The Leader In All of Us
Posted on 31. Oct, 2009 by I Have Hope in Drew
Over the past few sessions we have all seen a leader come out of each one of us. This was especially true at our last session. We were all split into different countries for a mock UN where we discussed the Kyoto Protocol and the environment. It was soon evident that each one of us was grouped with others into a country based on being a similar type of leader. Countries such as Japan and Canada were contemplators, and the producers. Other countries such as the UK and Australia were shapers, responders and influencers. I happened to be in a group of movers, doers and influencers that made up the United States of America.
As we were attacked by the other countries on our carbon emissions, penalty policies and just about every other topic that came about it became clear to me that acting in the role of Americans would bring out a certain type of leader in each of us on the team. In situations where we had to act fast, persuasive, direct and reactive we each became stereotypical doers and movers. It was inevitable that we would become like this seeing as we were put into that group and country based upon the type of leaders that we are. I think that this type of leader would come out of anyone when faced with a similar situation. It was interesting to see people in other groups also became doers and movers even though no one in the groups was a dominant mover or doer type leader. I think that in many different situations people will become a leader that they may not always be.
One such case was during our high ropes session when everyone became a responder and encouraged and supported each other even though we are not all dominant responders.
It was clear during the mock UN and when having other group discussions (especially discussions involving planning our fundraiser) that each of us are all different types of leaders and how important it is that we accommodate each other’s needs. Every good team has a variety of different leaders (which is a necessity) but how good the team can really be is determined by how we each communicate and work together.
Life is like a giant leadership camp where there are many different types of people and leaders, and you need to accommodate everybody to make it through the day.
