The Beginning

Leadership has always been a topic that peaked my interest. I’ve come into contact with great leaders and have encountered poor leadership based upon people who incorrectly assumed the role of a leader. I find it interesting because you can’t always quantify the characteristics that differentiate good leaders from bad leaders. Instead, I feel that leadership is a matter of authenticity and self-awareness. We cannot effectively lead others until we can make informed decisions built upon the foundation of our experiences. “What the heck does that mean?” you may ask. Everybody has a different leadership style and these styles are a byproduct of our trials and tribulations that give us an understanding of our place in the world.

As an undergrad, I felt like I had a decent handle of what my strengths and weaknesses were as a leader. This confidence came from a continual line of questioning that asked me to look at myself and identify these traits on a regular basis. Since graduating, I’ve endured transformative periods of time but failed to keep asking those same questions. Most people would say that five years is not a long time and that I could not have possibly changed that much in such a short period of time. While this may or may not be the case, I recognize that at some point I stopped asking myself these introspective questions. I would say that I have a more realistic and sobering view of the world since graduating and don’t see the world with the same vibrancy as I used to. My experiences in corporate America, the Peace Corps, and USA Hockey have granted me the opportunity to identify my life goals. Through these next two years, I hope to identify my potential as a leader and find the best way to contribute to society.