By Dr. John Higgins III, Upper School Science Faculty & Grade Level Dean at St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, CT; Pastor at Broad River Church in Norwalk, CT
About a month ago, the lead pastor (and good friend) at my church used the following quote during his sermon: “What starts in purity can be polluted by pride.” As true about one’s faith journey as it is about one’s leadership journey. There’s simply no room for ego when leading in any aspect of life (faith, career, family, teams, etc.). If it is only about you, it’s not effective leadership. The moment we accept this anchoring tenet marks the beginning of our path to leadership. But where in our story does this happen? Is it early on? During high school, college, grad school? Is it momentous? Is it earth-shattering? Or is it overlooked within the innumerable pieces of humble pie we are served throughout our lives? Perhaps it’s more about when we start looking for it that matters the most.
During the gcLi Leadership Lab 2025, Executive Director Jeremy LaCasse highlighted the power of parables in teaching leadership. Reflecting and sharing one’s own story is as instructive as it is cathartic, much like sharing a testimony of faith. The connections between faith and leadership are inescapable to me, as a teacher and a pastor, so you’ll notice the parallelism as I continue to share. For me, my first true steps in faith coincided with my first true steps into leadership.
In March 2005, I was two days shy of defending my PhD dissertation in marine science when my outside committee member pulled the plug and said I was not ready to defend. Flights and reservations had already been made by family members. His sole reasoning was that I had not visited him at his lab. I was seconds away from throwing in the towel. I had worked so hard, I had proven myself worthy of skipping a master’s degree, and I deserved and earned the right to defend! How could he do this to me?! After a 6-hour round trip to his lab and only 45 minutes of conversation, he concluded that everything looked good to go. One man’s ego had put a stop to five years of my life. Because I missed the spring graduation deadline, I had to reschedule my defense for December.
A year before this academic upheaval, I had begun attending a local church and, for that year, everyone (the pastors, the youth leaders, the parents) tried to convince me to become a youth leader. The gist of my collective thoughts about this invitation was “I’m here to get my PhD and leave. Why in the world would I want to lead teenagers?” I did everything to circumvent the efforts of others to rope me into becoming a youth leader. But in March 2005, I found myself with 10 months of time to kill, so I begrudgingly stepped into leadership.
Leadership is hard, so you have to be willing to put in the effort. I don’t just mean time; I mean mental and emotional bandwidth. Without my PhD in hand, I lost my perceived identity and title and gained a new perspective – I saw that who I was becoming was driven purely by personal ego and a resumé of individual accomplishments and success. No wonder I resisted working with youth. It was about me and nothing else. You can’t lead with a personal agenda. Leadership starts with the removal of self. But extricating the self from a selfish approach (the equivalent of getting out of your own way) takes more precision than battery-operated forceps and a guy with a light-up red nose. It’s also not a one-and-done operation; it takes consistent effort and commitment. I worked harder during those 10 months from March to December 2005 than I had in the five years prior, but I had barely scratched the surface of the true depths of leadership.
I did earn my PhD in marine science that December. I did become a youth leader – I loved that the kids called me Dr. John. I fell into teaching (thanks to a gentle nudge from my mother and a non-so-gentle nudge from God) and was placed in numerous leadership roles. I was labeled as a leader, but the labels didn’t make me one.
I don’t like wearing adhesive name tags. I know that they help identify you to strangers during meet-and-greet events, but in my opinion, they end up being more trouble than they are worth. For some reason, no matter where I place it on my chest, it winds up on the floor, sticky side coated in dirt and dust. This reminds me of my early days in leadership. Someone else slapped that label “leader” on me, and I just assumed it would stay put so everyone else could see it. But that label comes with responsibilities. You have to check on it regularly, pick it up when it falls (it’s not a matter of “if”), wipe off the grime, and risk bruising yourself as you forcefully reattach it. The labels we place on ourselves are sturdier, more reliable, and magnetic. They are engraved with experience and stick with minimal effort. Labels of leadership are different, we have to attend to them intentionally, carefully, and often. And, we need to remove the personal labels we forget we are wearing.
Leading with our own titles is as effective as bringing baseball skills to a game of checkers…it just doesn’t work.
In August 2018, I attended the Educators Conference at The Island School on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. With a marine science PhD in my pocket, department chair status from a previous job, the title of grade-level dean at my current job, and ordination as a pastor just two months away, I felt very confident heading into this next professional development experience. I was clearly at an advantage because islands are surrounded by the ocean, and I was an “expert” on the ocean.
Midway through the conference, one of the most physically demanding days was upon us. We were to bike a few miles to learn survival skills on a kayak, then kayak a few miles to where we would be scuba diving. With years of biking behind me, modest kayaking knowledge, and over 250 scuba dives logged, I was ready. After we donned our scuba gear with my “experienced diver” label firmly affixed to my chest, we paired up for the dive. My partner, my dive buddy, was Kareen. Approximately 20 years my senior, as we checked each other’s gear, Kareen shared with me that that day was the first time she had ridden a bike or paddled a kayak, and she had never been scuba diving before! Despite my tan, I immediately paled as we began our descent. I realized that the dive master saw my “experienced diver” label and promptly covered it with an adhesive “leader” label.
A bit later, Kareen and I locked our arms, and our focused gaze never left each other’s eyes. Kareen must have seen my fear, and she instinctively grabbed my free hand and pointed it forward.
Within the complexity of that simple action, three things happened:
1. Kareen actually became my leader.
2. Kareen reattached my flimsy adhesive label.
3. Kareen trusted me to lead.
What I learned in that briefest of moments was:
1. Your past is something you build from, not dwell in.
2. The biggest leadership moments in life are yet to come, and you rarely see them coming.
3. A true leader knows how (and is willing and eager) to be led.
The very first year of my teaching career, I placed a sign outside my classroom that said “Leave Your Ego at the Door.” Now, twenty years later, I realize that sign was meant for me. Leadership is a choice and a lifelong endeavor that is never finished. Like learning, the process is recursive because if we don’t reattach that leader label, we replace it with one written by our ego. The journey begins with a decision to remove your personal labels and make the necessary space to lead.
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Dr. John E. Higgins III is an Upper School Science Teacher and Grade Level Dean at St. Luke’s School (SLS), a secular day school, in New Canaan, CT. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Biology from Providence College, where his research was featured in the PBS documentary The Shape of Life. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of South Alabama, focusing on jellyfish reproduction and contributing to international research through Project: Medusa.
John’s 20-year teaching career began in Mobile, AL, where he taught a wide range of honors and advanced science courses and served as department chair. Since joining SLS in 2013, he has embraced additional roles as dean, Advanced STEM Scholars advisor, and Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools (FOCUS) advisor. His work as a youth leader and his commitment to servant leadership have shaped his approach to teaching and mentoring.
In recent years, John has become deeply involved in leadership development and service. Through Relay for Life, he and his students have raised nearly $80,000 for the American Cancer Society. As a 2025 graduate of the Gardner Carney Leadership Institute (gcLi), he also helped lead the third SLS Leadership Institute alongside fellow gcLi graduates.
Outside of school, John enjoys spending time with his family in Massachusetts, relaxing at the beach with a good book, and serving as a pastor at his church in Norwalk, CT.