The Responsibility of Leadership

About a month ago, at the beginning of the semester, I had the opportunity to attend the NGLP junior class "boot camp". It was nostalgic to look at them and know that they were just starting on this incredible journey, whereas I have less than a year left. However, since I've been in the organization for a year, gone on both of the trips that the program has to offer, have taken two of the courses, and have already been paired with my business coach, I felt that I had a lot to offer this group of 31, information that I feel could help them make the most of their experience.

As my fellow officers, Emily and Jim, and I took turns sharing our experiences and handing out little bits of our own wisdom, I said something to the junior class that I wanted them to take more seriously than all else. Our program manager had just taken the time to bring up the possibility of being asked to leave the program if behavior wasn't up to standard and a couple of the students were asking (what seemed to me) an awful lot of specific questions about the specific actions that would result in that.

After Kirsten finished answering a series of questions, I raised my hand to speak. I turned to the cohort and said that they needed to understand that it isn't just the faculty asking for this behavior of them. These expectations are something that the seniors demand as well, as we have become, to a degree, protective of Next Gen and will not tolerate someone taking the program's name for granted by acting unprofessionally or inappropriately in any situation. I described to them the recognition that they will begin to get as Next Gen students, just as my cohort has gotten when we all congregate together in the business school lobby before class, or when we end up out at restaurants or house parties together.

I wanted them to understand that this organization, as a professional program, will serve us well in the job hunt, in applications for scholarships and for graduate school, but since we are all now representatives of the program, they are all responsible for upholding and maintaining it's reputation.

In my own life, I've realized the responsibility of leadership. It was a huge issue in my sorority when chapter leaders were dismissed from their positions for illegal or inappropriate weekend behavior, and the entire chapter lost respect for them when they were unable to fulfill an elected position because they got too drunk on a Friday night to remember that boys aren't allowed upstairs in the sorority house.

I aspire to be a leader in the corporate world one day and know that there's a possibility that I'll run into my employees at happy hour or a late-night event. What would it look like if they saw their boss drunk and sloppy? Not good, and they'd undoubtedly lose respect for me in the short term, if not in the long term as well. Not only that, but I would run the risk of getting fired as a result of inappropriate behavior that could reflect poorly on the company.

Some may say, "does that mean I can't ever let loose and have a good time?" Obviously, that's not the case, but I do believe that if you set high goals for yourself professionally, you need to conduct your personal life in accordance. Do you really want to sacrifice a prestigious promotion at work for a wild night? I wouldn't.

So, as I emphasized the importance of respecting the program to the juniors, I also subconsciously emphasized it to myself. I want to make sure that when these underclassmen see me off campus that I'm acting in accordance with my own rules, and by holding myself to that standard, I hope other people will see me as a better leader. That's tough to do in a college environment, but I say it's all part of the plan. I'm not going to let one wild night get in the way of my future as a CEO.