This past weekend I spent some time out in Kananaskis sleeping in a bunk bed surrounded by 60 other business students each also out of their comfort zone. The experience was definitely unique. I didn’t know what to expect but I did recognize the value in developing soft business skills to become a better team member, which drew me to participate. Little did I know that I was a leader and I would need to set goals upon my return home in order to realize my leadership potential.
I was reminded of many important ideas…
- Not everyone follows the same path or contributes in the same way
- First a leader must lead themselves
- Leadership takes many forms beyond directive leadership
I thought that I would be learning about leadership qualities and leaders that I should aspire to become. Instead I spent a lot of time this past weekend learning about myself. Learning about what I value, how I work with a team, how I can enhance the leadership qualities I already posses. As a leader I bring value through knowledge, rational thinking, forward thinking/ planning, organization and inclusion of others. I realized that these traits may tempt me to work with people who possess the same skills that I possess. In reality I would be best to work with a team of other individuals who have skills different than the skills that I have. The creative type might get a headache working with someone who likes to work with checklists but the best final project would come from the collaboration of both of these qualities.
Besides all of the things I learned about myself my favourite part of the weekend was the communication norms that we had established as a group at the beginning of the weekend. The group respected each others ideas, welcomed meaningful conversations and strived to work together. We did not have preconceived ideas about each other and valued the unique contribution that each person was able to bring to the table.
I left leadership challenge weekend more well prepared to be a good team member moving forward and inspired to develop my leadership potential.
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