Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes has dedicated her career to public service and currently serves as the Director of the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services, leading a robust team. Throughout our conversation, she shares insights on balancing her career and motherhood—a challenge faced by many parents, especially women, every day. While some may avoid the topic of managing both children and a career, Dr. Morris-Hughes addresses it head-on, always striving to make the workplace better for future generations.
Dr. Morris-Hughes discusses the significant impact that coaches and leaders have had on her journey, particularly when she began her career, while at the same time becoming a new mother. Dr. Morris-Hughes highlighted the distinction between being a leader and being the leader, sharing a personal story where she initially thought coaching was being offered because she was falling short. In reality, it was the opposite—she was being given the support and resources to grow into the potential her superiors saw in her. From the beginning of her coaching journey, values have been a cornerstone of her professional and personal growth, prompting all of us to reflect on our own guiding principles: What values do we prioritize?
Later in the episode, Dr. Morris-Hughes talked about how her upbringing influenced her career and how coaching helped her realize that she didn’t need to “burn the candle at both ends.” This realization not only made her a more effective leader but also a better mother, demonstrating how an external perspective can dramatically reshape our own.
Towards the end of our conversation, she introduced the concept of “becoming a corporate athlete” and emphasized how the same steps an athlete takes to stay at the top of their game also apply to leaders aiming for peak performance. Dr. Morris-Hughes also discussed her concept of “professional vacations”—time she sets aside specifically for innovation—and how she encourages her team to do the same, leveraging the coaching and development tools that have been instrumental to her success.
We concluded our conversation with Dr. Morris-Hughes shares three key lessons she’s learned through coaching: protect your time, create space to rest and recharge, and always maintain perspective. She carries each of these every day, and does her best to instill them in each person she mentors along the way.
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Balancing Leadership And Life: Insights From Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes
Everybody, we’re really excited to have here as our guest, Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes, who is the Director of the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services. In her role as State Labor Secretary, she is directly responsible for more than 150 million local federal, and specific purpose funds administered by the District of Columbia and the federal government for workforce development programs and training, unemployment compensation, universal paid leave administration, and labor standards enforcement, along with more than 80 millions in active capital projects.
Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes was appointed by Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to assist the office of Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity. Then she was named a Special Assistant and Assistant Director of DOES in 2016. Within 18 months, she removed the agency’s youth programs from a federal watch list. The turnaround effort was a major accomplishment for the agency, marking a highlight of Dr. Morris-Hughes’ career. Dr. Morris-Hughes was also OSSE’s or Office of State Chief Operating Officer leading numerous management functions in support of the agency mission, including a $270 million education grant portfolio and $600 million in student per-pupil funding.
In addition, she served as OSSE’s Acting Assistant Superintendent of Wellness and Nutrition. Dr. Morris Hughes obtained a PhD from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, an MBA from Trinity University, and a BA in English from Johnson Smith University. Welcome, Dr. Unique Morris Hughes. We know that you have been a great champion for coaching and leader development in district government. You’re one of our most esteemed partners, I would say, at the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership. Thank you for accepting our invitation.
My pleasure. I’m actually really looking forward to this conversation.
Meet Dr. Morris-Hughes
Thank you. Tell us a little bit about you and really what moves you in what you do every day.
I lead the D.C. Department of Employment Services, where I play this really unique role, given the District of Columbia, of being like the state secretary of labor and overseeing local labor and workforce development programs and policies and compliance here in the district. I’m also a proud mom of a nine-year-old. I always make sure that I say that because it has helped to shape how I think and how I approach things in the workplace. I also feel very drawn and connected to public service. It is really a calling for me.
It is something that I’ve not grown tired of yet, knock on wood, and it’s a big part of not just who I am, and my belief systems, but it also, if you understand the values and the vision of the agency that I oversee, this idea of public service is deeply woven into that vision and value and the culture that I try to promote. That’s a little bit about me and no day is the same. I’m super busy. I have all these complex big issues, but I’m still having fun solving problems and trying to slay and manage motherhood, is what I would say.
