Division presidents typically identify a single issue to highlight during their year to focus attention on what they feel is an important or neglected aspect of our field. I haven’t asked, but my working theory is that past presidents selected an area on which they spend most of their work energy. For my part, I actually don’t spend my work energy on a particular topic. My team devotes their time to developing evidence and tools to advance all public health aspects of child and adolescent mental health. My time is spent supporting my team and removing obstacles from their paths. If I translate that to what I want to focus on in my Div. 37 role, I arrive at an important and often neglected area in our field — all of you.
Things are tougher right now, for just about everybody. Things are toughest, of course, on those who are being targeted or who were already struggling and now find themselves with even less support than they had previously. I would assert that things are also tough for people like Div. 37 members, who are struggling to help support mental and physical health, well-being, economic security, education and healthy relationships among the most vulnerable. Each of you is needed more than ever, yet few have trained for this kind of emotional marathon.
It’s okay to admit feeling tired, worn down, frustrated or hopeless. It’s okay to admit to having these feeling even if you are among the most advantaged in these challenging times. Several times a week, I get asked how to keep pushing forward under professionally challenging circumstances and how to maintain positive leadership when it seems to be a rare commodity. My short answer is always, “How can you not?”
The longer answer tends to vary by person, but there are definitely themes with which people tend to resonate. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that none of these are my original thoughts. These themes have been culled together from leadership books and trainings, colleagues who have shared their wisdom and things I have heard that resonated with me. They are what keep me going. I share them in the hope that they will do the same for you.
We are all limited resources. We only have so many hours, days, months and years to do the work about which we are passionate. That makes choosing how we spend those hours an important consideration. Relatedly, we need to remind ourselves to treat our work as a marathon, not a sprint. If we are always pushing to do more and work longer, we’ll burn out in the space of months or years instead of decades. Supporting child and family policy and practice is a long game, not a quick win, and we need everyone in top form. Being mindful about what’s the best use of our time and expertise — and what isn’t — will help us use ourselves as resources more wisely.
We can’t always control the waves, but we can grab a surfboard. There’s an old parable about being in a rushing river and the merits of either clinging tightly to the rocks or going with the flow. I’ve never been satisfied with either metaphor. A colleague gave me a different twist that I do cling tightly to — when you’re getting hit with waves, grab a surfboard and ride them where you want to go. Translation: when faced with a challenge, figure out how you can use it to your advantage and find the win. Admittedly, this is easier to say than to do, but it gets easier with practice. It requires an intentional shift from victim status to active agent status, and it requires the long-game mindset. It’s not as simple as the façade of, “I didn’t want that grant anyway.” Rather, it’s, “I didn’t get that grant, so what better opportunities can I find now that I wouldn’t have looked for otherwise?” It’s not looking on the bright side — it’s actively making the side you’re on brighter.
We can’t all do everything or the same thing. Academia, private practice and even sectors of the government are often set up to force competition for resources. Although, in capitalist theory at least, this competition could increase the quality of research or service, it could also have the adverse side effect of discouraging collaboration. We’re not selling a product that, if we had a monopoly, would allow us to take advantage of buyers. We’re in the business of helping people. Competition might not be the best systemic approach for that objective. Following the we-are-limited-resources, it’s-all-a-long-game, and following the grab-a-surfboard advice, we need to find ways to use collaboration to our advantage and ultimately, to the advantage of the families we serve. How do we do that? We’ll have to figure it out together, of course. This is the kind of paradigm-shifting disruption that would take time and creative problem-solving. It’s the kind of challenge for which I live. Drop me a line, and let’s start a conversation on getting that shift started.