Wearing Many Hats

As Leaders, we often talk of wearing many different hats. We speak of Leadership and Followership. We speak of influencing our co-workers, our teams, or our staff. How do the leadership skills we learn in our professional lives carry over into our personal lives and vice versa?  

Being a spouse, parent, mentor, and leader is not easy. It is not easy to balance all the different hats we wear. There are days when we may feel that our heads are too small to carry them all. Yet, we persevere. Why?

“If your actions inspire people to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

Three years ago, we were driving down the road listening to an audiobook about classical education. As parents, we decided we wanted that for our children. The problem? There wasn’t a school in our area offering a Catholic, Classical Liberal Arts Curriculum as a full-time school. So, what to do? Well….you start a school! That sounds ridiculous, right? But that is what we did.

There were times when each of us thought, “yes…this is ridiculous”. However, we kept coming back to what is in our core; that guiding principle that caused us to sacrifice time, talent, and treasure to start a school so that our children and others can learn Truth, Beauty, and Goodness by studying all subjects through the lens of Jesus Christ, the ultimate Servant Leader.

Severn Leadership Group (SLG) gives us the tools and mindset to practice our servant leadership skills in every aspect of our life. It allowed us to navigate the various roles – founder of the school, parent, teacher, administrator, janitor, volunteer, etc.- with a joyful heart. It is hard to juggle so many hats. However, SLG reminds us that it is our core that defines how we show up in every situation, whether in the boardroom, at the dinner table, or cleaning the bathrooms at the school.

Do we love? Do we have integrity? Do we seek Truth? Do we strive for excellence in all our actions? Do we put people ahead of things?

When we are tired and feel like our head is too small to wear the hats required, we can remember the lessons we have learned. Integrating the principles of the Severn Leadership Group into our lives allows us to serve our children and others by living out our core values at work, at home, and in our newly founded school. It helps us be difference makers.

Mary and Ali at the Annual Divine Mercy Academy Gala

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