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Unit 2 Inspiration: Leader Identity Narrative

Maxwell Smith

College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University

OGL 482: Pro-Seminar II

Dr. Hess

18 July 2021
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Introduction

Leading others has been an important theme throughout my life and shaped the person I

am today. I can remember way back to childhood and simply not caring what people thought of

me and doing what I loved to do. I have always followed my passions and had a desire to break

through the walls of societal norms to change people’s perceptions. I enjoy sharing my

experiences with others in order to make their lives just a bit easier if at all possible. The earliest

leading experience I can remember was back in the Boy Scouts as a middle school student. This

was an introduction into a feeling of power and authority I had never experienced before. Later

in life, I was the singer of a rock-and-roll band, assuming yet another leadership role. This was

both a positive and negative experience and taught me so much about myself, my weaknesses,

and areas for improvement. A more recent, successful leadership experience was overcoming the

economic and organizational implications resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This

experience, while challenging, was a valuable lesson in the importance of honest,

communicative, and participative leadership. I feel like all of my other experiences have led to

this moment and will help guide me through as more complex opportunities present themselves

in the future.

The Scouts

The Boy Scouts were a valuable resource for me throughout my leadership journey. Not

only did I have the opportunity to achieve the highest rank of Eagle Scout, but I also learned

essential life lessons in regards to survival, responsibility, and honesty. One of the first leadership

experiences I can remember as a middle school student was looking up to our patrol leaders and

Scoutmaster for guidance and direction. We would often be away from our parents and rely on

their skills and feedback to essentially survive. Once I had the opportunity to be a patrol leader
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myself, I felt an immense amount of pressure and anxiety, yet power and opportunity. I had never

led anything prior to this experience, so to be in charge of other guys who were similar in age,

seemed like I was doing something which stood out to others and could be shared. While this

was a challenging experience, I learned I enjoyed being in a position of power and others looking

to me for direction. The scouts offered me the experience of seeing the world outside of a screen

and the importance of face-to-face interactions - essentially the importance of communication.

After the experience of patrol leader, I went on to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. This

required a community service project, which I had to plan and carry out completely on my own

without the assistance of my parents. For my project, I made “rescue packs” for the homeless

community in Phoenix, AZ which included water, snacks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, sunscreen,

etc, and then distributed them to the Phoenix Rescue Mission. I had the opportunity to plan,

organize, raise money, find volunteers, get donations, delegate jobs, give back to the community,

and earn a sense of accomplishment. This experience, for me personally, was life changing. It

showed me anything is possible with the right attitude, proper team, and support from the

community. If we all have the capability and ability to work together we can accomplish great

things. To this day, I include my Eagle Scout rank on any resume or application because of its

personal and professional value.

The Band

Forming a rock-and-roll band was a learning experience and adventure of a lifetime. In

the midst of figuring out where and what I wanted to do with my professional life, I decided to

pursue a life-long dream of singing in a band. My best friend and I built it from the ground up,

wrote our own material, found other members, recorded an album, and played too many live

shows to count. The feeling of being on stage was exhilarating and rewarding. While the band
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was a lot of “fun and games” as they say, it truly showcased my passion in giving something

back to the world through art, as well as using my voice for something good. At the time of the

band, I was in my early twenties and not taking life seriously. I had dropped out of school a few

times and was definitely not taking care of myself. What could have been something so great

was put under the pressures of angst, conflicting personalities, and lack of communication.

The internal relationships of the band ultimately led to its demise. While there never

really was a conversion to “end the band”, the unspoken nature of its reality was the exact reason

why it was destined to fail in the first place. The lack of communication and honesty between

members of the band put an immense amount of stress on where we were going to take it. What

kind of music did we want to make? Where did we want to take the band in the future? Did

everyone feel the same way about it? There were so many unspoken, unaddressed issues, which

we would sometimes attempt to confront, resulting in arguments, disagreements, and even some

members leaving the band all together. We never really got it right. Regardless of if the music

was audible or not to our audience, we were not able to figure out the internal dynamics of our

team. We essentially failed to work with one another and still to this day have not had the

conversation addressing the status of our band. This experience was one of the most valuable

throughout my leadership journey because it taught me how failure can often result in insightful

guidance for the future.

