My Leadership Philosophy

Leadership is the driving force behind every change and every major social movement in history. The ability to influence others through actions and language in order to achieve a certain goal or outcome. Every person in every walk of life anywhere on the planet has experienced either being a leader or being influenced by a leader. Personally, I have held multiple leadership positions whether elected or appointed in many different areas of my life. From Student Council and volleyball to jobs and family matters, being a leader has always been a part of my identity.
In elementary school it was my absolute dream to join the student council and help them with their activities like purchasing Christmas presents for needy children or putting on
the annual talent show. After four years of waiting, I was finally a fourth grader who could take part in the club. I ran for office and lost, but I shook it off, because I still got to take part in events. I stayed in the council as merely a member or representative for the next four years; I took part in the “StuCo” affairs, but I never took the lead or tried to distinguish myself from the group. When it was finally time to go to high school, I took a risk and interviewed for the high school council. I was told that they were interviewing approximately fifty eighth graders, and they would appoint only five. This was daunting to say the least. I received the position of Freshman Class Vice President, and that kickstarted my identity as a leader which would define me for the rest of my high school career.
My sophomore and junior years are summarized by numerous high profile elected and appointed positions within my student council; for example, Class President, School Service Chair, Bonfire Chair, (homecoming) Judging Chair, (conference) Activities Chair to name a few.
With each of these positions I had officers or a committee working under me and looking to me for guidance. Initially, I did not know how to handle this kind of responsibility or pressure. I was not very good at delegating and tended to take on an entire project by myself rather than telling people what to do. It took until about the middle of junior year when I was completely overwhelmed by my class load, volleyball, track, anxiety issues, and student council on top of everything for me to ask for help. I was blown away by how willing the people under me were to get things done and take part of the load off me. This was the beginning of the evolution of my view of leadership. It took seventeen years for me to realize that it takes a team through collaboration and communication to most efficiently and successfully complete tasks and reach desired outcomes that will please everyone and not just the person who is “in
charge.”
Senior year I took on what was undoubtedly the most demanding position of leadership I have ever held. I became Student Body President of my high school and presided over a council of 41 members. This sounds like no big deal because StuCo in most places gets a reputation for not doing much but making posters and exuding school spirit from every pore. While this is certainly part of what we did, I had to make sure all of the class officer groups were on track with fundraising, events were going well, committees were getting things done, meeting with administrators, presenting to the school board, and when my advisor’s father became fatally ill, taking on the role of the teacher as well. I felt like a mom. My council seemed like they were my kids, and I did whatever I could to make sure they were succeeding whether that was in student council, grades, sports, or anything else. Looking back, I am positive that senior year gave me some grey hair from the amount of stress and pressure that was thrust upon me, but I made it through relatively unscathed. The reason for this, I think, is because I had such an amazing support system in my best friends, teammates, boyfriend, and parents that I never felt like I was alone in my struggles.
Having a support system is imperative for leaders.
Similarly, it is important to remember that although one might be a leader, he or she is also the member of a support system for someone else. I think this was one of my biggest lessons in leadership. It did not come from being elected or appointed to some fancy position or office. It came from realizing the amount of influence I had over my younger sister. As a sophomore and junior in high school, I was not healthy in my eating habits due to the amount of stress I felt. I compensated for that with obsessively monitoring caloric intake and exercise, and the result of this was a massive amount of weight loss. This period of time is not something of which I am proud, and I felt even more shame when I noticed negative body image comments coming from my younger sister. I was even more distressed when I noticed her eating less and less. It took me making an obvious change and focusing on healthy habits and foods for her to come around as well. The most important thing for everyone to internalize is that every single one of us is a leader in some regard to someone, so we need to live in a way that we would be proud of them for
emulating.
Through reading the material for this class, my views of leadership have been slightly altered. I had never thought about that it is necessary to understand a community in order to help them; to really immerse oneself in the problem in order to truly understand and find a solution that can be implemented at the root of a problem. I am guilty of trying to good “to” a group of people rather than “for” them. The necessity of communication and collaboration in order to create change is something that I definitely believed prior to coming into this course and that have simply been reaffirmed since reading Leadership for A Better World. Leadership drives society, and I am so excited about and looking forward to learning more about it.