Take A Stand

I cannot believe that this is the last blog post for GLAD! I have learned so much from all of our sessions and have gotten to meet a lot of amazing people who are involved on our campus and in our community. From reading part four in A Leader's Legacy, it hit me that courage isn't just doing something big and heroic; courage is taking initiative and staying true to yourself even though it may be easier not to. Courage is one of the most important values in life and it helps to make all of the other values we treasure possible.

It takes courage to get up in front of your organization and say what you are feeling, especially if you know not all others are going to agree with you. But if no one ever took the initiative to create change, then instead of learning from mistakes and improving, life would be at a stand still. One of the most important quotes from the section I thought was; "There is no success without failure, and no learning without mistakes."

I also had never really thought that courage is a state of mind. I know that at times people can be courageous, but courage is actually something inside each and every single one of us. It can manifest itself daily and while some of us may not call on it often, it is always there when we need it.

I think it is important for everyone, but especially leaders to realize that little acts of courage can have the biggest impact on an individual, a group, or a whole community. You don't have to be a superhero to help create change. It is also important for leaders to realize that it takes courage to be humble, and that you are not the only person in your organization. Everyone, at any given moment, can learn from someone else. It is the smallest things that someone says that can have the hugest impact on others. I have learned from this book that failure is okay and a leader isn't perfect, because if they were, then they would not be human.

Courage

I can't believe we're already over half way through GLAD, and that it's now time to write out 4th and final blog posting on A Leader's Legacy! As the title suggests, this section is all about Courage. Most people picture a large heroic task of some sort when they think of courage, however in reality more often then not, people display acts of courage by just completing little tasks everyday. When one makes a decision they may be leery or unsure about, or a time where someone steps out of the box and takes a risk; these are all common acts of courage. In this section it also talks about what people percieve their acts of courage to be. Ironically I was reading this section over Spring Break while substitute teaching in my high school. It was during my lunch break, right after a tough class I had to deal with. I realized that speaking up to this class, letting them know that although I was barely four years out of high school that I was their teacher for the day essentially and that I wanted the same respect they'd give anyone else, took a lot of courage on my part. What I took out of this section is that in order you be a good leader, one must have courage. But then courage isn't necessarily always what we think it is. Courage can be an act that makes a huge difference, or perhaps something small that will affect one of two people. It can be the courage to speak up when with a suggestion, but also the courage to back down and admit when one is wrong. The courage to accept defeat, and admit failure but the will to want to try something new despite possible outcomes. And lastly, one of my favorite parts of this whole book is the final paragraph. It sums up everything the book covers, and what people should remember on a day to day basis; "You just never know whose life you might touch. You just never know what change you might initiate and what impact you might have. You just never know when the critical moment might come. What you do know is that you can make a difference. You can leave the world better then you found it".

You're an awesome leader...but can you be a follower too?

Thinking about my values is something that I've spent some time doing the past view months. what do I value? The answer has changed greatly over the past 3 years of college, if I had been asked this question as a freshman I would have most likely stared at the person like a deer in headlights. I never put together the though of what my values are and leadership ability but after the book brought it to my attention it was kind of an "oh duhhh" moment for me. A leader needs to have strong values that they can stick by when questioned. I love the quote "leadership development is first and foremost self-development." This stuck with me because I think I sometimes forget that to be a strong leader you need to be continually developing yourself and to have what the book calls an authentic voice. I think it's sometimes challenging to have your own voice when you are a leader because you also want to do what everyone else wants and also to make everyone happy, but as we learned in the last section of the book you cannot always make everyone happy. Putting together what I learned in the last section and in this section it seems like it is more important to stick to your own values and convictions than to waiver so that everyone is going to like you. I know this is something I struggle with because I do want everyone to like me and to make everyone happy.

Another quote from this section that has stuck with me is "Exemplary leaders have the confidence to turn themselves into followers." Leaders should want everyone to succeed and want everyone to gather and develop leadership skills. An effective leader should want their followers to be able to step up and become leaders themselves. Isn't that the best way to leave a legacy, to make sure that someone can be the next leader when it's your turn to be a follower? I think a valid question that every leader should be asking themselves on a regular basis is, am I teaching my followers to become effective leaders? I also think it's important to remember that the sometimes the best form of teaching is by being an effective role model. A leader did not just get there by waking up one day and saying "oh I think I'll be a leader today", they had to learn from someone how to be an effective leader and therefore they should in turn be teaching others to become an effective leader. Leaders sometimes focus on what is, 'mine' and not what is best for the organization, sometimes what is best for the organization is for leadership to be fluid. Sometimes one person may be better at leading a certain aspect of the organization and other times they may not be. In times when they may not be the best person for that particular situation it gives the leader time to be an effective follower.

The last piece in this section was about how you don't have to be a leader to lead. This has stuck with me because I actually just had a conversation with another sister in my organization who felt like she couldn't plan or make effective changes in our organization just because she wasn't in a leadership position. This is not true at all and I plan on sharing this section of the book with her. It is important that people who are not leaders understand that they are the ones with the ideas and that leaders are there to serve them. Leaders wouldn't be in a leadership position if it wasn't for followers.

