When I was in high school, apart of the theatre department, I found it hard to be a leader because everyone had such different schedules and different mindsets. We were supposed to be doing project but some people truly didn't care. There were a select few who did so we would have to navigate in order to accomplish everything we had to. It was difficult but it got done.
Please be a little more detailed in your response- what was your role? what did you do to ensure the project was completed? when you had to work with the same group members what was your experience like?
I played the role as director and I had to make sure that the scenes were in order and the sets was how it was supposed to be. Working with people that had difficult schedules was a hard task because we were hardly ever able to have a rehearsal with all the people that were in the scene together. To ensure that it was completed,we had rehearsals at separate times when people were available meaning some folks had to devote more time to practicing than others and when people were absent me or a friend would be a temporary fill in for them. It made me a little annoyed at times but it also taught me how to deal with certain individuals and get everything done even if everyone wasn't there or didnt care about the outcome or our grade as a group.
Last semester I was on the committee for the Environmental Coalition. I was the Outreach Director, which is the person who contacts other clubs at UCF and I informed the student body about events and meetings they could join and interact in. During the height of the semester I found out that my mom was in the hospital. I had to stop everything I was doing and go to her side. This included me informing the whole Environmental Coalition Committee that I would not be able to do as much as I had planned. It was very difficult to express that I wouldn't be able to be counted on the way I had been. I spent several days in the hospital with my mom trying to do homework and club work. The day my mom went into brain surgery I was not in touch with anyone, I felt that I let my club down, but I was not willing to put my family second in this situation. When I finally got back to Orlando I had a lot to catch up on but the head of the organization helped me every step that I needed. I felt that was a struggle I could not avoid and it was great to be supported throughout the ordeal, even though I judged myself harsher than the club did.
The worst can happen at any time and it is our job as leaders to make the right decisions. That is easily more said than done, as everyone will come into contact with their individual turmoils in life. I completely agree with your choice of action and was relieved to read that your friends at the Environmental Coalition were so much help to you when you returned. I believe greatest thing about being a leader is that we usually have friends ready to help out when these moments arise.
In high school I was involved in a class called Electronic Music. This class taught students the technical and visual aspects of running an auditorium (sound, lights, and stage). Starting out I instantly found a passion in light design and recognizing the various cues, compositions, and arrangements to match any particular scene. Running shows , or 'Tech-ing' as we called it, lead me to great experiences in leadership. My second year brought about a few tests in my leadership skills, particularly since the teacher had the 2nd years teach the 1st year students coming in. During this time I experienced one of my first struggles of being a leader. I was selected to be Stage Directer (the one who operates the entire tech show) and was able to choose my own team of light, sound, and stage designers. The show was a group of performers from our school that were going to go over the physical benefits of proper exercise and diet. Mixing in an appropriate balance of 1st and 2nd years, I was able to choose those i could trust and depend upon if the worst happened. Unfortunately the worse did happen. Towards the ending practices, no, the LAST practice, our dear performers decides to add another routine into their message that they had been developing amongst themselves. The only problem was that it would add an extra 4 minutes to the show (which was originally suppose to go until school ended) plus my crew and I would have to remap additional lights, re equalize the soundboard and mics, and finally try to time in there ending slideshow on a projector that took an average of thirty seconds to fully come down. After trying the explain the difficulty of trying to add all this at the last minute (they wouldn't have it, and it wast necessarily our place to argue, it was their show after all) I gathered my crew and explained the situation. They were obviously pretty upset, and a lot of the Tech-1s (first years) were ready to just leave. Thankfully, things like this happened a few times last year, so the Tech-2s (second years) I selected could understand the situation more reasonable. The struggle for me wasn't convincing a third of my crew to stay past class hours to help prep this show for launch, the real struggle came since we were limited till school finished. Once school ended we would have to pack up and go, which means we had to work fast. First thing we had to do was bring down the lights, and redirect them slightly so the colours would mix at certain spots. Then we had the relocate the tapped down floor mics so the performers would trip, or worse destroy, them. Third we had watch them perform the extra choreography and set cues into our light-board computer system (so we could control when they turn on and off at the push of a button). Fourth, I had to personally run back and forth from stage to booth to relay information to stage and sound designers for 'EQ-ing' the mics. Finally, we had to go over spot-light cues and time the projector screen fall when the curtains closed to save time. I don't how but we were able to fit in the new segment of the show and even have enough time left over for two run-troughs. This experience will always be with me in the back of my mind, as it literally pushed my ability to not only handle the building frustration of my team, but also the unpredictability of the performers. While in the end the show did go past the bell (that couldn't be helped), a few staff and students did watch it till the end. I was extremely proud of my team as well as myself for being able to keep control and handle this situation. I believe being able to keep a calm demeanor in bad situations will always help you work things out in the end.
I am genuinely amazed and impressed that you handled that show so well! I think a lot of people might not have been able to handle so much last minute stress.
Not to mention, it seems like the people who don't understand the complexity of technology are the ones who can't appreciate the effort it takes to make it work. Even though you had to work with people like that, you managed to get done everything that needed to be done. When a person can make something work like that, even with last minute changes, I think that is a sign of a great and responsible leader.
In high school I was the Treasurer of the National Honor Society. Soon after the year started our advisor’s father got really sick and she could never make the meetings. For a few months it was impossible for any of the officers to get everyone in the group together for a meeting. As an officer we had to work to find a new advisor, but this proved harder than we thought. Many of the teachers did not want to take the position or they were already an advisor to another organization, as leaders this caused a road block. Eventually we found a teacher to help, but this also caused another problem. The new adviser would not allow any of the officers to have responsibilities. This caused a struggle for all of the officers to really make a difference. After sitting down and talking to the new adviser she saw the situation from our point of view and started to give up some responsibilities. After a long year we ended up with a few different fundraisers for a very worthy cause and made a difference for the future of the society.
Last semester, I was enrolled in a History class that dealt with a lot of group discussions, projects, and presentations. There really wasn't anytime during class to get to know each other in the group so it was up to us (the members of each group) to get to know each other, plan projects, and meet together outside of class on our own personal time. Unfortunately for me, I was put in a group consisting of members that weren't that great at communicating their ideas. I tried to take the stand as the leader in the group because I wanted a good grade and I take pride in my communication skills. This leader position proved to be extremely difficult task because my only form of communication was the phone (which we all know not everybody answers the phone) and I felt that every time I asked somebody in the group to give me their answers/ideas for our assignment they never seemed to have anything prepared which was a huge burden since we didn't have much time to get each assignment done. However, after about the 2nd assignment I decided to keep pushing all the members, and decided that we would go ahead and break each assignment into different multiple parts, so each member would only have to complete a smaller portion. This proved to be successful because I immediately started to get better results from each of the group members. In the end, we received great grades and I walked away proud and feeling a sense of accomplishment with my leading abilities.
I think that's great that you came up with the idea to break up the project into small more manageable bits for your group! That's the one thing I don't like about group projects, it's very hard to rely on others.. especially when you don't know the members of your group very well. I'm glad you were able to work through the struggle and end up on top at the end! It's always an amazing feeling when your leadership skills help you make a big accomplishment!
A struggle I had to face that still sticks in my mind was during high school. I was working with some of my classmates on a project for biology class. Of course, everyone tends to have stories about trying to convince others to do their fair share on a project. This was a bit different in that we had to come up with our own project. It could be anything we wanted, as long as it was related to something we learned about during the year in that class.
Our first big problem was trying to come up with ideas for our project. We wanted to pick a topic that no other group was doing in the class, since that would help make our project more unique. Eventually we settled on osmosis, which in this context is essentially how molecules move through a permeable membrane. The next big problem was deciding what exact we were going to do for this topic. A lot of people made good suggestions, but most of us eventually settled on my idea. It was to use intestines (bought from a store, mind you!) and see how various household chemicals move through the membrane.
