Leadership Greater Topeka | LeAnn Brungardt
Compiled by LAUREN JURGENSEN | Photos by BRADEN DIMICK
What does being a leader mean to you?
Early in my career, I thought that leadership was about getting things done. It didn’t take long to realize that it’s less about things and more about people. With that in mind, I would say that leadership is about giving people what they need to do the work and giving them the latitude to act. It’s also important to recognize and leverage people’s strengths. And in those moments when we all feel weak, having the willingness to say, “I do not know how to solve this either, let’s figure it out together.” It’s about respect that runs both ways. In the non-profit world, it’s also about serving others.
If you could choose one superhuman ability, what would it be and why?
To instantaneously know how to bring out the best in others. It would be gratifying to put that kind of good into the world.
What has been your biggest Aha! moment?
Once of my more recent Aha! moments came from a leadership class I took through KU, about change management. We discussed the importance of knowing whether the type of change being requested is a task, a relationship or an identity. More importantly, what type of change was not from the perspective of those asking for the change, but of each individual being asked to make the change. As someone in leadership, understanding that was key to understanding what I am asking of people, and key to understanding people’s resistance to change.
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