Multi-Dimensional Leadership: When One Role Is Not Enough

There’s something I’ve been thinking about lately — and I want to explore it more openly.

Most of my days are spent deep in strategy, growth, teams, and performance. Leadership, decision-making, responsibility. This is the role people usually see first.

But it’s not the only role I play.

Alongside my executive work:

• I’m a part-time fitness coach

• I lecture and teach students

• I’m actively involved in investing

• And I run a small business on the side

  
  

On paper, it might look like a lot. For some, it might even look unfocused.

But in reality, these roles don’t compete with each other. They complete each other.

Different Roles, Different Energy

Strategic leadership works my brain. It sharpens my thinking, builds resilience, and forces me to stay future-focused. It’s demanding, abstract, and often long-term in nature.

Coaching, on the other hand, grounds me. It’s physical, immediate, and deeply human. Helping someone transform their body or health gives instant feedback. The responses are honest, raw, and direct. That kind of impact gives energy back — not just output, but return.

Entrepreneurship and investing challenge a different muscle altogether. They keep me financially alert and strategically awake. They force accountability, risk assessment, and ownership in a very real way. There’s no hiding behind titles or teams — results speak for themselves.

Each role feeds a different part of me.

Learning Doesn’t End With Degrees

Even though I already hold two Master’s degrees,

I’m currently considering taking a strategic financial management microdegree at EBS this spring.

And yes — that question immediately pops up: Will I be overqualified?

But I don’t see learning as a finish line. I see it as maintenance. As curiosity. Staying sharp in a world that changes faster than any formal education can keep up with. And it has a compounding effect.

For me, continuing to learn isn’t about collecting titles. It’s about staying relevant, grounded, and open. Sometimes learning isn’t about moving up — it’s about staying connected to how things actually work today.

Do Multiple Lanes Dilute Focus — or Strengthen It?

This is where the real question lies.

Does moving in several lanes at once make you less focused? Or does it actually sharpen your ability to prioritize, decide, and adapt?

Does it make a leader less valuable? Or does it add layers, perspective, and depth that a single-track career might never offer?

From my experience, living a multi-dimensional life has made me more present, not more scattered. It has taught me how to switch contexts intentionally, how to manage energy instead of just time, and how to lead with a broader understanding of people, motivation, and limits.

Why We Don’t Talk About This Enough

I believe many leaders live multi-dimensional lives — but few talk about it openly.

There’s still an unspoken expectation that seriousness equals singular focus. That if you lead at a high level, everything else must be a distraction. But life doesn’t work that way. Neither does growth.

Different roles don’t necessarily fragment us. Often, they integrate us.

They remind us that leadership isn’t just about performance — it’s about perspective.

An Open Question

If you’re reading this and you also have a passion, side role, or parallel path alongside your “main” role — I’d genuinely love to hear about it.

You can also find the original conversation and comments on my LinkedIn page.