This is our regular e-message to people who are interested in leading their lives with passion. We will send you a short note with information, stories, examples, and practical things you can do to lead your life, work, and organizations with passion. You are receiving this message because you have attended one of our presentations, expressed an interest in our work, asked to be put on our mailing list, purchased one of our books, or are one of our friends, colleagues, or associates! If you would like us to take you off our mailing list just reply to this e-mail and type 'unsubscribe’ in the subject field and we would be happy to do so. Leading With Passion We like the term 'leading with passion,’ because it has two very significant, but related meanings. The first suggests leading off with passion. That is, making the very first priority in your life to live, work, and play passionately, and to fully embrace every possible moment. Second, it means that we can lead our organizations, teams, and projects with passion - creating passionate work environments by transferring our own enthusiasm for the organization to all others who come into contact with it.

The Domestic Violence Program Managers

The Situation
The first battering episode for many women involved in domestic violence may occur when they are pregnant. "I talked to a pregnant woman who was being seriously kicked in the stomach by her husband, the father of their child. Over time she found the courage to leave the relationship and seek safe shelter so that she could get the medical attention she needed." Auralie Tortorici remembers being on a crisis call when she worked in a battered women's shelter. She worked with women who were trying to decide how to leave violent relationships. She was there for the births of children who might not have been born if their mothers hadn't had a safe place to go. She saw some of those babies grow up to finish high school. "It is just life changing," she says, "to know that being available to somebody can make the difference for the rest of their life, and for their children."

"One of the most challenging families that I worked with," Kim Cobbs says, "involved a low income mother, her two small children, and her male partner who was abusing her." Both of the parents were addicted to crack. "Ultimately she had to make the choice to relinquish custody of her children in order to continue her crack addiction," Kim remembers. "It was profound to see that one would be in a position to make those choices and then to actually make the ones that she did."

After years of providing direct assistance to women and children in severe situations, Auralie and Kim now work for New Mexico's Children, Youth and Families department. Auralie is a domestic violence program manager and Kim supervises other domestic violence and children's behavioral health program managers. They are passionate about their work.

We wondered how people stay passionate about working in such stressful, emotionally tearing situations. For Kim and Auralie it hasn't been money or recognition or fun, which are often in short supply anyway. It's been the cause – helping women and children to live a life free from abuse.

Most children don't grow up dreaming about careers where they are on call 24/7, in violent situations, for little money. After getting her Master's degree in Social Work, Auralie received a call from the board of directors at a battered women's shelter to be the agency's Executive Director. "I stayed there a bit over 4 years," she says, and that is how I became passionately devoted to working to end domestic violence." And she has been for the last 23 years.

After getting her Master's degree in Social Work, Kim worked in correctional facilities, homeless shelters and other community-based agencies. "I always tended to gravitate towards issues affecting women,' she says, ‘and out of that really grew my interest in working with women and kids and eventually offenders of domestic violence."

Now, after years of directly serving people, Kim and Auralie administer funds the state of New Mexico provides for domestic violence providers statewide. These are programs that affect and impact many more clients than Kim and Auralie ever could individually. They help domestic violence programs around the state to build capacity to serve victims and their children.

For the most part those programs do an excellent job. But sometimes not. Last year there was an agency that engaged in harmful practices with the women and children it was supposed to protect and serve. These were people who had already been harmed themselves in their primary relationships. "We were instrumental," Kim says, "in calling for leadership and programmatic changes, and subsequently the program is rebuilding itself to do the very things it needs to do to protect women and children affected by domestic violence."

"I know that Auralie and I have been instrumental in creating an atmosphere and culture of partnering with agencies," Kim says. Before that, program oversight functions were looked upon as primarily regulatory. Now they find that they have intimate connections with the executive directors of agencies around the state, who freely ask for their feedback and participation in problem-solving and program building. Kim says, "It really is being an advocate for those folks in the field who are doing absolutely life and death work every single day," that keeps her excited about her work.

Working in a bureaucracy can be energy-sapping. Sometimes it feels like going two steps forward and one step backward. Sometimes other people don't place the same importance on particular work that others do. "Sometimes the bureaucracy of state government supports our work and sometimes it thwarts the work," Kim says. And when there is any acknowledgement that there is understanding and support of the issues and the work, this re-inspires and re-energizes."

"I see us as stewards for the funds," Auralie says, "so that we assume responsibility for insuring the money is rightly distributed and utilized statewide. We are kind of fierce about it, about guarding that."

For them, working with phenomenal people is inspiring. The people out in the field have to compete for resources, and they have incredibly difficult jobs, dealing with emotional and physical trauma daily. And they are also the source of the energy Kim and Auralie have for their jobs.

"The providers are fabulous and fantastic people and it is always energizing to go out and both support them and recognize them for the hard work," Auralie says. "They have done so much for so long with so little that the demand can really take its toll on these compassionate people."

"The sustaining part for me has been the relational part with the providers," Kim says. And they often get great feedback in the form of letters, cards, and verbal thanks. "To hear them say ‘I know Kim and Auralie are our champions.' That is it, you know."

Do we want passionate employees in state government? You bet. Kim and Auralie exemplify the kind of employees who assure that the state is doing its job excellently, that provider agencies get the support they need, and who also care deeply about the clients – in their case, women and children in need – that they ultimately serve.

Leading with Passion is a regular communication from Michael Kroth and Patricia Boverie. Michael and Patricia have been researching passionate work since 1999, and their book, Transforming Work: The Five Keys to Achieving Trust, Commitment, and Passion in the Workplace, is about the indispensable necessity of passion for personal and organizational success in the workplace.

© Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved Patricia Boverie and Michael Kroth