I say most of us agreed to it, since there was a girl and two of her friends in our group who didn't like the idea. They wanted to do a project on how potatoes absorb water, because they thought it would be much simpler and would make an easy A. I tried to reason with them and explain how this would make for a good project, but they eventually splintered off into their own little group to work on their idea. As a note, a big thing about leadership is that sometimes you just can't convince someone to help, no matter how good of a leader you are. Still, it's important to not hold a grudge, and just keep working with the people who are willing to work with you.
So from there, I was made the 'appointed' leader of my group, since I was the one who suggested the intestine idea in the first place. I worked with everyone to let them know what they were expected to do, made sure everyone got their own work on time, and even bought some pig intestines from Publix to use in experiments. Some people were either struggling to get their work done, while others couldn't manage their time well between this project and other classes. I managed to help them out as best as I could, and even helped tutor one student so that he could have more time to help out with the project.
Once our planning, abstracts, and essays were done, we got together a couple days to test our experiment and record the results. The only downside is that I didn't think about how badly the intestines would smell after being left in water and other chemicals for a long time. In the end we got a B+ for our efforts, which is pretty good! In the end, I was just happy that I managed to pull off a successful project despite having some setbacks.
Wendelyn, I think you handled your struggles extremely well! It seems that you kept your cool at all times and really tried to listen to all the voices within your group. Even your group could see your talents since they elected you leader! I am sure they appreciated the time you took to help them. Congrads!
Last semester I was involved in the Youth and Education class within LEAD Scholars. Like the rest of you, I was tasked with picking a volunteer agency, forming a group and giving a presentation about the experience we had while volunteering. This place ended up being UCF’s Creative School for Children. Now, for those of you who don’t know what that is, the Creative School is a preschool for the children of UCF faculty. Located next to the water tower, the school serves children ages 2-5 and strives to instill independence in each child. My group and I got to know these children very well and felt great about what we had accomplished once we had finished volunteering. Of course, volunteering wasn’t our only requirement for the class. Like I said, we needed to form a presentation, a presentation that I was elected to lead.
For a while, I put off the assignment, turning my attention to other commitments while promising my group that I would set a meeting date. Unfortunately, a while turned into days before the deadline and I still had done nothing. I then arrived late (40 min) to the meeting I finally scheduled to find my group very annoyed at my lack of leadership. In that moment, I realized I too was frustrated with my struggles as a leader. I hated how I mismanaged my priorities, assuming that the group did things last minute like I did. I wish I had been more organized and aware of the members in my group and the effect my actions had on them.
I then apologized to my group, telling them how selfish I was and that I realize a little communication could have solved the problem (and brought us closer together). Understandably, they reacted little to my statement. As a result, I brought my A game in the meeting and began working like I should of since the beginning. Our presentation went great and I took them out and bought them breakfast. I again apologized and thanked them for sticking with me.
We still hang out from time to time and laugh about that experience. But more importantly, I learned that leading is all about the people and that a small amount of consideration leads to friendships and a successful project.
I'm glad you saw your own faults and corrected them. And your teammates were open and understanding to your situation. It was definitely your approach that caused their reaction to be more understanding.
Struggle as a leader: Taking Control of EVERY Situation
In many cases when working with individuals, I have been notorious for "taking over" when they do not contribute to their part of the work. For example, my sophomore year in High School, I was not apart of the Student Council or the Student Government. However, all of the Student Class President, VP, Sec and whatever where in my class. They would always ask for our class input so as a whole our classes choose the theme for Homecoming Week. The months leading up to the Homecoming Week, our Sophomore Class became disorganized and a lot of drama occurred. The week came and the day of our Parade, we get the mornings to build a float and get things ready for the game and get the team pepped up.
I did not have class but I was still on the campus in class and one of the girls kept coming in and asking for the most random things. So the 5th time she came into my classroom I left with her to go see why she kept asking for random items. When I went out there, there were about 15 people sitting around our class trailer. The trailer was bare and it was about 9:30 so they were out there for a good hour and a half. No scissors, no construction paper to cover the sides, no tape or broom simple materials that could create the most basic float ever. So I just talked to a couple of the people I knew since Elementary school and we covered the float with paper and taped it down after we swept it off and got it prepped for the decor. After we got that down, I left school and went home.
The struggle with Leadership is seeing often things that need to be done and feeling compelled to help. It used to run me dry being over concerned with others and trying to benefit us as a whole. I have totally learned that I cannot "save" every situation and sometimes I just have to let people fall on their face in order for them to learn. My greatest struggle: knowing when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em and when to let them go.
I don't personally think theres anything wrong with always trying to help out especially when the present situation requires some outside assistance. Trying to help out everywhere and everyone would be tiring and exhausting. I think you have a valid point about the issue of when to help people/groups and when to let them fail a little in order for them to learn to succeed. I guess my thoughts on the question would be that if you can help and its required for something important go for it but in non-life threatening or simple situations help if you think the people are genuinely in need. Alot of people/groups will do nothing and be lazy purposefully knowing/hoping that someone else will come along and do the work for them those are the times when like you mentioned they need to learn for themselves. Your response was interesting because like you said it can be difficult at times to know when to help and when not too.
As President of my fraternity, I face struggles as a leader every day. I must constantly strike a balance between being a good friend and brother and being a strong leader. At times, this can be difficult. Tonight, Super Bowl Sunday, when the majority of my chapter was sitting in our common room watching the Super Bowl together, an inactive brother came to the house. Unfortunately for me, he happened to be one of my favorite older brothers, one who I had formed a strong bond with. He had done much for the chapter and put much of his time, energy, and personal money into building a better brotherhood. By choosing to go inactive, however, he chose to pay drastically reduced dues in exchange for revocation of his house privileges. Though I remember the sad discussion in my room when he made this decision, stressing the idea that he cannot come to the house, just months ago, he was adamant about being allowed to join the Super Bowl Festivities. Once I told him that he could not be there, he got angry. He insisted that he be allowed to stay. An argument ensued (most of the yelling coming from his end). Throughout the process, he made it very clear to me that he thought I was a bad brother, insisting that the ritualistic bond that unifies us means nothing to me. This was a very difficult situation to handle. I had to stick to the rules and remain in command of the situation as the chapter looked on despite the respect I had for this brother. I guess the moral of this experience for me was that oftentimes, when one is in a leadership position, the welfare of the organization you lead must come before your personal desires.
This is definitely a tough situation, and I feel you handled it well. Even though he was a good friend, a brother you had respected...at the end of the day you have to maintain order and that's just the way it is. It's been with my fraternity with the number of brothers who have gone inactive that still continue to represent the DU name. They are, technically, no longer associated with the chapter at UCF due to personal reasons or they may have even been kicked out due to the reorg process. It's been tough because my big brother is one of those inactives and I have not been able to see him in a long time.
Running a show is no easy job, especially when half way thorugh the planning all the pressure falls onto one person. I experienced this in high school trying to run the Second Annual Teddy Bear Drive. I was the Eleventh grade Reperesentative, the lowest ranking of the chairs, and I was also the only one who didn't suddenly resign out of the blue. I was left alone as a leader for an entire student organization because my crew abandoned me, right in the middle of planning a huge show. Though I would have liked to resign as well and relieve myself of the stress, I chose to continue the show, and it was a huge success. I ran the auditions, held rehearslas, did sound checks, and hosted the show. This was very time consuming and personal at times. I had friends wanting to perform, but they didn't want to audition or allow me to see them rehearse. I had to be professional in running my show to ensure it was a success. I had to get hold of a date as well, which anyone knows is an entire job in itself. Trying to get a night to host my show in our schools auditorioum took me weeks of E-mails and phone calls. I gave up lunch periods and many hours of my time in order to make sure the show could go on and someone was still there to lead it. Luckily, despite the very hard and rocky beginning, the people who peformed in the show and all the others who contributed were dedicated and cooperative as they could be. In the end, the show doubled the amount of teddy bears it raised for the children, raising just over 300 to be given to local fire and police departments to hand to kids going through hard times.
