Refilling the Well.

Have you ever noticed that no one comes into your office to bring you things? They come seeking something. They want your time, your energy, your permission, your wisdom or your resources. They come to you out of the need to dip their bucket in your well and to drink from your spring and that is how it should be. That is the role of leader--to serve others. But there is a danger.

What happens when your well goes dry? For if all that you do is give, then, at some point, you will have nothing left to offer. That is when burnout (or should I say "dry-up") occurs. That is the time when you wonder why you are doing what you are doing and when your sense of satisfaction follows the full buckets out your door. There is an antidote. Make sure your own well stays filled.

The challenge is that you must be the one to keep it full. This means that you must develop your own plan for bringing balance to your life. Several years ago we created a strand at the National Conference on Education that focused on creating balance. It was recognition that a successful leader must be a successful human being. Being a successful human requires a balance between the head, the heart and the body.

A successful educational leader must have a rich intellectual life. I have sometimes joked that school leaders don't read. The truth is that they read what they have to read and that tends to leave little time for what they should read. That means you need to create your own opportunity to read and study outside the field of education.

Summer Enrichment

One of my favorite weeks each year is the week I spend co-hosting the Harvard Seminar for Superintendents. It is a good experience because it combines the opportunity for colleagues to meet and to share ideas, war stories and moral support with a rich intellectual experience. The content of the program is built around the variety provided by the Harvard faculty. The one requirement is that their lectures not be about education.

Of course, the participants spend the entire week trying to figure out what developing a cure for cancer or the unfinished works of Mozart has to do with their work as school leaders. This creates an intellectual curiosity and creativity that, I am convinced, makes them better leaders when they go home. Tip No. 1 for refilling the well: Read and read broadly.

Sadly, most educators spend so much time in their heads that they neglect the rest of their bodies. Some of our more obsessive colleagues are avid runners or bikers. But most of us get our exercise running for cover at school board meetings. A regular program of exercise will keep us better able to meet the challenges and increase our longevity, but it also makes us more productive. The mind is clearer and more active when the body is also. Tip No. 2: Develop a regular program of exercise that fits your lifestyle and fitness level. And stick to it.

The Greeks understood the concept of "keeping the well full." They spoke often of maintaining a balance of "sound mind and sound body." When I visited Greece a few years ago, I realized they placed a theatre next to a stadium so that architecturally they were living out their dictum. But there was a third element and a third edifice in the complex--a temple. For it is not enough to feed the mind and body if we starve the soul.

A Spiritual Awareness

We have been reminded that we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but we are spiritual beings having a human experience. For the last few years I have tried to incorporate the issue of spiritual life into my speeches. I did so initially with some trepidation. We are, after all, stewards of public schools and as such must be mindful of the separation of church and state.

But having a spiritual life is not the same as proselytizing for a specific religion. Being in touch with our spiritual self is critical to leadership. We are responsible for others' children and, in many ways, for the future of this country. We had better be connected to our highest selves and purpose or we are apt to lose our way very quickly. Tip No. 3 for keeping the well filled: Find a way to connect to the heart and soul within you, for that is the path to serenity.

Anyone who has tried leadership knows that it is hard under the best of circumstances. School leadership isn't for the faint of heart. And servant leadership, which is the only true leadership, takes much from the one giving it. While there is always a psychic exchange in every human interaction, servant leadership takes ideas, energy and balance from the one acting as leader in exchange for knowing one is doing good.

That exchange is a fair one, but to keep giving ideas and energy, one must refill the well to supply those things. It won't happen naturally. Humans are not artesian springs with boundless supplies of creativity, vitality and dreams. Keep the well filled and the fountain flowing by maintaining a balance between the head, the heart and the soul.

Paul Houston is AASA executive director.