There are two faces of leadership we work with on a consistent basis: the community around us and our own reflection. So often as leaders in our schools and community, we have been taught and grown into the mindset that being a leader means being there for others and acting upon servant leadership. That is absolutely valid and servant leadership is something that we all try to work towards every day. {and rightfully so!}

Yet, that only fulfills one of the two faces. What about self? SELF is the one aspect of leadership that I think we always lack to focus on only because during the times we need and should reflect, we are afraid of being selfish in not adhering to others. But what happens when we pause from acts of service and look in the mirror? How can we serve others without first having the strength, vulnerability, and impulse to remove our ~mask~ and start serving as our authentic, unapologetic selves one hundred percent of the time? Living and serving others in our schools and communities requires us to be true to who we are. It means removing the ~mask~, taking away the ~trick~ face of who we think others want us to be as the title of a “leader,” and revealing the ~treat~ of authenticity.

This of course isn’t easy. Sitting down and reflecting with ourselves about who our ~unmasked~, authentic person is, is not something we are used to being told comes with leadership. It can be difficult, challenging, and ~spooky~, but if we hold the potential to serve others, then we must also hold the potential to serve others with authenticity.