"Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower
So this question hasn't been able to leave my mind for the last week and apparently on the minds of others too. Everyone I talk to lately seems to be questioning the qualities needed to be a leader. Be it when you are talking about who you think will be a better president or talking about how you did in your interview for Resident staff next year. It just dominates my mind. Between RA training, RA interviews, Student Council, Job Interviews, Group Projects and School, its become rather ridiculous. I have started chiseling out a standard cookie cutter response that I know will look good on a resume or interview sheet and can spit it out without thinking.
Interviewers ask: How do you make a good leader?
"Being balanced. Knowing when to care and when to push. When to stretch and when to compromise. Knowing how to support but at the same time know when to drive those around you. Knowing when to step up or when to step back, even if it is hard."
But do I really believe it?
I was talking to our Dorm Daddy Rich Kane the other day when I brought this question to him and he told me something that I will try to keep with me for as long as I can.
He told me that the only good leaders are the ones that people don't realise that they are being lead by. A true leader is not afraid to step back and let others shine and bring out the best in the people around them.
And its true!! How many times did you work in a fabulous group where everyone worked really hard and did they're best? Did it seem like everyone was the leader yet at the same time no one was? We've all had projects or situations like this. But if you think harder about it there was someone asking questions or throwing out ideas or just encouraging people, right? They were true leaders. Not every leader needs to take charge and fearlessly lead their troops into a glorious death or battle, while those are still great leaders it may not be right for every situation. While it is effective, don't get me wrong, I have had it back fire on me more times than not. Sometimes people just don't want a dictatorship or even a hierarchy. I mean that's how our country as created right? England thought that if they kept a strong fist with it's colonies that everything would return back to normal, but we all know how that turned out.
I've been playing a new game I found called Europa Universalis III. In this game you step into the lives of famous rulers and try to keep your country alive. Its hard. You can't survive without your board of advisers. So even great rulers need support and each one of those great men had anywhere from one to twenty other men and women supporting them, each one of them a leader in their own right. I've learned that there are so many different kinds of leadership out there. Leading can be everything from assigning tasks, to giving complements, to even just suggesting someone use their strengths to make the situation better.
In a way everyone is their own kind of leader in their fashion. Some may be subtle, others in your face. Some may have been leaders all their lives and we only remember them for their great moments.
We all know the Shakespeare phrase, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them." Well, I don't agree. I believe that everyone has greatness inside them and use it everyday, we just tend to remember the really epic moments of greatness.
So I guess I think that next time someone makes you feel better when you're down or gives you a compliment, thank them for being an everyday leader.
Now all I have to do count down the moments till I get that letter Friday that tells me whether or not they think that I am they type of leader they need for Resident Staff next year.
Wish Me luck!!!
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