By Patrick Erwin

One of my favorite books on leadership is Start With Why by Simon Sinek. In it, Sinek reminds us that purpose inspires action. When there is no joy in the impact that you are making, or perhaps you just forgot about it, then passion for work is easily lost. However, we often make the grave mistake of merely quoting the title when leading people. ‘Why’ is a great place to start, but  no ‘why’ is powerful enough to overcome a bad ‘what,’ ‘how,’ or ‘with whom.’

I’ve been an educator my whole life. I remember one particularly contentious faculty meeting where many of us complained about policies that made our jobs harder. The response? Our leader suggested that we all needed to simply “Remember our why.” No one around me in those times had forgotten their why—we were all there for students. “Why” wasn’t the source of our struggles. It was ‘how’ we were being led and ‘what’ things we were being asked to do that seemed to take away from our ‘why.’

When you work in an industry like education, which has a very clear ‘why’ built right in, being reminded about it only goes so far. Do we need to revisit our why now and again? Absolutely. However, is ‘remember your why’ a remedy for all that we dislike in our work? Absolutely not. We should start with why, but we cannot end there.

The Struggle Beyond ‘Why’

In July 2023, the organization “We Are Teachers” published an article listing 18 alarming research statistics on the state of education. The ones that stood out to me the most were:

1. 55% of educators plan to leave the profession earlier than planned, 35% in the next two years.
2. 80% say that taking on more work due to unfilled openings is a primary concern.
3. 62% say their district is lacking in student discipline.
4. 92% say there is not enough support staff (leading to more work).
5. 84% wish there were more counselors and psychologists.
6. 65% say district bureaucracy interferes with teaching.
7. 94% want more student health and behavioral support.

Given those statistics, the response ‘remember your why’ feels tone-deaf. What we have to remember as leaders (in education and otherwise) is that ‘Why’ might get you in the door, but it’s not enough to keep you there. After defining your ‘Why’, turn your attention to:

1. WHAT am I asking teachers to do daily? 
2. HOW much control do I give them over their space and schedule? 
3. HOW much of their time to work and prep is being taken?
4. WITH WHOM am I asking them to work? How do their team and leaders make them feel?
5. WHAT resources (people and stuff) have I given them to combat the issues in our school?

Answering the above questions will go a long way toward combatting the issues in those previous statistics.

What do we do about it?

There is a solution to the ills above, and it may surprise you. The solution is to lean into school culture. 

People want a voice and choice! “We Are Teachers” also published a wonderful article on school culture that you should read here. In it, they list some excellent ‘remedies’ that can get us past ‘why’:

Remedy #1: Remember that teachers are highly qualified professionals.

Over half of American teachers have master’s degrees, and nearly all have undergone at least four years of university training. They must also complete coursework to renew their teaching certificates regularly. However, we still regularly undermine teachers’ expertise by standardizing the curriculum, creating more tests, and emphasizing standard teacher evaluations. 

Try it out: Remove any unnecessary barriers to them doing their best work.

Remedy #2: Give teachers a choice in professional development opportunities.

The greatest gift I was given as a teacher was the ability to choose my own professional development (PD). We were encouraged to seek opportunities to learn from experts in our profession. Too often, PD opportunities aren’t personalized or applicable to our classes and waste valuable time.

Try it out: Give teachers a choice in what they want to learn and from whom.

Remedy #3: Utilize coaching strategies in teacher evaluations.

Coaching assumes the person they are with has the skills and knowledge (and desire) to fix whatever needs it. They use questions to help the person reach the conclusions themselves. When evaluations become interrogations in which we have to defend ourselves, growth cannot occur. 

Try it out: Make evaluations two-way conversations.

Remedy #4: Provide leadership opportunities for teachers.

This is one thing that always bothered me about teaching. It seemed like the only way to be a leader was to become an administrator. What opportunities do teachers have to learn leadership skills, teach leadership skills to their students, and lead their peers?

Try it out: Find ways for teachers to lead.

A Great Resource for Leadership and Culture

As a teacher, I was lucky to find a great resource to develop my leadership and the leadership of those I was leading (students and adults). That resource is called Habitudes®. Habitudes are images that help ground leadership concepts in easy-to-understand pictures and metaphors. Habitudes® is beneficial because it is easy to use, fosters connections, and works with all age groups. These images can be transformative in your school, giving everyone an interesting, engaging ‘what’ and ‘how’ to accompany that all-powerful ‘why.’

Give us a call, and let us tell you how.