Leading from Within: Reclaiming Energy, Purpose, and Possibility in Teaching Today

Walter McKenzie
Sep 8
6 min read

Jennifer Johnson is the CEO of Captains & Poets, where emotional intelligence and leadership meet! She is on a mission to empower young people, and the adults who serve them, to be their best selves. Jennifer is hosting a Worthy Incubator, entitled "Discover Your Unique LEADER Within!" on Thursday, October 9th at 7:00 p.m. e.t. Be sure to register and work with her in real time, connecting YOUR captain and poet for the next chapter in YOUR leadership story! You can reach out to Jennifer directly through email.

The education landscape continues to shift beneath our feet. We keep thinking we might catch our breath but instead the demands on educators continue to be complex. And still, teachers rise. Every morning, you show up for your students, for your school, and for the belief that what you do matters. But what if showing up didn’t have to feel depleting? What if you could draw from something deeper in the school year ahead – an inner source of strength, clarity, and inspiration that elevates your purpose and perspective beyond the demands of the moment keeping you buoyant and fully engaged throughout the year?

In times of upheaval, we are invited, and sometimes forced, to turn inward. To re-anchor in what gives us meaning. To re-evaluate our relationship with our work. To have a greater understanding of who we are and why we are here. To lead from within.

Discovering the Leader Within

Leadership in education is no longer about titles. It’s about presence. It’s about how we respond to the moment in front of us. It’s about having the courage to keep leaning in when it would be easier to shut down.

The leader within is the part of you that knows how to navigate ambiguity. It’s the part that holds your deepest convictions and your highest hopes. It is the part that keeps your flame burning bright, connecting us with inner resources that are energizing, empowering, and enduring.

The good news is it’s already in you. When you name your unique Captain and Poet, you have direct and ongoing access to your signature leader within.

Who Are the Captain and the Poet?

The Captain and the Poet archetypes are two vital parts of ourselves. While the Captain and Poet capture the collective human experience, they also show up in different ways in each of us. It is this innately personal partnership between our unique Captain and Poet forms the foundation of authentic, sustainable leadership.

Your Captain is the part of you that takes charge. It helps you step forward when things feel uncertain. It organizes, plans, motivates, and perseveres. It thrives on purpose, momentum, and a sense of direction. It constantly stretches you out of your comfort zone to become the next best version of you.

But in today’s climate, our Captains can grow weary when decisions pile up, when effort doesn’t yield results, and when structures are constantly shifting. Captains need something to inspire their path. Enter the Poet.

Your Poet is the part of you that holds the vision. It feels deeply and finds new and expanding ways to connect with the world around you. It fuels your imagination and reminds you of the values that led you into this profession. The Poet is where your humanity lives, your compassion, your creativity, your values, your intuition.

Together, the Captain and the Poet form a dynamic partnership. The Captain brings your Poet’s dreams to life. The Poet guides your Captain’s actions. It reminds us that we’re not just managing classrooms; we’re shaping lives. The Poet gives your Captain something to stand for. And it helps us imagine what’s possible when the path ahead feels unclear. Together, they enable you to lead with emotional courage and inspired action.

When they’re in sync, you feel it – you are energized, focused, connected. And when they’re out of balance? You feel it too. The language of Captain and Poet, in itself, enables us to orient ourselves toward rebalancing from moment to moment, milestone to milestone.

The Captain gives our Poet permission to pause. To breathe. To care for ourselves in the same way we care for others. When our Captain is depleted, it is often the Poet within us that needs tending. Each time you choose to listen to what you need, to put your well-being at the center, to take a step back and reconnect with your “why”— you are activating your inner Poet. Your Captain sets those boundaries.

And when you bring your Captain and Poet together into your classroom, it becomes a quiet force of transformation.

The Authentic Formula for Success

When our Captain and Poet are fully present and expressed, we are able to live our lives from a place of emotional courage and inspired action!

Emotional courage is being brave enough to live from a true and authentic place. It is about not being afraid to show the world who we are. When we operate from emotional courage, being vulnerable is a strength. And when we give ourselves access to the most important parts of ourselves – our emotions, our passions, our truth – we connect more powerfully with others.

Inspired action means responding with intention and in alignment with our values. It builds self-trust as we draw on our inner wisdom to proceed with confidence and pursue what is most important to us. It can mean making more conscious choices, living from purpose, being joyful in what we are doing, feeling empowered to pursue our dreams, or channeling our energies to make a difference in the world around us.

The Captain takes your Poet’s insight and turns it into action. They allow you to act with clarity and conviction, even in the face of ambiguity or uncertainty. At a time when many teachers feel a lack of agency, reconnecting with the Captain can be a powerful reset. The Captain says, “I may not control the system, but I can influence my world.” It helps you make decisions from a place of self-trust. It enables you to assert boundaries, hold high standards, and model leadership that is grounded in who you are. Together, they enable us to respond rather than react.

Both emotional courage and inspired action harness the purest, most powerful parts of who we are to generate the life and impact we want to create. And when our Captains and Poets all work together we ignite untapped resources around us.

Igniting a Culture of Self-Leadership

When the Captain and the Poet are working in partnership, your leadership becomes more sustainable. You don’t just take on more, you take on what matters. You don’t just push through, you pivot, adapt, and grow. Your mindset shifts and begins to see that things aren’t happening to you, they are happening for you. This growth mindset empowers you to lead yourself first; and in doing so, create the conditions for others to do the same.

When you lead from within, the ripple effect is real. It shows up in how you connect with students, how you collaborate with colleagues, and how you shape the culture of your school.

You begin to see the Captains and Poets in others: some bold, some quiet, some needing permission to shine. You start to model what it looks like to lead with integrity, to recover from missteps, and to keep your heart open when it would be easier to shut it down.

You no longer feel like your role is to carry the weight of the system on your shoulders because you’ve tapped into the blueprint for your own potential – an inner system that is resilient, wise, and whole.

Igniting Transformation from Within

We don’t always have a roadmap for where education, or the world, is going. But we do have an inner compass. The more we understand how our Captain and Poet work together, the more equipped we are to navigate uncertainty while staying connected to what matters most – and allowing it to not only inform but shape what we create out of that uncertainty.

You may not be able to change everything. But you can decide how you show up. You can lead in ways that energize you. The education system may be in transition but the leader within is the key to creating change, from the inside out. And when you lead from that place, you begin to shape the world around you. So ask yourself:

What is my Poet longing for right now?
What is one small action my Captain can take in response?

Each day, each conversation, each moment, is a new opportunity to reconnect with your leader within, to lead from a place of authenticity, not obligation. To let your Poet envision and give your Captain permission to seek. To turn a path to burnout into one of purpose; and circumstantial pressure into intentional growth.

When you contribute to the world around you from your natural gifts and strengths, you expand your sense of self. And your impact. You model what it means to be fully human.

And in doing so, you invite others to do the same.