Do You Wear Many Hats? Here Are 3 Ways to Clarify Your Roles

From an early age, former Penn State edge rusher and newly minted Baltimore Ravens athlete Adisa Isaac juggled a lot of roles. Among them were son, sibling, student, athlete, teammate … and caregiver. You could argue that’s what made him the success he is today.

Isaac was born into a family of three siblings—all with developmental disabilities, and yet his situation felt like the most natural thing in the world to him even though others might have called it a hardship. Unlike his three siblings, Isaac was writing his name at three years old and already knew his mother’s phone number.

By the time he was eight, he was learning the rules of the road, how to make the car go left or right, and which pedal accelerates and which stops … in case his single mother needed him to drive in an emergency.

If you pause and think about all the roles you play in your life, it’s surprising how quickly the list grows. What if you’re serving in a role that’s unusual or one that you’re not ready for? If you’re anything like Isaac, you rise up to meet expectations because you don’t know any different reality.

When Isaac’s friends were spending their free time gaming, he might have taken his siblings to the park, helped them with their craft projects, or prepared a meal for them. Isaac’s mom, Lisa—who also teaches schoolchildren with special needs in her day job—says she couldn’t imagine what she would have done without him.

Imagine you’re a new leader in the workplace or community and someone calls on you to serve in a capacity that’s new to you. How might you grow as a person or professional if you rose up to meet those expectations like Isaac stepped up for his mother, his siblings, his instructors, and his teammates?

While spinning all these plates comes naturally for Isaac, how would you balance your new role with the existing ones you may have? Pondering this question reminded me of a time when I was overseeing a merger at Prologis alongside my co-leader and CEO at AMB Property Corporation. Each of us was not only handling our traditional responsibilities, but we also found ourselves taking on unanticipated roles to ensure the transition went smoothly.

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If you find that your tasks expand dramatically or you lose clarity about the roles you play and how to make time for them all, consider three steps:

1. Explore

Take a moment to explore the current roles you play and write them down. If it helps, mentally watch yourself proceed through the day and take note of each person you interact with and who you are to them. For instance, do you wake up and take an exercise class or teach one? Do you then prepare breakfast with your family? What happens next and what roles unfold?

2. Evaluate

Consider each of these roles and ask yourself if some of them unnecessarily override others that are more important to you. Do some require too much energy and personal resources? Which roles would you prefer to cultivate and see yourself fulfilling more wholeheartedly? Are there any roles that nurture others?

3. Enhance

Reprioritize your list and make adjustments so that you’re optimizing how you spend your time. This Action Priority Matrix can help you make the most of your time by identifying the right tasks and opportunities to pursue. If it helps, know that respondents in a survey reported better work-life balance after they prioritized their time to reflect their values.

When Isaac stepped on the football field for the first time as a freshman, he said, “I was in love.” And later as a senior, when Isaac evaluated schools to play college football, he chose Penn State over Alabama, Michigan, Miami, and other great programs because he was impressed with how the PSU coaches treated his family—and a school within driving distance of his mother and siblings was a priority. He was clearly exercising his ability to manage the roles that meant the most to him.

Today, Isaac’s former college and current NFL coaches marvel not only at his skills on the field but also at his adaptability. After his NFL career, Isaac has an eye on using his rehab and human services degree to counsel or teach children who have disabilities.

Isaac has incredible clarity about his path. “I feel like God knew what he was doing putting me in this situation,” he says. Take a moment to let Isaac’s story wash over you, and then entertain the three steps I’ve suggested: explore, evaluate, and enhance. With any luck, you’ll experience some of Isaac’s certainty. At the very least, catch a Ravens game and watch certainty in action.