Leadership Doesn't Start With a Title
Leadership isn't about climbing the ladder—it's about deciding to make an impact at every level.
For a long time, I thought career growth was supposed to look like a ladder.
You work hard. You prove yourself. You get promoted. Then you do it again.
More responsibility meant more influence, and a bigger title meant you had officially become a leader.
More than a decade into my career, I see leadership very differently.
Some of the most important leadership opportunities of my career have happened when I wasn't promoted, wasn't the most senior person in the room, and wasn't necessarily the person anyone expected to lead.
I've learned that leadership doesn't begin when someone gives you a title.
It begins when you decide to have an impact.
I Didn't Start in Multifamily
My career began in restaurants and hospitality, not property management.
At the time, I didn't realize how much that experience was preparing me to lead.
Hospitality taught me how to read a room. It taught me how to communicate with completely different personalities, solve problems quickly, manage emotions—including my own—and create an experience for someone even when things weren't going according to plan.
When I transitioned into multifamily, I worried about everything I didn't know.
Eventually, I realized I had been focusing on the wrong thing.
I wasn't starting over.
I was bringing something with me.
The technical parts of an industry can be learned. Processes can be taught. Systems can be mastered.
But understanding people? That matters everywhere.
It's also where one of my strongest leadership philosophies developed: you don't just manage people—you learn to lead different personalities.
The same approach won't work for everyone. One employee may need reassurance while another needs autonomy. One may want direct feedback while another needs time to process it. Good leadership isn't lowering or changing expectations for each person. It's learning how to help different people successfully reach them.
Sometimes Growth Looks Nothing Like a Promotion
I've interviewed for internal promotions I didn't receive.
One in particular felt significant. It was a stretch opportunity, and I wasn't completely sure I was ready for it.
I interviewed anyway.
I didn't get the position.
Of course, I was disappointed. But the process forced me to answer questions I hadn't really stopped to consider.
What did I actually want my career to look like?
Where did I want to have an impact?
What was I waiting for a future title to give me permission to do now?
Those questions changed the way I thought about my career.
Instead of focusing solely on the next position, I started thinking about purpose.
And from that reflection came M•Power, the women's employee resource group I founded at Morgan Properties.
Something I am incredibly proud of today exists, in part, because something else didn't work out.
That experience changed my definition of career growth.
Sometimes growth is upward.
Sometimes it's outward.
And sometimes the opportunity you don't receive creates enough discomfort to make you build one of your own.
Leadership Exists at Every Level
Frontline professionals are often closer to the people, problems, and opportunities within an organization than anyone else.
They see where processes break down. They know what customers are experiencing. They recognize when a teammate is struggling. They often have ideas that could make an organization better.
Yet it's easy to believe leadership belongs to the people with leadership titles.
I want to challenge that.
You can lead by asking the question no one else is asking.
You can lead by mentoring a new employee.
You can lead by suggesting a better process instead of repeatedly complaining about a broken one.
You can lead by creating a space where someone feels safe enough to admit they don't know something.
You can lead by speaking up in a room where you're still questioning whether you belong in it.
That last one has been particularly important for me.
I've struggled with anxiety and imposter syndrome throughout my career. Confidence didn't magically arrive with experience, awards, or recognition.
I've simply gotten better at doing things while doubt is still sitting beside me.
That's a distinction I wish more emerging leaders understood.
You don't have to eliminate self-doubt before you start trusting yourself.
Sometimes confidence is built after you raise your hand, not before.
The Leaders Who Changed My Career Saw Something First
I've been fortunate to have mentors who recognized potential in me before I fully recognized it myself.
They opened doors, challenged me, answered questions, and encouraged me to pursue opportunities that I might have talked myself out of.
As I've grown, I've realized that mentorship gave me more than career advice.
It gave me evidence that someone believed I was capable of more.
Now, I consider creating that feeling for someone else one of my greatest responsibilities as a leader.
There is tremendous power in telling someone, I think you're ready.
There is even more power in giving them the opportunity to prove it to themselves.
Stop Waiting for Permission to Lead
When emerging professionals ask me for career advice, I consistently come back to the same things:
- Stay curious.
- Ask questions.
- Understand the "why" behind the work.
- Find people who challenge you.
- Get involved.
- Use your voice.
- And don't wait until you feel completely ready.
There will always be another title to pursue, another skill to develop, and another version of yourself you're working toward.
But leadership isn't something waiting for you at the next level of the organizational chart.
It's happening in the conversations you're having today. In how you respond when something goes wrong. In whether you make room for someone else's voice. In the ideas you're willing to bring forward and the opportunities you create when the one you wanted doesn't work out.
Your career may give you increasingly bigger opportunities to lead.
But the title will never be the thing that makes you a leader.
You have to decide to do that yourself.
