Have you
ever tried to define leadership?
* * *
There
have been times in my life when I thought that I could define
leadership pretty well, or I could point out an example of a leader.
I was very shocked then when my definition of leadership was turned
completely around during this last semester. It all started
something like this…
I was working on a
timed group project with a group of classmates. When the facilitator
instructed us to begin, my group took off and raced about trying to
finish our task quickly. It was fantastic that there were a bunch of
leaders in my group, but as we continued to go on with our task this
turned out to be a bit of a problem. Whenever one leader would try
to speak, five other leaders would either be talking at the same time
or immediately agreeing or disagreeing with what the first leader
said. At the end of our allotted time, my group had failed
miserably. We did finish our task, but we might as well have hired
preschool students to create the finished product that we came up
with.
Upon
reflecting on this experience I realized that even though we had a
group of tremendous leaders, we failed because no one was willing to
follow. It was like the quote, “A leader
without true followers, is simply going on a walk.” Instead
of following the leader, we had created a skirmish line that couldn’t
decide where we were going. Following this reflection my group had
the opportunity to redo our project, but it took us twice as long to
tear down, start over, and finish our project. Throughout the rest
of the semester we worked on being good leaders and good followers,
and we were able to improve in this area quite a bit and accomplish
even bigger projects than our first one was.
* * *
Due to this experience
my definition of leadership totally changed. As a flock of geese
flew overhead one day, I realized that my definition of a leader was:
being the front goose leading the rest of the flock. My definition
changed then to what geese already knew about leadership.
When geese fly overhead
they seem to be changing positions all the time. After flying in the
front for a while, the lead goose will drop back into formation and
another goose will take their place. When a goose is rested up and
strong they lead the flock, but when another goose is rested up and
ready to lead, it is their turn. When a goose drops back into
formation it doesn’t just quit flying. They keep flying and refine
their strengths for the next time they get to lead, and while they
are doing this in the midst of the flock, there are other geese
flying behind them. Even if a goose is in the middle of the flock
and following the lead goose, the other geese can follow the middle
goose.
* * *
This is my definition
of leadership: being willing to lead when your strengths are needed
and being willing to follow when someone else has a strength that is
needed.
Or simply put my
definition of leadership is: Lead like a goose!
* * *
As FFA
leaders, how can we play to
the strengths of our chapters
in order to keep our flock headed in the right direction?
Brian Tracy
encourages us to, “Become the kind of leader
that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or
position.” - How can we
help lead our FFA chapters even if we might not necessarily be the
lead goose?
What
is your definition of leadership?
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