This is Me - February 2026

Many people find talking about themselves awkward (many don’t!). If you’re someone who hides away from ‘putting yourself out there’, I hope that this month’s reflections might encourage you to share yourself more openly, and to enjoy the benefits this brings to both yourself and those around you.

If you follow me on LinkedIn, you may know that I’ve been on my own personal journey with this recently: committing to being more visible through posting videos. This time last year I was very unsure, fearing that I would be ignored, attacked, ridiculed or damage mine or Leadership Edge’s reputation in some way. As humility is one of our core values, I also felt deeply uncomfortable about appearing boastful, arrogant or vain. Then I had my thinking challenged: “Isn’t it more vain to NOT do it because you’re worried about what people would think?” This helped me to align our value of humility with ‘putting myself out there’. Our values of credibility and integrity also started to feel aligned: how can the people we want to support get to know and trust us to work with them if we don’t tell them about our mission, beliefs, professional standards and impact? This also helped me to lean into one of my core personal values: responsibility. If I have something important to say, don’t I have a responsibility to myself and others to say it?

So I enlisted the help of a specific coach to work on my confidence in posting videos, and we started work on ‘professional content creation’ like I’d seen others post. But after weeks of practising I listened to my gut: this felt too staged and I was too wooden! (If you want to see proof, here’s an awkward out-take) My coach and I agreed to delete all of the scripts and take a new approach: set-up my phone next to my laptop, and when I come off a call which is exciting or meaningful, just talk to the camera about it, add captions and post. No premeditation. No editing. The most ‘like me’ version I can be. That way, if people don’t like it, it's easier for me to handle; there are no built-up layers to break. It is just me. And if other people don’t like me and what I say, that’s fine; my focus is to connect with people for whom our mission and values resonate.

I wanted to share this personal experience to highlight the fact that for many people, learning to be visible requires tapping into core values and intrinsic motivation, drawing on resilience and enlisting support. It may involve breaking down barriers that you’ve been harbouring for years, believing (likely subconsciously) that these were protecting you. Whereas actually, they could be limiting you unnecessarily.

In recent years, there has been a growing shift towards leadership ‘vulnerability’. This Forbes article for example, asserts that vulnerability isn’t weakness, it’s actually a strength that can make leaders more authentic, connected, and effective. It explains how vulnerability allows leaders to lead more genuinely, build trust, and create environments where people feel safe, supported, and motivated:

• Authenticity builds trust: Leaders often hide their vulnerabilities out of fear of losing credibility or being seen as weak. But sharing honestly creates trust and lets people feel safe being themselves.

• Vulnerability frees energy: By not pretending to be perfect, leaders stop expending energy managing a façade and can focus on real priorities and clear decision-making.

• Deeper connection: Showing your human side helps others feel comfortable opening up, which strengthens relationships and communication.

• Stronger teams and leaders: Understanding your own limitations helps you play to your strengths while improving weak areas, and it encourages others to do the same.

• Inspiration: Leaders who show vulnerability inspire others to bring their full selves to work, potentially sparking greater engagement, innovation, and belonging.

We’re not saying tell everyone everything about yourself. We are of course working within the boundaries of professional discretion. But if you’re interested in opening up a bit more, a good place to start could be working through the Johari’s Window model:

The purpose of Johari's Window is to expand the Open Area, thereby reducing the proportion of the other areas:

Open Area: This quadrant contains behaviours, feelings, attitudes, skills and gaps that are openly shared, acknowledged and seen by yourself and others.

Hidden Area: This quadrant contains personal thoughts, feelings, skills and gaps that you recognise in yourself and are choosing not to disclose to others.

Blind Spot: This quadrant contains behaviours, feelings, attitudes, skills and gaps that others perceive but you may not recognise in yourself.

Unknown Area: This quadrant contains unconscious thoughts, feelings, skills and gaps that have not yet been discovered or recognised by either yourself or others.

 Click here for our downloadable information leaflet on how to use Johari’s window

As well as building relational trust, a greater openness can also expediate your professional development (as your gaps are easier to identify and support) and likelihood of career progression. As I shared in a previous blog, Careering Ahead - November 2024, how often your efforts are visible to those who can influence your career advancement (Exposure) is a highly influential factor on career development,  followed by how you and your work are perceived by others (Image).

Much like my video posting story, becoming more open and visible in work will take intentionality to form new habits of how to communicate your challenges and your successes!

We often HAVE to communicate ‘issues’ but without the necessity of sharing the ‘wins’, these often go unseen. 

Sharing your strengths, success stories or messages of thanks that you have received may feel a bit uncomfortable at first. You are more likely to do so when you find a method that feels authentic for you and aligned to your values, whatever these may be (honesty, openness, transparency, courage are all relevant). 