Trying to plan an entire event by yourself is a challenge. I have never been on the back side of planning a show but I have danced for a numerous amount of years and before shattering almost every bone in my left foot, I performed on many stages in a competition team. Knowing the amount of stress I have felt, just being in shows, I could only imagine that amount of work what went into producing it. While I was also in high school, I was a president of a club and found myself planning the majority of events by myself. It has its pros and cons. It’s a lot of hard work that you are solely responsible for but also if things go wrong, you can’t fix them all. It does mean however, that everything is done right, to your standards and the feeling you get knowing that your event was a success is so much different. The amount of work you out in, I feel is directly correlated with the pride you get out.
I can totally relate to you Jennifer, it is not easy at all. I remember planning senior prom by myself and feeling the stress, and burden of making sure everything was organized and that it went smoothly. Especially when it's an important event. It's a big struggle to try to make everyone happy even though that isn't always possible. It's great to be in charge and plan but at the same time if things go wrong it is on your shoulders so is definitely a lot of pressure that you feel. I definitely agree that its worth the stress and reward of your work at the end.
For me, it is a constant struggle for leadership among my friends. We are all a little hard-headed and determined that we are the one who is right. Don’t get me wrong, I am a very loud outspoken person, but I hate nothing more than fighting drama within my friend group. This drama mostly happens when we all take trips somewhere because I feel that we all have imagined what the trip will be like while looking forward to it. By the time we arrive at our destination, we have planned way too much then we could ever accomplish within the time we have. The constant bickering amongst my friends really stresses me out and to it almost seems that it is not worth it anymore. I usually become the quiet one and just them figure it out. So most of the time, I don’t add much input and just go with the flow. However, on this one trip to Washington D.C. I was determined to go to the wax museum so I spoke and I think that surprised them a little and since I never have anything that I “have to do.” Everyone was just like “of course we can go. “ As I became more outspoken amongst my friends the scheduling started to get even more congested then it has ever been. So, being problem solver of the group and I started making voting charts; where everyone wrote down their top 5 things to do for each day. The chart worked out great because we found out that we all had the same ideas of what we wanted to do over the vacation, just not the same timing schedule. It fixed a lot of problem to this day, even though we can never decide on a restaurant…A simple “driver decides” rule works most of the time.
This is an interesting one; of course leaders tend to emerge out of a sizable group but to have a leader among friends, who must make decisions is strange to me. It just sounds weird but with the situation of traveling, there needs to be some sense of order that way places can be seen and time can be spent well instead of arguing. The voting charts is a simple way of accomplishing such a goal and it seemed to work out. Just a little communication, that's all you need.
A time when I found it to be a struggle to be a leader was when I was Editor-In-Chief of my high schools yearbook. I was forced to constantly pick up the slack of others while also doing my huge share of the work. It was very hard because a lot of my good friends were on the staff and it was hard to "put them in their place" when they weren't doing their job correctly. I found that I really had to step up to be a leader in order for us to accomplish our goals that we set in the beginning of the year. Overtime I found myself being very firm with friends and I could tell they were not happy with my change in attitude but sometimes in order to get what you want the most you have to do what you want the least.
I overcame my struggle by telling myself that in the classroom my peers are my staff members and in those hours working on the yearbook I was not their equal. I was in charge and it was time I started acting that way and not letting everyone walk all over me.
I think you handled this particular situation very well. It can be tough to be authoritative when it comes to friends but as you said you just have to separate work and personal friendships. Additionally, constructive criticism can be very helpful. By doing this you get your point across,and can give suggestions and recommendations to others without critiquing them in a manner that they may not respond well to or may take the wrong way.
A time when it was hard to be a leader that quickly comes to mind was when I was playing on the school soccer team in high school. Freshman year our JV team was full of jokers and typical immature freshman. There were always lots of jokes and laughs at practice and lots of time wasted messing around. I have always been serious when it comes to playing sports, especially soccer, so I can tell you I was certainly not the worst culprit but I wasn't perfect either, often laughing at others' jokes and shenanigans. This was accepted because our JV coach was a younger more laid-back guy but the older seasoned varsity coach was not a fan and looked down on the immature behavior.
It was at times difficult to focus entirely on practicing and discourage teammates from messing around but it was imperative that practice be effective and disciplined. I quickly buckled down and did my best to be a stern leader amongst my teammates and encouraged the same from them. I worked hard and avoided messing around for the majority of the season. Shortly after mid-season my discipline and example was recognized by the head varsity coach and I was moved up to the varsity team.
This is an example of a situation when it can be hard to be focused and show leadership. I have had similar experiences in high school and college when working with friends on academic assignments. It can be difficult at times to work hard and be a leader amongst friends instead of having a lot of fun but I have realized that its important to get done what needs to be done. Having fun is important but it has to be kept in check so that work gets done as well.
As a leader, sometimes you must make the tough decisions where the decision will benefit the group as a whole but might sacrifice a smaller subgroup within the whole. As a competative travel softball coach, I had to place my girls in positions that would put our team in the best position of winning as well as giving the girls an equal amount of experience on the field. In tournaments, if going against a known difficult competitor, I would put girls in their best positions. Many of the girls knew who would give us the best chance of winning the game but some of them disagreed with my decisions. Parents were the main issue when it came to playing time and the positions the players were placed in. Parents have their own opinions of their children and forget that they are usually not present for practice, where the girls work hard to improve their skills and earn the positions they desire. Once in a while, it is necessary to put your foot down and make an executive decision in order to keep the best interest of the team at heart. It is difficult to work and concentrate on the many components of being a coach when those critizing you are sitting next to you and yelling in your ear.
I overcame this adversity by asking other coaches to ask the parents to leave and if they refused, the umpires would kick them out of the tournament. This, although a temporary fix, was usually enough to make the parents realize they should not have yelled and complained. After they calm down, they would apologize and we would have a discussion about what they could do to help their child improve her game. Being a coach is a unique leadership experience; learning to deal with parents, players, fans, referees/umpires, and balancing finances, equipment, and travelling plans.
As leaders, there always tends to be insurmountable amounts of pressure on us, regardless how big or small our responsibilities are. In my senior year of high school, I was named the captain of my dance competition squad. I was given the responsibility to create dance pieces, run rehearsals and make sure everyone was sane on competition days. The age group of the dancers went from eight to eighteen years old. It was a lot to handle. Different types of personalities, different levels of commitment, the list was endless. I loved all of these girls like my sisters, so it made some decisions extremely difficult. There was one case that I really struggled with. We were at a national dance competition and were on our last dance number that included almost thirty five dancers, props, lights, etc. One of the girls dancing, who was one of my best friends, hadn’t been to practice the last week. She was all set to go on stage and perform, but because she hadn’t been there I had redone the spacing for the piece and took her out of the formations in the dance. I had to toughen up and tell her she was no longer in the piece for this competition because she had not come to practice. It was really hard, because I knew how much performing meant to her because we were so close. But as a leader, I had to do what was right for the team. I couldn’t budge because my best friend’s feelings were hurt. We would have to reorganize the formations, transitions, props, and sequences just to accommodate her. I had to think about the other thirty four girls before a close friend. That was a really big struggle in my leadership past.
There have been a multiple times where I have struggled to be a leader, but one time in particular sticks out in my mind. When I was in high school, I spent a lot of time working back stage on theater and dance shows for my school. Throughout the time I spent in the theatre, I moved up the ranks to become a prominent part of the technical crew for the theatre department. During a show late in my senior year, I was expecting a major role in the show, the role of technical director. What that means is anything in the tech department is my job, I can obviously delegate roles, but for the most part, if anything goes wrong it would be my head. As the rehearsals for the show began, the supervising teacher informed me I was going to be answering to another classmate who would be technical director. Normally, I would be fine with this, but in this case, it was my senior year, I had earned the position and the person who was given the role had no experience whatsoever. As much as I wanted to protest, I had to keep my mouth shut and just go along with it. When it came down to the night of the show, the director was not ready. I knew what I was doing and was having an internal struggle of whether I should step up and just do things myself or sit back and let the cards fall into place.
