Leadership

The readings were very informational to me. But the one that was very powerful and held an interest to me was the excerpt named Loa-Tzu. Reading that piece shared a connection with me that brought back memories from my senior year in High school. I was team captain on my softball team and I felt the burden to make sure that the team was going down the right path in a positive direction. In special part when he compared a leader to water as “water cleanses and refreshes all creatures without distinction and without judgment”. I could relate to that because as a team leader/ captain, you are not to judge anyone that you are helping because no one is perfect and you are to set an example also not only for that person but your peers around also. And by being a team captain I stood in the role to not laugh at any player if they made a mistake on the field, because I am there to guide and help motivate that person into improving on their mistakes. Laughing only sets a bad example and encourages everyone else one the team to do the same also, which not only is healthy mentally but it could also negatively destroy the physically because certain people may not put in much effort on the field anymore because they have their teammates and captain laughing them. More on with this same excerpt, I could agree with the statement he used discussing being an unbiased leader. He quoted “can you mediate emotional issues without taking sides or picking favorites”. I can relate to this because being the oldest child out of 3 girls, I have to be the one to stop and negotiate arguments between my sisters. When things go wrong I cannot pick the one sister who I am getting along with currently and choose her side over the other sister who I just got mad at for not picking up dirty socks. I have look at both sides to the story as to why they are arguing and not get caught up in the emotional frenzy that just occurred, because I have to be biased and be honest as to who side I pick.  Also this can relate back to being captain o the softball team because when girl’s get into an argument I cannot pick sides to the person I like the most. Being a team captain you have to be fair and make sure that everyone is treated equally. I have to be respectful because I am not aware to how sensitive that person is, so by being calm and understanding I could solve those issues out. As the author mentioned “I can do all these things by remaining unbiased, clear, and down to earth”.  By experience I know being a leader it could be difficult at times, by being an older sister and team captain, but that is when you put your ego aside and think of others because even when you do a lot, and say a lot, you have aspiring leaders who want to be just like you, so you have to make sure that you are doing the right positive thing because you setting an example for that person and the next.