Stop Tying Your Purpose to Your Title: How to Lead with Identity When the Role Changes

Brenda Battle (00:00)
but don't let purpose, like my friend,

be tied to the job, let purpose be who you are and what you feel like you need to contribute to life.

Ralph Owens (00:57)
What I hear in that is making healthy boundaries, setting healthy boundaries. mm. That's so good.

Brenda Battle (01:01)
100 % healthy boundaries. Absolutely. I love that. I'm gonna write that down.

I'm gonna use that. ⁓

Ralph Owens (01:09)
Terry and I

got it from another book ourselves that we read. I can't claim that yet.

Terry Baylor (01:12)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a book.

Yeah, yeah. It's a book called Boundaries. It's a great book too. It's a great one. It's a great-

Brenda Battle (01:14)
Okay, boundaries. Okay, I'm gonna have to get that. love that. That's

what it is, is healthy boundaries.

Ralph Owens (01:22)
Mm, that is so good. I perceived that. I perceived that 10 times over. Yeah, I needed that.

Brenda Battle (01:25)
Good. Amen. Yeah!

Good!

Terry Baylor (01:31)
All right, Ralph, I'm gonna stop calling you at 6.30. Hey, man, I can't.

Brenda Battle (01:34)
Quick

call around about 630. The boundary is you don't have to respond. That's right, the boundary is you can turn the notifications off on your phone until you get ready.

Ralph Owens (01:36)
No, the boundary is I don't have to respond.

Terry Baylor (01:37)
That's

right, Terry.

Ralph Owens (01:46)
That's it, that's it, that's it, that's it. I find myself having to do that with work, being able to cut it off. My wife has helped me to set some healthy boundaries, even on some things that I try to get into in my personal space. But I do realize and acknowledge what you're saying that it is the key to longevity. It is the key to longevity. ⁓ That's good, that's good, that's good, that's good.

Terry Baylor (01:47)
That's awesome.

Brenda Battle (01:52)
Yeah.

Yes. Yes.

Yeah.

It is. It really is. Yeah, for sure.

Terry Baylor (02:15)
So,

I'm sorry, Ralph, go ahead. I was gonna transition, that's okay. Okay, so next segment is here is Purpose Beyond Position. After decades of leadership, how did you know it was time to pivot into a new chapter?

Ralph Owens (02:16)
Yeah, go ahead, Terry. No, no, no, go ahead, go ahead.

Brenda Battle (02:24)
Yes.

Well, so I into retirement or into a new job? Either way. OK. Well, I think I talked a lot about why how I knew it was time to pivot into retirement. Those, you know, mainly, you know, that I was ready to go. I was tired. I wanted to rest and all of that. ⁓ And I had given what I felt like I could go. In terms of a job, again, I always knew like in my senses when it was time.

Terry Baylor (02:36)
Well, Jess, you can choose. You can choose either way. Yeah.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Brenda Battle (03:01)
to pivot to a new job. And I didn't always have a plan around a new job when I knew it was time to pivot. I just knew it was time to, I knew it was coming. The story I told you about a year before I left the last job, friend of mine reminded me that I told her a year before. It says that for me, it's always been, I felt it in my spirit that it was time. It didn't mean I didn't still give a hundred percent to the work that I was doing. I just knew.

that it was time to move on. That's how, mean, it was, I always sensed it and waited for whatever that was, what was going to bring about the change.

Terry Baylor (03:37)
Sure, sure.

Sure. And I

appreciate that. And so what does Purpose look like for you today then? Without the title, without the title, what is Purpose?

Brenda Battle (03:47)
So without the title. So when I

was retiring, a board member of ours who I just loved, I had a great relationship with him, he gave coached me. And he said, in his coaching, he said, you need to get the book, Life After Power. Now this book is about presidents and seven presidents and what they did after they left the office.

Terry Baylor (04:07)
Mmm.

Brenda Battle (04:15)
And some of them created universities, some of them created a garden. It doesn't matter. But it was about how do you enter your second act and still have purpose? So it was after reading that book that I asked God that question, OK, God, OK, now I'm retired. What's my purpose? And he answered the question clearly that you still, you your purpose hasn't changed. Just where you execute your purpose has changed. And so for me, what

Terry Baylor (04:38)
again.

Brenda Battle (04:43)
For me, purpose is still what it is. Now for some people, it's whatever they wanna do. For me, I'm on four boards. I'm chairing a committee to try to save hospitals, keep hospitals from closing. I got appointed by the governor to be on a council that helps us help elderly people in our state age better and get the things that they need. So I'm busy. All of this is aligned with the purpose that I've always had.

which is to advocate for marginalized populations, to change policies and systems that impact them. So for me, purpose is not change. The only thing that's changed is I get to decide how much time I want to give to it. I get to decide what I'm going to do. I get to decide which days of the week I want to do it. That is the only thing that's changed. My purpose is still my purpose. For other people, they decide what that is, but don't let purpose, like my friend,

Ralph Owens (05:31)
Hmm.

Brenda Battle (05:41)
be tied to the job, let purpose be who you are and what you feel like you need to contribute to life. And then operate in that, even after the title.

