A brutal game of catch with my dad became a lifelong lesson in perspective. What felt like torture to me was discipline to him. This story unpacks how leadership above the line asks us to move beyond our version of truth, seek the middle, and lead with understanding instead of judgment.

At 12 years old, my sister looked at the adults, the teachers, the church, and the “good families” around her and said, “If that’s what faith looks like, I don’t want it.” She wasn’t rejecting God. She was rejecting hypocrisy. She saw a boy who was struggling and a system that chose convenience over compassion. She felt the gap between what was preached and what was practiced—and she refused to shrink herself to fit it. That’s leadership.