The Courage to Be a Fool

Stepping into my role as a new principal, I felt like a fraud. Surely, someone was going to tap me on the shoulder and ask, What do you think you’re doing?. I convinced myself that everyone else knew exactly what they were doing while I was just figuring it out. It was only over time – through trial, error, and a whole lot of learning – that I realised the truth: everyone feels like this at some point.  

And that’s not just true for adults. I think about our students nervously standing up at the student leader installation or preparing to give a speech, convinced that everyone else is more confident than they are. They believe they’re the only ones feeling uncertain – but the truth is, we all feel like impostors sometimes.  

The challenge is that we unlearn the courage to be a a fool as we grow. As children, we try things without fear – we stumble through first steps, scribble before we can write, and sing before we know the words. But somewhere along the way, we start to believe that looking foolish is something to avoid at all costs. Our role as educators isn’t just to teach knowledge, but to give students permission to be foolish —to try, to fail, and to grow.  

We often think confidence is something people are just born with – that some people have it while the rest of us don’t. But confidence isn’t luck – it’s a skill. And like any skill, it grows through practice, failure, and perseverance.  

So what does that look like in real life?  

Everyone feels like an impostor – We assume others are more confident because we only see their polished moments, not their doubts. The truth? The people who intimidate us feel just as uncertain as we do.  

Failure isn’t a problem – it’s the process. Every great achievement was built on countless failed attempts. What looks effortless took drafts, revisions, and retries. Confidence is learning to forgive yourself for not getting it right the first time.  

No one has it all figured out – This isn’t an insult, it’s liberating. The sooner we stop waiting to be perfect, the sooner we can actually start.  

Stop waiting to feel ready. Confidence isn’t about avoiding difficulty; it’s about expecting it. Struggles and setbacks are normal, and they don’t mean you’re doing it wrong – they mean you’re learning.  

Jesus never called perfect people – He called the willing. Peter sank when he stepped out of the boat. Thomas doubted. Paul carried the weight of his past. Yet they all moved forward. They knew that failure doesn’t define us – what we do next does.  

The world doesn’t need more people who wait until they feel ready. It needs people who are brave enough to try, fail, and try again. The ones who embrace the discomfort of growth, knowing that failure isn’t the enemy – it’s the way forward.