Spring is my favorite season for several reasons: it’s the season of my birthday, school is coming to end, graduation invites start to roll in, the sunlight doesn’t escape before class ends, and I can peacefully sleep in on rainy days. I’m more productive in the Spring semester compared to Fall, and I tend to be more introspective during this time of year.
When I was younger, my attention revolved around the world outside of me: school, games, YouTube videos, TV, etc., so naturally, I didn’t think to be proactive about building my self-esteem. It was understandable how at that age, it was the last thing on my mind. When I was 15, I wrote a letter to my future self that I promised I wouldn’t open until I turned 20. Now that we are 18 days away from that date, I’m excited to see how I’ve grown. Without even reading the letter, I know that I’ve gotten more confident and secure in my leadership abilities, I’m more open to new experiences, and I’m accomplishing more towards my career than I ever have before. The first time I sat down and thought deeply about my leadership was during the ‘Leading with Integrity’ Leadership Lab last year. This experience guided me in re-evaluating how my actions lined up with what I believed. It was a challenging exercise; some values I prioritized felt somewhat forced. Growing up, my immediate family impacted my thoughts and beliefs the most. I rarely questioned them since I experienced positive feedback loops from extended family and friends. Attending college far from home gave me a new form of intellectual freedom; my beliefs aren’t the same as before due to exposure to new ideas, perspectives, thought processes, cultures, and people.
These perceptions inevitably clashed with the values I thought were important to me. Throughout college, I’ve strived to lessen the amount of cognitive dissonance in my mind by unlearning the adverse components of convenience and ignorance. For example, I started to feed my intellectual curiosity by asking more questions and researching topics I didn’t think about when I was younger. Through these actions, I now understand myself more and find it easier to clearly articulate my character to others. After taking the CliftonStrengths survey, I could further identify my strengths and compare those to what my true values would be.
Leadership is not only about collaboration, giving orders, or maintaining group efficiency, it’s also about self-reflection. I believe it’s critical to have a good sense of self as a leader, otherwise, it would be difficult to lead in a way that aligns with our morals. When we do not maintain the integrity of our actions and beliefs, it may be increasingly difficult to replicate success in different groups and settings due to a lack of an internal framework. When we have a strong foundation of who we are, we can notice the improvements in how we perform as a leader. Others may view this as being more outgoing, but it’s the radiating self-confidence that can inspire people to create change in their own lives.
