There are many different instances of
exemplary leadership: the value driven, nurturing team player, the assertive
and decisive director, the detail-oriented analyzer, and the insightful and
attuned visionary. To the Native Americans, these four leadership styles
embodied the four cardinal directions (Leadership Compass, Bonner Foundation).
To me, however, good leadership draws qualities from each of these precedents
to create one holistic and exceptional leader – one that incorporates the best
of the compass in a cohesive balance. During swim season my sophomore year, a
senior on my team truly concretized this ideal of leadership. Although not the
official captain of the team, this particular swimmer led by example and with a
level of personal experience that gave her unparalleled influence. While being
a visionary who saw the “big picture” of winning meets and getting best times,
she also helped our teammates be more detail-oriented by focusing on more
minute aspects of the sport (stroke technique, starts and turns, etc). While
not afraid to be in the front and take immediate action to organize a team
fundraiser or change the lineup at a competition, she was also apt at stepping
back and considering other voices and opinions in the room. Personally, I
looked up to this senior because she embodied the swimmer (and the leader) I
hoped to become: an outstanding athlete, a courageous and decisive
problem-solver, and an avid advocate of good sportsmanship. We respected her
not because she had a title that bestowed power and authority, but because she
earned our admiration and trust through her actions and personal achievement.
In many instances, I believe my leader faced ethical dilemmas, the largest of
which occurred during a swim meet against our biggest rival. Mid-meet, our team
was down quite a few points, and the opposition did not hesitate to rub it in
our faces, coming into our locker room with discourteous and even derogatory
signs and poking fun at our imminent defeat. Naturally, many of my teammates,
in unshakable rage, were ready to fight, exchanging equally unfriendly words
with the instigators that were quickly escalating the situation into an all out
brawl. However, on the precipice of crisis, my leader remained level-headed and
calm, ethically considering the situation and realizing, intrinsic fight or
flight instincts aside, that two wrongs don’t make a right in good
sportsmanship. By calling a team meeting and reinstating a more level-headed,
judicious environment, my leader helped us power through the remaining events
with our personal dignity intact, ushering us away from the consequences of
impulsiveness and back towards the virtues of ethicality.
Miriam El-Baz
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