Brennan Symposium
Leading with Love
There is no one right way to be a leader. Boston College students are called to serve others in whatever ways they can: in their classrooms, in their careers, and in their communities. But what does it mean to specifically be an empathetic leader? That is the lesson that Brandon P. Fleming, an acclaimed educator, public speaker, and founder/CEO of the聽, brought to the annual Brennan Symposium for Inclusive Leadership.
On an unseasonably warm February night, students from across all Boston College schools filled tables in Gasson Hall as Fleming took the stage. He noted that these types of speeches, ones about leadership, often go hand-in-hand with data and Powerpoint presentations. His speech had a different tactic entirely鈥攊t was about lived experience.聽
鈥淪tories change people more than information ever will,鈥� he says, before launching into his tale鈥攁 harrowing journey from childhood abuse at the hands of his addict preacher stepfather and an adolescence dealing with gangs to the educational transformation that ultimately brought him to the Harvard Debate Council staff. His story also includes landing on lists like Forbes鈥檚聽 and聽The Root鈥檚, and聽聽at the United Nations General Assembly. Add to that list leading underserved Atlanta youths to victory in Harvard鈥檚 annual summer debate residency tournament four years in a row.
Fleming himself could be a poet the way he captivates a crowd in his three-piece suit and striped bowtie. He can go from exuberant to deadly serious in seconds flat, taking his audience with him as he recounts his story. The audience can鈥檛 help but lean in. They stop flipping through the yellow and black copies of Fleming鈥檚 memoir,聽Miseducated,聽and tuck their phones away鈥攖hey are immediately along for the ride.聽
As Fleming says, every single person in the room is there for the same reason鈥攁 kindred desire for 鈥渋mpact.鈥� No matter the field, no matter the role, we have a moral imperative to be empathetic leaders.聽Although Fleming now takes his role as a teacher and mentor聽seriously鈥攈e is currently the assistant debate coach for Harvard University鈥攊t鈥檚聽clear that being an educator was not always his dream job. Growing up he聽resented teachers and felt shuffled along, knowing that those around him were聽unconcerned with what went on in his life after the last bell rang. In reality,聽by the age of 12 he was dealing drugs and joined a gang at 14. A promising聽basketball player, he was recruited to play for Liberty University, but quickly聽dropped out after a devastating tear to his patellar tendon. At 18 he was working聽a factory job, bottling vitamins. He did eventually return to college鈥攇raduating聽from Liberty University in 2013 with a bachelor of arts in English鈥攂ut not聽before surviving a drug overdose.
Fleming wishes he could say that his life was smooth sailing from there, but when he did go back to school, he was especially aware of what he didn鈥檛 know. He resorted to cheating his way through classes, hanging on by the skin of his teeth. All it took was one teacher seeing beyond his troubled grades and frustrated demeanor to change his outlook completely.
After plagiarizing an essay, his professor called him into her office. Instead of failing him, she did something Fleming had never experienced before: she asked to know more about him.聽鈥淎ll of a sudden this wall started to come down between us鈥攖his wall that represented my disdain for teachers,鈥� he says. That professor made it her mission to help him. Not only did they work on class assignments together, but she also introduced him to the works and words of great thinkers like Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass. For the first time, he saw Black scholars in his world.聽鈥淗aving a young Black man in front of her, she understood what it would take to reach me and show me something about myself that I did not know,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he entire trajectory of my life changed when I was met with compassion.鈥�
Finding Your Place in the World Through Empathy
This lesson extends well beyond the world of education.聽With the portraits of past Boston College leaders looking on, the students in聽attendance asked questions that embodied the Jesuit value of 鈥渕en and women for聽others,鈥� and the calling to interact with the world in ways that embody justice聽and empathy. They asked about faith, burnout, and education, but also about聽finding their purpose as they prepare for life after college.
鈥淲hat would you suggest for someone who is stuck in the rabbit hole of what they want to do 鈥� and wants to find value in what they do?鈥� one student asks, clearly weighing professional choices as graduation inches ever closer.
鈥淭he best way to figure out what your purpose is is to be for someone else what you once needed,鈥� Fleming says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about making it to the top, but reaching back and pulling others up too.鈥澛�When he ultimately returned to Liberty University, Fleming joined the school鈥檚 debate team and relished the process. But he quickly realized that his desire to mentor others outweighed his own need to participate. Dropping from the debate team, Fleming began to mentor at-risk teens in his free time, teaching them about leadership and academics through debate. Those skills became the foundation of his career.
He went on to coach middle school debate at Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. It was from there that Fleming was recruited to join the Harvard Debate Council at the age of 26. All the while, he was dreaming up how he could use his opportunities to serve those same demographics of at-risk teens he had then been guiding for years. This is where the idea for the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project (HDCDP) flourished.聽
Since the project鈥檚 inception, more than 100 students from the Atlanta metro area have been enrolled in the program free of charge, participating in 10 months of rigorous debate training in order to enter the annual Harvard summer debate residency alongside an international cohort of young scholars. The residency concludes with a debate competition鈥攐ne which HDCDP participants continue to win year after year, thanks in part to Fleming鈥檚 vision and unwavering support. These students have gone on to secure sizable scholarships and gain admission to top colleges.
There is an inextricable link between love and impact. While Fleming speaks, he frequently pauses and asks those assembled to imagine the sheer number of people out in the world who would be better off if they were also shown love and empathy.聽
It鈥檚 a memorable image, and one that he hopes stays with the audience long after he leaves the stage. As the night winds down, Fleming offers a crucial reminder to those assembled鈥攏ow is not the time to sit back and wait for your turn to lead. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not up next,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e up now.鈥�
Jaclyn Jermyn is the senior content writer at the Carroll School of Management.