Leadership: Not Self-Glorification, but rather, Group-Society-Glorification

What exactly is leadership? If everyone’s view of leadership is based upon their experiences and upbringing, how can there be one definitive answer? It would be impossible to find a common tie between every opinion and belief, because everyone thinks and leads differently. Some people lead passively, some people lead through their elected position, while others are everyday leaders, who may or may not know of their involvement in leadership. Of course, the most important aspect of leadership is that in some shape or form, you lead. Maybe you lead camp kids on a hike through the woods. Perhaps you teach your class how to dance to “cotton eye joe.” Possibly, you become a leader as you lead your medical team through an advanced surgery. The possibilities for leadership are endless. It can even be said that a follower is a leader in some sense. If that is true, than how can a leader be defined apart from the primary followers? Leadership is a component of each and every one of us, but it is how that leadership is used that makes the difference.

Leadership is defined as “a relational process of people working together to accomplish change or to make a difference that will benefit the common good.” Sometimes a leader emerges, and other times, the group, as a whole, leads its self—in that case, every person multi-tasking as both a follower and a leader. The important aspect, however, is that the group accomplishes change and works together to do so. Leadership is not about one person ordering others to do this or that; it is not about one person representing the entire group without so much as one reference to the hard work others put in; it is certainly not about self-glorification, but rather, group-and-society-glorification, because, honestly, a group is based upon help from those outside of the group, so the group is technically society as a whole. Think about a community service group you are involved in. Now, think about the bigger picture. Who is it that donates to your cause? Who is it that checks out the groceries you are buying for the big homeless shelter dinner? Random people. Society. That is your group. Everyone is a leader, because they have, in some way, contributed to your cause. Leadership is human interaction at the grocery store, within the “group,” and with the world and environment.

There are many aspects of my life where I may be called a leader. I do not hold any official roles such as president, etc, but I do guide people to learn and behave properly. For example, I am involved in tutoring elementary aged students. Although I do not head the organization, I am still somewhat of a leader. I teach my students how to read and write better. I lead them to become better students. For one of the students I tutor, I am a role model. She recently immigrated to America from Russia, and she looks up to me as what she would like to become. Though this does not impact the world on a large scale, it does impact the lives of these children, and their futures as well. Another aspect of my life in which I have assumed the role of a leader is playing soccer. It is my goal to play soccer in college, and in order to do so I must be prepared for every practice and game, and view them as training for my ultimate goal. Showing up and working hard every practice makes me a leader. Instead of setting rules and teaching, I lead by example so that my team becomes better and learns the value of hard work. The only shortcoming of my leadership on my team is my high expectations. I have always valued hard work and commitment, so it is difficult for me the gauge how hard my teammates are working, because I expect so much out of them. To be an effective leader, I should try to develop the skills to both expect greatness, but not be let down by anything less than that. It seems that expectations are often the shortcomings of leaders. Many great leaders are put down by unfortunate results when they should really have the drive to get up and try again.

Some people think they must be on a pedestal, or must be an elected official to lead others. That is not true. Think of the millions of jobs being done in your community. Teachers lead students to become better students, to express themselves, and to learn new information. Students lead teachers to become better teachers, to relax and be at ease, and how to let some things go, and to not let other things go. Leadership goes hand-in-hand. The police men are leaders because they keep people honest. They lead their teams in investigations, and hunt down people trying to undermine people’s hard work as leaders. Firefighters lead their men and civilians to safety, with the help of both themselves and others. Every individual is a leader, a hero, in some shape or form. Everyone has been a role-model to someone else at some discrete point in their life. It is true that some leaders are better than others, but it is not true that only some people are leaders. Just like a pair of shoes, leaders come in all different shapes, sizes, and types.