A Lesson In Leadership

While doing this project I learned so much on how to be an effective leader. The first year that I lead the Dance Team, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know how to be a leader. I tried to take on a job that I thought would be a lot easier then it turned out to be. I found out that being a leader isn't someone who just tells people what to do. A leader has to lead by example. You can't make people do things that you wouldn't be willing to do. Being a leader is about serving the people that you lead. A leader can't be selfish. Yes, I had a goal when I started this project. I knew where I wanted the team to end up. If I had made it all about myself, the team would not be where it is today. As a leader you have to understand that without the people you are leading you have nothing. Without my dancers dancing, I didn’t have a team. I needed them. I’ve made many mistakes as a leader of my team. Without making those mistakes, I wouldn’t have been able to learn from them. Learning from my mistakes has been the most powerful tool for me.  Knowing that I make plenty of mistakes, I have to understand that my dancers will make mistakes too. Being the coach of this team, I got to take credit when we performed really well, but I also was responsible for when things didn't go right.  You don’t get to only take the victories. I still have much to learn, but this was a great experience for me to learn what I have about being a leader.