Without Purpose There Is No Hope

For several years the trend has been to focus on our why.  This particularly rings true in the world of education.  I know as a school principal I had professional development seminars and activities focused around staff solidifying their why and writing it down and posting it in a prominent location in their classrooms or offices.  I’ve noticed recently that people have started to become irritated with the mere mention of our why.  So, I began to ask the question: why are people so irritated with the discussion of this topic? To answer this I think we need to look at why we deemed this topic so important for us to cover in the first place? 

Delving into the why of a staff member was something I wanted to know as a leader in order to serve our staff in the best way possible.  To be more clear, our why is really our purpose.  Recently I was in a small group and we were discussing things like regret and how regret can steal our purpose.  At that time someone spoke up and said that “without hope we have no purpose.”  This gave me pause, and I thought: have people lost hope? If people have lost hope, did it cause our relationship with our purpose to be damaged, therefore making it difficult to talk about?  I also think as leaders we got so wrapped up in people knowing their why (purpose) that we didn’t follow through with making it matter and using it to assist our staff.  

I started to realize that I never clearly defined the importance of talking about our purpose.  Our staff knew their purpose, however that purpose had been damaged by the circumstances before them.  COVID took a toll on their purpose, the tremendous demands put on our staff to be and do all things, people blaming them for things beyond their control and the struggles of their own lives beat up their purpose.  As a  leader I know I didn’t use the information I received to help our staff because I was also distracted by the things mentioned above. It’s also important to note that I wasn't clear enough with staff about why it was important to revisit that purpose.  It wasn’t because I doubted them or thought they had lost their way, it was ultimately because I wanted to better serve our staff.  I know as a leader I wanted them to know that things would get better.  I didn’t clearly realize that I was trying to express hope for the future that we were going to come through these trials and tribulations. I believed in them and had hope because of their purpose.  If I just would’ve come right out and said that it would have made our relationships with our purpose a bit better in the face of tough times.  

Sometimes as people and as leaders we can stray from our purpose because we become distracted by all of the other noise around us.  The outcome of the battles we fight each day can pile up especially when we aren’t always successful.  We don't do it intentionally but it happens and it becomes harder and harder to maintain hope in the face of these distractions.  As leaders now more than ever it’s important that we give and help people hold onto their own hope by making sure we support their purpose and reassure them that we are here for them.  Be that servant leader that is fully committed to serving your staff.  Have a great week and remember when your commitment is greater than your feelings you get results.