Building Leadership Through Small Steps and Sacrifice
- Feb 21
- 4 min read
David Firnhaber holds a PhD in Technology Innovation Management for his publication in the field of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) regarding the future of quantum decryption. He is currently a professor at Ivy Tech Community College and is pursuing a second PhD in Cybersecurity GRC while focusing his research on human trafficking in cyberspace.
Success is not a sudden arrival. It is a ledger of small choices kept over many years. Leadership is not a speech delivered from a stage but the quiet habit of showing up when no one is watching. I learned both lessons while braiding doctoral research, teaching, and a startup into a single, stubborn pursuit. The cost was real. The reward was quieter than I imagined. Both shaped how I lead.
First small step
In 2010, I enrolled in a double major in Computer Information Network Systems and Technology with a concentration in IT Security at Ivy Tech in Valparaiso. It felt modest then, a class schedule, a handful of nights bent over textbooks, a campus I could cross in ten minutes. Those late nights and small assignments became the scaffolding for everything that followed. Years later, when I returned to teach at Ivy Tech Community College in Gary, that first step was no longer incidental. It was the foundation I stood on when I showed students how to do the work, not just how to talk about it.
The cost of commitment
Sacrifice is not a metaphor in my life. It is a ledger of absence. Over the years, I lost people who mattered, and I carried the weight of severe childhood abuse, legal battles, and the wrenching separation from my son. I navigated the law, made painful choices to protect him from further trauma, and found a way to remain in his life. There were nights when grief and deadlines shared the same blue screen light, and I fought through tears to finish a chapter of research. Those experiences taught me that dedication often asks for what we cannot give back. The tradeoff is not heroic. It is human. You pay with time, with presence, with celebrations missed. You also gain clarity about what you will not trade away.
When plans meet reality
You can draft a dissertation roadmap until the ink runs dry, and still, the dissertation, like life, will take on a shape of its own. At the doctoral level, your research becomes a living thing. You steer it, but it grows in directions you did not predict. I planned hypotheses and timelines, and the work rewrote them expeditiously. These unforeseen hurdles forced improvisation. The lesson is simple: plans are guides, not guarantees. Wisdom comes from the moments when you must lead others through uncertainty because your map no longer fits the terrain.
Leadership forged in hardship
Surviving hardship taught me leadership that is not performative but practical. When you have walked through loss and returned, you lead with a steadiness that invites trust. I learned to translate pain into purpose, to listen without judgment, to advocate without spectacle, and to hold people accountable with compassion. As a presidential member of Sigma Alpha Pi, the National Society of Leadership and Success, I used a platform to formalize that ethic, to mentor, to sponsor opportunities, and insist that leadership includes lifting others from the margins. Leadership is about creating space for others to grow and about using whatever influence you have to remove barriers rather than add them.
Leading by example
Teaching taught me a simple truth: demonstration is faster than explanation. When a student watches you remain calm under pressure, they learn a posture of leadership that no lecture can convey. I remember a week when software failed, and my students’ deadlines loomed. I walked into the room, fixed one problem at a time, and the students followed. In moments when my past could have been a private burden, I chose to let it inform how I showed up, steady, prepared, and present. That quiet consistency is contagious. People emulate what they see more readily than what they hear.
The startup between classes
Building a business while working part-time and being a full-time doctoral student is a study in small victories. There are late nights that feel endless, moments of doubt that whisper, “You cannot do both,” and quiet breakthroughs that arrive like small, stubborn lights. I learned to carve ten-minute wins from chaotic days: an email sent, a prototype tweak, a syllabus updated. These increments compound. The startup did not appear overnight but grew in the margins, fed by consistent, imperfect work.
Perspective and purpose
The big picture is not a single destination but a mosaic of short-term goals aligned toward an end. For me, it blends professional mastery, meaningful impact, and spiritual steadiness. My Sigma Alpha Pi membership, studies in justice administration and digital forensics, my doctoral research, teaching, and building a company are threads of the same tapestry, each thread strengthening the others. Keeping that image in view helps when the path narrows or when grief and responsibilities collide. The big picture is both compass and comfort. It reminds you of how the small steps matter and who you are becoming as you take them.
Closing reflection
If there is one thing I want you to carry away, it is this: success asks for sacrifice, but it returns a clarity only sacrifice can buy. Leadership is not a title but the daily decision to show the way by walking it. Surviving what should have broken me taught me to lead with humility, to protect the vulnerable, and to make space for others to rise. Cherish the big picture but honor the small steps that build it. When plans fail, bridges appear. Lead with a calm example, teach by doing, and keep moving. Quietly, persistently, you will arrive, not because the road was easy, but because you chose to keep walking.
Read more from David K Firnhaber
David K Firnhaber, Doctor of Philosophy in Cybersecurity
David Firnhaber is a proven expert in post-quantum cryptography with a rich background in cybersecurity. Leveraging his leadership and scholastic excellence, he consistently delivers his continued doctoral-level research and is positioned to share his knowledge with many students. Outside of work, David Firnhaber enjoys songwriting, the outdoors, painting, and documentaries, adding a unique perspective to his writing.
