For my next blog post, I thought I’d write about leadership. The term “leadership” is so broad and I’ll admit, I didn’t know where to start. So much has been written on this topic that it made me wonder, what do I know or have to add to the subject? I figured it was best to begin by explaining how I view what it means to be a leader.

I entered my professional career at a time when “servant leadership” was all the rage. I was hooked. Servant leadership is described as “taking the traditional power model and turning it upside down”. For the first time, the thought of leadership sounded appealing; something more interesting and attractive than what I believed leadership to be. 

As a reminder, the ten principles of servant leadership – as defined by Robert K. Greenleaf – are:

• Listening
• Empathy
• Healing
• Awareness
• Persuasion
• Conceptualization
• Foresight
• Stewardship
• Commitment to the Growth of People
• Building Community

These principles of servant leadership captivated me. This was contrary to everything I thought it meant to be a “leader”. I hoped and aspired to become a servant leader in my own career.

Let me be clear, this was not to say I expected to be a “leader” in any real sense. Yet, I hoped that in whatever roles I would be privileged to serve in my career, I would do so with the commitment to being a servant leader. With this thought in mind, I seriously considered dedicating my life to a religious calling. While that seems a distant memory and odd to even acknowledge at this point in my life and career, I believe it has a lot to do with how I define leadership today. In fact, I view my commitment to philanthropy as a vocation.

As I shared in my first blog post, education and philanthropy have had a dramatic impact in my life. What a gift to have been able to dedicate my life and career to those two things. This has everything to do with how I view leadership and my commitment to servant leadership. For me, it’s the desire to engage fully in my work and support my team. It also aligns with my desire to serve others. While far from intentional, my civic engagement in Rotary – where the motto is “service above self” –  or my work at Emory University – where our mission statement calls our “service to humanity”–  I have gravitated to a career –a life– of service. 

As I reflect on what it means to be a leader, I also see the connection to another topic I discussed with journalist Crystal Edmonson in a previous blog post. My philosophy and perspective on leadership also come from a deep commitment to building relationships. This has been the foundation for any success I have had professionally, and the joy that has fed me in my personal relationships.

As a leader, I often struggle with the balance between the internal and external focus that my role requires, especially when building relationships. How can I give my team the same commitment and focus that I give our alumni and donors? Am I doing all I can to nurture, encourage, and support all of those who look to me for leadership? I hope that I show a commitment of genuine interest and concern, to continued improvement, and to a culture that doesn’t expect more of my team, but one that requires us to expect more of each other.

I am honored, humbled, and often still surprised to find myself in the position, conversations, and with leadership responsibilities that I have today. Yet, I am constantly reminded of the life-changing impact that education and philanthropy had on my life, and I recommit myself to this vocation. To service. (And as a leader I’ve found that I, too, like to turn things upside down!)

For me, this is leadership.