In a recent Poets&Quants Student Voices feature, Breezy Adams, JD/MBA ’26, reflects on how leadership development can take shape in unexpected ways—through self-care, small habit changes, and moments of reflection, alongside more traditional leadership experiences.
In the article, Adams describes experimenting with “1% habits,” or small, consistent changes aimed at improving well-being and focus. Rather than pursuing perfection, she emphasizes learning to adapt, reset, and recognize that growth is rarely linear. Those insights, she notes, helped her better manage stress, energy, and decision-making during demanding periods of her academic and professional life.
She connects these personal lessons to her leadership development at the University of Michigan, highlighting the role of Sanger Leadership Center programming in building skills through practice and reflection. Adams points to the Leadership Crisis Challenge as integral to that experience, describing how navigating ambiguity, time pressure, and team dynamics in a high-stakes simulation strengthened her ability to lead under stress and stay grounded in complex situations.
Together, her reflections underscore a broader view of leadership development—one that recognizes experiential learning and personal sustainability as mutually reinforcing.