My Leadership Philosophy for Student Leadership

Leaders come forth depending on the kind of situation, in which they are need. This type of leadership is typically known as “situational leadership,” where the key concept is every situation is different, so each situation requires a specific, unique leader. For a person to be a great leader, one does not have to necessarily assume a “bossy” persona, which is stereotypically characterized with all leaders, but being a leader based on listening. Being this background leader is known to many as, “servant leadership.” Servant and situational leadership is how I can characterize my leadership style so far since I have joined the student leadership community at Hillwood High School.

Last school year, when I picked up an application to join Student Leadership I, I had no idea what I was signing myself up for, except for the general idea of what a leader was to me; a bossy, demanding, sometimes hypocritical individual wanting to help others in dire situations. However, I made myself take a mental oath not to be one of those stereotypical leaders, well maybe I was going to be a tad bit on the demanding side, but not always. Little did I know, there is much more to leaders and leadership, which I failed to notice. The beginning of school brought tons of excitement and with it our first self-assessment exercise (August 18, 2009). Though this exercise, I found out what I thought I knew about myself turned out slightly different than predicted. For instance, through the interesting pig drawing activity, I already knew I was a realist, cautious, stubborn, and secure in my settings. However, I learned I needed to listen, which in all honesty; I neglect to do too often. Discussion then began about two unique types of leadership traits, C...

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...ape of our dog was born by accident, after we began taking apart what should have been a face. Pulling in loose pieces to create our doggy vision like searching for escaped papers blown with the wind, required much critical thought and imagination. During the “Vision Following” activity, my group had to follow the second groups’ drawing or instructions in unscrambling what their vision was, a fish. Overall, the game experience offered us a chance to be leaders or servant leaders, which I believe I was.

In final analysis, a leader is not born, but gradually progresses over time, as I have during Leadership I. I have evolved as a person and would characterize my leadership style as a servant and situational. Leadership has provided me with amble enough tools for my classmates and myself such as, movies, games, community service, and leadership class projects.