The Three Skills of Leadership by Baylie

The Three Skills of Leadership by Baylie - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Leaders need three things above all. A drive to bring about change, an ability to relate with others, and integrity. These are most important in becoming a good leader. At one point or another, all college students will supervise someone, even if it's not an official, appointed position. For example, in Greek life, there are "bigs" and "littles". The "big" is like a mentor to their "little", who may need help with anything from merely finding their way around campus to figuring out how to get those study habits down and pass their courses. Depending on what major is chosen, almost all college students will be in a position of leadership before leaving college.

That position of leadership could be the president of an eco-friendly recycling club. The president wants to bring change to the way things are done, and takes up leadership to make it happen. If there is no drive to bring change, then there is no leadership to be had. Leaders, as a general rule, will push the boundaries, discover new things, and lead the way for others. Without them, many humans would be like sheep, content to sit and eat their grass because that's the way it's always been. Leaders are needed in a college setting, to create new opportunities and spread ideas.

This is were the ability to relate with others comes into play. Without that ability, the leader would have no followers. People with poor social skills tend to not be leaders, as they have difficulty connecting with others and cannot spread their ideas. There are those that "relate" through intimidation and fear, but those do not generally come up in a college setting. The leader must be able to talk their followers into doing something they might otherwise not do, like put in the extra effort to organize their trash and separate out the recyclables, in the case of the recycling president.

And lastly, leaders require integrity. In short, a leader cannot be a leader without followers. They must have the bravery to live truthfully, and be able to gain the trust of those they have brought into their fold. Without the trust of their followers, their followers would leave. Their would be no way to accomplish the goals they as a leader had set. Said president of a recycling club would have no followers if they did not do the same as the members of their club. Say this president lied about actually recycling. Why should the other members of the club do so if their president won't do it?

Integrity, however, is needed in more than just a group setting. Say a student has to write a long essay for their English class. They don't feel like doing it, and instead buy or copy one from on line. This plagerism is a lack of integrity, and will ultimately get the plageriser expelled. The integrity of a person to do their own work and submit it is needed in college to pass and thrive. Without it, no real learning would be achieved. So yes, leadership skills are needed in college.