Leadership Philosophy

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Now that I am 22 and have just graduated from college, leadership has a bit of a different meaning to me than it did when I was in 5th and 6th grade. To me, how good a leader is depends more on how influential they are, rather than what their social status is. Nonetheless, I didn’t pursue many leadership opportunities in high school mainly because I felt discouraged by the social hierarchy of what was high school student government, and thus I never thought I would win if I ran for office. Instead, I devoted the majority of my time outside of school to playing sports year round and volunteering for the community service clubs I was involved in. Even though I never held an official leadership role in high school, the experiences I had provided the basis for what I would accomplish as a leader in college. I ran cross country and track and I swam competitively over the summer. Even though running and swimming are individual sports, I learned how to be a team player and support everyone while we were training. Doing community service in high school also made me want to keep pursuing volunteer roles in college.

 

Through my experiences of being involved in a variety of different leadership opportunities during my time in college, I have come to realize that my own leadership abilities center around 5 key principles:

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Knowledge: Knowing all of the facts about the causes that I am working for. I try to learn as much as I can for whichever roles that I hold. For instance, when I worked as I lifeguard and swim instructor, I had memorized the pool schedule, the step by step emergency protocol for all possible emergencies, and the skill requirements for each level of lessons.

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Initiative: Not being afraid to speak up and bring ideas forward. I always ask myself, “If I don’t bring something up that I care about, then who will?” I was also very shy for most of high school and didn’t often speak up, so taking initiative in college has been a way of challenging myself.

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Humility: I aim to be an approachable leader. I want to be someone that people aren’t afraid to come and talk to. My hope is that those that I lead will not be afraid to ask me for help or share their ideas with me.

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Authenticity: Though there were enormous amounts of leadership opportunities that were available for me to pursue while in college, I chose to pursue only the ones that I cared the most deeply about. My own experiences that I have had in my life have drawn me more to certain opportunities than others. For instance, I wanted to volunteer with international students because I was an international student myself when I studied abroad. I know what it is like to move abroad and experience culture shock and I wanted to help international students with that transition.

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Selflessness: There have been many instances in the roles that I have held where I have had to put the needs of others before my own. That is okay. Others needs can come before my own because I know that the positive outcome that will come from my efforts will be worth the discomfort I am feeling in a certain moment.

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Resilience: I have learned two important things about being a leader during my college years. One, if you are a leader, you are guaranteed to fail at some point. Two, not everyone is going to like you or your ideas, no matter what you say. I have felt the lows of not having certain ideas of mine pan out the way I had hoped and I have felt discouraged after people have acted rude or disapproving when I was simply trying to help them. I have learned, however, that it is important to leave moments like those in the past and to keep moving forward.

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Listening: I always ask myself what I can learn from my fellow leaders, supervisors, and those that I lead. I am eager to know what everyone’s story is so that I can learn. There are many instances where I believe it is more important to listen than to speak.