For the good of the show and to ensure that the show ran smoothly from the audience, I took the bull by the horns, so to speak, and ran the show the best I could. Although the other student (the real technical director) got most of the recognition, I was willing to do the extra work to make sure the show was a success. I lead my team through the show and turned a deplorable production into a worthwhile show that I was proud to present to the audience.
AS a young adult and leader, we all go through challenges that test us to see how strong we are. I remember in High School, When I was a part of Teen Trendsetters and a mentor and we all had to coordinate to help with the kids learning, coming up with different aspects to get the kids attention. And I remember some of the mentors not agreeing with my viewpoints and it was a very tough time to try to come together because they wanted things a certain way and I as well. The way we overcame this though is by sitting down, communicating with one another and finding a common median. As Leaders I feel that that is of Importance. You have to compromise sometimes even when You don't want to. At the end of the day, It's about the kids, not us. Just have to stay focus and make sure the common goal is taken care of. The program was helping children with FCAT.
You definitely showed your leadership skills when you sat down with the other mentors and communicated with them. Taking the time to express your views and listen to what others have to say is an important part of being a leader. I agree that sometimes it comes down to compromising, but it is worth if the result allow everyone to realize the common goal and allow everyone to work together efficiently.
I agree that sitting down and communicating is extremely important being a leader. A lot of people believe that being a leader is in the same boat as being a dictator and that certainly isn't true. Leaders must communicate and open a channel for communication between them and the people they are working with to make things go smoothly.
My tale of struggles in leadership come from my position as sound technician during my high school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. During my junior year, I had been working with a close friend of mine to manage the various microphones, songs, and sound effects needed during rehearsals for various productions. I was excited to learn something new and be a part of the team that created such entertaining shows. Rehearsals for Little Shop started much later than they should have. We were in a bit of a rush to make sure everything was coordinated properly. To add stress, my friend informed me that I would have to work sound by myself on opening night because it was her birthday and she had plans that she could not cancel. I was incredibly nervous, losing the support that I had relied upon for weeks. Luckily, I found someone who was assigned to help with stage craft that could take a little bit of time from their duties and offered to be my second in command during the actual performance.
Ultimately, opening night did not go off without a hitch. There were problems with the equipment as well as a few slip-ups of my own. However, I felt extremely proud to have been able to work with a team so devoted to making it a success. During the show, I had to communicate with individuals in charge of lights and stage while also paying attention to my duties on sound. It was difficult, on occasion, to hear each other to know what was needed, and I had to force myself to be more assertive than I am normally. When the show closed, I was commended for my performance, despite its faults. This experience inspired my involvement in future productions and in other areas such as make up and set the following year.
I was more comfortable with a more knowledgeable friend by my side, but I will always be proud that I was able to step up and perform in this unexpected position of leadership. It taught me that I am capable of much more than I give myself credit for.
I had similar events happen during my time as tech director at my high school. I understand the high stress and high responsibility of the opening night and how much hard work really goes into those shows. I am glad you were able to overcome the problems and put on a great show. Every show has its little faults, but the audience usually hardly notices a thing, so normally we are more critical of our actions than we should be. I agree it is helpful to have someone knowledgeable at your side in the event something goes wrong, but you were also confident in yourself and you were able to complete your task and put on a successful show. Unfortunately when I graduated high school and moved on to college, I lost the chance of working in the theatre, but I hope that you are able to keep it up, as it is a very interesting and challenging interest.
I am currently a part of a student-run group project called Concert for Connecticut. My friends and I, the founders of this project, decided that we should do something to help the families that were affected by the New Town shootings. We came up with the unanimous idea that we should give back to the community by organizing a large prism concert where local musicians, regardless of age, come and perform. The leadership roles are divided by music coordinator, technical coordinator, fundraising coordinator, and volunteer coordinator. Being the music coordinator for the benefit concert is my leadership role and my responsibilities includes organizing the music selection for the collective band, have the list of songs that each perform will play, compose the music for the surprise flash mob that we are planning to perform.
The project started out strong, however, over time the team began to fall apart. Two particular members of our group, the fundraiser and volunteer coordinators, gradually stopped pulling their own wait and did not attend the mandatory meetings. In addition, we had miscommunication within the group and our friendships started to fall apart; things were not looking well for anyone. Due to the lack of collaboration, he had to push the concert back a few months. The concert was originally on January 19th, but we were not ready because nothing in the volunteer and fundraiser department were done. This is where my leadership skills kicked into gear. I arranged a meeting where I allowed the volunteer and fundraiser to choose the date and time they will like to meet with the rest of the board. I did this so there will not be any excuse to miss the meeting. When we gathered together I allowed each person to explain all the problems that they have been facing and express their feelings of the whole situation. After everything has been put on the table and everyone relaxed, I asked where everyone was with their portion of the project. It turns out that the we have not moved forward with the project since we have started and we clearly needed new people. In addition, we figured out that the reason why the volunteer and the fundraiser coordinators were not doing their portion of the project was because they were failing their classes. I then came up with the conclusion that in order to benefit the project and the members, they will be taken off the board temporarily so that we can get people who we can count on and they can focus on their school work. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea and everyone left on good terms.
In conclusion, at the present day we have found new members to help us push the project forward, which we have, and the previous volunteer and fundraiser coordinators are successfully raising their grades. I am happy to announce that we will allow them to be back on the board in the very near future. I feel that I demonstrated my leadership well in this struggle and I’m grateful that I was able to find a way that would benefit everyone.
One of the struggles that come to mind include my time coaching 7th grade flag football. I was a freshman in high school and was the head coach for my brother's class. When we started off (from that first practice), I knew it would be difficult gaining the respect of my players. I had known most of them since they were in kindergarten and I think they expected it to all be a joke. Of course, it was all fun and games, but I wanted to win and they did too. From practice to practice and game to game, I began to develop my personal "style" of leadership. I loved being a part of the team and took pride in being a leader the players could look up to. We were viewed as underdogs and often times, lacked any sort of respect -- none was given. It was up to us. Now besides the struggle of gaining the trust of the players which simply took time and positive/hilarious interaction, the biggest struggle for me was working with opposing coaches. They viewed me for what I was, a high school freshman. We fought in each game. Battling through close games, we took other teams by surprise with our humor and our very human nature. When we got frustrated, we showed it. I would sit on the ground in tough times and players would play harder to prove the "fans" wrong. We shared an intrinsic characteristic to fight. There was one coach in particular who refused to shake my hand. He laughed at our team and showed my leadership no respect. It had to be earned. We would go on to lose all games except one. The losses were all determined by fewer than one touchdown -- simply, one or two points. I had to carry my brother off the field while another coach congratulated a player for injuring him. Some coaches would defend me while some ignored. We just had to hustle and earn their respect. The particular coach never shook my hand, not once. But his assistant did; the last game of the season, said he appreciated and respected by attitude and persistence. Whatever his purpose was, I felt proud. Parents thanked me for my efforts and said they really loved the nature of our team. We were young and played with fire. It was, really, my first leadership role and I'll always appreciate the opportunity to give back to the school that had given me so much. Love and respect to Good Shepherd Catholic School. I hope to get back and coach again. Nothing greater.
I think it's great that you felt so strongly and seriously about your leadership position right from the start, even though your players may have not. Even though that one particular coach would not stand to appreciate your efforts or even acknowledge your presence after the games, the people who did matter (fans, parents, your players) were proud of what you did, and as a leader that is one of the greatest accomplishments.
Around the time of my sister's death I was the leader of my school's modeling team, the co-captain of the Cheerleading team, and in Student Council, or SGA. It was really hard for me to focus on upcoming shows, meetings, and, competitions with everything that went on but I couldn't let anyone down so I fought through the tears. Being a leader at that moment meant so much to me. I figured a great leader was someone who could place their feelings aside to make sure that everyone else was taken care of and that's what I did.
When I was in high school, apart of the theatre department, I found it hard to be a leader because everyone had such different schedules and different mindsets. We were supposed to be doing project but some people truly didn't care. There were a select few who did so we would have to navigate in order to accomplish everything we had to. It was difficult but it got done.
