The Necessity of Leadership Skills in College by Juliette

The Necessity of Leadership Skills in College by Juliette - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

The single subject of thousands of videos and articles across the web is leadership. Just google the word itself, and you'll see what I mean. All of those publications intend to teach leadership, or list the main qualities of a leader. Those resources exist because the definition of a "leader" has been skewed by misuse of the word, and many people question what it means to be a leader. The truth of the matter is that there are several different kinds of leaders, and none of them are easily defined. However, the common denominator between each and every variation is the ability to inspire change and growth, and this is why leadership skills are absolutely necessary for an individual to succeed in college.

In today's society, we are taught to think of leaders as one of two types of people: 1. someone who holds authority over us (as is notoriously the case in corporate business), or 2. someone with the innate ability to do something much better than we can. These kinds of people make more money than we do, or are given more recognition than we are, so we grow to envy and even despise them. However, these are not the kinds of leaders that are needed in education; in fact, they aren't leaders at all.

A leader is the kind of person that would be willing to include someone else in their success; a leader wouldn't mind spending their own time to make sure another person does well. Leadership is a choice; it is not something that can be handed to someone in the form of a paycheck or a trophy, and a true leader would happily accept nothing in return for their guidance.

In college, it does not matter if a particular student has leadership skills - it just matters that someone does. Whether it's a professor, a fellow student, or a janitor - someone has to make the choice to lead; someone has to be there to make a student feel comfortable enough to learn; someone has to be willing to reach out to the kid who is doubting his major, or his choice of schools, or even his choice to go to college in the first place. If not - if no one takes the time to talk to that kid about staying in school - he will most likely drop out. He will think to himself, "I just don't think I could stand another year of this stress," and he will drop out - unless someone shows that they care.

And not just about the numbers; if a college official approached that kid with a forced smile and said, "stay with us," and offered nothing else but a rehearsed statement about how successful graduates are, it would have no effect on the kid's intentions. But if that same official expressed concern for the kid, asked questions, and offered advice, the kid would be more inclined to stay in college.

That little difference in behavior is exactly what separates a leader from everyone else, and the effect of that small change is precisely why leadership skills are completely necessary for people to succeed in the rigorous environment of post-secondary education.