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Think Before You Lead
by Jennifer Shike
In January, my brother, Jake, was elected president of his fraternity at Iowa State University. I’m proud of him for earning the respect of his “brothers” in order to attain this position of leadership. But, more importantly, I’m proud of the process he used to determine whether or not he wanted to run for president of his fraternity.
I believe it’s easy to get caught up in doing what everyone else thinks you should do. Sometimes it’s hard to differentiate your feelings from everyone else’s opinions. For example, many guys in Jake’s fraternity encouraged him to run for president. But, he didn’t say yes at first. Instead, he spent a lot of time thinking about what saying yes really meant.
Leadership requires commitment, and Jake knew that would mean sacrificing time away from going back home to visit our parents or hanging out with friends (of course, I’m sure he was thinking about his school work, too). Without commitment, a leader and an organization, can’t move forward to achieve its goals. Commitment is the glue that holds an organization together and enables it to accomplish its purpose.
In addition to commitment, leaders need to understand the value of responsibility. Jake said it made him nervous to be responsible for every member of his fraternity. If anyone steps out of line, Jake will be held accountable. I have always recognized the value of “nerves.” Nervousness is a sign of maturity and complete understanding of what makes a good leader. It’s not easy to be responsible for other people’s actions. How often do you recognize the responsibility in your own position of leadership in life?
Without hard work, responsibility and commitment can’t accomplish much. However, when you put the three together, things start to happen. Unfortunately, we don’t get handed everything we want in life. We have to put in the hard work required to accomplish our goals. Hard work is usually a characteristic of born leaders. The challenge of hard work in leadership positions is to instill this characteristic into your team. It’s one thing to work hard by yourself and it’s another thing to work hard as a team. It’s not hard to figure out which leader will get more done!
Finally, leaders need to have vision. Vision is foresight – knowing what lies ahead and being able to see what could lie ahead for an organization. Another reason why Jake spent a good amount of time determining if he should run for president was because he knew that his fraternity was capable of accomplishing greater things than ever before. He realized that the next president needed to be someone who would increase membership and turn things around in the fraternity.
Commitment. Responsibility. Hard work. Vision. Successful leaders know how to put these characteristics together in order to achieve their organization or team’s purpose. In the NJSA, we need leaders at all levels to model these characteristics.
Parents: We need parents to stand up and become leaders of their own family and within our program. Support your children in their commitment to the NJSA. Teach them the importance of responsibility for their actions – in raising purebred swine and in their attitude about competition. Introduce them to the rewards of hard work. Help them see the real rewards – don’t focus on premiums and ribbons. Develop a vision for your family. Decide what the future will look like for your family and share those ideas with your kids. Then, figure out how you can serve in the NJSA with your children.
NJSA Members: Your age is not important – you can be a leader today if you want! Determine how you will be an active, helpful member of the NJSA. Support the leaders around you – your parents, your NJSA Board members and the NSR staff. A little appreciation can go a long way! Take responsibility for your mistakes – don’t blame others. Spend time working with your swine projects and improving your skills for the judging contest and skillathon. Set goals for this year. What do you want to achieve? Let your friends see the “leader” in you. I know they will follow your example when they see how much fun you are having while serving others!
NJSA Board: You are in the most visible position of leadership in our program. When you accepted your position on the board, you immediately stepped into the spotlight. It doesn’t matter if you are at an NJSA show or a pig sale or a college basketball game – people are watching your example. I encourage you to work on developing more commitment, more responsibility, more hard work and a stronger vision. Realize the importance of your role in the NJSA.
Future NJSA Board Members: Each time I hear a 12-year-old express their desire to be NJSA President someday, I get chills. This is so exciting to me because it shows that even at such a young age, our NJSA members are setting goals and plotting a course to reach them. I wish more kids in our country had goals like these to aim toward. Let’s face it – you won’t be elected to the NJSA Board unless you hold yourself to a higher standard. As our program grows, the quality of our leaders will grow as well because more and more kids will be preparing themselves for the opportunity to lead. When talented leaders don’t get elected to the board, the NJSA will have that many more great leaders to serve on NJSA committees, and more importantly, serve as role models to our members. If you share the goal of becoming an NJSA Board member, I want to encourage you to start working toward that goal now. Find a way to become more committed to the NJSA. Serve on a committee. Offer to help with the NJSA booth at shows. Promote the NJSA when no one is watching. Live life responsibly. Do the right thing. Develop a good work habit. Start setting goals for the NJSA and your role in our program.
One more person needs to be addressed in this editorial – myself. If I want the NJSA to be all that it can be, I have to hold myself to higher standards as well. When I took this job, I knew that it wouldn’t be easy and that I would face challenges, criticism and skeptics along the way. I would like to point out that these challenges, criticisms and skeptics have helped me grow and become a stronger leader myself. That’s part of leadership, too. You have to be willing to go out on your own once in a while to do what you think is best. It can be a lonely road at times, but the positives of leadership far outweigh the negatives. My encouragement to my brother and to all of you is simple. Think before you lead and appreciate each opportunity you have to do so.
