Considering the Views by Nicola

Considering the Views by Nicola - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Leadership skills are and are not necessary for success in college. On the one hand, one ought to define what “leadership” is. The idea of leadership is often misconstrued as possessing the quality that allows someone to get things done. This, however, is only a potential fraction of what a leader ought to be. The ability to lead is to not only be able to accomplish a task in a timely and efficient manner, but to do so in a positive light – that is, to be encouraging and supportive of the team, not simply barking out orders.

This hints at the question of how this is applied in a college atmosphere. Should a student find themselves in a position in which they only want to keep their head down, with no involvement of club activities, or anything really outside of the class room, then when would leadership qualities be called for? There are a great many classes that involve group activities – science classes, math classes, compiling research papers, humanities classes – and so on. When these groups are formed, usually at random, one of three outcomes are presented: one person is appointed leader, no one wants to be the leader, or everyone wants to be the leader. In each of these situations, one thing will always happen: someone will rise to the top and delegate, for the better or worse.

With group projects in perspective, and the knowledge that no matter what, someone will be appointed or take control, then it is not imperative for a student to have leadership skills to be successful in college.

However, one must again analyze just what it means to be “successful”. If it is simply to get through and graduate, or even to get a decent Grade Point Average, then leadership skills need not apply. If success is measured in ranking in clubs, community efforts, and campus involvement, then whether or not leadership skills are required leads into another aspect to consider just what leadership is or isn’t.

As mentioned before, leadership is shown as the ability to complete a task in a timely and positive manner. This being said, who is completing the task, and does it need to be a group? Of course not. One can complete and excel in a task on their own volition. Which brings me to the answer to this question:
A person absolutely must have leadership over themselves in order for them to be successful, by any definition, in any aspect of their lives. They must be able to have their own self-discipline, as well as knowledge of how they learn, react, think, and understand in order to follow through well with anything. Without the knowledge and understanding of the self, a person cannot decided what they can or cannot handle, can’t decipher between quality or poor personal decisions, nor can they accurately encourage and motivate themselves.

A leader is more than just a delegator. A leader is someone that knows what to do, and how to do it, and is willing to be an active and equal part in the project at hand. A leader shows understanding, shows support, and encouragement. A leader is willing to consider the different barriers that they, or their crew, might harbor, and thusly is willing to work to find ways around them, helping each person involved to grow in their position. A leader is willing to teach as well as to learn where they can.

To me, success is defined as the ability to find the leadership within oneself, and work to nurture that aspect, regardless of if they plan to apply this skill to the outer world or not. With this in mind, leadership is a necessity to the self, and yes, as a result, to the student.