Your Past Shapes Who You Have Become as a Leader

I am leaving Minneapolis where I worked with an agriculture group and this morning I had a chance to see Paul Mobely speak about his book of photographs American Farmer. I grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan- my father raised me. There is a photo in Paul’s book of a father and his daughter that brought me to tears.

I had a visceral reaction to the photo- you see my father raised my sister and I as a single Dad for a time and it was instilled in me at a very young age on the farm to work hard, to get up early and to do manual labor.

In fact I believe growing up on a farm and my fathers work ethic has shaped who I am today and how I show up as a leader. My father passed away at the age of forty three and I was twenty years old at the time. It was a devastating loss for me as my father was the love of my life, my hero and my role model.

Although my father worked extremely hard I never doubted his love for me- I just knew. Our past shapes who we become as leaders.

I have been in leadership positions ever since I can remember. In high school I was the captain of the boys basketball team AND the girls volleyball team. When I worked at my first job at McDonald’s I was quickly put in the ‘lead’ position. Eventually when I worked in finance I was elevated at the ripe age of twenty three to assistant manager of my own branch with nine people reporting to me- all of them older than me.

My leadership style is direct, no-nonsense, and truthful from the heart- I see the best in people and I strive to help people succeed. I have little patience for excuses and laziness, I guess you could say I am a lot like my dad.

For years I pushed away my farm upbringing because I had become a city girl at the age of eighteen- I couldn’t put enough distance between myself and my rural upbringing. And now I find myself coming full circle- I value my farm upbringing, I value the people who work in the agriculture industry, and I am humbled to be able to work with the hardworking and heart filled people that literally feed the nation.

How has your past shaped you as a leader?