Being a Leader, one step at a time

     So for this Leadership Development class that I'm in, I had to choose some book on leadership: I chose a book entitled "Leadership: The Inner side of Greatness" by Peter Koestenbaum.  Koestenbaum mainly writes about how to improve leadership in a managerial capacity, but I feel like his idea of a Leadership Diamond model sounds very interesting, and something that I would like to learn more about, and how I can apply the method to my everyday life. 

     I also learned this week about a concept called "Situational Leadership."  Adrian Klemme was the speaker and he really taught us on what he believed to be the best type of leadership: one that is flexible, yet efficient.  One of my friends was getting ready for this "stoplight" dance that our housing area was putting on.  He had been hanging out with this one girl for quite a while now, but nothing really substantial yet (at least not in her eyes).  So when he called to see what color shirt they should wear (red signifying they were a couple, yellow: it's complicated, or green letting everyone know your single) she let him know that she was planning on wearing green because he hadn't actually taken her out on a date yet.  Apparently here is where I came into the picture.

     I get a call from my friend at 4:00 that day (4 hours before the dance) he is desperately trying to pull together some sort of date that would eventually culminate in the dance.  He was frantic and really didn't know what to do for a first date (he had had a steady girlfriend back home and didn't have to do anything that "wows" her) so I got a group together and we directed just about everything he should do for that date.  He would add his input every once in a while and we would see what we could do to build off of his idea.  What ended up happening was a nice little tour through a local museum and a "nice" dinner at the school cafeteria; I was their waiter. 
    
     We helped him plan his date, directed what he should do, coached him when he came up with his own plan, and I was there to support and encourage him while he was actually on his date.  The short experience here really helped me to understand the profoundness of situational leadership.  In the beginning while he was frantic I had to really direct him and show him what to do to prepare, but as the ideas started flowing, he added his own and we were able to work together to improve his ideas to something.... coherent.  Later, when he was at his "nice" meal I was there as his waiter, not only to serve them, but really to act as a support for him in case he happened to fall into any sort of trouble.  When I was done serving them, I left, leaving him entirely on his own for the remainder of the night; allowing him to use what we had taught him to apply as the situation called for.  Directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating, the 4 main stages of situational leadership, all covered and successful in under 3 hours.

     As for learning about what it means to be a leader from someone specific, this week I had the opportunity to interview my old Ultimate coach from high school.  Baker Pratt is a graduate of the University of North Carolina who came and volunteers as the coach for my high school's Ultimate team.  At the same time his is the captain of the 3rd ranked team in the state, and a board member of the local Ultimate league.  Baker was a wonderful coach for the 2 years I was able to experience with him and a great leader that I would like to one day be able to emulate. 

     Baker was a little taken aback when I asked him if he thought he was a leader; he seems as if he doesn't believe that he is a leader, but he is definitely one of the better leaders that I have met.  After a bit of an awkward pause he decides that whenever he has to be a leader, his most important goals are to 1) lead by example, and 2) to always keep in mind the thoughts and opinions of those he leads.  Baker sort of came into his love of Ultimate by a lucky break by a man who happened to see his group play in a tournament and decided to go and teach his group what real Ultimate was.  The simple outreach by that man inspired Baker enough that one day he could go and offer that same sort of outreach to my own little group that we too may become fully converted to the joy of Ultimate.  What really strikes me about Baker is his absolute devotion to those that he leads, in his own words he aims to "show loyalty to inspire loyalty."  Baker not only knows what he is doing, but knows how to teach others and how to almost extract the best from others as he expects the best out of them. 

Sorry this post is a little lengthy but here's the
WEEKLY RECAP
     I had an opening social for my Nonprofit Management minor, and met some awesome people, and even found a venture crew.  I attended and opening for the Recreational Management and Youth Leadership majors and was declared the winner of their "Minute to Win It" contest.  And I started working on my mission papers to go serve two years for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.