How I Stayed in an Education Leadership Role for 20 years
A long obedience in the same direction
In the original Missionaries of the Poor convent in Calcutta, India, a sign hung over the door greeting the Sisters on their way out to serve the poorest of the poor.
“There are no great things, just small acts of love.”
This was one of Mother Teresa’s favorite axioms. She built a global movement, in part, on this approach to life, leadership and service. And when I say global movement, I mean it. In the era of entrepreneurs scaling organizations, Mother Teresa belongs in the best of the best on that list. She grew the movement from one (herself) to nearly 6,000 sisters in over 130 countries serving tens of millions of people who are in the greatest need. And she grew this ministry with the immense weight and bureaucracy of the Catholic Church often slowing her down. Mother Teresa was a legendary entrepreneur.
But more than that, Mother Teresa was a pillar - a concept I introduced last week. She embodied the definition of a pillar as well as anyone. My definition is this:
A pillar is firmly planted, strong in your convictions so that you stay grounded in who you are and your values regardless of circumstance. Pillars serve, sacrifice, and self-deny in order to live for the greater good and create space for others to thrive.
I admire Mother Teresa for who she was and how she led. And, I admire in her what Eugene Peterson (pastor, writer, friend of Bono) calls “a long obedience in the same direction.”
One key to living as a pillar is having a “long obedience in the same direction.”
Now to be clear, we don’t like the word obedience. It sounds formal, repressive, or regressive. I get it and I beg to differ. Here is the Oxford definition of obedience: compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority.
I believe that submitting to some greater authority or call on your life is important to long term service and impact. The desires of our self (comfort, convenience, balance, and prestige) will ultimately win without anchoring in a larger call outside of self. The temptations are great.
And, if we can persevere, we can meaningfully contribute to solving thorny, challenging problems in our communities.
This past year has provided time to reflect on my 20 years at DSST and my hope to embody a long obedience in the same direction. What kept me from quitting to do something easier or more lucrative? Here is how I would answer that question looking back:
It was not easy
A default operating system was key.
My true self won.
It was not easy: I was constantly tempted by an easier, or more lucrative, or more prestigious path over my 20 years at DSST. There were plenty of days that I wanted out because it was too hard. Challenges abounded: building a values centered culture that team members liked in concept but not in practice, ridiculous city politics that was blatantly adult-centered but clothed in “what’s best for children hypocrisy,” and downright intractable challenges of poverty, gang violence, and low expectations for children.
There were days when my ego was drawn to a “bigger job.” When someone suggested I would be great for a particular high profile job, the false allure of significance was seductive. It is not to say other jobs would not have been worthwhile, but for what reason? And finally, why not go make a lot of money using my CEO skills? Why not choose a job that could pay me 4x to fund the mountain house we have never had. I thought about it many times.
Folks who lead in public service and non-profit jobs have the same temptations that others do. The mission and purpose of our work is important, but if we are honest, it is often not enough to keep us in the job day to day. There is a reason why so many public school teachers and charter leaders leave the work. So why did I stay?
A default operating system was key: I had a default operating system that always brought me back to my work at DSST. I call it a “default operating system”, because it often worked in the subconscious. I give my mom and dad and how they raised me credit for this. Here are the characteristics of that “system”: work hard, make a contribution, learn, be grateful, be humble, and live your values to the best of your ability. My parents modeled it. They never wanted our family accomplishments in the newspaper, worked hard at their small business, and constantly modeled learning. I have strengthened this “system” over the years with my choices, the challenges I overcame, and a deeper understanding of my faith and its role in this journey.
When a new opportunity came along, I would think about it for a day, a week or a month. My ego or desire for comfort often would tempt me. And then, my default operating system clicked in. Sometimes, this “system” dismissed opportunities without me making a conscious choice. And other times, I would make a more active choice and realize that I had the perfect opportunity to live out my operating system at DSST. I didn’t need bigger, different or better. Everything I desired I already had in my job. I had plenty of opportunities to grow, to serve, to learn right where I was.
My True Self Won: My true self is the embodiment of living out this operating system. It is my best self which strives to consistently live out my values with greater and greater consistency. This self is the one my wife and kids know when I am at my best. The temptation of more money, more impact, more prestige is still there - and I still struggle with it. But it is a tiny bit easier to turn away from these false self tendencies the more and more I choose my true self.
And so I led DSST for 20 years. I always felt that I was in the place that I was meant to serve. It felt right and consistent with my true self until the end of my tenure. Did I give things up to do so? Yes. There are always trade-offs. In return for living in a long obedience in the same direction, I was able to have the impact on others that I hoped to have.
The way of Mother Teresa and “many small acts of love” are a powerful path to impact, especially if we combine that with a long obedience in the same direction.
Reflection of the Week: Do you have a default operating system that guides you?