What Shakespeare Can Teach Us About Wellness

My View

COVID‑19 has put everyone through the drama and the trauma of a once-in-a-century pandemic, placing social-emotional wellness high on the agenda.

While many have reflected on the impact on students and school staff, the former English teacher and the 21-year superintendent in me wonder about the toll these last two years might have taken on district leaders and what, if anything, the master of drama and trauma, William Shakespeare, might have to say about it.

It turns out, plenty. But I will focus on the cautionary tale of one of Shakespeare’s most iconic but tragic leaders, Macbeth. He and his wife are textbook examples of what not to do if you want to be a socially and emotionally healthy organizational leader.

At the start of the play, Macbeth is a brave, respected Scottish general, but then he is visited by three witches who prophesize that he will one day be King of Scotland. He is immediately consumed by ambition. Lady Macbeth is taken with the idea of being Queen and goads Macbeth to murder his long-time friend, King Duncan, and take the throne for himself. In no time, he is wracked with guilt and paranoia and needs to commit more murders to protect himself. He becomes a tyrannical leader, isolated from all his former friends, associates and ultimately his wife. And because this is a Shakespearean tragedy, you know his ending is not a happy one.