Get a Life! The Power of a Personal Mission
Get a Life! The Power of a Personal Mission
The school day has begun. 300 students are pouring enthusiastically through the front doors and Sam, a first grader, is sitting calmly in the middle of the foyer tying his new boots. I can tell his boots are brand new – polished, shiny brown leather, ankle height, with none of the inevitable scuffs that are going to happen in a few hours when they get taken for a test drive on the playground.
I watch Sam wrestle with those long, red laces (Why do boots always have laces that seem twice the length needed to lace up and tie a bow?). I believe in fostering independence, so in this moment my main job is to keep his enthusiastic classmates from stepping on him.
He perseveres for ten minutes, and it is increasingly obvious that he going to be late to class. I bend down and ask if he needs help. I wrangle the yards of laces through the eyelets and hooks, tie a bow, and do a fancy double knot – very impressive to a first grader! Those new boots are secure and will stay tied through morning recess.
Sam stands up, looks at me, and says, “Can you make them tighter?”
We all love a good story. As school leaders we know storytelling brings to life our organization’s purpose and values, conveys a sense of history, and provides insight and inspiration into where we are heading. At the core of our stories is a clear mission that guides our daily decisions and aligns our strategic work. Most of us spend an enormous amount of time creating, articulating, and marketing that mission and telling our school’s stories.
How many of us have invested that same amount of time in developing our own personal mission and telling our own story? Why is it that we neglect to articulate our own core purpose and values, even when we see the value of a clear and compelling mission within our schools? Perhaps it is because as school leaders we are so intertwined and emmeshed with our schools that we almost feel that the school mission IS our mission. But we are not our schools. And I believe that differentiation and distinction is healthy.
“Get a Life!” is a series of three articles that explores:
Why personal mission matters
How to create your mission
When to tell your story
I use the term personal mission as a way of representing and acknowledging the interweaving of our personal passions and professional work. While we are not our schools, and some separation is healthy and necessary, the space between what we do at work and at home is often blurry. I promote the concept of work-life blend. This is different from a work-life balance. I’ve tried work-life balance before, and it didn’t end well. It created an artificial and unsustainable separation. If I needed to deal with any personal issues during work hours, I felt like I was playing hooky. Have you ever tried to schedule all your dentist, haircuts, car maintenance, and doctor appointments only in the evenings or on the weekends? Conversely, if I found myself thinking strategically or pondering a crunchy problem while hiking, running, or relaxing I felt guilty as if I was robbing time from myself or not being fully present for my family.
When I gave myself permission to blend my personal and professional lives things started looking up! I still needed to be aware of and set boundaries, but I no longer stressed about pondering big ideas and solutions when I was away from school. In fact, I learned that I do some of my best creative and strategic thinking when I am in the woods or on my bicycle, away from day-to-day routines.
Why a personal mission matters
Simply put, we lead better when we lead from the heart.
When we show up more authentically, we establish stronger connections and build trust. A personal mission brings clarity to who we are so that we can show up genuinely, consistently, and more fully ourselves. At times, we need to directly and clearly state our mission and guiding principles. At other times, our mission serves to guide our discussions and decisions in more subtle ways. Regardless of whether our personal mission is the headline or woven into the story, we are more likely to be consistent and clear when we know who we are.
I have written before about the risks of losing ourselves in our leadership role. When we over-focus on skill sets, competencies, and accomplishments, we forget to lead authentically. At the end of the day, our board didn’t hire us simply because of our ability to crank through a to do list. They hired us because of who we are, how we think, and what we stand for.
Having a north star helps remind us of what matters most.
Without a personal mission, we risk losing ourselves in sea of a thousand tasks. Our roles are so complex and there is so much vying for our time and attention, that we will never feel fulfilled from checking off items on our to do list, especially when that list grows each week. When we have identified our core purpose, our personal mission, we are better able to see the forest through the trees. We can see how our various tasks, meetings, and decisions fit together. We can find coherent meaning beyond what might appear to be random bits and pieces. We can see how our daily experiences align with our larger vision.
Focus on who you want to become vs what you want to do.
I believe that personal transformation comes from getting clarity about who you are and who you want to be – not what you want to do. A well-articulated mission is a commitment to becoming. With this as the foundation, you can then establish bold and audacious goals. Start with a powerful mission, nail down the long-term goals, and then work backward and create daily micro habits that move you toward those broader goals and, ultimately, fulfill your mission. Because you have alignment, you can be very present in your daily personal and professional life, confident that you are moving forward with intention and commitment.
Coming next: How to create your mission