Re: “conventional leadership positions involve little to no work or “leading” and are essentially won by popularity contests.”
While I couldn’t say how conventional leadership positions are filled, I would say that in my opinion, those positions do not have nearly the time commitment that some other activities have. And I have been pleasantly surprised that admissions officers look at leadership roles in a different light than just considering conventional leadership. For example, I would guess that the President of the Student Council would, over the course of the whole school year, put in 2 hours/ week (since some weeks there would be little or nothing to be done and other weeks would have events scheduled). The competitive dance team that my daughter was a member of required a time commitment of 25 - 35 hours/ week all through the school year (and most of the summer as well).
We are all born to be a LEADER. We just need to improve ourselves to be call as a LEADER. We are Leader in our own ways. And in Leadership we can be a Leader and at the same time as a follower.
Leadership is how you inspire and influence others in a good way of course. It is a big responsibility but you just have to trust yourself and your members in able to gain success
@Mandalorian That is 100% correct! And there are no one or two “right” ways to get or keep followers. Charles Manson was a great leader, wasn’t he? Some delegate, some dictate, some manage by walking-around. Some are “stern taskmasters”, some are “players’ managers”. Some use a whip, others use “emotional intelligence”.
My favorite is Casey Stengel leadership: Keeping the ones who hate our guts away from the ones who are undecided.
Unfortunately our idea of “leadership” is influenced by popular stereotypes - as in the person who “takes charge”, the one “who doesn’t take no for an answer”, the one who insists in having his/her way no matter what and last, but not least, those high sounding titles like President. If you give me a choice between a student who quietly persevered with say, band, for 4 years of school without necessarily being exceptional at it versus a student who had different leadership positions in different clubs over those 4 years without much to show for it other than the titles, I’ll take the former anyday for his “leadership” - as in showing the traits of commitment, perseverance, setting an example through his actions and taking the path that was perhaps not glamorous, but required making many sacrifices. I would like to think the college admission officers are experienced enough to look through superficialities and dig a bit deeper. But I can appreciate that this is challenging.
My D18 considers herself a student of leadership and writes about how her job as president of organizations is to bring good ideas out from all kinds of personality types. She also believes in putting the organization before her own goals and in fulfilling her commitments. She strives to inspire others to be the best leaders they can be too. It is her passion and I know it hurts her a little to see others rack up titles without any intention of service.
