Finding Your Path in Life

Leadership is a skill that some people are born with, while others develop it. It often takes training, practice, and repetition for a person to feel comfortable within a leadership role, and the learning process never ends. There is always room for growth and development as a leader. In fact, one of the defining characteristics of a leader is that they are lifelong learners. They strive to continuously improve themselves, and they encourage others to do the same.

Leadership development begins from the time a person starts interacting with other people outside of their family. Have you ever watched a 5-year-old explain the rules of a complicated game to their friends? They can go into such detail about something they made up 2 minutes ago, and they somehow get other people to join in. They assign roles, and then they play. They take on a leadership role because it’s fun and because they had a vision that they needed others to contribute to in order to achieve a positive outcome.

When it comes time to work on group projects in school, we see people who lead the discussion and encourage everyone’s participation. This is another example of someone who is naturally inclined toward a leadership role. They are not afraid to speak up, but they also want others to join in. Leadership development is sometimes a product of a person’s circumstances. Sometimes this is because they feel the need to guide others, other times they step up because no one else will. No matter the reason for the development, we need leaders in the world.

That being said, not everyone is a leader, and that should not be seen as a bad thing. If everyone was a leader, then no one would stand apart. Leadership is about one life influencing another. There is a positive relationship between those that lead and those that follow because the leader serves as a guide to others. They benefit the people that they influence, and those people teach them how to adapt and improve as a leader as well.

Leadership is an intentional act. It may come naturally to some people, but they still have to choose what they are going to do about it. Allowing ourselves to be influenced by others is also an intentional act, and sometimes the choice is clear, but other times we must leave our comfort zone to listen to the guidance of others.

Whether we are leaders or someone who listens to other leaders, we play an important part in the community and in the world. We all contribute in our own way, and we can all find success in our individual roles. I encourage you to be accepting of whichever role you play and continue to develop yourself within that role. The path you follow is your choice to make.

-Meghan Slaughter