Earlier in my professional life I had more responsibilities and found myself in leadership roles in organizations that were much larger than the ones I’m involved in here. Although my work now is more project and volunteer-based, and the breadth of my responsibilities is narrower, I still feel this is my life path and that I’ve grown and developed as a leader.
A number of emerging sages are uncertain whether the path they are now on will change:
I realize that no matter how hard I think I am on a certain path, I may not end up there. You ride the train as long as you can and hopefully, if that one stops, another one comes by. My grandmother is still alive, and listening to her stories, it’s like you are never in the place you thought you were going to be. When I was ten, I thought life was going to be a certain way when I got to 16. But when I turned 16, it wasn’t like that at all. As you get older, you are really never in the place you thought you were going to be when you were younger. So this is exciting new stuff, and we’re happy and thankful to be here.
I definitely have a path that I’m on, but I’m just not sure where it’s going. I’ve been asked to do some consulting work to set-up charter schools, and although this didn’t fit into my life at the time, I could see that as a future possibility. I also sent my resume into the Obama Administration for Undersecretary of School Innovation, so while I plan to stay in education, I’m just not quite sure where that will take me.
I’m nearing the latter part of my career. For any position I’ve ever had, I’ve been very candid in saying there are three criteria that are important for me to continue in my role. One is my happiness and enjoyment of the work that I do. I’m very fortunate that I can count on one hand the number of times I haven’t wanted to go to work. The second criterion is that I continue to make a difference to the organization and am productive in my work. Finally, it’s important that others see me as a positive force in my role and are able and willing to support me. As to what I might do next, I don’t know. If and when I leave my current position, I think I will be open to whatever feels right at that time.
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