What I've Learned About Being a Leader

Here are some tips that I’ve learned about being a leader that I would like to share with you. Sometimes being a leader is more than meets the eye. It takes skill and patience to be a leader when working in a group. You have to learn to listen to people and be able to listen to opinions that may differ from your own. An important characteristic of being a leader is just to be able to humble yourself to the idea that you may not always be right or have the most practical and/or appropriate solution to a problem. A true leader offers his/her ideas in addition to those ideas of others and treats each idea equally, careful not to impose their idea onto others. A leader should be able to work his or her way up to gain the respect and trust that is needed from his/her peers. This is when I experience true leadership.

Each person has their own leadership style and timing. This past weekend, I went for an intensive ballroom dancing class and we talked a lot about leading and following and the respective roles. These ideas can be used for leadership training as well. Sometimes when you are leading people, you have to not only be able to lead, but also be able to follow the lead of others. Although sometimes it can be difficult for a leader to follow the lead of others, this is another instance where the leader must humble themselves and allow someone else to take the lead. Sometimes in order to be a great leader, you have to be able to follow someone else’s leadership to achieve the best solution. This applies as much to leading groups of people as it does to ballroom dancing.

One of my favorite quotes by George van Valkenburg states: “Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching.” Many times to be a great leader, you have to do things when no one is looking. Doing this sets the standard for everybody else who is watching. It takes time and practice to work at the skill. It also takes patience hard work and a bit of a funny bone to laugh off the silly things. I think it is important to have a good sense of humor when working with other people. But just because you have a sense of humor doesn’t mean that you don’t take things seriously. A true leader is able to differentiate the difference between what is serious and what is funny. Humor helps to keep things in perspective, doesn’t allow you to get too uptight and allows you to really focus on what is the real objective. During the time of your leadership, you’ll gain not only valuable lessons that will help you in future positions, but also friendships and relationships that you will want to keep long term.

No one said that being a leader would be easy, but just remember it takes time, patience and trust to develop good relationships with those who you are working with. I hope you enjoy this blog and I am looking forward to seeing you at the leadership conference in February!

- Isabel Iparraguirre, Manhattanville College Leadership Conference Committee