ReplyDeletePlease be a little more detailed in your response- what was your role? what did you do to ensure the project was completed? when you had to work with the same group members what was your experience like?
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DeleteI played the role as director and I had to make sure that the scenes were in order and the sets was how it was supposed to be. Working with people that had difficult schedules was a hard task because we were hardly ever able to have a rehearsal with all the people that were in the scene together. To ensure that it was completed,we had rehearsals at separate times when people were available meaning some folks had to devote more time to practicing than others and when people were absent me or a friend would be a temporary fill in for them. It made me a little annoyed at times but it also taught me how to deal with certain individuals and get everything done even if everyone wasn't there or didnt care about the outcome or our grade as a group.
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ReplyDeleteLast semester I was on the committee for the Environmental Coalition. I was the Outreach Director, which is the person who contacts other clubs at UCF and I informed the student body about events and meetings they could join and interact in. During the height of the semester I found out that my mom was in the hospital. I had to stop everything I was doing and go to her side. This included me informing the whole Environmental Coalition Committee that I would not be able to do as much as I had planned. It was very difficult to express that I wouldn't be able to be counted on the way I had been. I spent several days in the hospital with my mom trying to do homework and club work. The day my mom went into brain surgery I was not in touch with anyone, I felt that I let my club down, but I was not willing to put my family second in this situation. When I finally got back to Orlando I had a lot to catch up on but the head of the organization helped me every step that I needed. I felt that was a struggle I could not avoid and it was great to be supported throughout the ordeal, even though I judged myself harsher than the club did.
ReplyDeleteThe worst can happen at any time and it is our job as leaders to make the right decisions. That is easily more said than done, as everyone will come into contact with their individual turmoils in life. I completely agree with your choice of action and was relieved to read that your friends at the Environmental Coalition were so much help to you when you returned. I believe greatest thing about being a leader is that we usually have friends ready to help out when these moments arise.
DeleteIn high school I was involved in a class called Electronic Music. This class taught students the technical and visual aspects of running an auditorium (sound, lights, and stage). Starting out I instantly found a passion in light design and recognizing the various cues, compositions, and arrangements to match any particular scene. Running shows , or 'Tech-ing' as we called it, lead me to great experiences in leadership. My second year brought about a few tests in my leadership skills, particularly since the teacher had the 2nd years teach the 1st year students coming in. During this time I experienced one of my first struggles of being a leader.
ReplyDeleteI was selected to be Stage Directer (the one who operates the entire tech show) and was able to choose my own team of light, sound, and stage designers. The show was a group of performers from our school that were going to go over the physical benefits of proper exercise and diet. Mixing in an appropriate balance of 1st and 2nd years, I was able to choose those i could trust and depend upon if the worst happened. Unfortunately the worse did happen. Towards the ending practices, no, the LAST practice, our dear performers decides to add another routine into their message that they had been developing amongst themselves. The only problem was that it would add an extra 4 minutes to the show (which was originally suppose to go until school ended) plus my crew and I would have to remap additional lights, re equalize the soundboard and mics, and finally try to time in there ending slideshow on a projector that took an average of thirty seconds to fully come down.
After trying the explain the difficulty of trying to add all this at the last minute (they wouldn't have it, and it wast necessarily our place to argue, it was their show after all) I gathered my crew and explained the situation. They were obviously pretty upset, and a lot of the Tech-1s (first years) were ready to just leave. Thankfully, things like this happened a few times last year, so the Tech-2s (second years) I selected could understand the situation more reasonable. The struggle for me wasn't convincing a third of my crew to stay past class hours to help prep this show for launch, the real struggle came since we were limited till school finished. Once school ended we would have to pack up and go, which means we had to work fast.
First thing we had to do was bring down the lights, and redirect them slightly so the colours would mix at certain spots. Then we had the relocate the tapped down floor mics so the performers would trip, or worse destroy, them. Third we had watch them perform the extra choreography and set cues into our light-board computer system (so we could control when they turn on and off at the push of a button). Fourth, I had to personally run back and forth from stage to booth to relay information to stage and sound designers for 'EQ-ing' the mics. Finally, we had to go over spot-light cues and time the projector screen fall when the curtains closed to save time. I don't how but we were able to fit in the new segment of the show and even have enough time left over for two run-troughs.
This experience will always be with me in the back of my mind, as it literally pushed my ability to not only handle the building frustration of my team, but also the unpredictability of the performers. While in the end the show did go past the bell (that couldn't be helped), a few staff and students did watch it till the end. I was extremely proud of my team as well as myself for being able to keep control and handle this situation. I believe being able to keep a calm demeanor in bad situations will always help you work things out in the end.
I am genuinely amazed and impressed that you handled that show so well! I think a lot of people might not have been able to handle so much last minute stress.
DeleteNot to mention, it seems like the people who don't understand the complexity of technology are the ones who can't appreciate the effort it takes to make it work. Even though you had to work with people like that, you managed to get done everything that needed to be done. When a person can make something work like that, even with last minute changes, I think that is a sign of a great and responsible leader.
In high school I was the Treasurer of the National Honor Society. Soon after the year started our advisor’s father got really sick and she could never make the meetings. For a few months it was impossible for any of the officers to get everyone in the group together for a meeting. As an officer we had to work to find a new advisor, but this proved harder than we thought. Many of the teachers did not want to take the position or they were already an advisor to another organization, as leaders this caused a road block. Eventually we found a teacher to help, but this also caused another problem. The new adviser would not allow any of the officers to have responsibilities. This caused a struggle for all of the officers to really make a difference. After sitting down and talking to the new adviser she saw the situation from our point of view and started to give up some responsibilities. After a long year we ended up with a few different fundraisers for a very worthy cause and made a difference for the future of the society.
ReplyDeleteLast semester, I was enrolled in a History class that dealt with a lot of group discussions, projects, and presentations. There really wasn't anytime during class to get to know each other in the group so it was up to us (the members of each group) to get to know each other, plan projects, and meet together outside of class on our own personal time. Unfortunately for me, I was put in a group consisting of members that weren't that great at communicating their ideas. I tried to take the stand as the leader in the group because I wanted a good grade and I take pride in my communication skills. This leader position proved to be extremely difficult task because my only form of communication was the phone (which we all know not everybody answers the phone) and I felt that every time I asked somebody in the group to give me their answers/ideas for our assignment they never seemed to have anything prepared which was a huge burden since we didn't have much time to get each assignment done. However, after about the 2nd assignment I decided to keep pushing all the members, and decided that we would go ahead and break each assignment into different multiple parts, so each member would only have to complete a smaller portion. This proved to be successful because I immediately started to get better results from each of the group members. In the end, we received great grades and I walked away proud and feeling a sense of accomplishment with my leading abilities.
ReplyDeleteI think that's great that you came up with the idea to break up the project into small more manageable bits for your group! That's the one thing I don't like about group projects, it's very hard to rely on others.. especially when you don't know the members of your group very well. I'm glad you were able to work through the struggle and end up on top at the end! It's always an amazing feeling when your leadership skills help you make a big accomplishment!
DeleteA struggle I had to face that still sticks in my mind was during high school. I was working with some of my classmates on a project for biology class. Of course, everyone tends to have stories about trying to convince others to do their fair share on a project. This was a bit different in that we had to come up with our own project. It could be anything we wanted, as long as it was related to something we learned about during the year in that class.
ReplyDeleteOur first big problem was trying to come up with ideas for our project. We wanted to pick a topic that no other group was doing in the class, since that would help make our project more unique. Eventually we settled on osmosis, which in this context is essentially how molecules move through a permeable membrane. The next big problem was deciding what exact we were going to do for this topic. A lot of people made good suggestions, but most of us eventually settled on my idea. It was to use intestines (bought from a store, mind you!) and see how various household chemicals move through the membrane.
I say most of us agreed to it, since there was a girl and two of her friends in our group who didn't like the idea. They wanted to do a project on how potatoes absorb water, because they thought it would be much simpler and would make an easy A. I tried to reason with them and explain how this would make for a good project, but they eventually splintered off into their own little group to work on their idea. As a note, a big thing about leadership is that sometimes you just can't convince someone to help, no matter how good of a leader you are. Still, it's important to not hold a grudge, and just keep working with the people who are willing to work with you.
