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Ashley Hedquist

Introduction to Honors

Prof. Emma Morin

30 November 2022

Leadership Exploration Essay

John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more,

do more and become more, you are a leader.” A leader brings out the best in others. A good

leader sets out to make a difference, to achieve a given goal, by bringing together and motivating

a group of people. Leadership can occur anywhere and at any time through example and

direction. Through motivation and inspiration a leader can bring a positive outcome to a group,

the community, or the world itself. The leadership competency area within the honors program

allows for students to continue to develop necessary skills for their future through different

experiences during their time at Minnesota State University- Mankato.

Within the leadership competency area, students are pushed to create and grow leadership

values in a group environment in order to reach a common goal. Each student has many gifts that

they can bring to the table to achieve a specific task. Thus, students in the honors program are

challenged to find their strengths and values and put them to work through different experiences.

With the idea that people bring different traits into a project or group, leadership skills developed

in the honors leadership competency will help students bring their skills together and work with

others. To add, within the competency, students will be urged to develop skills that will help lead

a group to reach a common, shared goal. Teamwork is extremely important so students must

learn how to use their strengths to benefit their group as well as work with other people’s
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strengths (and weaknesses). There are various categories that a leader may find themselves in.

An authoritarian leader believes that people do not like to work therefore they need to be

controlled and directed. Democratic leaders believe people like to work and are self-motivated.

Thus, democratic leaders minimize their control and may assign responsibility to their partners.

Laissez-faire leaders are prone to back off, giving almost an absence of leadership to reach a

common goal. Overall, the three categories are explored within the leadership competency to

give students an idea of what type of leadership works best in each situation. Therefore, students

will be able to gain and develop skills for different scenarios and also address how their strengths

can help contribute to reaching group goals.

Leadership is a vital behavior in which one guides or influences those surrounding them

in a positive manner. The behavior displays kindness, loyalty, ambition, respect, and

encouragement. Thus, creating an environment in which a group of people can be successful and

prosper. Throughout high school, I have been granted many leadership roles. Being on the cross

country team I was able to lead by example and encouragement. Running has not only given me

an outlet but given me many important life skills to carry into future endeavors. Cross country

has taught me to preserve even when things get hard and start to hurt. Now, I have applied this to

the rest of my life as well. To add, in cross country everyone runs the same races and practices

the same workouts. This has given me the opportunity to encourage and motivate my teammates

around me. Not only can I do so by words of encouragement, but also through my drive as an

athlete. Each workout and race, I strive to do better than the time before; giving 100% each and

every time I put my running shoes on. This reflects on my teammates and gives them the

motivation not to give up but to give their all each day. Outside of running, I still display the

leader-like attributes. I spend my time volunteering at a local elementary school in my hometown

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in the kindergarten and first grade classes. This experience has allowed me to help and motivate

the students as well as show them what a leader looks like. By doing so, the community is

continuing to prosper. When a student achieves a task and I am able to give positive

reinforcement, they reciprocate the reinforcement and spread kindness to their classmates. It has

warmed my heart to know that I can make a difference in the world while still being in school.

Through leadership and volunteerism, I am able to share my same values, morals, and attributes

with others; making the community and society as a whole a better place to live.

Growing and developing skills in regards to leadership are constantly presenting

themselves. During my time at Minnesota State University- Mankato, I would like to attribute

time to grow within the leadership competency of the honors program. This is due to the idea

that leadership is extremely important in school as well as future endeavors. In the near future, I

would like to be a vital, consistent member of campus organizations. Specifically, I would like to

become very involved in a few different campus ministries as my faith is extremely important to

me. To add, I believe the campus ministries will build my leadership skills as it encourages me

to communicate and work with others no matter their background or their beliefs. Campus

ministries allow me to hear different viewpoints and help me continue to build my strengths. As I

believe a lot of my strengths come from my personality which is shaped heavily by my faith. To

add, I would like to lead volunteer activities on and off campus. I think it is extremely important

to give back to the community and those in need. This will also build my leadership development

as it encourages me to bring people together, work with others, and lead a smooth,

well-functioning, volunteer activity. Since I am a political science major, I am also considering

becoming a student government official (if elected). Not only will this allow me to help my

university and gain knowledge for my major, I believe it will contribute to growth within this
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competency. This is because officials are making important decisions about the university itself

as well as the student body. Thus, I will be in charge of making sure the student body is content

while working with others with the same goal.

Overall, leadership plays a vital role in society. The honors program encourages students

to become the most well-rounded person in order to succeed in their future. The skills gained

from taking part in the leadership experiences will be carried with them for years to come. Being

a leader is a great attribute to have in society as it shows that one is aware of their strengths (and

weakness), can be a team player, and is self-motivated in regards to achieving a goal. Thus,

leadership not only brings out the best in yourself but in others to create a better surrounding

environment.