Lead Your Own Path

Leadership is something that is valued in many aspects of life. To have a leadership position automatically garners respect and changes the way people perceive you. But then too often, these “leaders” fail to really lead. Regardless of what I personally end up doing, leadership is important and I need to understand what components make up a strong leader. With me, I find myself very contradictory as person. I do hold many leadership positions, but I do not see myself as as much of the stereotypical confident, charismatic leader. But does this matter?

This week I started looking at who I thought was a good leader. It started with my mentor visit. On the wall, there were pictures of numerous doctors who had taken on the chief resident position. What really stuck with me, was the fact that there were doctors who only had the position for a year at a time before another doctor came to take their place.It made me wonder if those doctors had given up their piston voluntarily or if they had been kicked out. But seeing as how most of the doctors were still working in the hospital, it made sense that they gave up their position voluntarily. This really gave me a lot of respect towards the doctors because despite being capable of the position, they stepped down when they felt they would not be able to dedicate enough time to the position. To me that was such as sign of maturity and truly taking on the role for the right reasons, not just power or money. I hope that when I grow older, I show the same maturity and look at my own capabilities and choose to make the best decision for my organization or goals.

Overall, leadership to me is not the ability to make decisions for a group, but to be the aid that helps the group concede a mutually beneficial decision.To be a leader is to motivate a group as well as keep in mind the real logistics of the situation.It is not synonymous with a boss, because they are not above anyone. Their losses and their wins are the same as the group. You can't do it for power or recognition. You have to do it for purpose. The term “born leader” can never truly be used correctly. Being a leader involves making people into friends and making tasks have meaning. These are not things that you are just born with. This involves learning about not only the group, but yourself as a leader. Being able to adjust yourself to better fit the group's needs and being able to adjust the group to better fit the task's needs. In some casses, being a leader means not laws being a leader. It means learning to step down and see the mistakes with yourself and the strengths of another that may benefit the group and its cause. Not everybody is a leader, but anyone can choose to be. It is just a matter of when