"All I know about leadership I learned from . . ." What items could aperson use to describe leadership qualities?
Inspired by the student council advisors at my high school.
Student council was a big part of my life in high school. I haveparticipated in it since my frst year of high school. When I frst joined， I wasquiet， na?ve， and unwilling to participate in many activities. I was scared tomeet new people and afraid to apply myself. This all began to change. Half waythrough my frst year in student council， one of the advisors can up to me andasked why I did not participate that much. I did not have an answer for her anddid not know how to respond. After this， I began to think of an answer. I becamefrustrated and decided to change. I started to show up at events and had a greattime. I realized I loved this and wanted to start leading these activities. Inmy sophomore， junior， and now my senior year of high school， I asserted myselfand took on a strong leadership role in student council. I did not fgure out theanswer to why I was so reserved until this year with the help of thisquestion.
When I looked up leadership in the dictionary， it said that it was thecapacity to lead and the act or instance of leading. These are two very broaddefnitions of leadership. Many people have different notions of what this wordactually means. When I was challenged to use different items to describe whatleadership actually is， I thought this was going to be a hard and obnoxioustask. What could I learn from comparing leadership to a stuffed animal or arubber chicken? But when I sat down to come up with a couple of answers， Irealized that leadership could be compared to almost anything a personwants.
All I know about leadership I learned from a calculator. A calculator canadd everything together to come up with the best answer. It can delet e what isunnecessary and only include what is important. It can solve any type ofproblem. These are all important equalities a leader has to have. A leader hasto be able to add all of the ideas together to make the best possible plan.Leaders have to know how to decipher the good and the bad out of an idea. Theyhave to be versatile and know how to deal with different types of issues.
All I know about leadership I learned from a ball. A ball is able to bounceback up after it is dropped. It is round and has no creases. A ball can bethrown back and forth to different people. All of these qualities are alsoleadership qualities. A leader has to be ready for every situation that isthrown at him or her. He or she has to be able to bounce back from any setbacksand never dwell on the past. Leaders have to exhibit many qualities and never beclosed-minded about a situation. A leader must be able to delegate when he orshe cannot get the work done. They have to trust everyone they lead to be ableto "catch the ball" and keep a project rolling.
This activity made me realize that being a leader is so much more than justhaving authority and having the ability to take control of a situation. A leaderhas to be trusting of all the people he or she leads and， leaders must be ableto combine ideas into one encompassing idea. They cannot sit in the backgroundand watch events happen; they have to jump in and be involved. They should notdelegate all their responsibilities away.
Leadership is more than what the dictionary says it is.
I learned through all of this that I have many of these qualities.
I have the ability to solve problems， lead through adversity， and beversatile. From answering this question， I realized that I could leadeffectively， even if my leadership style is different from other individuals.When I joined student council in my frst year of high school， I did not havethese qualities because I was never put into a situation where I had to lead. Iwas too reserved to try. When I tried， I learned that I could succeed in this. Idid not realize until I answered this question about leadership. I was neverable to see that being a leader is not just about taking control of a group andtelling everyone what to When I was a freshman， I thoughtleadership was this. I did not know that did not have to be forceful and strict.I stereotyped a leader then. Thisis where I went wrong. A leader is about beingyourself and never letting anyone change you. I thought I had to change to be agood leaderOnly when I expanded my comfort zone did I realize this was nottrueIt only took three years and a silly question/game to fgure this out.
