LEADERSHIP REFLECTION #2 By: Katlin Parsons

EXPERIENCE 1  Being on the band leadership team, a lot of people came up to me to ask for help with music, since I was the music technician. One certain day, Cheyenne, my flute freshman, came up to me in tears just crying, worried that she will not make the varsity marching team because she can’t play a certain part of the music. After calming her down, we practiced for about an hour and she had it down perfect.

WHAT DID I LEARN?  Helping someone, leading them to success, and stopping the tears of worry really made me realize how much that one experience made me grow leadership wise.  Cheyenne would be considered an in-group member. Her passion to work hard and get it right, really made me want to give her all the help in the world.  “ Subordinates do certain activities that go beyond their formal job descriptions, and the leader, in turn, do more for these subordinates” (Northhouse 163).  Does this mean that people who don’t do what they are supposed to do, get little to no support?

EXPERIENCE #2  A couple minutes before my Uncle passed away, he wanted to talk to me and only me. He looked up at me, and said, “Take care of your cousin. She is about to lose her father, and you have been through what she’s about to go through. Watch her, care for her, make sure she is doing right, and always, I mean always be there when she needs you. Promise me.” I made that promise to him that day, and I have tried my hardest to fulfill my word to him. I work hard everyday to make sure my cousin is okay.

WHAT I LEARNED  By working my hardest to fulfill this promise I made to my Uncle, I have grown when it comes to being, “pleasant, trusting, cooperative, and agreeable” (Northhouse 167).  All of these go hand in hand in making a hard promise, and then striving your best to not break that promise.  Is it still being a good leader if you make a promise you just can’t keep? Or should that promise have never been made in the first place?

THE END  Being a leader sometimes isn’t about just leading people. It’s about being able to build on traits to fulfill your leadership duties.  Helping one person at a time is also leadership. It doesn’t have to just be a big group. Sometimes the best leadership you do, is one-on- one.