What's Your Origin Story?

My dad was an entrepreneur. After that, he traveled and spoke on entrepreneurship, management and leadership. During most of his career and the periods when he focused on management and leadership education, I was focused on my own career: in wildlife ecology and conservation. I completed internships, started graduate school and narrowed my eyes on a career as a wildlife biologist. I admired his work and always sought personal and professional advice from him as it related to my graduate experience and research, but I never really thought that “management” was something I’d pursue for myself.

As I was nearing the end of graduate school, we found out that my dad was terminally ill. I moved home for what would be the two months we had left together, and I started to listen. We spent time talking day after day, and I collected thoughts from him on different topics in a bright blue and orange giraffe notebook, which would over time become known as “the notebook”. On one of those days, he directed me to title my page, “leadership and management”. I remember thinking to myself, “what could I possibly need to know about these topics, right now?”, but I kept silent. He talked for hours, and I wrote for hours. We talked about everything from what it meant to be a leader, the different types of management styles and understanding your team and their unique needs to how to start a business and create a positive and purposeful environment for all.

I never really thought too much about our conversation around those topics that day, until my first manager as a young professional in the academic publishing industry asked me, “Have you thought about applying to the open team manager role?”.

💡 My immediate thought: “no”.

🦒 My next thought: “giraffe…”

I read the role description, decided to apply, and pulled out “the notebook”. I remember glancing through my messy notes on participatory leadership versus authoritative leadership, motivation versus manipulation and directives, building trust and how to inspire those around you. I never really thought I’d become a manager and eventually think of myself as a leader. After over 3 years as a people manager, I shifted my focus to leadership development and manager effectiveness. I was supported by leaders who recognized the value of skill gathering, who pushed me to explore my strengths and passions in a space where it was safe to fail, learn and grow. They understood the delicate intersection between the pursuit of curiosity-filled growth and alignment with business needs, impacts and unknowns. It has now been almost 7 years since I transitioned my focus to what once seemed so distant, and I still reflect on that day of conversation to empower and enable those around me to find their own authentic path toward leadership. Leadership development isn’t a singular event, it’s a journey that requires self-awareness (and the willingness to take a hard look at yourself and your environment), empathy, agility and the ability to deeply ask, learn and understand the experience of others.

There’s no playbook for how to become a manager or leader. You can write your own principles and find the moments of each day where you express the attributes of leadership to which you aspire, whether in a formal leadership role or not.

As a wise mentor once told me, the narrative of how you become a leader, what it means to be a leader, and what it means to be a good leader is where the most reflection, learning and growth happens.

So, what’s your origin story?