Leadership Philosophy
Leadership is a journey - a process of continual self-development. Leadership is compassion and grace and courage and a willingness to persevere even in the face of great obstacles because one believes in themselves and because one believes in a greater cause than themselves. Leadership is learning how to use the platforms and opportunities one is given to empower and support others who may not yet have the same agency to step into their own leadership potential, and leadership is humbly using one’s skills to raise others up to be leaders too.
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At the core of my leadership philosophy is the belief that leadership is about partnering with others to push them towards achieving their full potential. While I used to think that someone had to be assertive, energetic, outgoing, and obviously confident to be considered a “good” leader, I’ve come to realize that people like myself, with quieter voices and more observant natures, have just as important of an impact and deserve just as much respect because compassion and grace are just as powerful forces in their own rights.
One of the biggest changes in my idea of leadership from when I started college to now is that leadership is not changing yourself to fit what others expect of you in a leadership position but is instead about building on your own strengths in order to bring your unique perspective and skillset to the task at hand.
Many of the leaders I had seen throughout my own life before coming to UW were people who were naturally bubbly, liked being the center of attention, volunteered for everything first, and were unafraid to voice their thoughts. Particularly when I first became an OL, I did my best to show these attributes too, believing that it would help me connect better with students and be seen as more credible. I tried to be excitable, talk frequently, and jump on tasks first. But it didn’t feel genuine to the way I envisioned myself as a leader. I saw a couple other teammates who were quieter and calmer though and began to notice how their qualities gave them different strengths than the more outgoing team members instead of making them "worse" leaders like I had previously believed such attributes would do. When I decided to try to be truer to my own qualities, I noticed that people began to look to me more for insight and responsibility and I felt more confident in myself. This experience particularly transformed my understanding of leadership because it helped me realize that to me, true leaders understand their own strengths instead of trying to change themselves to embody what they think their strengths should be, and are able to discern when they are needed to step up and direct and when to step back and empower others.
The other aspect of leadership that changed over time for me is that leadership is not about who has the most power, but instead is about what one does with the agency and power they have in the spaces they are in, whether they are being watched by others or not. In high school I began to notice that many people who were "Leaders" by title around me or in the news would act one way when the attention was on them but would act with much less grace and integrity when they were in other spaces. After my own experiences, I now believe that leadership should be a lifestyle – leading by example when no one is watching and staying true to one’s principles in each interaction regardless of a title or position.
Ultimately, I believe that true leaders dedicate their lives to walking alongside others – alongside them, not above them – and are able to both be with people or a team in the moment and see where they are at, but are also able to look forward and push these teams or individuals into growth and agency in their strengths and passions. Leadership is about forwarding justice, giving others the opportunity to make choices, and helping others discover their own leadership abilities too.
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