The X-Woman
I’ve come to the conclusion that you don’t do this because you are committed to owning a business – you do it because you are a mutant, whose X ability is ownership – and you cannot help yourself. You are required to have super-powers – to be indestructible. To be Titanium.
I’m reminded of my 2013 hero Walter White from Breaking Bad who, in the final episode (don’t panic – this isn’t a spoiler) says:
“I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really… I was alive”
Let’s face it – no reasonable person would tolerate the shit that you have tolerated – for the money, for the prestige, for peer recognition, to perfect their clinical skills There has to be a deeper physiological reason for you doing this – and I think it’s because it makes you feel alive.
 
So – my three Xmas X-Women sat me down and told me their individual stories, of stress and suffering in support of their quest.
Not one of them was making a fantastic living – in fact 2 of the 3 weren’t making much at all.
They each have beautifully presented practices (it’s a thing that X-Women do) and they know all there is to know about how to run a business.
The challenges they all faced were simple:

• not enough time
• not enough money
• not enough delegation
• a constant fear of public failure
• lack of self-confidence

So I thought I would take the opportunity of setting out some thoughts that all existing and wannabe female principals might want to take on board for 2014 – bearing in mind my own trepidation as a man offering advice to a fearless and fearsome community of women (head on the block).
 
*An excerpt from The Female Principal manuscript by Chris Barrow – to be published as an ebook later in 2014