b'HONESTY, HUMOR, VULNERABILITYLESSONS IN LEADERSHIP AUTHOR SHARES KEYSTO SUCCESS, GROWTHby Kaidan Mathias, MBA 26 | Nov. 21, 2025Heidelberg students, faculty, staff, and community membersclubhouse eating a Caesar salad while everyone else was out gathered on Nov. 19 for the fourth annual Lessons incleaning in the heat, she admitted. I thought leadership Leadership event. Created by Dr. Trish Berg and supportedmeant sitting where people knew where to find youbut by the John and Patricia Adams Foundation, the seriesthats not leadership at all.brings outstanding organizational leaders from across the country to campus to share their insights and experiences inThat moment changed everything. If those people hadnt leadership. quit, I never would have learned how to lead, she said. It was the screw-up that completely shifted my life.This years guest was Kristen Hadeed, founder of Student Maid and author of Permission to Screw Up. KristenWHY FEAR MEANS YOU CAREimmediately drew in the audience, especially students, withMuch of Kristens message focused on how students navigate her humor, honesty, and vulnerability. fear. Fear is a compass, she told the audience. If it scares KICKING OFF THEN NIGHT you a little, it means you care.School of Business Dean Todd Harrison opened theShe urged students not to wait for fear to disappear: Real evening by highlighting the intentional planning behind thecourage is moving anyway, even when the fear is still there, series and thanking Trish for her vision. Trish explained whyshe said.Kristens message stood out, saying, Kristen is so dynamic and so vulnerably honest about what shes been through. IThe room took part in her resilience rsum activity, knew our students would learn something important fromreflecting on moments that challenged them and the lessons her. those experiences taught. We forget other people have hard HOW ONE CLEANING JOB BECAME A CAREER things too, she said. When we talk about it, we learn we arent alone.Kristen began her talk with a story that had the audience laughing. At 19, she wasnt dreaming of entrepreneurship. IBEING HUMAN MAKES YOU A BETTER LEADERjust wanted to buy a pair of jeans, she said. A single cleaning job quickly grew into a business that employed hundreds ofKristen shared how she once believed leaders needed students. to appear confident at all times. That changed when an employee told her, You never have a bad day. I could never Her early leadership years brought challenge after challenge.be like you.She told the crowd about securing a contract to clean 800 apartments in 21 days, only to watch 75 percent of herThat was the moment I realized I was making leadership crew quit on day three. I was sitting in an air-conditionedlook unattainable, she said. She was comparing herself to a Fall 2025 www.heidelberg.edu/school-of-business 4'