What is your Leadership "Why"? (Challenge #74)

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like every leadership influencer and researcher I follow is talking about how we all need to know our “why” and our organization’s “why”. And I agree for the record. However, one’s personal and professional “why” can change from month to month, and even minute to minute, even without getting into the cultural and economic changes that can render a school or library’s mission shaky through no fault of its own. So today, I’m going to talk about how we can get more clear on our why, and use that clarity to keep our work relevant and rewarding for years to come.

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Welcome to the Kind Leadership Challenge, the podcast that empowers leaders to heal their organizations in ten minutes! I’m Dr. Sarah Clark, founder of the Kind Leadership Guild, where I use my PhD in Higher ed leadership and nearly 2 decades of experience in academic libraries to coach a community of educational and library leaders who are working to build a better world without burning out. 

In our unique and imperfect ways, kind leaders make tough decisions without becoming jerks. We create impactful and burnout-proof systems for our organizations. And we know that once we stop controlling and start collaborating, even the most ambitious vision can become effortless. Kind Leadership’s pretty simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. So if you’re up for a challenge, stick around as I teach you how to create a resilient, thriving legacy that will strengthen your community long after you’re gone.

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So let’s start with the obvious. Why do we as leaders need a why? Isn’t it enough to say “I do this job because they pay me to do it,” call it good, and move on?

Actually, yeah. Financial security is a perfectly permissible “Why”, and don’t let any guru, me included, tell you that a person has to be motivated by anything higher than that to be a “good” leader. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that being a little less emotionally invested in your work makes you a better leader. If you don’t believe me, go look up Fobazi Ettarh’s concept of Vocational Awe, or better yet, read her excellent article linked in the show notes. In my opinion, every educator and librarian needs to be familiar with her framework, no matter where you land on the org chart. In fact, I’d argue it’s more important for those of us in positions of leadership to be familiar with the pitfalls of vocational awe, because there is a fine, blurry line between fostering a mission-driven team culture and expecting ourselves and our teams to martyr ourselves for The Cause, especially when that Cause perhaps has some problematic aspects in need of critique and reform.

All that said, you’re listening to a podcast called the Kind Leadership Challenge, and if you’re in what the gurus call my market niche, you’re a growing library or educational leader who is at least partially motivated by the prospect of building a better world through your work. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with that motivation either. At the start of my career in libraries, I’d say I was motivated about 80% by mission and 20% money. That ratio has shifted up and down over the years, and I’m probably somewhere around 55/45 today. I care more about earning what the market says my skills are worth than I did in my younger, more idealistic years. However beyond a certain point, my bank balance still matters a bit less than does leaving the library or logging out from a session of the Kind Leadership Guild knowing that the world may end up a little bit better educated and informed for what I just created or facilitated. Whether that’s a healthy approach to my career is beyond the scope of this episode, and it’s irrelevant anyway. My why, more or less, is to do well, or at least well enough, by doing good, or at least enough good. And I’ve found that I have better luck at creating a fulfilling life by understanding and accepting my why, and then making decisions that allow me to create a life that more ffectively get me there. 

Because although Life has a way of shifting your why or making it more nuanced, I haven’t had much luck trying to be motivated by things I don’t actually care about all that much. At best, I get bored and lose interest in a project, and at worst, I make myself and my loved ones miserable. That’s why we have to always be seeking to better understand our Why, and the best way we can do that is to live and lead from what we think that Why Is, even if we’re not quite sure of it yet. 

So here’s your challenge for this week. Right now, today, as you’re listening to this, what is your why? You’re gut will tell you pretty quickly. And don’t judge it or feel good or bad about it—just note it. And then your second question—how are you living or not living your Why as a leader? Then make some course corrections if needed, see what results in your heart and in your community, and ponder if the results have led you to a different or more complete understanding of your Why. Then, as the shampoo bottle says, rise and repeat. 😊

Thanks as always for listening to the kind leadership challenge. Before you go, here’s a quick way you can spread the word of kind leadership. I’d like you to take a moment to think of one friend or colleague who could most benefit from this week’s challenge. Got their name in your head? Good. Open your app or head over to kindleadershipchallenge.com/73 and share this episode with them. Add a friendly note as well. Never doubt that day by day, you’re building a better world, even if you can't see it yet. So until next time, stay kind now.