Unit 28

To Become a Leader at Your School

Many leaders have certain traits and perform certain tasks that allow them to be respected by other people. If you would like to become a respected leader at your school, then you need to be knowledgeable about what it takes to be a good leader. Keep the following in mind in order to become a successful leader at your school.

Know your strengths. In order to be a good leader, you need to know where your strengths lay. Knowing your character strengths enables you to select environments that allow you to express and develop them. If you have a passion for writing and like working in a team setting, consider becoming a leader on your school's newspaper staff. If you are a people person and want to work for public interests, become involved in your school's student government.

Gain experience. You may have all the traits that a good leader should have, but if you do not have experience in the area in which you would like to become a leader, then you will not be viewed as a knowledgeable leader. If you want to become the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, you'll have to start at the bottom and gain experience. This hold true for practically every leadership position at your school.

Work well with people. Good leaders show excellent interpersonal skills. You should be able to listen to others, communicate well, establish trust, ask questions to stimulate thinking, and develop a sense of teamwork. To demonstrate your interpersonal skills, you should go around your campus and meet new people. Talk with them about school issues and listen to what they have to say. This will help you establish a sense of trust among your peers.

Be optimistic. Leaders must be optimistic. In whatever area of interest you have at your school, always remain optimistic in any situation that comes your way. This will show other individuals that you can be counted on in times of need.

Be willing to take action. Leaders create a vision, set goals that embody that vision, and develop plans that lead to their goals. Don't just talk about what you want to do once you have a leadership position on campus; take action to get it accomplished.

Student leadership is important for schools to have because, within the schools, there are hundreds to thousands of students who come from different backgrounds and have different beliefs and values. Students need leaders who they can identify with and count on. When considering a leadership role, make sure you are equipped to handle whatever comes your way.