The Call to Move: Reflections on Leadership, Impact, and Change

I want to reflect on three real instances in my life where I see that we (or maybe just me) are not meant to stay in the same place for too long.

First reflection

Early on in my teaching career, in 2022, I attended one of Jakes Gerwel Fellowship (JGF) online community meetings (OCMs). The topic of discussion was centered on educational leadership. We had a guest who shared her experiences as a school principal and how she believed in making an impact and then moving on. Anyone who knows me knows that I am attracted to the ideas of female leadership, being a school principal, and making an impact. So, I was fully turned in.

Anyways, she highlighted her journey of being at one school, making the necessary impact that she noted in the school. Then, within a few years, she would go to a new school to do the same. In short, she felt her purpose and impact was in going to schools that she felt needed her to become strengthened, and when the school no longer needed her, she wouldn’t overstay.

Intrigued by this philosophy, I asked, “How do you know when it is time? How do you know that you are ‘done’? The response [paraphrased], “You just know and you trust yourself.”

Second reflection

Interesting story, months before this OCM, when I was interviewing for my current job in 2021. The then principal asked me, how long would I potentially see myself as a teacher at the school? My response, “I have no I idea. It depends on the impact that I want to make. If it takes a year or five years, then that is how long I will stay.”

Third reflection

Fast forward to the start of this year, 2024. I felt that I had given everything that I could to the school. I was becoming frustrated by so many problems, but I also felt a blockage in being able to find solutions or even being allowed to implement solutions. There were elements of being tired but also unhappy due to so many things . A change of environment was what I needed. However, one of my fears is changing schools in the middle of the year. It is like being a new kid in a school where you are the only one who needs to figure things out, and everyone is already established in their daily routine.

A few friends and colleagues told me to scrap this fear and reminded me of all the impact that I made and innovations I implemented and that it was okay to move on, especially since I had been overlooked many times, even if it was halfway through a year. I would be okay. They basically told me to go before I started to feel more drained because of what I was experiencing.

I realised that I needed to listen to me from 2021, I might have been trying to sound awesome to my interviewer, but I was onto something. I needed to be like that phenomenal principal in 2022, who just knows when it is time to go and not overstay. I’m thankful to my friends for reminding me and encouraging me in 2024, I needed to hear that.

So I decided to start the job hunt again. A literal trauma. Only one interview out of the 10-20+ applications sent out. And no feedback post-interview. There is a whole other discussion here about the teacher crisis in South Africa, about the adjacent-nepotism of hiring teachers, and now about the loss of over 2 400 jobs in the Western Cape,  which seems small in comparison to the 11 000 in KZN for 2025.

So, from an unsuccessful job hunt, I thought, maybe this is a good time to take a break from the classroom and do something else. It will probably also allow me some breathing room to complete my studies and hopefully come back with a renewed mindset and a new outlook on life. Interestingly, many people in my life this year have been making changes, in jobs/careers and countries, so now it seems right to join the trend. Let’s see where it all takes me!