Leadership · Courage · Belonging

The Real Work of Going First

I’ve spent more than 30 years learning what leadership asks of us, especially when we’re the only woman in the room.

I write about courage, belonging, and the lessons we learn when we choose to lead anyway.

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Jen Brooks in a bright pink blazer, arms crossed, smiling

My Leadership Perspective

Confidence comes after courage.

Three ideas I keep coming back to. I learned each of them by doing the work, usually before I felt ready.

  1. Courage
    Move before confidence arrives. Most of the rooms I’ve walked into, I walked into unsure.
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  2. Belonging
    You don’t need permission to belong in the room. It took me years to believe that about myself.
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  3. Making Room
    Your seat at the table comes with responsibility. Once you’re in the room, the work is holding the door for the next woman.
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Writing

From the Reflections

Leadership is rarely learned in the big moments. These are the ordinary ones.

Reflections
The Leadership Lie
The Leadership Lie

On a Friday in July, there were no office hours at Ursuline. So I didn't go in. And underneath all of it, part of me felt guilty.

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Welcome to the Circle
Welcome to the Circle

A few weeks ago, I was working on a presentation and found myself stuck on three words: Welcome to the Circle. Not the research. Not the content. Not the part of the presentation I expected to wrestle with. Those three words kept pulling me back.

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The Days No One Sees
The Days No One Sees

People sometimes ask how I have stayed passionate about leadership after more than three decades. I think part of the answer is that I stopped believing the most important work happens in the moments people see.

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You Don’t Need Permission to Belong in the Room
You Don’t Need Permission to Belong in the Room

For a long time, I thought belonging was something I had to earn. I would walk into a boardroom, a press box, a conference, or a meeting and quietly take inventory. How long had I been doing this? Who else was in the room? Had I done enough to deserve my seat?

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READ ALL REFLECTIONS
Jen Brooks working at a laptop in a pink blouse.

About Jen

I learned about being outside the room long before I had words for it.

My father coached football for more than twenty years. I spent a lot of those years sitting outside a locker room with a book.

For more than three decades since, I’ve led in education-based athletics, most of it at an all-girls school, and often as the only woman in the room. I share what I’ve learned because someone else might need it sooner than I did.

Certified Master Athletic Administrator · 2020–21 Missouri Athletic Director of the Year · NFHS Citation Award

Read my story →

Jen Brooks smiling in a red USA soccer T-shirt in the stands at a soccer stadium

The Work That Matters

The work people remember isn’t always the work people see.

For more than thirty years, I’ve worked in education-based athletics, most of it leading athletics at an all-girls school. People saw the games and the schedules. What mattered more happened in between: the conversations no one else wanted to have, the people who needed someone in their corner, and the decisions made long before anyone was watching.

Along the way, I noticed how many women in this work were doing it alone. For a long time, I was one of them. I didn’t set out to build an organization. I started the Global Community of Women in High School Sports because I knew what it felt like to be the only woman in the room, and I didn’t want other women to feel like they had to figure everything out on their own.

The Work That Matters