How do any of these methods align?

• Email directly: ‘Sharing Good News’ (who doesn’t want to receive that in their inbox?!), ‘Issue Resolved’, ‘Crisis Averted’ or simply ‘Keeping you in the loop’

• Copying your line manager into emails which are demonstrating success

• Speaking up in the AOB section in meetings to share some of your positive updates

• Putting success stories / mini wins ON the agenda, encouraging others and chip in with your own to model or join the celebrations

  
  

If you’re looking at a blank email wondering how to structure your ‘update’, perhaps consider this STAR technique. Here’s a quick example from a Middle Leader to their SLT Line Manager:

S - Situation: A parent was unhappy with a teacher’s response to their query regarding our new homework policy

T - Task (what I needed to do): I needed/wanted to support the teacher, restore the parental relationship and help them agree a way forward for future communications.

A - Action (what I did): I met with teacher to fully understand the issue and agreed I would set-up a call with parent, which took place yesterday. I acknowledged the issue, explained the root cause and proposed the way forward.

R - Result: The parent now understands the policy, is back onboard with the teacher and the way forward for future communications has been agreed.

You could use this format to deliver bad news too, keeping it brief, objective and action-focused: your line manager may well appreciate this style of communication as they are likely swamped with issues, problems and challenges!

And this is the point. Your line manager and colleagues are, like you, very busy people, and as much as they would no doubt love the opportunity to celebrate your wins with you, may not always be mindful about asking you; so why not do you both a favour and take your wins to them instead?

We know from teaching a classroom of children that to maintain a positive climate, we should balance 1 piece of criticism with 5-7 pieces of praise. Well, psychology tells us this remains the same for adults in work and general life, too. Praise and appreciation is vital for our personal self-esteem and emotional wellbeing, as well as professional fulfilment. In Transactional Analysis Theory, for example, this is explained as the balance between, or “economy” of, positive and negative “strokes”. You can learn more out this in this 4min video.

As a leader or manager, you can encourage colleagues to open themselves up to more positive recognition by regularly asking them questions such as:

• What’s gone well this week?

• What has someone thanked you for?

• What challenge did you stick with longer than you could have done?

• How have you taken action aligned to your values this week?

• What small step have you taken towards a larger goal?

• What are you learning to believe about yourself? 

  
  

But, depending on your own manager and school culture, you can’t always wait to be asked. If your necessary quota of positive feedback isn’t forthcoming, could you become more proactive in taking wins to them so they can see, acknowledge and celebrate them with you?  

It may feel clunky at first (much like my video out-take) but once you’re clear on who you are and the value you bring, you can start shaping and sharing that professional image of yourself more intentionally, more outwardly and, in time, more comfortably.

And remember, sharing these wins isn’t just about you! If you’re doing great work in education, you’re creating a ripple effect of positive impact on others – and you have an opportunity here to influence morale.  We know that the teaching profession has a reputational issue. We all acknowledge that there are countless, often seemingly insurmountable challenges, but these get a disproportionate amount of airtime. By being more visible and vocal about our positive experiences, we can be proactive in seeking to address this, sharing the satisfaction, pride and joy which working in education also brings. 

And the importance of sharing those uncomfortable, less positive truths is also deeper than simply admitting a mistake or expressing a frustration. It is being authentic, vulnerable and open to learning.

Your experiences matter; both for you, and as a reflection of the school culture and wider system. Show people "This is Me" and you're also shining a light on "This is Us".

"You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop" - Rumi

On your own, or with your coach, I invite you to consider these questions more deeply:

1. How would you like to be seen by others? When you’re not in the room, what words would you like people to use when talking about you? If you think in imagery, what metaphor would you use to encapsulate you?

2. Which elements of this are currently sitting within your Hidden Self? What are you not showing to others, either intentionally or unintentionally? How could you share these more openly?

3. As a leader, how could you encourage others to be more open with you and each other? What benefits could this bring to them, as individuals, teams and an organisation?

Being visible is not being vain or boastful. It is being vulnerable, values-led and proactive. You deserve - and need - to feel proud of your hard work and small wins along the way. And who knows, you may even inspire others to shine their lights a bit more brightly too, which can only be a good thing for them, for your school culture and the education sector at large.

Warmest wishes,

Catherine Hulme

Owner Director

catherine@leadershipedge.org.uk

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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.

Our 3-Tier Coaching Accreditation Programme is low-cost and self-sustaining, providing a systematic and structured model for staff across your school to become powerful coaches for each other, enhancing colleague relationships and their feeling of being valued as an individual within a supportive school community.