I’m just very brief on that because you’ve spoken about being a mom and motherhood and how that’s shaping what you do and who you are as a leader. Can you say more about that?
A lot of parents would understand this where some days it is coordinated chaos. I don’t know how it all comes together, but it comes together in the end and the reason why I highlight being a mom or a parent is because becoming a parent has really been a tremendous gift to me and I not only get to see the world from my seat, but I also feel responsibility for making it the best possible place, not just for my child, but all of the children of the world.
I go into solving a lot of the big problems we have and how do I make it better not just for today, but for the generations to come. I think that’s a gift, even though I am one of the moms that’s out here who will be very transparent about this coordinated chaos and how it all comes together but it is a gift, I think, that I’ve been given in trying to make the world better, not just today, but for tomorrow as well.
Lifelong Learning And Coaching
For our listeners who cannot see, I just want to point out that on the wall of your office behind you is the note, “I love you, Mom.” It’s obvious how present that is. It does lead me to my next question, because when we were chatting before starting the recording, you were talking about coaching, but also in your deep extensive background. You’ve done a lot of development of educational programs and training. I wonder if you can talk a little bit about those two very different things, or maybe you see them more similar and if there’s like a sweet spot between that.
This idea of education training is really part of a larger concept of lifelong learning and really the thought or value of constantly evolving and it’s connected to my interest and support of coaching. When you value that where we are today may not be where we’re at tomorrow and try to build support around that, I think you’ll see that coaching plays this natural role. I have one example that I remember, and I tie it back to being a mom. I’ve been in leadership positions before, but I’ve not been the primary leader.
There is a difference and there’s a transition. I remember saying to myself, “I want to be the best leader possible, but I want to provide a system of support that I didn’t have.” I was a new mom. I started this position, started this agency. My daughter was four months old and we were doing social service work. We are investing in people.
We are training people, but the people who are responsible for program implementation have not really had the luxury of having those sorts of investments within themselves. I remember thinking, how is it, can I support my managers and my team when I am new in motherhood, I’m new in leadership, and because I had been given the gift of coaching?
I’ll have to share that story as well, but I wanted to give that same gift, which is to have someone who was neutral and outside of me provide real, transparent feedback that was really guided and centered on growth and improvement. It means so much to be able to support people who every single day is part of their career. Then even outside of their career, personally, they are giving back and training and investing in people. There’s a nexus there, and I think it’s a sweet spot. It’s part of the reason why coaching is so important to me.
In that, you were talking about your own having given this gift of coaching because you had this little experience and you had a taste in the flavor and now you had it as a support system for yourself but you’re wanting it to bring it to your organization so that others can have it as a support system. Can you say more about the gift and how it showed up for you?
This is one of those times in my professional career where I was wrong. A higher up because when you work in government it’s multi-layered had suggested I’d get a coach. I had taken that so hard. I just thought, “I’m doing terrible. I’m not doing well. This is awful. What does this mean about me?” I had it. I was so convinced that I was just failing professionally that I didn’t understand until I asked, “Why do you think I need a coach?” It was quite a magical moment being proven wrong that I was not doing well.
This colleague at the time or the higher-up because the government is multi-layer and hierarchical says, “Unique, we think you’re doing great. We want to provide you with some support that we think you need, and that you’ll have access to any time that you need outside of anyone else in government.” It’s actually, they told me, a very common occurrence in practice. I was like, “Wait, so you don’t think that I’m doing that?” I was told the exact opposite, that they believed in me as a leader and they wanted to invest in me because they believed in where I was going in the future.
I just thought to myself, like how profound. I was so focused on how I thought someone said to me, you need a coach with some indictment or some negative thing, when really it was wonderful. It was someone saying to me really for the first time, we think you are onto something and we’re going to continue to invest in you so you can reach your maximum potential. To have someone in a professional setting say that to you in a way that’s grounded in care and concern and positivity, it really opened up my eyes.
