Going from "Faking It, to Making It"

As a student studying environmental education, I have been very fortunate to teach for a wide variety of organizations.  When your friends one day tell you that they counted all of the different jobs you have and they can't believe you've had six (now seven), you start to realize that you have been quite busy.  From working with organizations ranging from the Columbus Zoo to outdoor education camps and now with a high ropes team-building course and the Outdoor Adventure Center on campus, I've started picking up a thing or two about teaching and serving as a leader.
I first heard about this course through an email sent from my boss at the OAC describing the course.  He mentioned that it would more than likely touch on some interesting subjects that would pertain to our programs.  After looking more at what the course is focusing on, I decided to sign up for it to take a look at leadership focusing within organizational structures.  I am looking forward to studying various styles of leadership and learning about the pluses and deltas of each style.

My understanding of leadership has largely came through my experiences of studying how to effectively manage a group of individuals.  Through my different work experiences, I have learned many techniques on how to lead different activities.  For me, I enjoy seeing leaders step up within a group especially when you are challenging people to step out of their comfort zone, such as zipping off of a 55ft. ropes course.  While I am often acting as the leader for a group, I usually look at the actions that happen behind-the-scenes for examples of true leadership.

I feel that leadership is truly demonstrated amongst peers when someone steps up simply because they know they should.  Often times when a situation arises, people will avoid the conflict simply because they know what may happen if they were to take a leadership role.  This notion is brought to light with the prompt of: “If not you, then who?”  In this simple statement, we are able to understand that leadership can exist in all of us and helps demonstrate the importance of the responsibility that a leader takes.

One large area of focus of mine is trying to create a truly organic experience within individuals and groups that I work with, to help demonstrate and develop an understanding of leadership.  For me, I am hoping to learn as much as I can in our time together about how to get from simply leading a group (faking the experience) to truly making an inspirational experience.  I plan on taking the messages and lessons from our course and relating them towards my position as a group leader.  I also hope to share my experiences with others to help give a unique perspective on developing leadership within others.