Now Looking at Leadership Pt. II

Leadership is more than having the ability to be the person who can talk to a large group of people and have them accomplish a goal.  Leadership, especially genuine leadership, is more about being able to encourage and inspire individuals and groups to accomplish a similar task.  For a leader to truly be effective and successful, they must be able to humbly show others the way to best achieve what it is they are working on.  This humble attitude can originate by thinking about the phrase, “leave your ego at the door.”  I was introduced to this phrase when I first started leading outdoor camping trips.  By leaving your ego behind, you are able to truly focus on the groups goals and desires compared to your own.

Another aspect that truly helps establish successful leaders is the ability to lead by example.  Whether you are intentionally acting in a particular manner or not, your followers will notice and pick up on how you are behaving towards objects.  Often times, the group perceives how you react and treat an object as the norm.  This can impact how your group acts towards that subject either positively or negatively depending on how you behaved.  Understanding this concept is key because whether you want to or not, the group will be watching.  I have noticed this most often when working with children.  Children are typically described as little sponges absorbing everything you do and say around them.  As a leader, working with children has made me focus on how to truly act as a role model.

While studying the material during this course, my perceptions of what it takes to be a leader have modified throughout our time together.  Coming into the course, I had a decently defined picture of what the most effective characteristics for a leader are.  Based on the activities and topics we have conducted and discussed, I now understand that there are many ways to achieve the same goal.  Just because I have one idea about how a situation could be handled or solved, does not mean that other’s approaches are less effective or wrong.  I worked throughout the course on trying to sit back more and let other ideas be played out before I stood up with my own ideas.  Often times I would allow myself to go ahead with ideas that I thought might not work as well simply because for a team to be effective, a follower must be willing to listen and agree to the leader.

While this course has opened me up to being able to try different approaches and gain more perspectives before you begin a task, understanding when it is okay to simply sit back is a key skill I hope to continue to using and learning from as I take on more responsibility in my job on campus.  For me, leadership is now transitioning into how can I be a great leader by allowing others the opportunity to step up and voice their ideas and thoughts with everyone.  This course truly helped me learn what it means to be an effective follower.