The Pros and Cons of Leadership

I think taking leadership and responsibility within an organization fantastic, but I also think it needs to be a personal decision and not something forced on somebody,

I am the president of Circle K, a community service club at Longwood. Circle K is a branch of Kiwanis International, and it is a lengthy process to get charted at a school. I started the charter process for Longwood's circle K in April of 2009, and finally got everything submitted in December and we recovered our official charter in January.

Circle Ks at various schools work together a lot, and there are tons of district officer potions that are available through Circle K. The next position up from where I sit is Lutinent Governor. If I had run I would have been the Lutinent Governor for the Foothills Division, which encompasses the Circle K's at Longwood, Hampden-Sydney, Randolph, Lynchburg College and Liberty. Seeing as I am the president and chartering member of Circle K at Longwood, I do have the typical background that one would find in a good candidate for Lutinent Governor.

This past weekend was the District Convention for Circle K. That meant all of the universities and colleges in the Capital district (Virginia, Maryland, DC and Delaware) were invited to come together to participate in workshops, exchange service ideas, and elect a new district board for the 2010-2011 school year. This is where they elect new Lutinent Governors for the year.

Upon my arrival at the district convention, I ran into a lot of people that I had seen at the International Convention back in August in Alabama. Friday night was just a night of reconnecting and getting settled in for the weekend.

Saturday was heavy on the campaigning. We had caucus sessions and a House of Delegates meet. We had a second House of Delegates meeting on Sunday to officially elect the new board, so Saturday was heavy on campaigning. I had several people approach me and ask me to run for Lutinent Governor, and one seemed to be legitimately upset that I was choosing not to.

It got me to thinking. Do I have a responsibility to take on more leadership roles within the organization? I feel that staying with my home club, especially during their first year as a chartered club, is exactly where I should be and what I should be doing. Being in a convention where tons of people where seeking higher office, however, started making me feel like maybe I was not doing the right thing.

There is a segment of the House of Delegates on Sunday where a candidate can run off the floor, which means they did not fill out and paperwork or do any caucusing or anything like that but are still running in the election. I really did not want to run off the floor at all but I started feeling like maybe I should anyways.

I ended up calling my boyfriend Saturday night to discuss the dilemma, and I could hear in my own voice how panicked and worried I was. I was sitting in the hallway so I would not disturb the people in my room, and I was going over all the stuff that had been running through my head over the last day.

A door room opened and none other than a district officer himself stepped out. I got worried, afraid he would press me for details of who was trying to get me to run or discipline me for not stepping up to the plate. Instead, he offered me works of advice. He told me to do what I felt I should do and stick to where I felt the best place was for myself. He said that he himself is a district officer but if I did not see myself in that position then not to force myself into it. He also told me that if I felt like I belonged with my home club, I should stay with my home club no matter what.

Those words were very reassuring. It made me feel less like a slacker and more like I was doing what was right for me and my club. While I realize this column is kind of weird seeing as I have a leadership role in every organization I am involved in, I am encourage all of you to not take leadership roles just to take them. Take leadership roles because you want them and you think you could do a good job. Find the place that's best for you in your organization. Whether it is president or historian, a committee chair or an editor, a district position or a general member, take that position and do the best you can with it. It's not always about having a fancy title. It's about being in the best place for you, wherever that place may be.