I Don’t Need Another WAND
Dr. Kim Richardson | drkimleadership.com
Every few months I buy refill heads for my Clorox ToiletWand. If you use the system, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The refill box comes with another plastic wand.
Every. Single. Time.
Here’s the thing — I don’t need another wand. I already have one in every bathroom.
Yet every time I open the box, I pause. I hold this perfectly good piece of plastic in my hand and immediately start asking myself the same question:
“What else could I do with this thing?!”
Can it serve as a support for something? I cannot use this to decorate anything. It’s not that I think I’ll need another one someday. It’s not that I struggle to throw perfectly good things away. It’s that I don’t like seeing something functional go to waste. My brain immediately starts trying to assign it another purpose.
The problem is — it can’t have one. It was designed to do one thing. It does that one thing exceptionally well. And once I already have a wand, another one simply doesn’t have a purpose in my home.
Standing there holding that little piece of plastic, I realized I ask that same question far more often than I thought. Not just in my bathroom. In my leadership.
The Leadership Connection
As leaders, we’re wired to maximize potential. We solve problems, see possibilities, improve systems, and create opportunities. Those are real strengths.
But sometimes those same strengths convince us that everything deserves another purpose. So we ask:
→ What else could I do with this committee?
→ What else could I do with this initiative?
→ What else could I do with this process?
→ What else could I do with this version of myself?
Without realizing it, we spend tremendous emotional energy trying to reinvent something that may have already accomplished exactly what it was designed to accomplish.
Here is what emotional intelligence invites us to see: value and purpose are not the same thing.
That extra wand isn’t broken. It isn’t defective. It was designed remarkably well. Its problem isn’t quality. Its problem is that its purpose has already been fulfilled.
Leadership presents us with the same moments.
→ A committee successfully completed the work it was created to do.
→ A process carried an organization through an important season.
→ A strategy helped build trust when trust was needed most.
→ A role prepared you for who you’ve become.
None of those things lose their value simply because they’ve reached completion. But we mistakenly believe that if something was good, it must continue. That’s not always true.
“Some things deserve celebration, not continuation. When purpose is fulfilled, completion is not a loss — it’s a legacy.”
How many meetings continue because no one has acknowledged that their purpose has already been accomplished? How many traditions remain because we’re uncomfortable ending something that once mattered? How many leadership habits do we keep simply because we’re still asking “What else could I do with it?” instead of asking “Has it already done exactly what it was designed to do?”
Completion is not failure. Completion is not waste. Completion is not something to apologize for.
Maybe emotionally intelligent leaders aren’t defined by their ability to continually reinvent everything around them. Maybe they’re defined by their ability to recognize when something has made its contribution — and to move forward without guilt.
That is one of the quiet acts of character. Knowing when to build. Knowing when to release. And knowing when to simply say: Thank you. You did exactly what you were meant to do.
This lesson has become more personal than I expected.
Since retiring after a 30-year career in education — most of it with Hampton City Schools — I’ve caught myself wondering if I still need to find a place there. Should I volunteer? Mentor? Stay connected in another role? Find one more way to contribute?
Those aren’t bad questions. They come from a place of gratitude. Hampton City Schools shaped me as much as I hope I helped shape it. It was where I grew as an educator, a leader, and a person.
But maybe I’ve been asking the wrong question.
Maybe instead of asking “What else could I do with it?” I should be asking “Has that season already fulfilled the purpose it was created for?”
That question doesn’t diminish my career. It honors it. It doesn’t erase the relationships, the lessons, or the legacy. And hear me on this — the chapter is what closed, not the people. So many of those relationships are coming right along with me into this next season; they’re just changing shape. It simply reminds me that those years don’t need one more assignment to prove they mattered.
The chapter did exactly what it was created to do.
And if that’s true — then I can celebrate it with gratitude, not obligation.
This week, pay attention to the questions you’re asking.
When something comes to an end — a project, a responsibility, a season, a process, or even an expectation — notice if your first instinct is to ask “What else could I do with it?”
Before you search for another purpose, pause. Ask a better question:
“Has it already fulfilled the purpose it was created for?”
If the answer is yes — celebrate it. Honor it. Learn from it. Then make room for what’s next. You could be missing out on another wonderful chapter so don’t be scared to turn the page!
1. What are you trying to repurpose simply because you’re uncomfortable acknowledging its completion?
2. Where are you confusing value with ongoing purpose?
3. Is there a process, role, relationship, or season that has already accomplished what it was meant to accomplish — and is waiting for you to honor it as finished?
Emotions and Character are the Soul of Leadership. And sometimes the most emotionally intelligent and characterful thing a leader can do is recognize when something has already done exactly what it was designed to do — and let that be enough.
Some things deserve celebration, not continuation. When purpose is fulfilled, completion is not a loss — it’s a legacy.
Rise up and lead. 🪁
Dr. Kim Richardson | drkimleadership.com | Keep Rising™