Ralph Owens (05:53)
⁓ Can I go back a step ⁓ just on the when you knew it was time to change, right? And I think this would be helpful for our listeners. Was any of that driven by the struggle that you had on the job at the time? Or was it more so motivated by, no, I've overcome every challenge that I needed to hear.

Brenda Battle (05:56)
Yeah.

Sometimes

it was like it was the struggle on the job too. Sometimes I went through hell on some jobs and I was through. ⁓

Terry Baylor (06:16)
Mmm.

Ralph Owens (06:20)
Hmm.

Okay.

Terry Baylor (06:27)
So how to navigate that though, right? Because I think it's good to share how do you show up, right? I'm really interested in your perspective of, know it's, know, granted, you know it's time, but sometimes transitioning takes time. How do you show up and still be the best view? Because there are still people looking to you for, you know, some level of service guidance.

Brenda Battle (06:28)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yep.

Terry Baylor (06:55)
You've

got to serve the organization, all of that. whatever it is that's causing this, basically the grace has lifted it. You know it's time.

Brenda Battle (07:03)
is to, yeah, you know, look, you, if you have to decide within yourself that you're to always work in excellence, you're going to always be a high performer, even when you don't feel like it, you still gonna do it. And so when you are there and you're waiting for the transition where they're on your, they're driving you nuts, they're putting all kinds of pressure on you.

Ralph Owens (07:12)
Hmm.

Terry Baylor (07:12)
Mmm.

Ralph Owens (07:15)
good.

Terry Baylor (07:16)
Mmm.

Ralph Owens (07:19)
Mm-hmm.

Brenda Battle (07:28)
accusing you of stuff, whatever, you're still going to perform because your consistency is going to be in that you're still performing and you're going to leave there with the, the, the, the, the legacy is still going to be your high performer. The legacy is still that you operated in excellence. The legacy is still the, showed up. That's what you're going to do because that's who you are as a person and they don't dictate that you do.

Ralph Owens (07:33)
Hmm.

Terry Baylor (07:36)
Mmm.

⁓

Ralph Owens (07:58)
So good.

Brenda Battle (07:59)
Yes.

Terry Baylor (08:00)
So, so, so, so Brenda, I've been waiting for the right moment to share this. And I believe I shared this with you. can't remember, but I had the opportunity to be in a room when at, you know, at an organization, these two organizations were, you know, joining. And I happened to be one of the leaders at the table and the, you know, with all the C-sweeters and your name came up.

Brenda Battle (08:03)
Uh-huh.

Mm-hmm.

Terry Baylor (08:26)
And I'm like, mm-hmm. I said, let me listen to hear what's gonna come out of this. And the person was like, when Brenda left, all the air went out the room.

Brenda Battle (08:26)
Really?

Terry Baylor (08:43)
Yeah, I don't know if I share that with you now, but I was in a room. was in a room. is when I'll just share. This is when BJ and ⁓ the med school were coming together and we were looking at going. We were were looking at going. I do these are these. This is real. I can't make this stuff up. And so but this speaks to your consistency. It speaks to who you are as a leader. It speaks to your impact.

Brenda Battle (08:51)
Yes.

Yes, yes, my God. You got all these stories that I haven't heard yet.

my god.

Consistency, that's the key.

Terry Baylor (09:12)
And that moment was so crystallizing for me because, you know, this was a 20 year endeavor, right? These organizations coming together, moving to one ⁓ EHR. And so again, I had the privilege to be in the room. It was probably one of the first times where I was actually in the room at that level. And I'll say this, one of the big things I learned in being in that environment was

Brenda Battle (09:17)
Hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Terry Baylor (09:42)
If you don't share what you have and not be a listener, you're not gonna be in this room very much longer. And I didn't, because we had been, you're sitting there and you're just taking it in. You're like, I think I'm the only person not sharing here. But in that setting, I'm sitting there and they're like, yeah, we were just talking about how we got there and the people of Impact. And the young lady shared, man, when Brenda decided to leave.

Brenda Battle (09:45)
Absolutely. So true.

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Hmm.

Wow. my God. ⁓ my God.

Terry Baylor (10:12)
all the air went out the room. So that speaks

to again, your impact, right? And it was an intimate moment, right? It wasn't one of those moments where, you know, when a leader leads, you know how that goes, right? Everyone's got something to say, something negative to say, this is what they did. It was, it was the, yeah, exactly. It was the, right, because they're trying to prop themselves. It was the total opposite of that. And in that room, there was reverence in that room for the leadership.

Brenda Battle (10:20)
Yeah.

Yes, yes.

Yes, they blamed them for everything that went wrong.

Yeah. Wow. Thank you for sharing that. ⁓

Terry Baylor (10:42)
that you brought to the organization. And again, it was a proud moment for me because I was like, that's my mentor.

Brenda Battle (10:48)
Yeah. Oh,

wow. And you know, it's interesting. That was the one that a year before that I knew my time was up and I had no idea what that meant. That was where the friend I was at, BJ, when my friend said, when I had told her a year in advance that in a year from now, I'm not going to be here. And honestly, I wasn't looking for a job or anything, but I just felt that the time was coming to an end a year in advance. Yeah.

