Leaning in to Innovation and Leadership: Tara’s Story

Tara Weese has spent her career pouring into others. As a leadership development consultant, business owner, mentor, facilitator, wife, and mom, she showed up fully for everyone around her, which left little room to be intentional about her own growth. That changed when she discovered Furman University’s Master of Science in Innovation and Leadership (MSIL).

“I was energized going to those classes,” she said. “It was my space to work on me and my leadership journey.”

A Long-Awaited Next Step

With more than 20 years of philanthropy experience, Tara launched her own consulting business in 2019, focused on equipping clients with the leadership skills and tools they need to thrive. A master’s degree had always been on her radar, but the right program at the right time never seemed to align.

Then, Tara began seeing Facebook posts about the new MSIL program at Furman. It caught her attention and the topic aligned well with her career. The pairing of innovation and leadership were a unique combination that Tara hadn’t seen elsewhere. She enrolled in the inaugural cohort.

Theory Meets Experience

The MSIL program offered Tara an opportunity to connect her years of experience with the principles behind the work. She enjoyed learning the theories behind the concepts she had already implemented, while also exploring entirely new ideas.

The cohort’s blend of early-career students and seasoned professionals made for rich discussions. Professors brought deep expertise from varied backgrounds, and Tara quickly learned to draw on that knowledge. Many of her projects were tied directly to challenges she was working on with her business or for her clients, making the learning immediately practical.

“I loved that a lot of our major projects could be something related to our work,” Tara said.

One course stood out above the rest. The design thinking course challenged her to sit inside a problem and ask tough questions—Is this the right problem that we should be addressing? Are we asking the right questions? Most importantly, it gave her permission to fail as part of the process.

“It was a huge growth and learning opportunity for me,” she said.

Building Something  New

For her capstone project, Tara made herself the subject. She rebranded her consulting business, examining her areas of expertise, clarifying her focus and building something meaningful.

The result was Leader Lean In.

Tara developed a business strategy and plan, created branding guidelines and standards and launched a new website. Her focus was clear: create planned space for leadership growth and development so individuals are inspired to lead with purpose, priorities and passion.

Anchored in her four core values of intentionality, authenticity, collaboration and faith, Leader Lean In creates leadership experiences that help cultivate courageous, reflective and values-based leaders who make an impact in their communities, families, organizations and beyond. Her work is grounded in a belief that sustainable change in families, organizations and communities begins when people learn to lead themselves well.

What Comes Next

The MSIL program gave Tara the space to reflect on her leadership journey while she sharpened her skills. That growth didn’t go unnoticed. She was honored by receiving the inaugural Innovative Leader Award, recognizing her exemplary leadership and steadfast commitment to the program’s core values of curiosity, creativity, communication, collaboration and courage.

Since graduating, Tara has pursued certification as a personal and executive coach through the CaPP Institute. She’s been deliberate about the clients she takes on, with much of her business growing through word of mouth. Her goal is to help leaders discover a greater sense of purpose and understanding of who they are, much like the growth she experienced in the MSIL program.

“I enjoyed being poured into,” Tara said. “It really was re-energizing for me to just make that space to also be poured into, to be intentional with my leadership development.”