Leading with Joy: Rethinking School and Center Leadership
In Lutheran educational settings, we often focus on reducing conflict, improving accountability, and achieving measurable outcomes. These are worthy goals. Cy Wakeman, drama researcher and founder of Reality-Based Leadership, envisions workplaces where drama is dramatically reduced, accountability is the norm, and results are not just expected, but celebrated. In her book No Ego, she reminds us that balancing productivity with interpersonal dynamics can be exhausting, and that the emotional cost of drama often diverts focus away from achieving exceptional results.
But is drama reduction and accountability enough to sustain us in the challenging work of education?
Luis Hernandez poses a piercing question in his Exchange Reflections article: do pizza parties and balloons on birthdays truly create joy in the work we do every day? His answer challenges us to think more deeply. Hernandez explains that genuine workplace joy requires enthusiasm, motivation, energy, and positive attitudes. These elements cultivate a genuine passion for the work we do—a passion that propels us day in, day out, very often with a smile on our face even if our teeth hurt.
Joy as Vocation, Not Compensation
As Lutheran educators, we understand that our work is more than a job—it’s a vocation. We serve children and families as an extension of God’s call to love and serve our neighbor, nurturing young people created in the image of God. Yet the demands of educational leadership can wear us down: budget constraints, staffing challenges, regulatory requirements, and the weight of shepherding both students and staff through an increasingly complex world.
This is precisely why joy cannot be an afterthought or a perk. It must be woven into the fabric of our organizational culture.
Cultivating Joy in Leadership
So how do we move beyond pizza parties to genuine joy? Here are three essential practices:
Root joy in purpose. Regularly reconnect your team to the “why” of your work. In Lutheran education, this means grounding everything in our mission to serve our neighbor by serving children and families. When decisions are made, when challenges arise, when conflicts emerge—bring people back to our ELCA identity and culture.
Celebrate faithfulness, not just achievement. Wakeman rightly emphasizes celebrating results. But in education, some of our most important results are invisible or long-delayed. Celebrate the teacher who persevered with a struggling student, the staff member who showed grace under pressure, the team that maintained their commitment to one another through a difficult season.
Lead with authenticity and hope. Hernandez’s call for enthusiasm and positive attitudes isn’t about toxic positivity or forced cheerfulness. It’s about leaders who genuinely believe in the work and communicate that belief through their own energy and engagement. Hope is contagious—and so is despair. Which are you spreading?
As we reduce drama and strengthen accountability in our schools, let us remember that we are freed by grace to lead with joy. This joy is not a luxury item on our strategic plan—it is the soil in which sustainable, faithful leadership grows. When our schools are marked by genuine passion for the work, deep roots in our identity, and the freedom that comes from knowing we are justified by grace alone, we create communities where both students and staff can flourish. And that is leadership worth celebrating.
The Evangelical Lutheran Education Association exists to provide Lutheran education leaders with a community through communication, professional development, faith formation, and professional resources. Our vision is that every ELCA center or school will provide high-quality instruction and grace-filled care that creates a nurturing Christian community for learning and faith. As an ELCA ministry, the ELEA provides exceptional services and support to faith-based schools and centers. For resources and to learn more, visit elcaschools.org.