Leadership

Leaders are unfortunately a scarce resource in this world. I think far too many people are simply content with just going along with things without thinking for themselves. Would I consider myself a leader? In some ways, yes. For instance, I've always been very comfortable with going against the crowd. People thinking differently of me, or less of me for doing this has never really mattered to me and that, in my opinion, is a key feature of a leader. It's never been a huge priority of mine to be popular, and leaders often times have to bear the weight of being disliked for making less than ideal decisions. Whenever I've been in situations where an unpopular decision was necessary, I've rarely hesitated. Another way that I might be like a leader is that I've never been afraid to be the first one to volunteer to jump into unfamiliar territory. I just don't get a lot of nerves when presented with something I'm not used to and can quickly adapt to situations where I might be out of my element. However, there are also some ways in which I'm not a leader, at least the way I see it. Most prominently is the fact that if I discern that a situation that's not going my way can't be salvaged, I'll quickly give up and move on to something more achievable. I think that sometimes my perception of unwinnable situations holds me back and blinds me to the idea of looking at things from a different angle in order to achieve what I may have thought was a dead end. In my opinion, a leader is someone who doesn't give up, and I often do. Another way in which I'm not a leader is that I'm not particularly skilled at winning people over to my way of thinking, or at least I struggle with putting up the necessary effort in order to do so. So, in summary, in some ways I'm a leader, and in some ways I'm not, but I believe that there are instances that require leaders, and there are instances that require teamwork, and being able to discern between the two is absolutely crucial. Leadership is key to accomplish many tasks in life, and I believe that whether we think so or not, we all have the capacity to step up and be leaders. It's all a matter of building up the courage to step up and take charge.