As the fall semester comes to a close, and as we look forward to another year of leadership development through the McConnell Center, I'd like to challenge my fellow scholars with the following quote by Scottish novelist and politician John Buchan: "The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there."
McConnell Scholars are talented and capable, so it is easy for us to fall into the misconception of leadership being an opportunity to "put greatness into" others. We make our contributions through the elected positions we hold, the committees we sit on, or the extra-curricular activities we participate in at U of L and within the Louisville community. Buchan challenges us to stop recognizing the "greatness" within ourselves, and to instead look for it in others.
I've been able to achieve Buchan's concept of leadership through my involvement with the service team this semester. Coordinating and participating in service events with the Ronald McDonald House, Halloween at the Zoo program, and LG&E's Project Warm has given me the opportunity to reach out to others and "elicit" their inherent "greatness." During Project Warm, for example, I had the opportunity to look for greatness within the homeowners we were serving. One elderly woman left quite an impression on me with her kind and loving heart, but I would've missed this lesson in kindness that she taught me if I had gone into her home with the notion that I was the only person who could leave an impression.
I hope that all of my fellow scholars can have a similar experience, but to do so requires us to look for the greatness that already exists in those we lead, and to elicit it by serving them.
McConnell Scholars are talented and capable, so it is easy for us to fall into the misconception of leadership being an opportunity to "put greatness into" others. We make our contributions through the elected positions we hold, the committees we sit on, or the extra-curricular activities we participate in at U of L and within the Louisville community. Buchan challenges us to stop recognizing the "greatness" within ourselves, and to instead look for it in others.
I've been able to achieve Buchan's concept of leadership through my involvement with the service team this semester. Coordinating and participating in service events with the Ronald McDonald House, Halloween at the Zoo program, and LG&E's Project Warm has given me the opportunity to reach out to others and "elicit" their inherent "greatness." During Project Warm, for example, I had the opportunity to look for greatness within the homeowners we were serving. One elderly woman left quite an impression on me with her kind and loving heart, but I would've missed this lesson in kindness that she taught me if I had gone into her home with the notion that I was the only person who could leave an impression.
I hope that all of my fellow scholars can have a similar experience, but to do so requires us to look for the greatness that already exists in those we lead, and to elicit it by serving them.