not a leader

Northstarmom
Fri, 30 May 2008 21:16:58 +0000

“It would be impossible for a non-leader to do this at our local h.s., as students are not eligible to become members of NHS unless they can demonstrate sufficient leadership experience!”

That’s too bad about the NHS at your D’s school. My S, who was very shy, actually co-created a similar project via his NHS. It was his first time ever demonstrating that kind of leadership.

He was watching TV on the day that a major international disaster occurred. To my surprise, he got on the phone to one of his friends and started talking about raising funds to help out. S, who was not an officer, ended up creating the project with the help of the NHS president.

S ended up running for NHS presidency and lost to another student who was very assertive about running for office. S had been too shy to line up supporters or practice his speech.

Still, what S learned through the NHS project and other projects that he played major role in have helped him make a big difference in some organizations, and have the skills and experience to be perceived as a leader in college, where he just finished freshman year.

While S did his fundraising through NHS, he selected that organization only because he was a member of it. One doesn’t need to be in NHS to do that kind of thing. All sorts of organizations – including sports teams-- do service projects. The key is to be willing to bring up and work hard to put into place one’s own ideas.

And don’t back off when what’s typical happens: Only you and a couple of other people are willing to do the hard work. That’s normal for virtually all organizations that are based on volunteers.