I thought to myself, one, I had it wrong. Two, I’m so glad that I had it wrong. I was beating myself up for days and just could not understand it. It has been such a tremendous journey and experience having a coach to know that the people higher up above me believe in my leadership skills, so much so that they want to invest. More importantly, they’re also saying to me, it’s okay to invest in yourself.
We don’t hear that enough professionally. We don’t hear enough professionally and provide feedback that says, “You’re on to something and you’re growing and we want to be part of the journey, and here are the supports you need to get there.” That’s really how I fell into coaching. I was completely wrong. I thought it was about one thing about me being awful. It turned out that it was really about supporting me and the leader and the woman I was becoming, which was awesome.
Also, that’s a great story. I hear in that story too, and things you said previous to it, this overarching vision that we’re neither wrong nor are we done, that it’s always this long ongoing process. To look at it in that way on a continuum as opposed to an either-or is growth for everybody.
Yes. I think we need more of that in managers and leaders and supervisors. First, it has to be a value of yours professionally and personally. This idea of constant evolution and growth and nurturing parts of ourselves professionally and personally. In order to get there, you have to establish a set of values. My first coach, who is phenomenal, I cannot say enough about her, really helped me first to establish a baseline of values by saying, “Unique, what is important to you? Personally, and professionally, what do you value? What are your personal and professional deal-breakers?”
Constant evolution and growth and nurturing parts of ourselves professionally and personally has to be a value.
That work professionally I had not done. I really credit the leader I am today with the hard work that I had to do with my first coach about establishing values for myself and who I am professionally as a leader. You will see, I think, in all of my work and why I’m such a champion of coaching, that lifelong learning and investing in self and staff in a very positive way, not a punitive way, is a deep value that I have.
Coaching Conversation
You said that you worked with your first coach, and I know you’ve been on a journey with coaching and a continuous journey. I know you’ve taken it very seriously. You’re very committed and that work. I wonder if there are any particular moments in the journey or particular stories if you can think of a story and I know the one you just shared about your values and how you got clear on them and then supporting others and supporting lifelong learning seems to be one of the values because then you reflect that in your organization and have a support your staff. Are there any moments where you say, “I’m so glad I had this coaching conversation or this was an amazing moment that really coaching made a difference for me?” Is there any?
Yes, there are two. I am not usually very emotional. I will try to withhold some holdback on some emotion here. Each story reflects a different place of where I’m at in terms of my own leadership journey and walk. The first story, it was a point of reckoning for me. My coach was very familiar and I’m very transparent about really how I ended up to where I’m at today. I really come from a humble background and beginnings. Many of the people that I am serving today have similar shared life experiences that I’ve had growing up in the past.
The way in which I personally worked was reflective of it, but reflective of it and not necessarily in the most positive way. Like many leaders, work tirelessly. Like, “I’m burning the candle at both ends. I am not filling up my own cup regularly in a way that everyone should be, or despite or regardless of your job.” My coach shared this with me, and I went back wing in detail. I grew up homeless, and I spent a lot of years, my family and I in and out of homelessness. One day I was talking to my coach and we were going through the ins and outs of the week and what I’d been going through and she stopped me and she said, “You know you’re not the little girl you were before.”
I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “You have arrived. You don’t have to use the same tools and skill sets that you use to survive. You are now a thriving woman who is a mother and a professional and you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.” I was so struck by that. I had been using the same tools and the same skillset as I was prior to where I’m at right now in my leadership journey, which was really in survival mode. Working myself down, not taking care of myself physically, over myself, being the savior. She said, “You don’t have to play that role anymore. That time in your life served a purpose, but you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Now you get to operate from a place of fullness and wholeness.” It was so meaningful to me. I really took a step back and I thought to myself, I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to get home. I’m going to go home, get in my, I mean, I’m going to leave my office, I’m going to get in my car, I’m going to get home. I don’t have to worry and act in the way and use the same tools that I did as a 10 or a 12 year old or a struggling college sophomore. I have a more complete and robust tool set. It’s because of the work that my coach did with me that I developed this robust tool kit or tool set. Now I can use that. I get to smile.
