Everybody Is A Leader by Alexis

Everybody Is A Leader by Alexis - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

When you think of the word leadership, what is the first thing that pops into your mind? Do you think of the President of the US or the CEO of a large corporation? Well, in actuality, we are all leaders. Last year, my band teacher took a new approach to marching band and concert band. He took the time to show us how to be a leader.
On the first week of August, we start marching band camp. Usually, all of the marching band veterans are on one side of the band room hanging out, while the newcomers are left standing on the other side of the room with no one to talk to because they don’t really know anyone yet. Later on, the band director usually gives us a speech about how we are going to have the best season ever, and that we need to meet new people in the band to truly become a band family. However, this time, he turned on the projector and told us that he had something that he wanted to show us. In my head, I was thinking that he was going to show us the drill for this year, but he never shows us the drill until after dinner. He pulled up the TED Talk website, and I thought to myself, “Oh no. He’s going to show us a TED Talk about practicing.” However, the TED Talk was actually interesting. It was called “Everyday Leadership” by Drew Dudley, and it had to be one of the best TED Talks I’ve ever seen at school. In the video, he started talking about how people think that leaders do all of these big things when really, leaders do really small things that makes a big impact in somebody’s life.
After the TED Talk was over, the band director talked to us about the importance of that video, and he introduced us to the phrase that in the future, we would hear about a million more times: “Leadership is doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, whether or not you want to do it, without having to be asked.” He liked the quote so much, that he even put it on the wall. Instantly, everything started to change. The veterans started to sit beside the newcomers during dinner, and there was less drama out on the field. We started to become a real band family. That year, we won the Outstanding Performance Award, and that was the first one that we had won in over a decade. Our band program, has grown so much over the past year. Right now, we have the largest band program that our county has ever seen, and it’s all thanks to our band director teaching us what it means to be a leader.
This lesson taught me that anything I do can impact someone’s life for better or for worse. It taught me how to deal with people, and how to come up with solutions that will benefit everyone. It showed me that a good leader doesn’t intimidate people, but they show compassion and they serve others without expecting anything in return.