I often get asked why I do what I do – especially, why I left the security of a good paying job I loved to pursue something unknown with no guarantee of success. We all have a story and there is such power behind those stories. So here is mine.
Leadership has always been a part of my life. I am the oldest and according to my mom, came out of the womb with a very independent personality. As a kid I was the “bossy” older sister (signs of future leadership I now tell my brother) and as a preacher’s kid that lent itself to the assumption that I would lead in every role in church. In college, I quickly gravitated to a co-ed service fraternity (Alpha Phi Omega) whose main principals are “leadership, friendship and service.” I immersed myself in the organization, eventually becoming president – my first major “position” as a leader. And then my career with the YMCA offered me the opportunity for titles and roles such as Executive Director, VP of Operations, and (my favorite) Director of Strategic Initiatives and Implementation. But that is just the back story…
As I said, my first inclination towards a leadership style was definitely that of “bossy.” My way or the highway. On the other hand, I’m generally been considered a “nice” person so I would boss people with a “please” and “thank you.” How very southern belle of me. Yikes. Looking back, I would have given myself a C+ for a “leadership grade.”
And then I had a horrible boss. He was the exact opposite of everything any leadership book ever said to do. It wasn’t the impact on me that most affected me; it was the impact on the rest of our team. I had never worked with a group more disengaged and miserable. Morale was nonexistent. I tried to fill the gap and pick up the pieces but my leadership skills were not honed enough to be effective. The whole experience left me sad and frustrated. I really cared about these people and we were sucking the life out of them.
That experience led me to devour every leadership book I could find, look for leaders to emulate, and helped me begin to shift my thoughts, attitudes and actions. That was the turning point for me. My passion became developing myself, and others, as leaders and working to eliminate miserable, ineffective teams.
Many years later, a second shift occurred. I attended a conference called If: Gathering; a conference for Christian women that asked “If God is real, then what? What does that mean for our everyday lives?” That is when my faith completely collided with my work. You see, I do believe God is real and that Jesus gave His life for me and that I’m here for a very specific reason. In fact I believe we all are here for very specific reasons. And I believe that if our faith is real, it should (positively) impact the world around us.
So when you put all of that together, my passion and purpose is to help business leaders connect their faith with their work. To help them figure out how to be inspiring leaders (and build the young leaders within their company). To help them create teams that are excited to go to work each day, that work well together and make a huge, positive impact on their community. To help us all work together for the greater good, instead of stepping on each other to be “successful.” Because I believe when we love each other well, that is the best definition of success.
