Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

Appendices

Leadership at Havergal BTI , May 2017 By Tlna Tlan

April 13th was a big day in Havergal College’s 2016-2017 school year. Following an email from the Teacher Advisors, voting for next year’s school leadership roles began. The House rooms fell silent-everyone was thinking carefully and trying to figure out the best candidates to lead the Havergal community. As a crucial part of school democracy, student elections are taken very ·seriously by all the active and engaged “citizens” of Havergal College. However, before we can make a responsible democratic decision, it is necessary to build a deeper understanding of what a leader is. First, let’s look at students’ views on leadership. In the student leadership application, the question, “What does effective student leadership look like?” sheds light on students’ interpretations of leadership. Some features of leadership, such as open-mindedness, cooperativeness, responsibility, passion, and the ability to unite people, show up frequently in the answers. One of the most important characteristics of a leader is to be open-minded and listen to your people. The central principle of democracy is to follow the people’s will. To achieve that, a leader must know what people desire or need. Understood this way, it becomes necessary for a leader to actively listen to others’ opinions and make changes accordingly. Also, a leader should carefully observe people’s attitudes so that they are able to understand others’ needs; even if nobody explicitly speaks them aloud. However, listening to others is just the first step in being a good leader. “A good leader looks to her community for guidance but does not rely on these connections to make a final decision,” one candidate said in her application. “She should be able to balance the wants and needs of many people with different priorities and perspectives.” Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, was an influential human rights activist. He devoted his whole life to fighting for equal rights for every human being. While campaigning, he tried to listen to different opinions and send important messages to various groups of people, making him a great leader in history.

Besides the willingness to listen to different opinions, it is also crucial for a leader to get things done. A good leader not only has the hope of making a change but also puts lots of effort into making the change. He or she is responsible for his or her job and always fulfills the role. For example, Angela Merkel, the leader of the European Union for over 10 years, is praised for her responsibility and ability to get things done. By keeping the EU together, managing Europe’s debt crisis, and helping Greece recover, Merkel shows great responsibility in fulfilling her role and puts lots of effort into making things better. Most importantly, leaders bring out the best in others. The talents and intelligence of a leader are of course important, but what makes the best leader is his or her ability to enable others to achieve their best. The best leader knows teammates’ strengths and weaknesses very well, and also how to motivate them. He or she is able to make everyone else feel confident in themselves through different means and helps others achieve their best. “Effective student leaders engage others and motivate them through leading by example, and showing enthusiasm, passion, and having a positive attitude. As well, they aren’t afraid to be an advocate for others, and recognize that different people need different kinds of support,” one candidate wrote in her application. ‘This idea of bringing out the best in others can also be seen through lots of famous leaders in history. For instance, Liu Bei, a Chinese emperor during the Three Kingdoms period, succeeded in founding a nation by bringing out the talents of others. Compared to the talented people around him, such as the clever chancellor Zhuge Liang and the brave soldier Zhang Fei, he seemed to be nothing special. However, he was able to motivate his teammates to do their best and make good use of their talents. This was the key to his success. There are lots of important features of leadership, but a single one of them cannot alone make a good leader. Only the combination of these valuable traits leads to the best leadership in a community. Let’s hope that all communities, regardless of scale, can be led by true leaders in the coming year.

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