So from there, I was made the 'appointed' leader of my group, since I was the one who suggested the intestine idea in the first place. I worked with everyone to let them know what they were expected to do, made sure everyone got their own work on time, and even bought some pig intestines from Publix to use in experiments. Some people were either struggling to get their work done, while others couldn't manage their time well between this project and other classes. I managed to help them out as best as I could, and even helped tutor one student so that he could have more time to help out with the project.
Once our planning, abstracts, and essays were done, we got together a couple days to test our experiment and record the results. The only downside is that I didn't think about how badly the intestines would smell after being left in water and other chemicals for a long time. In the end we got a B+ for our efforts, which is pretty good! In the end, I was just happy that I managed to pull off a successful project despite having some setbacks.
Wendelyn,
DeleteI think you handled your struggles extremely well! It seems that you kept your cool at all times and really tried to listen to all the voices within your group. Even your group could see your talents since they elected you leader! I am sure they appreciated the time you took to help them. Congrads!
Last semester I was involved in the Youth and Education class within LEAD Scholars. Like the rest of you, I was tasked with picking a volunteer agency, forming a group and giving a presentation about the experience we had while volunteering. This place ended up being UCF’s Creative School for Children. Now, for those of you who don’t know what that is, the Creative School is a preschool for the children of UCF faculty. Located next to the water tower, the school serves children ages 2-5 and strives to instill independence in each child. My group and I got to know these children very well and felt great about what we had accomplished once we had finished volunteering. Of course, volunteering wasn’t our only requirement for the class. Like I said, we needed to form a presentation, a presentation that I was elected to lead.
ReplyDeleteFor a while, I put off the assignment, turning my attention to other commitments while promising my group that I would set a meeting date. Unfortunately, a while turned into days before the deadline and I still had done nothing. I then arrived late (40 min) to the meeting I finally scheduled to find my group very annoyed at my lack of leadership. In that moment, I realized I too was frustrated with my struggles as a leader. I hated how I mismanaged my priorities, assuming that the group did things last minute like I did. I wish I had been more organized and aware of the members in my group and the effect my actions had on them.
I then apologized to my group, telling them how selfish I was and that I realize a little communication could have solved the problem (and brought us closer together). Understandably, they reacted little to my statement. As a result, I brought my A game in the meeting and began working like I should of since the beginning. Our presentation went great and I took them out and bought them breakfast. I again apologized and thanked them for sticking with me.
We still hang out from time to time and laugh about that experience. But more importantly, I learned that leading is all about the people and that a small amount of consideration leads to friendships and a successful project.
I'm glad you saw your own faults and corrected them. And your teammates were open and understanding to your situation. It was definitely your approach that caused their reaction to be more understanding.
DeleteStruggle as a leader: Taking Control of EVERY Situation
ReplyDeleteIn many cases when working with individuals, I have been notorious for "taking over" when they do not contribute to their part of the work. For example, my sophomore year in High School, I was not apart of the Student Council or the Student Government. However, all of the Student Class President, VP, Sec and whatever where in my class. They would always ask for our class input so as a whole our classes choose the theme for Homecoming Week. The months leading up to the Homecoming Week, our Sophomore Class became disorganized and a lot of drama occurred. The week came and the day of our Parade, we get the mornings to build a float and get things ready for the game and get the team pepped up.
I did not have class but I was still on the campus in class and one of the girls kept coming in and asking for the most random things. So the 5th time she came into my classroom I left with her to go see why she kept asking for random items. When I went out there, there were about 15 people sitting around our class trailer. The trailer was bare and it was about 9:30 so they were out there for a good hour and a half. No scissors, no construction paper to cover the sides, no tape or broom simple materials that could create the most basic float ever. So I just talked to a couple of the people I knew since Elementary school and we covered the float with paper and taped it down after we swept it off and got it prepped for the decor. After we got that down, I left school and went home.
The struggle with Leadership is seeing often things that need to be done and feeling compelled to help. It used to run me dry being over concerned with others and trying to benefit us as a whole. I have totally learned that I cannot "save" every situation and sometimes I just have to let people fall on their face in order for them to learn. My greatest struggle: knowing when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em and when to let them go.
I don't personally think theres anything wrong with always trying to help out especially when the present situation requires some outside assistance. Trying to help out everywhere and everyone would be tiring and exhausting. I think you have a valid point about the issue of when to help people/groups and when to let them fail a little in order for them to learn to succeed. I guess my thoughts on the question would be that if you can help and its required for something important go for it but in non-life threatening or simple situations help if you think the people are genuinely in need. Alot of people/groups will do nothing and be lazy purposefully knowing/hoping that someone else will come along and do the work for them those are the times when like you mentioned they need to learn for themselves. Your response was interesting because like you said it can be difficult at times to know when to help and when not too.
DeleteAs President of my fraternity, I face struggles as a leader every day. I must constantly strike a balance between being a good friend and brother and being a strong leader. At times, this can be difficult. Tonight, Super Bowl Sunday, when the majority of my chapter was sitting in our common room watching the Super Bowl together, an inactive brother came to the house. Unfortunately for me, he happened to be one of my favorite older brothers, one who I had formed a strong bond with. He had done much for the chapter and put much of his time, energy, and personal money into building a better brotherhood. By choosing to go inactive, however, he chose to pay drastically reduced dues in exchange for revocation of his house privileges. Though I remember the sad discussion in my room when he made this decision, stressing the idea that he cannot come to the house, just months ago, he was adamant about being allowed to join the Super Bowl Festivities. Once I told him that he could not be there, he got angry. He insisted that he be allowed to stay. An argument ensued (most of the yelling coming from his end). Throughout the process, he made it very clear to me that he thought I was a bad brother, insisting that the ritualistic bond that unifies us means nothing to me.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very difficult situation to handle. I had to stick to the rules and remain in command of the situation as the chapter looked on despite the respect I had for this brother. I guess the moral of this experience for me was that oftentimes, when one is in a leadership position, the welfare of the organization you lead must come before your personal desires.
This is definitely a tough situation, and I feel you handled it well. Even though he was a good friend, a brother you had respected...at the end of the day you have to maintain order and that's just the way it is. It's been with my fraternity with the number of brothers who have gone inactive that still continue to represent the DU name. They are, technically, no longer associated with the chapter at UCF due to personal reasons or they may have even been kicked out due to the reorg process. It's been tough because my big brother is one of those inactives and I have not been able to see him in a long time.
DeleteRunning a show is no easy job, especially when half way thorugh the planning all the pressure falls onto one person. I experienced this in high school trying to run the Second Annual Teddy Bear Drive. I was the Eleventh grade Reperesentative, the lowest ranking of the chairs, and I was also the only one who didn't suddenly resign out of the blue. I was left alone as a leader for an entire student organization because my crew abandoned me, right in the middle of planning a huge show. Though I would have liked to resign as well and relieve myself of the stress, I chose to continue the show, and it was a huge success.
ReplyDeleteI ran the auditions, held rehearslas, did sound checks, and hosted the show. This was very time consuming and personal at times. I had friends wanting to perform, but they didn't want to audition or allow me to see them rehearse. I had to be professional in running my show to ensure it was a success. I had to get hold of a date as well, which anyone knows is an entire job in itself. Trying to get a night to host my show in our schools auditorioum took me weeks of E-mails and phone calls. I gave up lunch periods and many hours of my time in order to make sure the show could go on and someone was still there to lead it. Luckily, despite the very hard and rocky beginning, the people who peformed in the show and all the others who contributed were dedicated and cooperative as they could be.
In the end, the show doubled the amount of teddy bears it raised for the children, raising just over 300 to be given to local fire and police departments to hand to kids going through hard times.
Trying to plan an entire event by yourself is a challenge. I have never been on the back side of planning a show but I have danced for a numerous amount of years and before shattering almost every bone in my left foot, I performed on many stages in a competition team. Knowing the amount of stress I have felt, just being in shows, I could only imagine that amount of work what went into producing it.
