You can’t do it all: Leadership, wellbeing and the cost of caring

Community Directors trainer Jon Staley has learned the hard way that personal wellbeing is the bedrock of good leadership. It was the central theme of his Leadership Week webinar last month.

Staley teaches strategies to protect leaders’ energy, reduce stress, and support sustainable leadership. That knowledge comes from his own experience in the community sector, and as a former high school teacher, social entrepreneur, filmmaker and writer.

He believes there is a close relationship between wellbeing, leadership and organisational culture.

Staley began his leadership path at an inner Melbourne high school, where he was part of a team rebuilding the school’s culture after a community-led reopening.

“We had to meet students as they were… but also have a sense of an aspiration for what we could see in them,” he said.

Working closely with community leaders, artists and Koorie educators, Staley and his colleagues built an empowering culture that gave students voice, ownership and pride, and a sense of connectivity and purpose.

But the work was intense and emotionally consuming. After several years, the intensity became unsustainable.

“We were pushing the system right to the edge,” Staley said. “Wonderful kind of work, but very intense.”

He left the school with an increased drive to empower young people experiencing disadvantage to find connection through the arts.

This drive led him to establish Youthworx, a social enterprise that used creative media to engage young people experiencing homelessness and marginalisation.

“For a decade, I was running with one foot off the edge of the cliff,” Staley said.

“Eventually, that mode of working caught up with me physically.” While the work was innovative and had a real impact, it came with isolation and the burden of carrying too heavy a load.

“I didn’t feel like I had the same level of support I’d had working as part of a circular team at the school. It was quite lonely work at times.”

These experiences shaped how Staley now thinks about systems and leadership.

“In the old days, I was running off trying to change the world. But I wasn’t doing it in a way that was personally sustainable – and ultimately that becomes a risk for you and the environments you're in as well.”

He now has a deeper understanding of how culture, strategy and systems interact.

“There needs to be enough systems and structures in place … that provide clear and healthy parameters, while not being oppressive,” Staley said.

He believes wellbeing should be embedded in the day-to-day functioning of an organisation, whether that means holding regular team debriefs or ensuring that relationships between chair and CEO, or between board and staff, are thoughtful and valued rather than based on compliance. For instance, “in a healthy context, the CEO and the board have a relationship where there’s both support and accountability.”

Today, Staley prioritises wellbeing as foundational. “Now I put time into maintaining my own personal wellbeing as the bedrock of anything else.”

His daily practice includes reading, journalling and walking by the river. “That’s time for reflection. To process my own stuff.” He also leans on mentors and critical friends, and uses a framework of circles of control, influence and concern to stay focused.

So what does Staley want leaders to remember?

“Try and deeply care for yourself, as well as for your community,” he said. “Accept the responsibilities of your role and really honour them, but let go of the things you can’t control. You can’t do it all. And you need support and teams.”

Attend this wellbeing event

Community Directors' Jon Staley and Adele Stowe-Lindner are speakers at the Benefolk Wellbeing Summit (Aug 29-Sep 17). Their Monday, September 8, presentation on wellbeing governance features great tools and the results of a new sector survey. Use the code ICDA25 for a 25% discount. Learn more and register

More information

• Watch Staley’s presentation: Wellbeing in Leadership: Strengthening yourself to support others
• Leadership and ethics tools and resources
• Helpsheets: leadership styles | characteristics of good leaders | emotional intelligence
• Leadership Week webinars
• Leadership white paper