I get to enjoy my life. I get to enjoy my work. It is not just about struggle. I serve people and I help people, but there is joy in it. I get to enjoy my life. I moved from having life happen to me and my career happened to me being fully present and showing up and making decisions and having autonomy and really living in my career. When I tell you that is so profound on many levels, to think that we still can operate in a way from years past in a way that we don’t have to, versus showing up and being a player and present in life and having a new skill set and tool set that you can use. That was really like the first big aha moment.
I think I rested well that night if I recall, like I had the best night’s sleep because I no longer was carrying things on my back that I didn’t have to from 20 or 30 years ago. Then the second aha moment was with my current coach and she shared this article, Becoming a Corporate Athlete. I remember reading it and I thought to myself, “It plays off of this last story of realizing I get to thrive and show up in my career and not just have my career happen to me where it basically says you have to physically take care of yourself, you have to mentally, spiritually, and emotionally take care of yourself, and that you have to be honest. As a leader at this level, you have to work and operate at a different level.
It just is what it is but there are times for recovery. There are times for renewal and growth, just like you have your sports season. During those off times of the season, you have to have a strategy to care for yourself. During the season, you have to have the tools to maintain that. I started this weight loss during I lost a lot of weight and I’m sleeping a little bit better at night and I religiously believe in having some vacations outside of my family vacation because family vacation isn’t necessarily the same. It’s like an individual vacation but not just where I get to rest, but I get to think creatively, and professionally, innovate, and come up with ideas.
That’s not something I usually have the space and time for, because I’m in the throes of the work. I now have carved out and explained to everyone my staff, my family, that I now have time for myself to do this important work that’s going to help me continue to grow and really serve people as a leader. That was a really, really big aha movement moment. I actually, whoever I come in contact with, where I think it’s relevant, I like to airdrop them the article or I text them the article because it was such a game changer for me.
It sounds like you with that powerful distinction that your coach offered a mindset from things happening to me versus happening through me and how then you took that and how you’re actually now being a full participant in your life intentionally. Putting yourself in that journey and caring for yourself in ways that are then not just serving you, but serving also the people you work with in new ways.
I tell you the the sun shines brighter when you are an active participant in your own life. The air smells sweeter when you get to be an active participant in your life and when you get to seek experiences, when things happen good or bad it’s different, it has a different impact. I know I’ve said the term gift a lot in this show, but really coaching has been a tremendous gift for me.
The sun shines brighter when you are an active participant in your own life.
Innovation
I have a question to come back to this time off for innovation because that’s something that I’ve been thinking a lot about recently and researching. It’s so at odds with our mantra of productivity to take that time off but from even a neurological basis, it’s critical if we want to be in that creative, innovative space. There you have the inner openness, let’s say, to try it out because it is at such odds. At the same time, there’s a lot of research around managers being afraid to let people take that time even though it is going to come back and help them, it’s at such odds. I wonder if you can speak to that of like, there’s you, and then there’s all the other people who are working in your organization and how that plays out.
This is a recent development, I would say, in the last year of taking the space for innovation. I do try to encourage my direct reports, who in many ways stand in for me, nine of them because I cannot be everywhere at the same time. I do encourage them to take time off, to find downtime. I also ask them and I tell them, I’m not going to force you, but I’m going to allow you to have the space to have a coach or whatever professional development you need.
This idea and space for innovation and creative thinking is something that really has the ability to shift the dynamic professionally for an individual and a team. Now, I mean, we have some really important work that we do in the agency. It isn’t necessarily a daily occurrence. I have dedicated four times a year where I get a long weekend to rest and recharge. As part of my recharging, I have the freedom to think creatively about whatever it is I want professionally because that is important to me. We do have some work, I don’t want to mislead anyone that I don’t still emphasize the importance of the day-to-day work, but I do for my managers emphasize having space.
