Growing up in foster care, Jonathan tried to take advantage of his state’s college tuition support system but the foster system’s dual demands that he be both employed and a full-time student were stressful and Jonathan dropped out of college to work full-time as a security guard. Now, a security manager, Jonathan believes that his alertness, patience, and flexibility have served to make him an effective leader. “A lot of managers are like ‘it’s my way or the highway’. I have not been that. I have to be presented with the information and then make the best judgment for the situation,” he explained.

Jonathan believes that he developed these traits and skills not from formal schooling, but growing up in foster care. “All the things that I’ve dealt with in my life helped me be more understanding.” Jonathan has had some employees who were also part of the foster care system. He found that when they raised workplace issues, “I immediately was able to connect to that, and make a decision in a way that made them feel as though at some point they could go out and be the type of manager I was.”