Growing up with two brothers and a big family, I was taught some valuable lessons as a child. Being the young and ignorant child that I was, I already knew everything and no one else could teach me anything that I didn’t already know. But just as all of the other young children who once believed the same thing, I was proven wrong. My family taught me a lot about being a team player and always having other people’s interests in your mind when you are making decisions. This is important not only in a functional and healthy family but also in the real world. This idea of consideration for others eventually pushed me to the idea of leadership. Having other’s interests in mind when making decisions is one half of the battle, but making decisions and influencing the people who follow you is a much more admirable way to live. Around age 14, my Nonno “grandfather”, was in no shortage of wise words to say. In one of our conversations, he looks at me and said, “Meglio vivere un giorna da leone, che cueto anni da pecora.” This line has stuck with me my entire life and I refuse to forget it. One reason is that my Nonno was a huge influence on my life growing up, and the other reason is that it translates into “Its better to live one day as a lion, than a few years as a sheep.”
Essentially, I don’t want to literally live like a lion for a day, but figuratively the lion represents courage, justice, strength, and even Leadership. Going back to when I was young, this idea of leadership just meant people would listen to you and follow you but know I understand that leadership means much more than just having a crew around you. I want to learn more about leadership in the upcoming chapters because it is crucial to leading and living a happy and successful life. Some scholars claim that leadership is born, while others believe great leaders are created, I believe that it is a combination of both. One must be born with the mentality to be a better person tomorrow than they were today, and have a constant drive. In my future career, leadership is an attribute everyone looks for, and when I learn everything I can about leadership and I can teach others how to lead effectively, then I have truly fulfilled my goal as a leader.
Over the minister of Summer 2020, the most irregular summer of the majority of the population lives, I studied leadership with Dr. Blair Browning. I went into the class with a very basic understanding of leadership. Being eager to learn how I can improve myself I dove into the class and soaked up every drop of knowledge I could. But, in the grand scheme of things, that was a four-week course, and when compared to our lifetime, it was only a fraction and I still have a lot to learn. I am eager to learn about leadership because it is something that you can not be an expert at, you are good or bad, knowledgeable, or not. I want to understand it on a deeper level so I can be the leader I was destined to be.