HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose

Introduction

Curtis Jenkins is a marvel. On May 24, 2019, CBS Evening News aired a short segment about the school bus driver from Dallas who must be among the most purposeful men in America. I spent two years on a public school board in Georgia, and I know that driving a school bus—while remarkably important—can be grueling and thankless. But Curtis approaches his work with energy, optimism, skill, and care.

Curtis doesn’t simply drive the bus; he creates what the segment referred to as a “yellow bus utopia.” He assigns each of the children responsibilities on the bus—police officers, administrative assistants—and he turns each journey into an exercise in community. His technical job is simply to pick kids up at their bus stops, drop them at ...