Leadership and Being a Good Follower in College by Jonah

Leadership and Being a Good Follower in College by Jonah - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

College is a microcosm of the society in which it serves. So as in society, college has a need for both good followers and good leaders. It may surprise some to understand that having good followers is as important to the success of an organization as having a good leader. A leader cannot do all the work alone and thus must rely symbiotically on his or her subordinates to carry out the tasks assigned to them as part of the organization’s purpose or mission. Therefore, the success a person’ achieves at college can be attributed to being a good leader, a good follower, or preferably a combination of the two.

My father spent 25 years in the Marine Corps and often taught me about his leadership challenges and his philosophy on leadership. He ingrained in me starting in Boy Scouts that before I could learn to lead I needed to learn to follow. To be good follower, I needed to carry out the leader’s instructions, provide thoughtful input to help him or her make decision, be honest at all times, be attentive when receiving instructions, and be motivated to work with others as a team. To be a good leader, I needed to make the organization’s purpose or mission my own, be accountable for the activities of those I lead, set the example for those who follow me, strive for success yet learn from failure, and always keep my boss informed.

In college, I don’t see it as essential for a person to be success to possess significant leadership skills. After all, not everyone will get an opportunity to be a leader. But I do believe that it is important to understand what successful leadership requires and how being a successful follower is essential to the leader’s success. Most students will likely participate many times as part of a lab team, study group, sports team, club, student government, etc. Their ability to be a good follower can play a significant role in the group’s success.

For those who aspire to be leaders in college should understand what it takes to be a good leader if they want to be successful. These individuals would mostly look to serve in leadership positions in school, church, and community groups before college to begin developing the skills necessary to lead. Further, they should make an effort to spend time learning about great leaders, observing leaders around them, learning to be responsible for their personal lives and behavior.

Here’s the kicker though. Life doesn’t always make it clear when the need for a leader will arise. There could be a fire or criminal activity on campus. A teacher may assign the project team leader. A friend may have a personal tragedy and someone must organize a fund raiser. There are many things that could happen at college that could result in the burden of leadership to fall on someone’s shoulders. When this happens, the individual should strive to lead to the best of their abilities and when the need subsides, seek to transfer the responsibility to someone more willing and able.

Again, leadership skills are not critical to success in college unless you seek to be a leader or have an expectation that you could be assigned to be a leader in whatever activity you want to pursue. However, I believe it is critical that everyone understand what real leadership is and how they can be a successful follower. After all, every leader must report to someone and thus must be a good follower as well.