DeleteWhile I was also in high school, I was a president of a club and found myself planning the majority of events by myself. It has its pros and cons. It’s a lot of hard work that you are solely responsible for but also if things go wrong, you can’t fix them all. It does mean however, that everything is done right, to your standards and the feeling you get knowing that your event was a success is so much different. The amount of work you out in, I feel is directly correlated with the pride you get out.
I can totally relate to you Jennifer, it is not easy at all. I remember planning senior prom by myself and feeling the stress, and burden of making sure everything was organized and that it went smoothly. Especially when it's an important event. It's a big struggle to try to make everyone happy even though that isn't always possible. It's great to be in charge and plan but at the same time if things go wrong it is on your shoulders so is definitely a lot of pressure that you feel. I definitely agree that its worth the stress and reward of your work at the end.
DeleteFor me, it is a constant struggle for leadership among my friends. We are all a little hard-headed and determined that we are the one who is right. Don’t get me wrong, I am a very loud outspoken person, but I hate nothing more than fighting drama within my friend group. This drama mostly happens when we all take trips somewhere because I feel that we all have imagined what the trip will be like while looking forward to it. By the time we arrive at our destination, we have planned way too much then we could ever accomplish within the time we have.
ReplyDeleteThe constant bickering amongst my friends really stresses me out and to it almost seems that it is not worth it anymore. I usually become the quiet one and just them figure it out. So most of the time, I don’t add much input and just go with the flow. However, on this one trip to Washington D.C. I was determined to go to the wax museum so I spoke and I think that surprised them a little and since I never have anything that I “have to do.” Everyone was just like “of course we can go. “ As I became more outspoken amongst my friends the scheduling started to get even more congested then it has ever been.
So, being problem solver of the group and I started making voting charts; where everyone wrote down their top 5 things to do for each day. The chart worked out great because we found out that we all had the same ideas of what we wanted to do over the vacation, just not the same timing schedule. It fixed a lot of problem to this day, even though we can never decide on a restaurant…A simple “driver decides” rule works most of the time.
This is an interesting one; of course leaders tend to emerge out of a sizable group but to have a leader among friends, who must make decisions is strange to me. It just sounds weird but with the situation of traveling, there needs to be some sense of order that way places can be seen and time can be spent well instead of arguing. The voting charts is a simple way of accomplishing such a goal and it seemed to work out. Just a little communication, that's all you need.
DeleteA time when I found it to be a struggle to be a leader was when I was Editor-In-Chief of my high schools yearbook. I was forced to constantly pick up the slack of others while also doing my huge share of the work. It was very hard because a lot of my good friends were on the staff and it was hard to "put them in their place" when they weren't doing their job correctly. I found that I really had to step up to be a leader in order for us to accomplish our goals that we set in the beginning of the year. Overtime I found myself being very firm with friends and I could tell they were not happy with my change in attitude but sometimes in order to get what you want the most you have to do what you want the least.
ReplyDeleteI overcame my struggle by telling myself that in the classroom my peers are my staff members and in those hours working on the yearbook I was not their equal. I was in charge and it was time I started acting that way and not letting everyone walk all over me.
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DeleteI think you handled this particular situation very well. It can be tough to be authoritative when it comes to friends but as you said you just have to separate work and personal friendships. Additionally, constructive criticism can be very helpful. By doing this you get your point across,and can give suggestions and recommendations to others without critiquing them in a manner that they may not respond well to or may take the wrong way.
DeleteA time when it was hard to be a leader that quickly comes to mind was when I was playing on the school soccer team in high school. Freshman year our JV team was full of jokers and typical immature freshman. There were always lots of jokes and laughs at practice and lots of time wasted messing around. I have always been serious when it comes to playing sports, especially soccer, so I can tell you I was certainly not the worst culprit but I wasn't perfect either, often laughing at others' jokes and shenanigans. This was accepted because our JV coach was a younger more laid-back guy but the older seasoned varsity coach was not a fan and looked down on the immature behavior.
ReplyDeleteIt was at times difficult to focus entirely on practicing and discourage teammates from messing around but it was imperative that practice be effective and disciplined. I quickly buckled down and did my best to be a stern leader amongst my teammates and encouraged the same from them. I worked hard and avoided messing around for the majority of the season. Shortly after mid-season my discipline and example was recognized by the head varsity coach and I was moved up to the varsity team.
This is an example of a situation when it can be hard to be focused and show leadership. I have had similar experiences in high school and college when working with friends on academic assignments. It can be difficult at times to work hard and be a leader amongst friends instead of having a lot of fun but I have realized that its important to get done what needs to be done. Having fun is important but it has to be kept in check so that work gets done as well.
As a leader, sometimes you must make the tough decisions where the decision will benefit the group as a whole but might sacrifice a smaller subgroup within the whole. As a competative travel softball coach, I had to place my girls in positions that would put our team in the best position of winning as well as giving the girls an equal amount of experience on the field. In tournaments, if going against a known difficult competitor, I would put girls in their best positions. Many of the girls knew who would give us the best chance of winning the game but some of them disagreed with my decisions. Parents were the main issue when it came to playing time and the positions the players were placed in. Parents have their own opinions of their children and forget that they are usually not present for practice, where the girls work hard to improve their skills and earn the positions they desire. Once in a while, it is necessary to put your foot down and make an executive decision in order to keep the best interest of the team at heart. It is difficult to work and concentrate on the many components of being a coach when those critizing you are sitting next to you and yelling in your ear.
ReplyDeleteI overcame this adversity by asking other coaches to ask the parents to leave and if they refused, the umpires would kick them out of the tournament. This, although a temporary fix, was usually enough to make the parents realize they should not have yelled and complained. After they calm down, they would apologize and we would have a discussion about what they could do to help their child improve her game. Being a coach is a unique leadership experience; learning to deal with parents, players, fans, referees/umpires, and balancing finances, equipment, and travelling plans.
As leaders, there always tends to be insurmountable amounts of pressure on us, regardless how big or small our responsibilities are. In my senior year of high school, I was named the captain of my dance competition squad. I was given the responsibility to create dance pieces, run rehearsals and make sure everyone was sane on competition days. The age group of the dancers went from eight to eighteen years old. It was a lot to handle. Different types of personalities, different levels of commitment, the list was endless. I loved all of these girls like my sisters, so it made some decisions extremely difficult.
ReplyDeleteThere was one case that I really struggled with. We were at a national dance competition and were on our last dance number that included almost thirty five dancers, props, lights, etc. One of the girls dancing, who was one of my best friends, hadn’t been to practice the last week. She was all set to go on stage and perform, but because she hadn’t been there I had redone the spacing for the piece and took her out of the formations in the dance. I had to toughen up and tell her she was no longer in the piece for this competition because she had not come to practice. It was really hard, because I knew how much performing meant to her because we were so close. But as a leader, I had to do what was right for the team. I couldn’t budge because my best friend’s feelings were hurt. We would have to reorganize the formations, transitions, props, and sequences just to accommodate her. I had to think about the other thirty four girls before a close friend. That was a really big struggle in my leadership past.
There have been a multiple times where I have struggled to be a leader, but one time in particular sticks out in my mind. When I was in high school, I spent a lot of time working back stage on theater and dance shows for my school. Throughout the time I spent in the theatre, I moved up the ranks to become a prominent part of the technical crew for the theatre department. During a show late in my senior year, I was expecting a major role in the show, the role of technical director. What that means is anything in the tech department is my job, I can obviously delegate roles, but for the most part, if anything goes wrong it would be my head. As the rehearsals for the show began, the supervising teacher informed me I was going to be answering to another classmate who would be technical director. Normally, I would be fine with this, but in this case, it was my senior year, I had earned the position and the person who was given the role had no experience whatsoever. As much as I wanted to protest, I had to keep my mouth shut and just go along with it. When it came down to the night of the show, the director was not ready. I knew what I was doing and was having an internal struggle of whether I should step up and just do things myself or sit back and let the cards fall into place.
