I was two years out of college.

Leading a 15-person software development team, many with 10-20 years of experience.
And I wasn’t even a manager.

Every time a small leadership opportunity showed up, I stepped up.

- I offered to lead our daily stand-up.
- I took ownership of one technical component.
- I ran demos for our team, then for our customer.
- I led the bi-weekly customer reviews.
- I facilitated our sprint planning and retrospectives.
- I represented our project in off-site client engagements.

One step at a time.
One layer of responsibility at a time.

Eventually, I found myself leading the entire project, growing two teams to nearly 30 people, bringing in multi-million dollar follow-on extensions, and guiding senior engineers who had years more experience than me.

Leadership isn’t a switch that gets flipped.
It’s a series of choices you make before you feel “ready.”

If I had waited to feel fully ready, I’d still be waiting.

That’s the trap so many aspiring leaders fall into:
- Waiting for permission
- Waiting for a title
- Waiting for someone else to say "go"

Progress favors those willing to step forward before it feels perfect.

If you're waiting for everything to be perfectly lined up before stepping into leadership, you’ll miss the moments that actually shape you into a leader.

Start by raising your hand.