Who you are as a Leader

Part three of the book really describes who you are as a leader. It is most important to remember that even a leader needs help and advice from others. A leader who thinks that they can do everything alone without help may not be as successful as someone who takes in advice. It is important being a leader to listen to what others in our organization have to say. We are all working together to better each other and help each other grow.

Everyone is going to have a chance to be a leader in some way. GLAD is here to help us on our journey in finding out who we are as leaders. It is also important during this process to understand what our organizations stand for and ask ourselves why it is important for us to make a stand? It is important being a leader to also except change like we discussed in GLAD. We often get stuck where we are now or in the moment and forget to look outside of the box. We need to look at the future of our organizations and what changes can be made to better them.

The book is really helping me to understand all aspects of leadership. It has made me think about leadership in a different way, and has made me actually realize that I have always been the person to take charge in a group and speak their mind. This book is starting to make me look at myself as a leader and not just leadership as a whole and what it means. I am starting to picture what leadership positions I would take in my organization and why. Leadership is about fighting for something you believe in. If you believe in your organization you are going to fight to make it better and to have a say.

Notice what's around the corner...

After reading part three in A Leader's Legacy, something that struck me right away was the fact that leadership begins when something grabs hold of us. In order to be an effective leader, you need to know what your own key convictions and values are before you can try and implement them on to someone else. To succeed, you have to be able to clarify your own aspirations, because no one else can do that for you. I know I am extremely guilty for asking other people what I should do, but it is something I am working on. To be a leader, you have to know who you are and what is important to you.

Another key point that I got from the reading was that we need to pay more attention. We are always on the go, non-stop attached to computers, our blackberries, cellphones, etc. If we are never looking up and looking around us, then we are never going to notice things. We need to start living more in the present, but think more long term at the same time. Many leaders are not always "present"; even if their body is there that doesn't mean there mind is. If you want others to be committed and listen to what you have to say, you have to be entirely there. I think it is important that we all remember to stop and look around every so often. Like right now, it is March 2nd, at 1:13, there will never be another moment exactly like this. We need to make sure we are making the most of our time and looking around, noticing things. The best leaders are the best observers.

Aspirations

Here I am somehow finding time to write this blog during the busiest week of the semester besides finals, the week before spring break. This third section of A Leader’s Legacy was about Apsirations.

Chapter 11 was mostly about a process of self examination. I have been undergoing this process since starting GLAD. I’ve been trying to put aside the “preconceived ideas of leadership” and figuring out who I am right now. It’s about the new territory that we reach during this journey. Also, a lot of thought has come up about values. And since all of our organization were founded on their own values, we should all be trying to get closer to them not just because they are part of our organizations but because these values are important to us as good people. Without these values, we don’t know what we are representing. “Until you passionately believe in something it’s hard to imagine that you could ever convince anyone else to believe. And if you wouldn’t follow you, why should anyone else?” This quote makes a lot of sense. I can admit that I thought I wasn’t right for leadership but now that I have opened myself up to a new way of thinking, I am someone worth following.

Chapter 12 talked about being hostage to the present. And although we all have deeply tied roots in our organizations, we can all get stuck with where we are at right now. We’ve discussed in GLAD how many organizations are very resistant to change and that is not the right mind set to have. We need to be more forward looking without neglecting the present. “To notice things you have to be present, you have to pay attention, and you have to be curious.”

Chapter 14 described how everyone will have their chance to be a leader and that there is a leader in everyone. We are all in GLAD to learn about leadership and become leaders and this book talks about how leaders can be taught to be a better leader and we are the proof. We will all get something out of this experience whether it’s from this book or the weekly meetings or both. Leadership is based on “motivation, desire, practice, good coaching, and feedback.” We all need to be developed properly to be the best leaders we can be.

The last chapter of the section focuses on limitations. Everyone has limitations. No one can do and be everything. This is why we have teams. If we didn’t have teams we wouldn’t be able to delegate tasks to the people who have a more useful skill set for the task. And finally, good leaders are good followers. We can’t be good leaders without following others at first or recognizing our limitations and allowing others to lead.

"Leader's Follow"

Part 3 of A Leader's Legacy is all about realizing who you are as a leader and then being someone who listens and takes advice from others, who isn't a dictator and is willing to admit they can be wrong, and being a leader while also being a follower. What struck me the most was the section "Leader's Follow". I feel like we're often told to be a leader and not a follower, when in reality some the best leaders are also followers. Every leader got to where they are by learning and following others; asking for help and questioning a process isn't a bad thing, it just means you're interested in others opinions and what they have to say. I feel like often leaders get so hung up in being the head of something that they are afraid to ask for help or ask for advice, however if they seek help it is going to provide a better end product and make the people they work with happy that their thoughts and ideas were able to come out in a project. All too often leadership is thought of as a a single role, but to gain a leadership position you must get help from people and slowly make your way up to that spot. I think this is something everyone in a position of leadership needs to remember, whether it be in a management job, a position in a Greek organization or just the leader of a class project.