In the beginning of the semester, I read William Cronon’s essay Only Connect…: The Goals of a Liberal Education. With this essay he provides a detailed list of ten attributes that a liberally educated person should have. His given attributes communicate his ideas about leadership and what he thinks a leader should be. In short, Cronon says that a leader is well rounded and has a high degree of intelligence, both intellectually and emotionally. Another point that he stresses is the connection between the individual, their education, and its relation to the community. One of the most important duties for a leader is to use their skills and knowledge in their community to create impact.
My ideas regarding leadership are that the best leaders are those that know how to lead from behind and are willing to learn from the experiences and input of those around them. It is also crucial that a leader has both passion and dedication to their project, the people the lead, or whatever position they are a leader for. Passion is about intensity and dedication is about longevity. I think that a great leader has an intense drive for their cause and they also have the dedication required to see it through, despite any ups or downs they may encounter. Encouragement and empathy are also traits that a leader should have, especially if their cause involves working directly with people.
Throughout this leadership course, we looked at different feminist and LGBTQ activists who had significant and revolutionary ideas over the years, such as the Combahee River Collective, ACT UP, and Black Youth Project 100. Some important leadership qualities I learned from discussions about these activists are solidarity, community, and courage. These themes were a common thread in all of the group and individual activists we looked at despite the different approaches to liberation they may have had. I think the ideas they presented were excellent examples of Cronon’s ideas concerning leadership in action. All of the groups that we analyzed and discussed were concerned with their community and providing it with some kind of resource that it needed. Above all, they were concerned with the prosperity of the people around them, rather than becoming idols or authority figures.I don’t think my definition of leadership has changed significantly, but many of the ideas I learned throughout the course deepened my understanding of what leadership means. A lot of the reading material stressed the importance of collective and community work, which I strongly identified with before beginning this course. The Combahee River Collective is an example of a group that embodied this value very well in their actions. I think my personally held value of being a learner is reflective of this focus on the community. In all of the activists we studied, I saw an incredible passion and dedication which is an important quality for a leader to have. I also saw a lot of empathy from leaders during the AIDS crisis and in ACT UP. Overall, seeing so many Black, feminist, and LGBTQ activists throughout time with ideas about leadership and the importance of community that are similar to my own has made me more confident in my own leadership ability. I would definitely say that before this course, I would not consider myself a ‘real’ leader and I would have been hesitant to take on leadership roles because of ‘what ifs’. Now, I am more confident in my ability to lead after seeing so many leaders who were simply regular people who decided to stand up for something they believe in.