The Gallery

Art One Gallery, Inc. is a gallery dedicated to representing up-and-coming students and

local artists. I got a job working for the gallery when I was just 14 years old as an intern with

hopes to earn some money for a cell phone. Fresh out of the scouts, I was eager to get started

working and making something of myself. Now, 14 years later, I manage the gallery and run an
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associated non-profit organization which provides financial support to student artists. This

experience has been both rewarding and served as a way to define my goals and a possible future

career path. Managing the gallery has come with its challenges, such as a difference in opinion

and making assumptions about one another on the team. These challenges pushed me to explore

revisiting my college education with an increased focus on leadership and management. I wanted

to learn more effective ways of leading others, coming up with creative solutions to problems,

and communicating in a more mature, healthy way. If it was not for the gallery, who knows if I

ever would have come back to finish my degree or where I would be in my life.

The skills acquired through the Organizational Leadership program enabled an increased

ability to survive the trying times resulting from COVID-19 while in an actual management

position. Almost as soon as the pandemic hit, we felt the negative economic implications, as

many small and local businesses felt. People stopped coming into the store and sales took an

immediate dip. We had to get creative, stay relevant, and find a way to keep our business afloat.

We first applied for government assistance almost as soon as it was available in order to secure

our paychecks and utility expenses. Secondly, we created an interview video series with our

artists detailing their inspirations and connections to the gallery. This effort was strictly

encouraged to reach both new and existing clientele to reassure them of our efforts in continuing

our services supporting the arts. We then continued to bring in as much new inventory as often

and safely as possible, sharing the new items with our clients to stimulate online sales.

The gallery made it through the pandemic and with minimal damage. We found the

ultimate strength within the “Art One World” as I like to call it, is word of mouth. The

connections we make with our clients give value to our mission and help create a story of our

organization’s history and impact. The gallery has been open for 28 years and continues to
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follow its initial objective of supporting the local arts community. Moving into the future, I hope

to continue to find inspiration working for the gallery. Not only have I had the opportunity to

someday take the reins, but I would like to continue to facilitate a safe space for artists and

creativity. I hope to one day make the Art One World even more well-known and share our

capabilities, experiences, and connections with a wider range of motivated young artists.

Conclusion

All in all, I would not change my leadership journey for the world. I was lucky enough to

start working at a young age, took some rightful time for myself and my dreams, to then focus on

what the future holds. Every leadership experience has brought me to where I am today. The Boy

Scouts gave me a solid foundation to build upon, even more so in some ways than traditional

elementary, middle, and high school. I learned valuable life lessons at a young age which

continue to impact myself and those around me. I found my passion for leadership, power, and

control in this stage in my life and it motivated me to do the best I could do within my

capabilities. The next stage of my life involved following my dreams and starting a band. This

was an unexpected leadership opportunity I was not necessarily intending for. As the singer of

the band, I just sort of assumed the role and did not have any idea what I was doing. This type of

blind leadership ultimately led to the demise of the band. While sad, it was most definitely a

valuable learning experience. I learned the importance of full disclosure, honest and effective

communication, and not being afraid to have difficult conversations.

Leadership is a behavior requiring constant evaluation, adjustment, and feedback. The

only way to fix something that is not working, is to understand exactly why it is not working and

make the necessary repairs. The story of my leadership experience is only just beginning. While

I may be a bit behind the curve in graduating at 28, I would not want to take back the time I was
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able to spend really examining the important things in my life. I feel as if the past decade has

truly opened my eyes to what I want to do for the rest of my life and provided a road full of

lessons, experiences, and challenges along the way. While the road will continue to be a bit

rocky and unpredictable into the future, I feel more prepared to lead myself and others

successfully toward common goals.

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Turning Point Interview Graph

The Turning Point Interview Graph shows different high and low points throughout my

leadership journey. I had some pretty high highs and pretty low lows in respect to different time

periods of my life. After a few years of true self-exploration, I feel as if I am finally on the right

life trajectory. I thrived in leadership positions in high school, but needed some time before truly

embracing the college experience. I was promoted to a managerial position in my professional

career during this time which motivated me to continue on my educational journey to further my

leadership and managerial skills. Moving forward, I hope to continue constantly learning new

skills and techniques to master my time here on earth.