Terry Baylor (10:59)
Wow.

Ralph Owens (11:15)
Can you just touch on something I had wrote down? Just having the courage to garner change, right? It could be, I've been there. You may be the only one at that table that looks like you. ⁓ You're doubting yourself. ⁓ But your point, and I think this is really going to help a lot of people, is that your voice is meant to be there for a reason. And you have to have the courage to be able to, to Terry's point.

Brenda Battle (11:22)
Yeah.

Yes. Yes.

Yes. It is.

Ralph Owens (11:42)
Include yourself in the conversation.

Brenda Battle (11:44)
Absolutely. I 100 % agree with that. You know, it's, ⁓ you know, I told you about this book I read, do it afraid that book was, read that book a long time ago. That was really helpful. And I read it because of moments like that, being in a room, knowing that while you were there, knowing that you had to speak up and you had to help people, you want to guide people to a place where they can understand what it is that you're advocating for.

Ralph Owens (11:58)
Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Brenda Battle (12:14)
Everybody didn't, but some would. And what I knew I needed was allies to get it done. And the some that would, would become the allies that would allow me to get it done. But I was afraid many times to do some of the stuff I had to do and say some of the stuff that I had to do. But this issue of operating through God's authority, that's the thing that brought me over. Look, God gave me the authority to be here. God put me here.

Ralph Owens (12:17)
Hmm.

Mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-hmm.

wow.

Hmm. Hmm.

Hmm.

Terry Baylor (12:37)
Mmm. Mmm.

Ralph Owens (12:40)
Got it.

Brenda Battle (12:42)
I've

got to do what I've got to do, period. I got to say what I got to say because I'm operating in the authority of God. And that's where my strength is coming from. And I would do, there is not a moment that I can recall that I didn't step up and say and do what I had to do, even when I was afraid doing it. And it's because I was operating in God's authority. Who put me there? People have to keep,

Ralph Owens (12:45)
Mm-hmm.

So good.

That's awesome. That's awesome. That's always gonna help a lot of people.

Thank you for that.

Terry Baylor (13:10)
and

Brenda Battle (13:13)
Frame this right in their head. Know why you're there. Know who put you there. Know that whatever good work he started in you, he's going to finish, period. Believe that. And in that is the authority.

Ralph Owens (13:15)
Mm-hmm.

Terry Baylor (13:16)
Mmm.

Mmm.

Ralph Owens (13:31)
Mm. It's so good. It's so good.

Brenda Battle (13:33)
I'm so glad your

Terry Baylor (13:34)
So

Brenda Battle (13:34)
old guys have opened the scripture and the word

Terry Baylor (13:34)
Brenda, no, is great. Brenda, honestly, that's what led us to the name leadership sovereignty. That is literally the pitch for leadership sovereignty. It was the fact that you are sovereign in yourself. Look, you are sovereign in yourself because of what he's established in you. That's what led us to the leadership of leadership sovereignty. That's the pitch.

Brenda Battle (13:43)
I love-

Amen.

I love it!

Thank you for explaining

that. I did not realize that, that is so true and so powerful what you guys are doing here. I love what you're doing here. I love it that you're giving that to this audience, this community of people who are watching this because who are all of your podcasts because they need this. We need this. This is powerful guys. I appreciate you doing this. Thank you.

Ralph Owens (14:05)
Hmm.

Yes. Yes.

Amen. Thank you. We appreciate you. Yeah.

Terry Baylor (14:28)
No, we appreciate you. That's why I

was relenting. I said, Raph, I'm not letting her go. got on. Nope. I wouldn't let her go. But I'm gonna tell you, Brenda.

Brenda Battle (14:33)
He wouldn't. I was like, I don't put on makeup on Saturdays anymore. He's like, Terry,

Ralph Owens (14:38)
Hahahaha

Brenda Battle (14:41)
I love you because you're like, well, we never had a woman, so we never thought about that.

Ralph Owens (14:45)
Right.

Terry Baylor (14:50)
I'm

telling you listen listen. I'd learned I'm telling you I Learned so much and you don't understand what you were teaching even though you didn't realize it in that moment because what I was hearing in that is I value where I am right now, and this is where I am so So I need you to come to where I am

Brenda Battle (14:52)
You

Hmm.

Yes!

You just give me chills that you got that. That's how I taught a lot of people how to get stuff just like that. And just what you explained to me when I was at that C-suite table, I would explain things to people the same way I explained to you that I don't put on makeup on Saturdays. what would thrill me was when they gave it back to me, just like you just gave it back to me because you understood you got it. And that's why you got to be authentic at those tables.

That's why you have to be honest and that's why you have to be consistent. And people have to know that that's what you're going to be period. And people come to appreciate it and lean on it and desire it because most people aren't putting it out that way. And when there's somebody who is people want it because people want to be authentic. And for whatever reasons in their head, they don't feel like they can be. But when there's somebody who is been authentic, they actually appreciate it.

Terry Baylor (15:52)
Mm-hmm

Ralph Owens (16:05)
Mm-hmm.