ReplyDeleteFor the good of the show and to ensure that the show ran smoothly from the audience, I took the bull by the horns, so to speak, and ran the show the best I could. Although the other student (the real technical director) got most of the recognition, I was willing to do the extra work to make sure the show was a success. I lead my team through the show and turned a deplorable production into a worthwhile show that I was proud to present to the audience.
AS a young adult and leader, we all go through challenges that test us to see how strong we are. I remember in High School, When I was a part of Teen Trendsetters and a mentor and we all had to coordinate to help with the kids learning, coming up with different aspects to get the kids attention. And I remember some of the mentors not agreeing with my viewpoints and it was a very tough time to try to come together because they wanted things a certain way and I as well. The way we overcame this though is by sitting down, communicating with one another and finding a common median. As Leaders I feel that that is of Importance. You have to compromise sometimes even when You don't want to. At the end of the day, It's about the kids, not us. Just have to stay focus and make sure the common goal is taken care of. The program was helping children with FCAT.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely showed your leadership skills when you sat down with the other mentors and communicated with them. Taking the time to express your views and listen to what others have to say is an important part of being a leader. I agree that sometimes it comes down to compromising, but it is worth if the result allow everyone to realize the common goal and allow everyone to work together efficiently.
DeleteI agree that sitting down and communicating is extremely important being a leader. A lot of people believe that being a leader is in the same boat as being a dictator and that certainly isn't true. Leaders must communicate and open a channel for communication between them and the people they are working with to make things go smoothly.
DeleteMy tale of struggles in leadership come from my position as sound technician during my high school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. During my junior year, I had been working with a close friend of mine to manage the various microphones, songs, and sound effects needed during rehearsals for various productions. I was excited to learn something new and be a part of the team that created such entertaining shows. Rehearsals for Little Shop started much later than they should have. We were in a bit of a rush to make sure everything was coordinated properly. To add stress, my friend informed me that I would have to work sound by myself on opening night because it was her birthday and she had plans that she could not cancel. I was incredibly nervous, losing the support that I had relied upon for weeks. Luckily, I found someone who was assigned to help with stage craft that could take a little bit of time from their duties and offered to be my second in command during the actual performance.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, opening night did not go off without a hitch. There were problems with the equipment as well as a few slip-ups of my own. However, I felt extremely proud to have been able to work with a team so devoted to making it a success. During the show, I had to communicate with individuals in charge of lights and stage while also paying attention to my duties on sound. It was difficult, on occasion, to hear each other to know what was needed, and I had to force myself to be more assertive than I am normally. When the show closed, I was commended for my performance, despite its faults. This experience inspired my involvement in future productions and in other areas such as make up and set the following year.
I was more comfortable with a more knowledgeable friend by my side, but I will always be proud that I was able to step up and perform in this unexpected position of leadership. It taught me that I am capable of much more than I give myself credit for.
I had similar events happen during my time as tech director at my high school. I understand the high stress and high responsibility of the opening night and how much hard work really goes into those shows. I am glad you were able to overcome the problems and put on a great show. Every show has its little faults, but the audience usually hardly notices a thing, so normally we are more critical of our actions than we should be. I agree it is helpful to have someone knowledgeable at your side in the event something goes wrong, but you were also confident in yourself and you were able to complete your task and put on a successful show. Unfortunately when I graduated high school and moved on to college, I lost the chance of working in the theatre, but I hope that you are able to keep it up, as it is a very interesting and challenging interest.
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ReplyDeleteI am currently a part of a student-run group project called Concert for Connecticut. My friends and I, the founders of this project, decided that we should do something to help the families that were affected by the New Town shootings. We came up with the unanimous idea that we should give back to the community by organizing a large prism concert where local musicians, regardless of age, come and perform. The leadership roles are divided by music coordinator, technical coordinator, fundraising coordinator, and volunteer coordinator. Being the music coordinator for the benefit concert is my leadership role and my responsibilities includes organizing the music selection for the collective band, have the list of songs that each perform will play, compose the music for the surprise flash mob that we are planning to perform.
ReplyDeleteThe project started out strong, however, over time the team began to fall apart. Two particular members of our group, the fundraiser and volunteer coordinators, gradually stopped pulling their own wait and did not attend the mandatory meetings. In addition, we had miscommunication within the group and our friendships started to fall apart; things were not looking well for anyone. Due to the lack of collaboration, he had to push the concert back a few months. The concert was originally on January 19th, but we were not ready because nothing in the volunteer and fundraiser department were done. This is where my leadership skills kicked into gear.
I arranged a meeting where I allowed the volunteer and fundraiser to choose the date and time they will like to meet with the rest of the board. I did this so there will not be any excuse to miss the meeting. When we gathered together I allowed each person to explain all the problems that they have been facing and express their feelings of the whole situation. After everything has been put on the table and everyone relaxed, I asked where everyone was with their portion of the project. It turns out that the we have not moved forward with the project since we have started and we clearly needed new people. In addition, we figured out that the reason why the volunteer and the fundraiser coordinators were not doing their portion of the project was because they were failing their classes. I then came up with the conclusion that in order to benefit the project and the members, they will be taken off the board temporarily so that we can get people who we can count on and they can focus on their school work. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea and everyone left on good terms.
In conclusion, at the present day we have found new members to help us push the project forward, which we have, and the previous volunteer and fundraiser coordinators are successfully raising their grades. I am happy to announce that we will allow them to be back on the board in the very near future. I feel that I demonstrated my leadership well in this struggle and I’m grateful that I was able to find a way that would benefit everyone.
One of the struggles that come to mind include my time coaching 7th grade flag football. I was a freshman in high school and was the head coach for my brother's class. When we started off (from that first practice), I knew it would be difficult gaining the respect of my players. I had known most of them since they were in kindergarten and I think they expected it to all be a joke. Of course, it was all fun and games, but I wanted to win and they did too. From practice to practice and game to game, I began to develop my personal "style" of leadership. I loved being a part of the team and took pride in being a leader the players could look up to. We were viewed as underdogs and often times, lacked any sort of respect -- none was given. It was up to us. Now besides the struggle of gaining the trust of the players which simply took time and positive/hilarious interaction, the biggest struggle for me was working with opposing coaches. They viewed me for what I was, a high school freshman. We fought in each game. Battling through close games, we took other teams by surprise with our humor and our very human nature. When we got frustrated, we showed it. I would sit on the ground in tough times and players would play harder to prove the "fans" wrong. We shared an intrinsic characteristic to fight. There was one coach in particular who refused to shake my hand. He laughed at our team and showed my leadership no respect. It had to be earned. We would go on to lose all games except one. The losses were all determined by fewer than one touchdown -- simply, one or two points. I had to carry my brother off the field while another coach congratulated a player for injuring him. Some coaches would defend me while some ignored. We just had to hustle and earn their respect. The particular coach never shook my hand, not once. But his assistant did; the last game of the season, said he appreciated and respected by attitude and persistence. Whatever his purpose was, I felt proud. Parents thanked me for my efforts and said they really loved the nature of our team. We were young and played with fire. It was, really, my first leadership role and I'll always appreciate the opportunity to give back to the school that had given me so much. Love and respect to Good Shepherd Catholic School. I hope to get back and coach again. Nothing greater.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you felt so strongly and seriously about your leadership position right from the start, even though your players may have not. Even though that one particular coach would not stand to appreciate your efforts or even acknowledge your presence after the games, the people who did matter (fans, parents, your players) were proud of what you did, and as a leader that is one of the greatest accomplishments.
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ReplyDeleteAround the time of my sister's death I was the leader of my school's modeling team, the co-captain of the Cheerleading team, and in Student Council, or SGA. It was really hard for me to focus on upcoming shows, meetings, and, competitions with everything that went on but I couldn't let anyone down so I fought through the tears. Being a leader at that moment meant so much to me. I figured a great leader was someone who could place their feelings aside to make sure that everyone else was taken care of and that's what I did.
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