important practice for us adults to be our best behaviour, too.
In appreciation that not all scenarios will afford you the time to go through the NOD process at your leisure, here are some phrases to help create that pause and rational response when under pressure:
A few questions to consider as you start to transition back and craft your “work self” for the year ahead:
How confident do I feel in managing my own emotions in the moment? Which situations leave me feeling unresourceful or reactive?
How open am I to acknowledging my colleagues’ emotions at work? Does this approach help or hinder me as a leader?
What intentional practices or strategies can I commit to developing so that I respond more constructively to both my emotions and those of the people I lead?
As this new year begins, I invite you to treat all emotions, yours and your colleagues’, as helpful feedback. Notice them. Name them. Work with them, but not for them. In doing so, you not only sustain yourself, you model the kind of emotional intelligence and resilience that will ripple outward through your teams, your students, and your community.
And remember to give those positive emotions a NOD from time to time… it’s just as important to not let those slip by unnoticed!
And so... it is time to harness our energies and get ourselves in motion! Good luck and Let’s Go!
Warmest wishes,
Catherine Hulme
Owner Director
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Leadership Edge is a growing team of experienced school leaders who have seen person-centred coaching create high-performing, happy and healthy cultures within our schools. Our mission is to empower other school leaders to create positive workplaces where staff are solution-focused and actively responsible for their own personal wellbeing and professional development.
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