End of Semester Leadership Reflection

Three main ideas define leadership: commitment, compassion, and creativity. Leaders can see
things others cannot because they are noticing the entire picture rather than just fixating on one aspect.
As a board member of the Chemistry Club, I have found that listening to others and following through
with prior obligations has a significant impact on people who follow behind the leader. Specifically,
those people grant the leader one of the most important generalizations of a leader: respect.
Without respect no one will listen to said leader and his or her words will become nothing more
than emptied phrases lost in the noise conflicting ideologies. Thus, a leader who has no compassion has
no respect for the feelings of another individual. Ergo, said individual would have no obligation to follow
the leaders command. But I digress, the truth of the matter is that a great leader is made by the people
who surround him or her. Without the help of others the leader is nothing more than just another
person barking orders to deaf ears. Being part of the Chemistry club has taught me that without the help
of the other members, I would not be able to accomplish most of my tasks. For example, without the
help of the advisors of the club I cannot gain access to the chemicals within the stockroom. As a result, it
would become significantly harder to improvise experiments otherwise. Furthermore, I require the
assistance of the treasurer regarding money for the food for each meeting. No food essentially equates
to no attendance from some of our members.
Other than respect, compassion, and commitment, the greatest feature that any leader should
have is creativity. It is this creativity that allows a leader to improvise in the event that something goes
awry. Thus, the adaptability of said individual would be more than enough to compensate for a lack of
finesse. For example, during the demo of the first meeting the alcohol and water mixture did not ignite
properly. In order to remedy this mild inconvenience I decided to introduce suspense by being
unpredictable by attempting to ignite a one-hundred dollar bill in front of the class. Fortunately the
experiment worked and I managed to save a Benjamin from immolation. Regardless of questionable
antics, the fact remains that I have decided to take a risk that not many would take, thereby stressing
my ingenuity to the fullest extent. This adaptability is what it takes to lead, whether it is as a teacher
leading a class discussion or a goofy board member attempting to build suspense a leader is defined by
his or her actions rather than empty sayings.