Navigating a Leadership Journey: What I've learned along the way and where we go from here

Why Blog About Leadership?

As the executive director of a small nonprofit agency for over 21 years, I came to realize that three things are true.

·         You can't have friends at work.

·         You are responsible for everything that happens. Every. Single. Thing.

·         It's lonely at the top!

​About midway through my career, this realization prompted me to begin the task of writing down an endless collection of stressful, frustrating, hilarious and sometimes mind-boggling #management dilemmas, supervisory issues and staff interactions I experienced on a daily basis. The end result was this. A site for #supervisors, managers, and other types of #leaders to help us navigate the world of work.

It doesn’t matter what field you’re in, being a leader is tough and not something to be taken on by the faint of heart. But #leadership also has its rewards.

Think back to your high school or college days. Were you the one sitting in the front row meticulously taking notes? Was your hand constantly raised high in the air begging the professor to call on you? Did you find you could hardly stop that brilliant comment from bursting out of your mouth? Well, you may be a natural born leader.

My crooked path to leadership

I knew I wanted to be a leader from the time I was in high school. But I just didn’t know how to go about becoming one. I devised a plan of becoming a store owner and even went as far as ordering an instruction manual on how to start your own heart and rainbow shop. After all, it was the 70s! Maybe I could be a teacher? My parents surely wanted it.

With my future looking bright I set off to earn my business degree but soon found out I hated accounting, didn’t have the least bit of interest in sales, and couldn’t get past a “C” in economics. After college, I just couldn’t find my niche and had little confidence in my ability to go out and discover it. I even chickened out of an interview at IBM convincing myself that I didn’t want to wear a suit every day. After over a decade of moving from one unsatisfying position to another, I decided to take charge of my own fate and accidentally fell into a twisting path that led me into leadership.

Facing a choice between two opportunities that both were to begin the next morning, I defied my father’s advice to “take the one with the money” and found myself in an unpaid internship position for the executive director of a small agency.

The ED had been in her position for over ten years, and I was onboarded as her first intern because of my business background. I was mesmerized. She was my role model, my idol, my mentor, and I loved everything about her. I wanted to be just like her when I grew up! On my first day she asked me what I sought as a career and of course I said, “I want your job”. Although I didn’t mean that literally, I just meant a job like hers. Her surprised response was “Well I’m not going anywhere.”  Little did we both know that in a few short years I would work my way up from intern to assistant to manager and unbelievably, right into her job as executive director, and there I stayed for the next 21 years.

So that is how I ended up in a leadership position. I wanted it from the beginning, but it took a great amount of luck, and a lot of perseverance to get me there. Not a day goes by that I don’t question this choice, marvel about the idiosyncrasies that come along with the position and wonder what the world would be like if I wasn’t in charge of every little thing.

Let’s talk about it!

#thelonelyleader #itslonelyatthetop