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.
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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. |
AuthorJust a highschool senior that wants to become a better leader! ArchivesCategories |