Passion - Burnout = Purpose
I was really conflicted about what to share this morning. I had two ideas, you see. One is around the issue of burnout. I spoke at the COABE conference a month ago or so, and my seminar was “From Burned Out to Fired Up.” I speak about burnout a lot, so my subject matter wasn’t a big surprise to me, obviously, but the number of people who signed up to engage with that subject was. It was a hybrid presentation (in-person and virtual), and when I flew out to Nashville, 30 people were registered (which is pretty normal for a conference that has a ton of offerings each hour), but by the time I presented, that number was 187. That’s a lot. Half were in the room and half were joining virtually. There were a lot of subjects being offered, so what that attendance number said to me was that burnout is a subject close to a lot of people’s hearts. What I heard from participants that day is one of the things I thought about sharing today.
My second idea for today’s post comes from three contacts I had unexpectedly this week. About 10pm one night this week, my phone rang, and on the other end was a former employee, back from my Texas Juvenile Justice days. I hired him as a first time principal. He had been incarcerated as a youth, and he was very passionate in his interview. Even in that interview, I knew he was a bit of a risky hire. Hiring someone without campus leadership experience isn’t always the best choice in a secure environment with so many at-risk students, wonky politics, and small communities. I did it anyway. It was a little bumpy, but all the ways I thought he would be great, he was! He called me this week to say he had just received a call from a school board who was offering him the position of Superintendent for their small school district. He was so excited! Full of ideas. Full of passion. And so thankful for the opportunity. I was so excited he had called to share the news with me! He thanked me for “spoon feeding” him all those years ago and believing in him and having his back and guiding him and…he had a long list that I either don’t remember or didn’t realize I was doing in my efforts to help him grow.
Also this week, a former student found me on Facebook. This happens pretty regularly, actually, but I hadn’t thought of this kid in like 40 years. He was one of my first public school students, and he was a bit of a workout as a kid. Not a teacher favorite, but I cast him in our contest play one year, and then spent the whole contest season alternately encouraging him to get out of his comfort zone and then reeling him in. He messaged me to apologize for being a pain, and then he thanked me for believing in him and sticking it out, and then told me that he still has his Best Actor medal and that it’s one of the best memories of his life.
And one of my former incarcerated students reached out this week too. Kind of the same story…he was so thankful for support and for the belief that he could be successful and for the opportunities he had access to….and he’s doing great now.
As I tried to decide what to write about this morning, I realized that these events are all connected. The reason that so many people were in my session about burnout? Largely, the responses were “my boss,” and “leadership.” As I listened to stories about how folks were treated or neglected by their supervisors and organizational leadership, I was appalled. I mean, I’ve had my share of really crappy bosses too, so I’m not surprised by that, but to hear so many voices in one room from so many places across the country…it was disheartening.
One of the things I teach in my workshops about burnout is that you have to remember (or find) your passion at work. What is it that really floats your boat at your job? Find that thing, then carve out time to engage in that on a regular basis. Nurture it. Protect it. Advocate for it. And if you’re consistently blocked from your passion, my suggestion is that you move along. Work consumes most of our hours, and almost all of our energy, every day. If it’s not feeding your soul, challenging your mind, and providing joy, then…man…what a drudgery!
Which brings me to the second thing I thought about writing about today…all those contacts by people who were impacted by MY work. And that, my friends, is MY passion. That’s MY reason for showing up every day. One contact from a former student or employee who tells me they learned something from me and that they’re doing great, and my professional love tank is full for another ten years or so. Seriously. So when I feel burnout creeping up on me, I carve out time to visit a classroom, or take a workshop gig to teach classroom instructional strategies to teachers, or work with leaders on how to grow themselves and others, and this is why I finally said yes to teaching one course a semester at a university, because in my current role, I don’t get the opportunity to just drop in on a classroom very often. Even though my nonprofit work provides instruction and my consulting business creates content for students, the students aren’t in the same space as me. So, I stepped back in the classroom, and I teach workshops whenever I can. I can’t help it. It’s what reminds me of my purpose.
And that’s the take-away from today’s ramblings: find your purpose and then live it. If your passion is outside of your job, then protect the time you need to engage in it, and look hard at your current job and ask yourself if you can find purpose there too. If not, what do you need to do to transition to a career or job that does feed your purpose? If you haven’t read my post about finding your ikigai, I encourage you to do that, then find it!
That’s it. That’s a lot of thoughts for a Sunday morning. I think I need another cup of coffee. Or two or three.
Go forth and find joy. Then tell me about it!
