I didn’t mean to be disrespectful, but when I was invited to speak to a group of student leaders at a prominent college, I asked what they had done to justify the label “leader.” Most responded that they were selected or elected to represent fellow students and that their official position in student government confirmed they were leaders.
I suppose “office” or “authority” is a form of leadership, but to me leading an active noun. Holding an office provides authority and status that can be used to lead, but if those tools aren’t employed effectively, the officeholder is not a leader.
True leaders are catalysts to bold action or meaningful change. They teach, persuade, and inspire. They change minds and attitudes. They mobilize people. The credentials of a real leader are the list of things he or she reforms for the better.
Unfortunately, exemplary student leadership is as rare as exemplary governmental leadership. Politicians in both contexts are often more concerned with building their resumes than changing the world. They tend to be so preoccupied with small issues that appeal to the immediate self-interest of their constituents that they fail to address the harder, more important problems.
Focusing on perennial issues of student government – parking, food services, social events, and apathy – virtually guarantees insignificance.
If you want to be a real leader, I told the students, do something that truly matters. Tackle binge drinking, substance abuse, plagiarism, irresponsible and disrespectful sex, hazing, or indifferent and incompetent teaching.
These issues are complex and difficult, but that’s why we need leaders.
Michael Josephson, Character Counts Organization .
