SamTastic Weekly Tip: 6/8/26 - Step Away From Your Work
- Jim Mercer
- Jun 8
- 2 min read
This week’s Tip: Step away from your Work
Many SAM teams have finished their school year. Some schools won’t see their last day with students until the end of June.
You’ve likely been given advice to use your down time, including vacation and summer holidays, to read a leadership book, plan for next school year or start an advanced degree. I hope you ignore this well-meaning advice.
Research show you will likely benefit more, professionally and personally, if you relax and enjoy time away from your school leadership role. You work in a high-pressure environment with limited resources and support. It is a job that can’t be finished. There is always more you’d like to do. Giving yourself a break, time to decompress, is far more important than reading still another leadership book with rubrics and advice.
There is an added benefit to kicking back, and away, from your work. It often leads to a level of creativity that you can’t reach when stressed. I have found that my best ideas have come when I am not trying to find one. The idea for the SAM process came on a long walk after a stressful week.
Your work as a school leader isn’t rocket science. It is harder. SpaceX experiments until it gets the result it wants. Then, they can follow the same set of steps and get the same result every time. That doesn’t work with people. What works for one does not necessarily work with others. Success requires a strong knowledge base coupled with a lot of creativity, optimism, hope and grit. Your work is more art than science.
So, unsolicited advice: Kick back. Take your vacation days. Try not to think about work. If you can’t relax without reading a leadership book, give Dale Carnegie’s seminal masterpiece a shot. It is the best guide I’ve found on how to communicate with others and lead. How to Win Friends and Influence Others, $13.99 at Amazon.
It is budget time in most schools and districts. Be sure to include your SAM services for the 2026-27 school year. You can request an early invoice now by using this link: https://bit.ly/40GtA33
Consider budgeting for the 20th Annual National SAM Conference, too. The conference provides an opportunity to learn from SAM teams across the US and an amazing array of national and international speakers, authors and thought leaders in leadership, education, and psychology.
20th Annual National SAM Conference announcement video: https://www.wevideo.com/view/4003300281
What does a SAM conference look like? https://bit.ly/4cxGEw7
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