ABSTRACT
Humans under stress can be guilty of similar dissonant reactions: the chemicals produced by fear make us act irrationally and there is a good chance we will lose control. A fellow leader, a department head in a similar organisation to my own, told me she had had a problem in one of her courses. The course leader had put on a display of work at an Open Day, and it was very impressive. The ultimate outcome of failing to show resilience is often quoted as suicide. A recent survey suggested that teachers have a suicide rate about 30 per cent above the national average. Statistics, however, can be misleading. One important quality in a leader, should they be subject to some failed enterprise, is just to be able to stand back and say, ‘Sorry.
