My Leadership Philosophy: Madison Cummings

My Leadership Philosophy

by: Madison Cummings

“He that can have patience can have what he will.” 
― Benjamin Franklin

Leadership at School:

          Although many students may get frustrated, annoyed, or just plain out hate their teachers, there is no denying that these teachers are leaders. Some teachers may not show it in the same way as others. We all have our favorite teachers that we look up to and they teach us more than just history or math. They prepare us for life. The leadership role that I have learned in school from not only my teachers but from my class mates as well would be to get involved and to really understand each other. When it comes to working in a group I always remain patient. Sometimes I need to take deep breathes, think about what needs to get done, and take control of all the emotions I am feeling and get what needs to get done. In my Management and Leadership class we had to do group projects. My group and I had a project about everyone embracing each others differences. It was called Join in the Community. The project taught me a lot about the type of leader I really am. I would say that I am most like the counselor. The counselor listens, gives advice, and prevents/solves problems. In our group I noticed that I was always the problem solver. When two people in the group had different ideas, they would look to me to decide on which one was better. But instead of just choosing which one was better, I tried to make both ideas work together so that we would all be happy. When there are discussions, I make sure that everyone has said what they needed to say, then I give my opinion or solution and try to bring everyone’s thoughts together. By being the counselor I don't just immediately take control and ignore every ones thoughts, I listen to everyone and see what works with what. Our best ideas for our project came from when we all contributed to one person's thought.

Leadership at Gymnastics:

          I have been on GBN's Gymnastics team for all four years of my high school career. Many of those girls have become my best friends and my coach has been someone that I can look up to. Many of my leadership skills have come from my coach. Being patient is really the key to being a good leader. I have learned this through example. My coach has to deal with teenage girls and the only way he has been able to lead us is through patience. From my coach, I have learned to be patient with others as well. If you blow up on others, there is no way they are going to look up to you or respect you. If you don't have respect how do you expect to be a good leader. When I am in the gymnastics gym I like to forget about the stress of the whole day and put on my win-win attitude. Win-win is to look at the positive in what you are doing. I think of win-win in the gymnastics gym because if I go in with a bad attitude I won't do good and I might bring my teammates down, which would not make me a good leader. Patience with the sport has taught me to be patient when leading. 

Leadership at Work:

          I have been working since sophomore year.
 Since then I have started working at another job. I work at Yogen Fruz and as a lifeguard at an indoor and outdoor pool. Having two jobs (and occasionally babysitting) I have really learned a lot about myself as a leader. I know neither of these jobs are like a career, but they are the basis of understanding how to work with other people. The best leadership skill I have learned from both my jobs would be to always do what I am suppose to be doing from the people who lead us. The way I would lead would be in a participative way. Participative leading is when the leader presents problems to workers, defines the parameters, solicit input and then make decisions. My boss at Yogen Fruz has shown me that this way of leading is very successful. She will ask us things that she is thinking about, which helps give her different perspectives. At work I have started becoming a leader to my coworkers, by helping them out with things that would make their job easier for them. Or I try and make sure everyone is on schedule and that things are getting done. But I do all of this in a respectful way, because I don't want to offend anyone.

Overall:

          For just being 18 years old, I think I have learned a lot about being a leader in many different atmospheres. To sum up what my philosophy is, it is just to make sure you understand the people who are looking up to you. To really show them that you respect them and that you look to them to make things work as well. If you respect others then they will respect you. By gaining respect you gain people looking up to you and proving that you are a leader. Never look down on the negatives and always try to persevere. Even when things become stressful I always remain patient and calm, because that is the only way things are going to get done.