Taking the Lead

What has gotten me so involved in leadership throughout my life is the idea of fighting for something. Personally, that has meant being involved in various service-oriented activities such as mission and service trips or volunteering around the community throughout the year. Whatever small change I hope to bring  through service does not necessarily mean that the change that I am fighting for will happen in the way that I imagined. Nonetheless, I really value having something to believe in.

THE STUDENT LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

As a leader, I recognize that if I want there to be change, I am going to have to be the one to work towards that change. However, in order to see that change, it is imperative to gain the attention of others and have them included in the cause. Kouzes and Posner write in their book, The Student Leadership Challenge, that there are five steps to leadership: Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision (which I have previously addressed), Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. I believe that in addition to being steps of leadership, these steps represent the initiative that people take to get others involved.

A situation in which I took initiative using the steps of Kouzes and Posner was when I worked with the participants from my fall service trip to Waterloo in 2011 to organize a sleep-out to promote homelessness. Some of the background information includes that our service trip that worked with the homeless and that we concluded everything by participating in Reggie's Sleep-Out held by Drake University in Des Moines. During this event, we learned about the impact of homelessness and then made and slept in our own shelter made out of cardboard boxes for the night. Even though we were very cold and our Wartburg castle did not win a prize in the decorating contest, we were moved as we learned about and experienced some of the conditions that homeless individuals live through. We were so moved and learned so much throughout the weekend about homelessness that my group wanted to bring our own sleep-out to the Wartburg students.

In our efforts to enlighten other Wartburg students, my group and I utilized the different aspect of leadership. As mentioned previously, the first thep in the Kouzes and Posner Student Leadership Challenge is to Model the Way. This was done when my group went to the sleep-out at Drake University. We showed that we, college students, could make it through the night in a cardboard shelter and make the best of the experience. However, we had to Challenge the Process a bit by having students actually spend the night outside rather than going back to their dorm rooms right across campus. This was probably the biggest challenge because spending a night outside is inconvenient and challenging due to the cold weather. In order to successfully challenge the students of Wartburg and motivate them to walk in the shoes of the homeless, we needed to Inspire a Shared Vision. We needed other students to take the initiative to come and join our cause. We shared stories among our friends and had a table sitting in the Student Center where our various participants would share their stories of the experiences. Each participant also brought the stories back to their various clubs and organizations. We also promoted a shelter decorating contest that would result in a prize. More importantly, we tried to emphasize the importance of coming to the event as an opportunity to learn more about and promote homelessness. Of course, our approach was not perfect. We still could have done more publicity and talked to the faculty and have them encourage their students to participate. In terms of Enabling Others to Act, a great deal of logistics was involved. Since I was one of the trip leaders, I was the one to make sure that we had all of the supplies we needed such as cardboard boxes, that all of the reservations were made, and that we had an educational reflection to do with the participants of the sleep-out. Finally, there is the importance of Encouraging the Heart. It was VERY chilly night when we had the sleep-out. Most people who were even considering coming became very wary because of the cold temperatures.We had to try our best to ensure people that it was indeed possible to cuddle up in the cardboard boxes without completely freezing. The more people that we had come to sit with us in the cardboard boxes, the easier that it was for people to consider joining.

The lesson learned from this experience was that taking initiative within a leadership position means more than just making a decision to do something. It means being able to recognize all the steps of making a movement or planning an event. As an organizer, I know what needs to be done, but sometimes I struggle with the execution. If I have other people around me who support me though, taking initiative will be a little easier. Also, if I take one step at a time and view the initiative within the eyes of the five steps leadership, then figuring out what to do next will be a little easier.

FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS

Another theme in taking initiative would be selflessness. Even though many times a leader can reap benefits for something that they are fighting for, generally the initiative has to benefit other people as well. Rather than having the focus on the leader, a leader promotes the focus of the effects on other stakeholders. Although the Servant Leadership video clip from the Dayton Film Contest talks specifically about servant leadership, I think some of the themes can be applied to initiative as well.

There are a few parts about this clip that really hit me. First, I am moved when the boy says that, "leadership is rising above imitation as an individual who rises about the paradigm, denying the standards we hold ourselves to and defining ourselves as a small piece to a large puzzle" (Stucky). In terms of initiative, a leader ignores the rules set by society in order to bring a "good "change to the community. What this means is that although many times it is easier to conform, that's not always what's best. Honestly, that is a challenge that I work with every single day. As much as I would like to be accepted by everyone, I am too stubborn to be coerced into doing something that I do not believe is right. Rather than just be a bystander and people tear one another down, I as a leader will be the one to stand up for others. The boy in the video says that, "we must become progressive citizens of a global population who can put others before themselves" (Stucky). Having the confidence and bravery to actually stand up reflects the initiative taken by being a leader whether it be in my personal life or work life because I am one part to a larger community. The first step to the transformation is to speak up.

Although this video might not connect with all people in terms of initiative and getting a movement started, I personally gain a lot of motivation and determination when trying to figure out how to help others. I believe that the world is a system of communities and that communities should help one another. Therefore, in order to have stable communities, people need to take the initiative to try and enhance their communities in whatever needs a community might have.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The aforementioned clip shares one idea that really resonates with me: the idea "to live for what [you] believe in..." (Stucky). Following his footsteps, if there is something that I believe in, I am going to make sure to work my hardest to make sure that I am best addressing the needs of the people with whom I am working . I will be an example for others while encouraging and inspiring them to take the challenge with me. However, I hold a little bit of a pessimistic view. I believe that if I want something to get done, it isn't going to get done without my determination and work to start something. This mindset has allowed me to be a part of many activities and really grow within my leadership. As long as I remain have an open heart and open mind and follow the steps of leadership, I hope to grow within my leadership and leadership goals. In the future I will be able to take on larger initiatives that reach greater populations. Rather than addressing just a college campus, I will be able to reach out to various communities. It will be amazing to see what type of change taking initiative within a larger context would look like and I look forward to taking on the challenge in the future.

*Kouzes, James M. and Barry Z. Posner. The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices of Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008. Print.

**Stucky, Sam. “Servant Leadership – Dayton Film Contest.” University of Dayton Film Contest. YouTube, 25 Feb. 2012. Web. 3 Sept. 2013.