Recently a colleague shared a video with me from Brendon Burchard. If you’re not familiar with Burchard, he is a motivational speaker. If you are anything like me, the thought of a motivational speaker makes you cringe a little and be more than a touch suspicious. This guy, though, is very engaging and seems to be a down-to-earth kind of guy. Anyway, the video pokes fun at SMART goals. Everyone in education knows about SMARTgoals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and trackable. They are a great way to set goals for many things. Burchard, though, introduces the idea of DUMB goals. His assertion is that our goals have to be created on a larger scale. Our goals should be about our Dreams; our destiny, they should be uplifting, they should be method friendly – they should have practices that lead to mastery, they should be behavior triggered. If you want to know more about that, hit the link.

This video got me thinking in terms of education. Every school now talks about being data driven. But weren’t we always data driven? Didn’t we always look at where kids were and try to move them forward? Maybe not. But dumb goals got me thinking about more grandiose goals, which got me thinking about passion. Passion, in my opinion, is what makes good schools great and bad schools better. If we somehow could measure the passion of all the players in a district could we find a correlation with achievement? A correlation with success ten years after graduation? A connection to the number of alumni who feel joy on a daily basis?

I had the pleasure of hearing George Couros speak at ISTE 2015 in Philadelphia. In a huge building full of people talking about being technology oriented and data driven, Couros talked about being a leader and being present for students and teachers. This is a passionate guy. He is passionate about not only students but about what we do to better reach our students. On more than one occasion he was practically moved to tears as was the audience. And he made us laugh and think. As Jimmy Valvano said in that famous speech, “that’s a good day!” And talk about passion, you probably won’t find a more impassioned than Valvano’s.

Another leader that I respect a lot is Todd Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker wrote, among other thing, What Great Principals Do Differently. He is another guy who is passionate in making schools great places for kids. In his books he talks about connecting with kids, with teachers, and with parents. This is his answer to being a great principal. Although he doesn’t use those words, he talks about making it cool to care. He also speaks about always doing what is best for kids. That is an old and tired saying among administrators but I love this quote: As a leader, it’s essential that you develop a clear vision and focus…if two people both make decisions based on what is best for students, they never disagree, even when they disagree.

So here is where I am: Passion. That is what makes us great or takes us from good to great. Or it at least makes us better. It seems odd in this day and age but we need to love more. We need to love our kids, our peers, our leaders, our parents. We need to be passionate about what we do. We need to bring the joy everyday as Mr. Burchard would say. And we have to do it methodically. My daughters like to say, “I do _____ like it’s my job.” We need to love and care, bring joy and passion like it is our job. Because it is our job. I can go on and on about specific cases where kids don’t get the love they need, they never feel that they are good enough, they are deprived of their basic needs, they never have a chance to use their voice. Remember Maslow: The need to feel secure and cared for trumps all other needs except the basics of food, air, water and shelter. We need to be more passionate and with that comes compassion. Love those on the journey with you. You have no idea what baggage they are carrying, what struggles they have, the road that they are travelling. Most of us would never dare to attempt to walk a mile in the shoes of some of our charges.

In this vein, I propose a Passion driven school or a passion focused school. We have data by the bushel. More data than most of us can sift through. What we need more of is passion. We need to love what we do and we need to bring the joy every day. That is a challenge, not only to you but to myself. Bring the joy; bring the passion. Everyday, methodically, purposefully like it’s your job. Because it is.