It may not necessarily be innovation for them. It might be an innovation in creativity or creative thinking could be synonymous. It might be a space to read about something new, but I think the bottom line is having a safe space and time protected, dedicated to something outside of your day-to-day tasks that allows you to operate at a higher level. That’s what I’m really encouraging my team to do. For me, it’s creative thinking and innovation.
I would say that that builds in what I do know you have been doing over the years because we’re partnering in this and offering coaching services to the leaders in your organization. It’s been different levels, not just your direct reports. We’ve worked at middle-level managers and senior leaders. It’s been across the agency. Can you say more about that decision and anything because you’re continuing to support this effort, how are people responding? What are they saying when they talk about coaching?
I’ll also say first though, before I answer that as a value, I believe in coaching. There are segments of my workforce population that historically may not have had access to this resource. Being a mom is very big, I’ve talked about this. I’ve used coaching for a lot of parents who are trying to figure out how to juggle all of these things, but not lose themselves in their personal and professional identity. The feedback that I’ve received from them has been tremendous.
It’s an outlet, and they get to think of themselves outside of the work that they’re engaged in all of their personal and family responsibilities. I would say for the most part, I still have people stop me in the hall and say, “I did that 360 evaluation, and they’ve never received any substantive feedback like that about themselves or their performance or who they are and how they show up.” Overwhelmingly positive that we keep on investing in this program and offering it to more and more people each year.
Tips To Stay Focused And Effective
We’re coming to a closing point and I know you’ve already talked about some of your practices, leadership, and the things you’ve been doing to take care of yourself. You mentioned a few times you kept talking about a toolbox and how this has also expanded this last year. Can you say, I mean, and there’s leadership and you’re in executive leadership. There’s your leading agency, huge budgets, and so there’s a lot of responsibility, lots of pressures. You’ve already mentioned some, but can you maybe put it together? Like what are Dr. Morris Hughes’ top care or top practices to keep you focused and effective?
I would say one, protecting my time and being very thoughtful of how I spend my time. That’s one of the tools that I have over time really refined and used. It’s part of the time allowing myself some space and time to rest and recharge, including creative thinking. The third thing is, and this has grown over time. I didn’t start this way, but it’s something that I, mantra or saying that I fully am invested in, but I tell my staff and everyone unless it’s a life of a loss. Unless it’s a loss of life, limb, or a large sum of money, there’s nothing we cannot figure out.
The reason why and the tool there is keeping perspective, allowing grace, and approaching problem solving, not necessarily from a punitive standpoint, but from a conflict or a resolution standpoint. The reason why that is important is because if you go off on the deep end for everything, for every issue that comes up, it is detrimental to the team dynamic. It’s detrimental to the individual. I believe it has physical and emotional and mental negative impacts. Perspective and grace is critically important. Everyone should be afforded a little bit.
I remind myself that really weekly as I’m addressing some big issue just taking a step back, allowing some grace, and understanding, and keeping perspective so then I can keep going. Also, something else that’s in my toolkit as an executive and leader, making sure that my senior leaders understand that I’m investing in them because I believe in them. When they are well, this organization is well. They are here because they have tremendous value to the organization. It doesn’t mean there won’t be times when we’ll have tough conversations or we’ll have to address some issue or concern, but it is critically important to me that my staff understands that I am supporting them.
I’m investing in them. I also regularly, and this is from my own experience, and I’ve developed this with my first coach. I thank my staff’s family for allowing them and lending them to us while we’re here. I know that there are other places where people could work. I understand, because I’m also a cheer mom as well, that your attention can be pulled in different ways. I’m so grateful that your family allows us to have you for 8 or 9 hours a day. I think that speaks to this larger tool of really valuing and showing, not just talking at, but really showing gratitude for the people who work for you. Those are just a few of my values and things that are in my tool kit that I’ve developed with both of my coaches over time.
That’s really beautiful to think about the families. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody say that before.
The pandemic really changed a lot of things for us. My agency was one of the few agencies that had to work in person during the pandemic. In the very beginning, we didn’t know what it was. None of us knew. They had all these different procedures and practices in place like you had to wash your hands 20 times, you had to strip out of your clothes, wash your, wipe down your groceries, like all of these things. We didn’t know.
