Reflection 1

The topic of leadership is one which I have personally spent a lot of time thinking about over the past couple years of my life. In my school system, each class (grade) would always be assigned a “monitor” when the teacher was not present. To the best of my recollection, I was never once chosen to be a class monitor. Added to this, when we were a senior in school, you would be assigned a class full of younger students to look over and make sure they are in line on morning before school, before teachers came. Again, I was never afforded this opportunity. I reflect on all this because I strongly believe that not getting this opportunity significantly diminished my belief in my ability to be a leader. If you are told for the first 18 years of your life that you are not fit to be a leader then you obviously internalize it and it has transferred to my everyday life. As I have gone through college and I have moved up in seniority on the soccer team, it has been a constant struggle for me to find it within myself to push myself to be a leader. It is something which I personally believe should be done by actions as opposed to having an authoritative figure.
Having said all this, I definitely think that leadership is something that can be learned, because I try to become a better leader every single day. I am really glad that I just got the opportunity to watch Simon Sinek’s TED talk and to be enlightened about the fact that being a leader is just about putting others first and creating an environment in which others can thrive. When it is put that way it makes the task seem so much less daunting because I think from a character and hardworking side I have been a leader all along and my perception of being a bold authoritative figure was a false representation of what being a leader really is. Having read the communication material as well as the “little book on leadership”, I definitely think they are more tools which I can and need to add to my collection to be a better leader. But realizing that being a leader is a way of life and not a label is a distinction which I am glad I have realized. Society has a way of painting leaders and shrewd authoritative figures who no one likes, and personally I am not a confrontational person and I like to keep all parties happy, hence I never thought I could step out and “boss” people around. Identifying the true meaning of leadership will serve me well in the long run.