High School Band Leadership

Being a leader is being a role model and striving to make a positive impact on those around you. In order to be a successful leader, you have to put yourself second and your peers first. For example, my younger sister and I both play softball. I have played on several travel teams during the summer and this year, she tried out for her first competitive travel team. I was asked to aid her by helping her with the mechanics of the game. During this time, I sacrificed my time to put the needs of another person before my own and it paid off, because she made the team and I got to witness the results of my

A good leader shows others the proper way to act in everyday life. Good leaders help others with their challenges but they also acknowledge that they themselves have challenges in everyday life. A good leader is there to support and aid anyone at anytime. Even if that means getting up early to help before a long day or staying after a hard day and provide guidance those who need it a true leader will do it. Leaders put in the extra work to pick up the slack within the group if it is necessary. Leaders change groups into families. You can not be a leader over others if you first can not lead yourself in the proper way. The only thing different from leading yourself over leading others is that the actions you make while leading yourself only affect you, when you lead others, your actions affect you and others. The person has to be able to take responsibility over their own actions, respect themselves and show, do the work that is necessary and cooperate with

In a marching band, the idea is to utilize copious amounts of micro-organisms and turn them into a singular macro-organism. However, our voices do not become lost in the cacophony of noise, simply strengthened and enforced by the foundation that each section provides to make the larger creation- a show. My understanding of myself became clearer as I learned to give myself to a larger cause without losing myself among the chaos.

Leadership is all about having the right amount of heart and determination to help make a difference in someone’s life. It takes certain qualities to be considered a good leader. A leader should want to help inspire others to make a change and to be the best that they can be. A true leader does not need to feel powerful, instead they empower those around them. Throughout my life I have come across various leaders who have made an impact on my life. It takes a very special person to inspire and touch people’s lives. Leadership is so much deeper than having power and bossing people around.

I want to be a drum major and squad leader for the 2018 season of marching band. I know I have the leadership qualities that are needed to fill these positions. The current leadership experience I have through band is being a previous squad leader, holding three band officer positions, and at times being the Symphonic Band clarinet section leader. Outside of band I am a member of the National Honors Society and am a mentor in MVP. I also frequently volunteer with programs that help children and I have been a preschool teacher in one program.

The President of the Student Council. The drum major of the marching band. The founder of the biggest club at school. All of these positions involve organizing, interacting with, and motivating a large amount of people and just scream “LEADERSHIP!” However, this wasn’t the right kind of leadership for me; I’m not the type to get up and speak in front of a big group of people or give grandiose motivational speeches, but I still wanted to be helpful to others nonetheless.

A marching band is composed of people, playing musical instruments, usually during the halftime portion of a football game, to perform songs arranged by various artists. The band is divided into sections. A section is determined by the instrument one plays. Each section must have a leader. A section leader is one or more people who give rules for other members of the section to follow. While trying to become the best section leader ever, one must develop social skills, a positive attitude, and determination.

Before defining an individual as a great leader, one must first understand the definition of leadership and the qualities that make a leader. According to businessdictionary.com, “leadership involves establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly, providing the information, knowledge and methods to realize that vision, and coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and stakeholders.” The website goes on to say that “a leader is the one who steps up in times of crisis, and is able to think and act creatively in difficult situations. Unlike management, leadership cannot be taught, although it may be learned and enhanced through coaching or mentoring” (Leadership).

By definition a leader is a person who leads or commands a group however, I believe a leader should be a person who inspires his team excel in the worst of conditions. A leader should be extraordinary reliable as the team should know that the leader could guide them to the best of his abilities toward their goal. A leader should be persistent as they should be the motivational force leading the group. A leader should be patient and calm knowing that quality takes time and that the individual member of his team have obstacles to overcome on their own part.

As a leader, one must be kind and firm, making sure what needs to be done is done. As a leader, one must inspire their charges to finish the project completely and to do their best. I have been a leader in our school’s Journalism (Yearbook) class as an Layout Editor. I have made sure my staff has been consistent in their work and make their deadline on time.

For many years, I have been told by teachers, family, and friends that I am a good leader. Until fairly recently, I had never truly thought about what it means to be a good leader and just took it as a compliment. Leadership is an intangible concept which cannot be properly outlined in a dictionary, but one which must be formed and explained only through one’s own philosophies and experiences.

Being a good leader is done by making the correct choices and inspiring people to complete their tasks and work together as a team. In order to be a great leader you need to think outside the box and travel the road that is seldom or never traveled. A great leader will use their inspiration and determination to complete the tasks no matter what hurdles or problems they

I believe a good leader is able to draw distinct clear lines when dealing with the people under her responsibility. I feel a good leader is approachable and yet still manages to maintain an authoritative stance. Often leaders tend to cross the line and become too friendly with the people they lead in a bid to gain popularity. However, from my work experience, when the leader tries to switch hats to being an authoritative figure it backfires. Which ultimately results in confusion amongst the group due to mixed signals and followers losing respect for the leader.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, leadership is the power or ability to lead other people, the act or instance of leading. I believe that Leadership is an art, the art to get others to follow and accomplish a common goal or task in a harmonic manner. A leader can be shown in all kinds of shapes and forms. To be a great leader many people believe it consists of modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart. Over the course of me learning how to become a better leader and being in leadership roles, I’ve learned that all these are very necessary to be a great leader.

Leadership is something that we are all born with because we are all born. Therefore, who is a leader and who is not depends on who really wants to be a leader and who does not. Leadership is a skill and so it can be learned. As anything that is learned it demands practice and practice to be the best. It would not be something that will happen in a matter of a day. There are multiple elements that make a leader. Collaboration is a key element for successful teamwork. Therefore, a leader must always be in the look for ways to foster collaboration. Creating trust within the team, support face-to-face collaboration, transfer responsibilities when making decisions, and ultimately teach other how to be leaders. All of this is not done if it is not done from the bottom of your own heart.