End-of-Year Final Reflection
My definition of a leader has drastically changed since I have been a student at Agnes Scott. College. My definition of a leader was someone who has followers and impacts change. After attending “Legacy” this semester, a leader has followers, impacts change, influence, and possess a diverse set of leadership skills. Any person can be a leader, but a true leader possesses traits such as good communication, confidence, diversity, intelligence, responsibility, trustworthiness, adaptable, respectful, resilient, and passion.
I enjoyed my LDR class very much. In today’s media, I do not think women of color are truly represented for their talents, achievements, and influence on the community. The women I learned about this semester were natural leaders, I someday hope to aspire to become. Women such as, Emelda West, Winona LaDuke, Hazel Johnson, Susan Almanza, and Diane Dillion, and Berneta Haynes all posses traits that enable them to lead and influence those around them. Although the term “leadership” was not explicitly used in this course, the women I learned about all have similar attributes that makes it impossible to ignore they were leaders. These women have lead an example for what a leader looks like. Most of the women I learned about have similar backgrounds as me. This similarity gives me confidence in expressing my new definition of a leader.
I now have confidence in myself to follow and stay true to my capacity to lead. My definition of a leader was tested in the team/group projects. Although I was very proud of our final product, I am more thankful for the lesson I learned. I worked with girls who had different personalities and skills than I did. A leader never knows who they have to work with or who they might have to lead. They must be adaptable in whatever environment they are thrown into. I believe I accomplished this during my group meetings. I have an ambivert personality. I was able to relate to both introverts and extroverts, which happen to be the case in my group.
I believe I am a leader ready to change the world. My leadership skills have blossomed and are continuing to grow every day. The “About Me” project was one of my favorite assignments. I was able to explore, question, and appreciate my identity. According to “StrengthQuest”, my five themes are Input, Connectedness, Empathy, Positivity, and Individualization. I believe all of these themes are valuable for a leader. A leader must be able to relate to their audience if they want them to follow them. A leader must also be able to sympathize with their followers. I think that if this does not happen, the leader would be labeled as cold-hearted and quickly lose followers. I am proud to be labeled as positive. All leaders should be positive, because they will have failures. A true leader is resilient and persistent in accomplishing their goals. By being positive and optimistic, a leader can turn their failure into a lesson or their test into a testimony.
There are leaders all around us. Leaders come in different shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. I have learned that leaders are not just the people who are in the spotlight, but leaders are behind the curtains as well. We are all connected, and we all balance off of each other. A leader has the capacity to lead if they can influence just one person.
