Dr. Megan Hanna

Leadership has never been a straight line for me. There have always been seasons—some peaceful, some chaotic, some so full I couldn’t imagine adding one more thing.

This year, my goal isn’t to become less busy. It’s to create margin, so I can be my best, authentic self. And it’s reaffirmed something I already knew about myself: I can tell I have margin when I’m able to create.

The funny thing is… I haven’t found margin in this season by escaping hard things. I found it by choosing what feeds me. By returning to the piano over and over again. By practicing—one hand at a time—believing that someday my hands would come together on the song I’m learning to play.

And when my method wasn’t working, I didn’t stop. I adjusted. Because leadership journeys aren’t over. They aren’t clean. They aren’t predictable.

Sometimes we push through. And sometimes we learn, in the sage words of Adam Grant, “when to grit and when to quit”—not to give up, but to choose a wiser path. Because leadership isn’t separate from life. It’s formed inside of it.

So I’ll close with a short poem from this season.

Glimmers

Life is funny. Sometimes things go exactly as they should. The coffee is warm with just the right amount of creamer. The sun shines through the window just so, leaving little rainbows as it breaks through the glass. A chorus of birdsong fills the space. For a moment, the world feels at peace.

And then—high-pitched squawks shatter the stillness as the yard dinosaurs alert anyone who will listen to impending doom. A wild husky bursts onto the scene, on the hunt for playmates, or dinner, or simply a little adventure. The calm of the moment gives way to kinetic energy. Chaos enters the scene.

In those moments, it can be easy to believe the chaos will never end. To forget the peace we once knew. To assume the darkness is permanent. To lose hope.

But all it takes is a glimmer—a sound, a memory, a promise—a reminder that what once was lost can be found again.

So if you’re in a hard, messy middle… keep going. Keep adjusting. Keep believing.

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In the end, the simplest leadership lesson of all may be this: don’t stop believing. Look for the glimmers, keep choosing hope, and peace will find you.