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2012-02-01 issue:

'Amazing journey' for an Amish girl

Marty Lehman shares her leadership story

by Marty Lehman

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I was born and raised in the Northern Indiana community of Topeka, as part of an Amish family. My parents were dairy farmers, which meant my siblings and I were also dairy farmers—whether we liked it or not.

I learned to work at an early age. When I was in first grade I had to milk one cow (by hand) each morning before going off to school. I helped with other farm chores along with housework, yard work and the garden. I am from a family of mostly females—four sisters and one brother. We did not grow up with gender-specific work; rather we helped equally with farm chores.

I grew up in a world of strong women. Both of my parents came from larger families, so I had many aunts and cousins. Both of my grandmothers were still living, along with one great-grandmother. Interestingly, all of these women were Amish. My aunts, cousins and grandmothers were not the “brow-beaten” Amish women the media often portray. They were independent women who worked hard, loved their families and enjoyed life.

When I was ten years old, my parents left the Amish church and joined a Conservative Mennonite congregation. This was not an easy transition for my family. We were no longer part of the Amish community, which was the only community we’d known until this time, but we were now part of a new community, which constantly reminded us that we had been Amish.

Marty Lehman (front row, second from left) with her siblings and her mother on a family vacation at Nags Head, North Carolina. Photo provided.

I was not planning to go to college after completing high school. I didn’t have role models of women who had careers. My plans for the future were to do office work for a few years, get married, have children and then live happily ever after.

My plan worked well for the first four months. I took an office job at an insurance agency. After four months, I was bored beyond words. There wasn’t enough work to keep me busy eight hours a day. I was in a basement office with no windows. Some days I literally watched the paint peel.

Since I had no husband on the horizon, and my plans for the future weren’t working out, I decided to go to college. I completed a bachelor’s degree in sociology and went on to earn a Master’s degree in administration, both from Indiana University.

Since graduating from college, I have worked as a caseworker doing adoption and foster care home studies. I also worked in admissions at Goshen (Ind.) College for 11 years. After working at Goshen College, I worked for Mennonite Board of Missions/Mennonite Mission Network for five years. I was the CEO of Adriel (Mennonite Health Services Alliance organization) in West Liberty, Ohio for two years. For the past seven years, I’ve worked for Mennonite Church USA as the associate executive director for churchwide operations.

Marty Lehman helps her nephew with a science project.

Along the way I had many good mentors who taught me valuable lessons, which are still helpful today. For example, when I worked at Goshen College, someone told me that as a short woman and a non-teaching faculty member, I needed to dress professionally in order to be taken seriously. This sounds like a small thing, but the person was right. It has made a big difference.

I remember the moment I left behind the typical female fears about leadership. I thought I had too many deficiencies to be able to move to anything beyond middle management. Too often as women we think more about the skills we lack than about the gifts we have. The moment happened at a conference where a table of white men, all CEOs of Mennonite organizations, were in conversation. I heard their conversation and observed them for a while. In that moment it occurred to me that many of them were no more skilled than I was, and yet they were CEOs. I could do what they were doing. They had confidence in themselves and in their leadership skills. They believed in themselves, which is what made all the difference. From that moment on, I stopped doubting my own skills and abilities.

As a little Amish girl, I never aspired to be in a leadership role for Mennonite Church USA. I would have never imagined where God would lead me and the life I would live. God has led me on an amazing journey.

Marty Lehman is director of chuchwide operations for Mennonite Church USA. This originally ran in the January/February issue of Timbrel.