Rowing Reflection

Soccer has helped me the most with leadership; through the Kicks program as I mentioned earlier and being alternative captains in my spring leagues and this year in varsity soccer for the school. With Kicks I was in charge of many children who looked up to me as a role model, I had to teach them many footskills and other techniques. In my spring league of soccer I was one of the four captains in that league and through this leadership position I tried to be a positive and very upbeat person who encouraged her teammates. Finally for this years varsity soccer team I was given captain after one of our girls got hurt. Taking over this position put a lot of pressure on me that I was able to overcome; as I felt weird because I was not originally voted captain and didn’t think that my team would be happy. After a few games I realized that I had become comfortable with the new position and it made me work harder. As a leader I realized that my fellow team members had started to try harder if I tried harder and it meant so much to me. All of these things have helped me strongly understand leadership and why it is so important.

Leadership is very important to me. I am the captain of my school's cross-country team, and was the recipient of the leadership award. My coach gave me this position based on my leadership qualities. When my team is going through a rough practice, it is my job to push them forward and help them find their motivation. I have earned my teams respect, leading by example, which is crucial to being a good leader.

I entered the Leadership Program with a narrow mind. I thought that I knew the expectations of leadership along with everything that leadership entails. After all, how difficult could it be to persuade others to see your personal opinion and then, get them to follow your dreams? All one needed to do was be passionate about a cause and have good public speaking techniques. Little did I know, there is a lot more to being a leader than meets the eye. By participating, I was

Being a leader on a sports team meant that I had to be physically and mentally strong in situations where others might be weak. Physically, I had to be an example on my team by never quitting and never giving up when things were tough. That way when my teammates seen me pushing through physically adverse situations they have someone to follow

I started out as a student-athlete in which I depicted great leadership skills and positive role model qualities such as diligence, enthusiasm, and passion for the sport. Hence, after my first year of college, I was named the team captain. I worked closely with the coaches, helped to resolve team conflicts, established the tone for practice, and modeled responsibility, decision-making, and a strong work ethic. I also promoted a positive attitude and team interactions, and encouraged and supported all of my teammates. Throughout my experience as team captain, I showed mental toughness by remaining confident and focus, and respond to individual and team mistakes in an appropriate manner.

Sports make people come close together like family,” because of the opportunity to train, try, win, or lose together.”( The Mental Benefits of Sports, Kathryn Watson, para. 8) Winning and losing as a team is very important to learn how to do. Everyone has to work as a group in something of their life and no one wants to work with a sore loser or winner. Leadership qualities can, “range from being a good character, to respecting others, to being task oriented can be accomplished in both team and individual sports,” because of that “team mindset” ability.(What Do Youth Sports Teach Our Children Really? Suzanne Pish, Michigan State University, para. 6) The “team mindset” is a key thing to strengthen leadership qualities. Leaders are what makes up teams or groups of people or student athletes. Something to improve leadership is, “encouraging and inspiring team members to attain their own personal goals and reach their potential can help you become a better leader.”(Goals to Increase Leadership Skills for Personal Development, Laura Jerpi, para.5) Also, students that are more task oriented or who have better interpersonal skills tend to be healthier than an average human being. Leadership is an significant title to be able to claim. Having the title can get people a long way in

Leadership competency – While I was a captain of the wrestling team, It occurred that I arrange several unpopular decisions. The least popular being my decision to instate an after-practice jog for the team. At first, most of the team members abhorred the decision, but we agreed to run for two weeks and if they felt their wrestling had not improved, they could stop. After two weeks passed a couple of people stopped jogging, but the rest of the team continued through the end of the season. The team’s improved strength and endurances reflected in our wrestling results. I can attest that my decision to instate this practice not only built our stamina but, also significantly improved our team unity making us a stronger

I also learned a lot about people, including myself. I learned how to speak in front of large groups, how to campaign for office, and how to effectively lead. Before I attended Boys State, my perspective of 'leading' was barking orders, but now I understand that it is much more than that. Now, my perspective of leadership is that the leader is servant to the followers, representing their beliefs and desires in a constructive manner. I attribute Boys State with transforming me into someone who people can trust and follow with ease.

A strong example of my leadership experience is my senior season of football. Following the 2016-2017 academic year, our head coach resigned on short notice and lacked any coach to fill the position. Because he left on such short notice, we didn’t have a coach for the first two weeks of the preseason, a crucial developing point in the season. However, a small group of other seniors and I were able to schedule workouts until we got a new coach. This established our group as team leaders and allowed us to lead the team to success in the regular season. I was later named a team captain for my leadership on and off the field. This gave me the ability further lead by example as well as keep the team’s morale up in the face of adversity. I ran extra

Finally, Leadership is work. A leader works harder than anyone else and they know they need to do so. A captain knows that he has to push himself to work above everyone else. He should run faster, hit harder, and block better than anyone else on the team. If a captain works harder than anyone else, then everything comes together. He earns respect; he takes responsibility, and leads by example.

I have been part of the varsity swim team for four years now, which I am now a captain of it, reached cadet chief master sergeant in Civil Air Patrol, where I soloed a plane, and other; however, these two accomplishments are the foundations of my goals.

Blistering heat, rushing adrenaline, and a lost voice are all ways to describe one example of a leadership experience that I had was during my junior year at my second CBL Cross Country race. I remember that at this time, instead of putting in our top seven runners at this varsity race, we actually instead put in our number eight through 14 runners on the team due to our coach playing a gamble and seeing if we could still possibly win the League Championship while sitting out our top racers.

It is hard to quantify what I have learned in the semester of Leadership because the courses focus was not about memorizing data, but rather learning about having the will to lead and finding the courage to make it happen. A majority of the information I learned from this course came from learning about myself. Through readings, course activities, and various projects, I learned what makes a great leader, but more importantly what traits I possess that will make me a great leader. In order to be a great leader, one must have an understanding of what leadership is. Leadership is a social influence (Stogdill, p. 25). It means leaving a mark. It is initiating and guiding, and the result is change. Leading is the result of your passion coming to life.

We all have the opportunity to learn from all manners of leadership. The good leaders and the bad leaders will have an effect on our styles leadership styles and how we choose to engage with the people we meet. I have learned just as much from those some would consider being a “bad” leader as much as I have learned from the “good”, and based my practice on those experiences. To me, leadership will always mean that you are willing to learn from all your experiences and apply them into practices that enhance your Navy and your Sailors. There is no lesson too big or too small that cannot assist in your daily assessments and influence the leaders you follow and mold the future leaders of the Navy

He told us to imagine the start of the race, the middle of the race, and then crossing the finish line. He told us not to imagine the other boats, just us as if we were in practice. After that he had us carry our boat down and we were all silent. We rowed up to the starting line and prepared ourselves for the hardest thing in our life. I honestly can’t tell you what happened during the race because I completely just focused on the task at hand. We ended up finishing in second even though we were expected to finish in last. It was one of my favorite team experiences to be a part of. But how did my captain compare to other great leaders in sports such as Michael Jordan? Michael Jordan is arguably one of the greatest leaders in history, not just sports. He led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships. (Shulman, 1965) He wasn’t a great leader for his abilities on the court, but also how he presented himself off the court. He would stay after games and practice to fine tune his skills, and participate in various charity events. Michael Jordan wasn’t just a leader; he was a role model. That is what defines a great leader, someone who you can look up to as a role model.