A Call to Leadership - Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation - page 14

But it will also be the culmination of a lifetime of learning. She started at Fort Hays in
1930, when it was known as Kansas State Teacher's College. In the 1970s, she took classes
part time at a community college and completed a few virtual classes on the Internet before
deciding to attend classes this semester.
Though Nola is amused by her potential status as the world's oldest graduate, she said she's
more excited about getting to walk at the graduation ceremony with her granddaughter.
Developing leadership skills is an ongoing process. There is no cut-off point
at which you can say to yourself “Now I'm ready.” There will never be a time
when you can say that you're 100% knowledgeable, experienced and prepared
to become a leader. Just do it. If you know yourself and your cause, you will be
able to judge when the time is ripe for you to stand up and declare yourself a
leader. Do not wait for someone to call you, as we have been saying all along.
The initiative has to come from within: from you and me. This topic will pro-
vide some easy-to-follow guidelines to becoming a leader and also demonstrate
why it is important for you to lead people. Not only will you need to be pas-
sionate about your own beliefs, but you must also inspire others to lead. You
need to move out of the comfortable cocoon of your world, be strong at heart,
and be sure in the knowledge that whatever you are doing will be beneficial for
all those within your realm of influence. That's what leadership is all about -
achieving something for others that would not have been possible without you!
A leader's passion embraces much more than her immediate surroundings. It's
about doing what's best for those who are “following” you.
It is probably not going to be easy to realize your leadership ambitions.
There will be times when you are compelled to do things you do not want to do,
times when you will have to stand alone, and, of course, times when you will
lose. You must be prepared to cope with these eventualities. If you are persis-
tent, your victories will outweigh your losses and you will be a success. Even
if you do not ultimately experience the big victories, it does not mean you have
not succeeded.
SUMMARY
After reading this topic you will probably recognize that you already have all
of the equipment necessary to propel you towards your leadership goals and
inspire others as well. To summarize what this first chapter is all about, I've
broken down and listed a few key points to take away from it below.
To become effective leaders there are four things you have to do:
1. See yourself as a leader.
Recognize the potential in yourself. There is so much you can do. The
problem is that you probably never sat down to seriously think about your
strengths in relation to issues you feel strongly about. Do it now. You will
be surprised at how much you can contribute. Later in this topic we will