Humbled on Purpose

Vocational guidance and career development coaches routinely preach the values of following passion rather than money. Few, however, would necessarily recommend taking an 86% pay cut to leave the C-suite to run a local nonprofit.

In Humbled on Purpose, Maggie DeCan humorously details her exit from a high-powered corporate role to become the leader of the Children's Development Academy. In the process, DeCan left over a million dollars in annual compensation on the table, but found her calling as a champion for high-quality childcare and early education.

Throughout the book, which serves as both a memoir and leadership guide, DeCan explores how overcoming childhood trauma, including the loss of her parents at a young age, shaped her leadership style. She emphasizes the sacrifices she had to make early in her career to navigate a male-dominated corporate culture. Initially a perfectionist and highly demanding boss, DeCan learned to be more compassionate and authentic, eventually adopting a style she calls "scar-based leadership." After recounting her own management missteps, she outlines this "scar-based" framework for individuals to lead not from strength and perfection, but by embracing their failures, shortcomings and personal scars as sources of growth and empathy.

"When people understand your message, especially if that includes scars, warts and imperfections, it frees them to be more real as well. In this Photoshopped, staged, and highly contoured world, people are craving authenticity. Reality television is anything but real. But realism in the workforce, in relationships, and in dialogues accelerates trust-building. Scar-based leadership is the key to creating real relationships in work and life."

Humbled on Purpose is an essential resource for individuals just embarking on their careers, and for those looking to find more meaning in their lives. It is well-known that career fulfillment is not achieved by pursuing every last dollar available. At the same time, DeCan points out that leaders should not have to forfeit a meaningful salary in the name of passionate self-sacrifice.