I just remember feeling a sense of gratitude that every single day someone came in person to work and provide a service to others. They had to leave their families in their homes and come out, the streets were silent and came out to work. That I had asked them to work overtime and I had asked them to work on weekends and they continued to do it. I’m really conscious and grateful for the sacrifices that families make in the workplace.
My own daughter went to a learning pod for first responders. She had a very different kindergarten experience. I just remember thinking to myself, “I owe a sense of gratitude to her as well because while I was out in the world doing this big, scary work,” and she’s five, so a trip to Disney World has sufficed every year since then for it. Really had to almost allow me to do this work. I’m very grateful for families and what they give because they lend us their family members during the day.
Thank you so much. I do agree with Bonnie. I would say that is a very unique perspective you’re bringing, and I can see the expansive toolbox being really useful also to other leaders to reflect about creating their own possibly as they think about their contribution and the way they work. Thank you so much for sharing.
Such a great conversation. Thank you. I really have been looking forward to it. I remember saying to my assistant a couple of weeks ago, “When are we going to have the podcast?” I just cannot say enough about coaching and really how it has helped me and my team here. Thank you both for the work that you all do.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Important Link
- Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes – LinkedIn
About Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes
Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes is the Director of the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services (DOES). In her role as State Labor Secretary, she is directly responsible for more than $150M in local, federal and specific-purpose funds administered by the District of Columbia and the federal government for workforce development programs and training, unemployment compensation, universal paid leave administration and labor standards enforcement along with more than $80M in active capital projects.
Previously, Dr. Morris-Hughes was the Chief Strategy Officer for DOES. She is credited with the successful turnaround of the agency’s federally-funded workforce programs. Appointed by Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser to assist the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity (DMGEO), Dr. Morris-Hughes was named Special Assistant & Assistant Director of DOES in 2016. Within 18 months, she removed the agency’s youth programs from a federal watch list. The turnaround effort was a major accomplishment for the agency, marking a highlight of Dr. Morris-Hughes’ career (The Washington Post, Sept. 7, 2017).
It was the second time that Dr. Morris-Hughes had led the turnaround of a DC-run federal grant program. Previously, she led the successful turnaround of the US Department Education federal grant programs at the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), where she guided that agency through a federal corrective action plan. As a result of the corrective steps taken at OSSE, the District exited federal high-risk status for grant oversight, operation management, and fiscal reporting.
Dr. Morris-Hughes was OSSE’s Chief Operating Officer, leading numerous management functions in support of the agency’s mission, including a $270 million education grant portfolio and $600 million in student-per-pupil funding. She also provided oversight of several departmental units, namely Grants Management, Facilities, Operations, Contracting and Procurement, and Student Enrollment, Funding and Residency. In addition, Dr. Morris-Hughes served as OSSE’s acting Assistant Superintendent of Wellness and Nutrition.
Among Dr. Morris-Hughes’ other accomplishments: she developed and launched the District’s Enterprise Grants Management System, an online grants management database; and led the District of Columbia to its ranking as the top state (and jurisdiction) in the country for the USDA summer meals program.
Dr. Morris-Hughes’ career spans the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. She has several years of experience in education, program development, evaluation, and compliance. She previously served as Assistant Head of School at Septima Clark Public Charter School, the District’s first all-boys charter school.
Her other appointments include Center Director for the District of Columbia Public Schools; District Director of Programs for Junior Achievement of the National Capital Area; Coordinator of Public Policy for Amazon.com; and Adjunct Professor at Trinity University and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Graduate School.
Dr. Morris-Hughes is a member of the American Educational Research Association, the National Forum for Black Public Administrators, the Textbook and Academic Authors Association of America, the National Alliance of Black School Educators, the National Black MBA Association, the International Leadership Association, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Dr. Morris-Hughes obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, an MBA from Trinity University, and a BA in English from Johnson C. Smith University.