Leadership Development Comes in Many Shapes and Sizes, Often When You Don’t Even Notice

I was early for a board meeting this last weekend. 

The room was quiet in that familiar way. Nameplates lined up, an agenda that looked deceptively simple, and the hum of conversation building as people filtered into the ballroom. I snapped a quick photo, not because anything extraordinary was happening, but because it wasn’t. It was ordinary. Routine. What seemed like just another meeting. 

And that’s exactly when it hit me. 

So much of leadership development doesn’t happen in the big moments. It happens in the reps, the small, steady experiences that shape your judgment, your confidence and your ability to work with people who don’t always agree. 

For me, one of the most formative leadership experiences I’ve ever had was not a corporate course or an executive retreat, it was volunteering. 

The Leadership Classroom I Didn’t Know I’d Enrolled In 

I started volunteering with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) when I was 27. More than three decades later, I can say this with conviction. I learned leadership in real time, often without realizing that’s what was happening. 

It began with saying yes to small roles. Then more responsibility. Then governance. Then strategy. Then accountability, where the decisions had real impact on people, programs and communities. 

Over time, that service grew into roles at the local, state and national levels. It included serving as President of USTA Texas, serving as a Delegate to USTA National, serving as Chair of Delegates, chairing the USTA Texas Nominating Committee, and serving multiple terms on the USTA National Nominating Committee. 

Those titles sound formal, and they are, but what they really represent is something more personal. They represent a long series of leadership lessons earned one meeting, one decision and one conversation at a time. 

What I Learned and Still Use Today 

Constituents matter, and communication is the connective tissue. When you’re accountable to a broad membership, you learn what it means to communicate with care. Not just what you’re saying, but how you’re saying it, when and why. 

Budgets and forecasting aren’t just finance skills. They’re leadership skills. When you’re responsible for stewarding resources, especially in volunteer driven organizations, you learn quickly that good intentions don’t balance a budget. You learn discipline, prioritization and transparency. 

Strategic planning is a team sport. In governance settings, strategy isn’t something you declare. It’s something you build through listening, alignment, tradeoffs and follow through. 

Talent development looks different when nobody reports to you. Volunteer leadership teaches a unique muscle. Influencing without authority. You learn how to recruit, motivate, recognize, and retain people who are giving their time because they care, not because it is their job. 

Issues management is real, just with different headlines. In tennis governance and in any membership-based organization, you’re navigating passionate stakeholders with deeply held opinions. You learn to communicate decisions clearly, anticipate reactions, manage conflict respectfully and protect trust.

Robert’s Rules of Order taught me how to lead with structure. It’s easy to underestimate the value of process until you’re in a room where the stakes are high and the opinions are strong. Structure doesn’t stifle leadership. It supports it. It creates fairness, clarity and momentum. 

A Sportsmanship Lens on Leadership 

One of the areas I have valued most is my sportsmanship committee leadership connected to junior tennis the US Open Award, including helping recognize professional players and their on-court sportsmanship. 

Sportsmanship is not just about being polite. At the highest levels, it is a statement of values under pressure. How you treat people when the outcome matters. 

That’s leadership, too. 

The Bigger Point 

Leadership development is not always labeled leadership development. 

Some of the most valuable growth I’ve experienced didn’t come with a certificate. It came with an agenda to prepare, a budget to defend, a decision to make with incomplete information, a tense conversation to navigate, and a diverse group of people to unify around a shared purpose. 

Over time, those experiences compounded. And they carried into every part of my professional life, because leadership is leadership, whether you’re leading in a corporate environment, advising executives, or helping guide a volunteer organization with a mission you believe in. 

A Practical Thought 

If you are looking to grow as a leader, don’t only look for leadership development in formal programs. 

Look for it in places where you can be accountable to others, practice governance and decision making, learn to influence without authority, communicate to multiple stakeholders and build trust over time. 

In other words, look for the reps. 

Sometimes the best leadership development opportunity is sitting right in front of you, quietly waiting behind the words, “Would you be willing to help?” 

Leadership development doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it looks like arriving early and getting ready to do the work again.