Are you born perfect?
No! Though it may be easier for some, no one is born a leader. Like sports, it takes hard work and dedication to become a leader. It’s easy to look at someone and say wow they're naturally good at leading: so confident! But keep in mind that everyone has their struggles. To become a leader you first need to come to the realization that you’ll have to get out of your comfort zone. It could be public speaking or asking someone for a favor; everyone is different. But after you come to a realization, it’s up to you to go out and do it. Some people may want to become a leader but don’t know how to push themselves in the right direction. This is a great opportunity to ask someone to challenge you to do a simple task like asking someone you don’t know a question or whatever else that makes you a little nervous. While some have a fear of public speaking, others think that people won’t listen if they talk. These two examples were me in middle school. I came to the realization in 7th grade that if I wanted to be a good leader I needed to be a better speaker and project my ideas. I struggled in this only because I didn’t have enough confidence in myself. That’s what it usually comes down to, if you don’t think something's going to go well then it probably won’t--because you told yourself that. I had to learn that the only thing holding me back was myself. The next step of my journey to reach my goal was to challenge myself to not care what others thought about me for one week. This was the most challenging and rewarding that I’ve done that has changed who I am as a person today. Though I broke the challenge a few times, it was a good reminder that you shouldn’t care what others think because it’s mostly your conscious just making stuff up. This was when I decided to do a lifelong challenge to become more outgoing because I realized that without the stress of being self-conscious, I could not only reach my goals but keep flying higher. This specific challenge is not for everyone but it's a good example to show that the first step is to gain confidence in yourself. The next step is taking on the roles of a leader, like taking charge in group projects or getting a group to come to a decision. Through these roles you’ll see that like I said in a previous blog post, not everyone will follow. Not everything will go according to plan and that’s okay. Remember that there is no perfect leader because there is no perfect human being, everyone makes mistakes, it's what you do after that counts. If you take the opportunity to analyze why something happened and what you can do better next time, you are already becoming a better leader because you’ve just set up your future-self to succeed in that scenario.
1 Comment
At a recent robotics retreat, which we use to bring the team together through team building activities, I was expressing an idea I had to a fellow lead. He understood what my idea was trying to accomplish but he asked a simple question in reply: What would you do if no one wanted to do it? Of course at that point, it would turn into a discussion with fellow teammates stating the problem and coming up with a compromise to see what would work. But it this post isn’t about what I would do in that situation, its about a question that spurred from it. What if no one wanted to follow?
Are you really a leader if you don’t have any followers? In robotics to hold the title as team lead, at the bare minimum, you need to make powerpoints, start the meeting, and make sure that the team is communicating with each other. But Team Leads are not picked every year so they can have an important sounding title. They are picked because they can improve the team. It’s easy going into a lead position thinking that people are just going to follow you but its not that simple. With a new leader comes new changes, and not everyone reacts the same way to change. In a setting where people choose to come and aren’t paid, you run into a problem where the effective way to lead is not by pointing fingers to get people to do things. You need to earn trust within your team. Trust is always a two-way street but when it comes to gaining followers it is important that you take the first step to make the effort to gain peoples trust.There are a few ways trust can be gained but some of the easiest ways are through consistency, honesty, and reliability. This could be as simple as doing weekly meetings or being open to your team about problems. Another way to gain followers is to lead by example. People will do something if someone else is also doing it. The behaviors you have as a leader define the type of team you will have. If a leader is inconsistent or rude, the followers will assume that behavior is acceptable. This goes along the golden rule we were taught in 1st grade, treat people how you want to be treated. This is another rule that is a two way street situation like trust.Also, this is another reason why many people don’t respond well when a boss or leader says that you need to do something but doesn’t do it themselves. The next part about being a leader is having the ability to point your team in the right direction. You can earn peoples trust all you want but that doesn’t mean they are motivated to follow. Its important when presenting an idea to communicate how the idea solves the problem and open the floor up to other ideas to the solution/ other opinions. By opening up the floor you are allowing your followers to have the ability to actually contribute to the decision making process. This way people would want to work more because their opinion was taken into an account. If you want it done right do it yourself.
This could be true in a lot of applications, but as a leader, who are you really helping? When becoming a leader I had this same issue. I believe it came from my experiences in group projects in middle school when I thought that the only way to get an A was to do it yourself. Looking back this didn’t help me or my group mates because when it came time to present they didn’t know what they were talking about and we would end up getting a bad grade anyway. This goes for any role in leadership, you can’t lead anyone if you are doing all the work. When jumping into a leadership position you need to learn to transition from doing to leading. I didn’t realize this until I started Flight Club. Getting the club started wasn’t a problem, I actually enjoyed organizing activities, emailing sponsors, and talking to the administration. My problem was that I didn’t want to give it up. It’s hard to delegate out something you enjoy doing but as a leader, you have to think about the bigger picture. It’s coming to the realization that it's not about you building up the club, team, or organization anymore, it's about motivating people and guiding them in the right direction. The most efficient way to get to the bigger picture is with the help from others. To accomplish that goal, tasks must be delegated. In the beginning, it was hard to delegate because, as I said before, I liked what I was doing but I also worried that they wouldn’t do it right or wouldn’t know how to do it. These thoughts went through my mind even though I knew very well that everyone in my club was fully capable of accomplishing the tasks. You have to learn how to trust people. This doesn’t mean you completely let your teammates run off and do their own thing, no this means you guide them through the first one, and check in periodically to make sure everything is running smoothly. At first it may seem annoying teaching people how to do things when it would take you half the amount of time to finish, but in the end, it is worth it. Delegation is like handing out responsibility, it is letting your teammates know that you trust them. Trust gives them the motivation to keep taking on new challenges. With delegation, you and your team will be happy because they feel like they are contributing and you’ll have more free time to make sure the club is going in the right direction. Soon your club will be filled with consistently active members that are not only doing tasks but also delegating out to others. For Flight Clubs second year, the original board (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary) and I decided that for our senior year we would not run for re-election and open up four more leadership positions. We will be mentoring the new leads for the first semester to make sure that all the knowledge that we have about the club gets pass down. This will give us peace in mind as we leave knowing that the club can run efficiently without us. |
AuthorJust a highschool senior that wants to become a better leader! ArchivesCategories |