There is a drastic difference between being the appointed head of a group and being the leader of a group. An effective leader cannot simply tell others what to do and how to do it. A leader is not inherently superior to all others. A good leader works as much for those who follow as they do for him or her. A good leader inspires his or her follower, enables them to succeed, and in the process of leader creates more leaders. This definition of leadership is what I strive for in any leadership position that I have: on my hockey team, on my robotics team, in class, within my siblings, while volunteering, everywhere I can, I lead others by helping.
I have been on a lot of hockey teams in my years, and over that time, I have both seen a lot of captains, and been the captain myself a few times. The best captain I ever played with was sociable with everyone, an extremely hard worker, and respectful of everyone else. I was happy to follow him, because I respected him as
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Everyone agreed to continue without anyone filling that title, but those responsibilities still needed to be filled. I took it upon myself to start accepting responsibilities such as setting up powerpoints to run meetings and help organize the team. During build season with the help of a mentor, I created a Gantt Chart for the team and held bi weekly meetings to help keep track of the progress of the robot. I also improved team communication by collecting information from each subteam and relaying any important information to the other subleads, using Slack to keep everyone updated. For important design decisions, I never used my power on the team to get my own idea, but instead tried to foster a dialogue between different ideas so that everyone could come to a common decision. The other students saw how I was so willing to help the other students on my team, I essentially became the Team