Leadership Lessons From My Grandmother: Wisdom From a Woman Without a Degree
Some of the most influential leaders never hold titles.
They don’t run companies. They don’t publish books. They don’t sit on panels or deliver keynotes.
Yet their leadership shapes generations.
For me, that leader was my grandmother, Margaret. I carry her name but more importantly, I carry the lessons she taught me at her kitchen table.
She left school in the 8th grade when her mother died. As the oldest daughter, she stepped in to help raise her younger siblings. Education became a luxury she couldn’t afford.
And yet, she became one of the smartest people I have ever known.
Leadership Isn’t Defined by Credentials
My grandmother was deeply embarrassed by her lack of formal education, especially after marrying a lawyer. But instead of letting that insecurity define her, she did something remarkable.
She educated herself.
Relentlessly.
She read four newspapers a day. She devoured books. She completed the crossword every single morning. She read my grandfather’s law journal cover to cover.
After my grandfather passed, someone suggested canceling the subscription.
“He stopped reading that years ago,” she said. “I read it.”
And she did until the day she died.
Leadership Lesson #1: Lifelong Learning Creates Relevance
Long before “lifelong learning” became a leadership buzzword, she was living it.
She could talk to anyone about politics, education, current events, or the law because she never stopped expanding her understanding of the world.
In a time when skills evolve faster than job descriptions, this lesson matters more than ever:
Leaders who keep learning stay relevant. Leaders who stay curious stay connected.
Degrees may open doors, but curiosity keeps them open.
Direct Feedback Can Be Kind
My grandmother was tough. She scared most of my childhood friends. She scared me sometimes.
But I never doubted two things:
She loved me.
She respected me enough to tell me the truth.
She never sugar-coated feedback not because she was unkind, but because she believed clarity was kindness. Softening the truth, in her view, was about protecting your own comfort, not helping someone grow.
Leadership Lesson #2: Clear Is Kind
In modern workplaces, we often confuse niceness with kindness. We avoid hard conversations. We dilute feedback. We choose comfort over clarity.
But great leaders understand something my grandmother modeled decades ago:
Direct feedback is not cruelty. It is respect.
When you tell someone the truth, you signal that they matter enough to hear it.
To this day, when I need to give difficult feedback, I think of her—direct, steady, and grounded in belief.
“Everyone Has the Same 24 Hours” Is a Lie
You’ve heard the phrase: “We all have the same 24 hours.”
Every time I hear it, I think of my grandmother and quietly call it what it is.
A lie.
She had fewer resources, fewer choices, and far more responsibility. Her time was shaped by necessity, not flexibility. Survival came before self-actualization.
Leadership Lesson #3: Opportunity Is Not Equally Distributed
Productivity conversations often ignore access.
Privilege determines how our hours are spent and what options exist within them. Leaders who forget this create cultures that reward circumstance rather than capability.
Inclusive leadership begins with acknowledging a simple truth:
Not everyone starts from the same place.
Empathy isn’t a soft skill. It’s a leadership requirement.
When leaders understand this, they design better systems, make fairer decisions, and unlock potential that would otherwise go unseen.
Financial Independence Is Leadership
Here’s something many people don’t realize:
My grandmother managed the household finances for years before she was legally allowed to open a bank account in her own name.
When the law finally changed, she opened one immediately. No ceremony. No announcement. Just quiet action.
When I got my first job, she took me to the bank to open up an account. At the time, I didn’t realize the importance of that moment for her or for me.
Leadership Lesson #4: Financial Literacy Is Power
Financial independence shapes confidence, choice, and agency.
For generations of women, access to financial tools meant access to autonomy. Watching her taught me early that understanding money isn’t just practical—it’s transformational.
Financial literacy is leadership.
Leaders who want to elevate others must talk more openly about money, access, and economic mobility because financial control shapes how people move through the world.
Leadership Is Often Quiet
My grandmother never had a title. She never led a team. She never built a professional brand.
And yet, her influence spans three generations.
She raised a daughter who earned a master’s degree and became a teacher. A son who became a lawyer. She helped shape how I think about education, opportunity, and responsibility. The path that led me to the C-suite was partially paved by her at her kitchen table
Leadership Lesson #5: Legacy Is the Measure That Matters
Leadership isn’t about visibility.
It’s about impact.
Titles fade. Authority shifts. Careers end. But values ripple forward.
The greatest leaders aren’t always the loudest. They’re the ones whose influence endures.
Carrying Her Name
I am named for my grandmother. That’s not something I take lightly.
She taught me:
That education changes lives
That opportunity isn’t evenly distributed
That learning never stops
And that we have a responsibility to stand up for those who can’t
Much of my leadership traces back to her.
She never sat in a boardroom but she helped shape the leader who does.
Why This Story Matters
There are countless women like my grandmother uncredentialed, uncelebrated, and deeply influential.
Their leadership isn’t documented, but it lives on.
So let me ask you:
Who shaped your leadership before you had a title?
Whose voice do you still hear when you make hard decisions?
And what legacy are you creating right now?
Because leadership doesn’t start with a promotion.
Sometimes, it starts at a kitchen table.