Leadership is when one takes on the responsibilities, and conscious mind, to guide and promote peace and stability over a community. Being a good leader means respecting the values and individual perspectives everyone has.
Being a good leader requires practice and patience. It is much more than knowing the solution to every problem a community may have. Not knowing everything is human and people should not expect their leader or leaders to be prominent in knowing what to do. This is why a good leader would take criticism as a way of improving and constructing a new plan. Understanding the phrase “I don’t know,” is perfectly fine to admit, and shows that you have a realistic and confident attitude when you do know something. As long as you’re open to suggestions and willing to re-adjust your perspective, solutions may come around a lot sooner with the help from multiple minds over one. A leader should be expected to process situations with equanimity and prevention of fall even when under immense pressure and a good leader must have care rather than a neglective attitude to enable this reciprocal foundation of empathy. If for any reason these expectations can’t be reached, perhaps you’re not taking enough time to get engaged with the community or haven’t had enough practice.
Good leadership looks like my grandfather. Sustained organization of the people, the conflicts, and the many circumstances he experienced throughout time. He always led the people with these traits and achieved transparency and respect. The people deserved honesty and tranquility over fear and he gave it to them. An example of this is when he expressed his feelings towards Indigenous children being forced into residential schools and how he, as a Caucasian man, knew his relationship with god was of his own beliefs and to take away the rights of other people was unacceptable. He acknowledged the cultures suffering and with high implementation released my grandmother; an Indigenous woman from a residential school. He was a teacher himself and despite that knew his empathy was stronger than his desire to abide by the law. This doesn’t mean he was born a leader. My grandfather took pride in being right and having people look up to him. He had his moments of being neglectful and disorganized at a very young age and even throughout his adulthood, which led him to become a very mature person throughout his experiences. He takes no pride in his wrongdoings, however, he knows they helped him become the person who he is today that everyone admires.
Leadership is growing as your own person and still having that desire to learn and improve from all situations you may encounter. Allow yourself to be open minded and respect will be instinctual. Everything after that is bound to resolve in peace and stability. Your responsibilities are to rethink, reflect and expect change if what you're doing is immoral.
Hummingbird is the nickname of a student at R.D. Parker Collegiate currently finishing Grade 10. They aspire to create change in the system through social work or leading the country.
