Page 38 - How We Lead Matters

When I Grow Up

She ran to the car, one knee sock around her ankle, her barrette askew in her
hair. She barely had opened the car door when she announced with a big
smile that she had written an “essay.” It obviously had been a good day in
fourth grade for my oldest daughter, Diana.
“Good for you, sweetheart!” I thought it was important that I respond
with the same enthusiasm. “What did you choose to write about in your
essay?”
“Well,” she said very seriously, as if she were telling a secret. “It’s about
what I want to do when I grow up.”
“I’m not sure you’ve ever shared that with me,” I said. “What do you
want to do?”
She pulled herself up very straight in her seat and said, “I want to make
a difference.”
It was Diana’s voice, but I realized she was speaking for all of us who
deep down inside yearn to leave our footprint. Maybe as we get older, we lose
the courage to think it, say it—lest we fail.
But the truth is, we all want to be a part of something bigger. We all
want to make a difference in some way, to someone.
Of course, ever since the day she was born, Diana has made a difference
in my life. And as the years pass, I find myself turning often to her for a shoul-
der to lean on and wise counsel.
And the best part? We still share secrets.

Marilyn Carlson Nelson 21