Who am I?
Hello! My name is Amanda Ames and I am a storyteller, or at least I aim to be one.
I’m currently in the midst of my senior year at Arizona State University, with a double major in Journalism and Biology: Animal Physiology and Behavior. Some might find that a strange combination but to me it seems quite natural because my interests stem in so many different directions that to focus on just one would be a disservice to myself.
I’ve written for school publications, worked as a radio sports reporter, interned for ASU video productions, and produced a 26-minute documentary. I want to tell stories. Stories from all facets of life. Stories that not only inspire, but also inform. Whether it is through the written word, a single photo, or sound and video does not matter.
What Is Leadership?
What is leadership? How do I become a good leader?
These are questions that every one of us will ask ourselves multiple times throughout our lives, but it is also a question that I don’t believe someone can answer for you.
There is not one way to be a good leader. No recipe by which you can follow a step-by-step process that will work in every case because leadership is very much a fluid dynamic, it constantly changes depending on its surroundings.
A good leader is simply this: someone who promotes the absolute best in those around them. How you do this will vary based on who you are, and who those around you are.
Just look at some of history’s most successful leaders. Mahatma Gandhi was able to lead thousands during India’s independence movement, and all through peaceable non-violence.
While Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, was praised for his motto, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
Both were able to bring a nation together, but both did so with extremely different tactics. What made them good leaders wasn’t that they did everything by the book. What made them good leaders was that they did what was best to bring out the best in those they led.
Reviewed by: Krista Kull
Hi Amanda!
I really liked your definition of leadership. You managed to nail one of the most universal traits of leaders (“promoting the absolute best in those around them”), while keeping the answer broad enough to include our every changing catalogue of leaders.
The fluid dynamic leader concept you bring up is also easily applied to time. Many of the people who we considered leaders and many of the qualities that we thought defined leadership even 50 years ago no longer apply. Leadership changes immensely even within a decade.
Amanda,
You bring out a very beautiful aspect of leadership in that there is no recipe to what creates such a notion. I also loved the leaders you chose to serve as examples of individuals who bring out the best in those around them. This only proves your point that leadership constantly changes depending upon the environment and those that the leadership affects. Then again, I do think that leadership is not only delegated to those who promote “the absolute best.” Many leaders often bring out the worst in people, that’s always something to think about.
I look forward to reading more from you.
-Amelia
Hi Amanda,
I’m convinced with your good insights about leadership that you said leadership is very much a fluid dynamic and constantly changes depending on its surrounding, which we can see on many leader’s every day life. You also gave examples of two different leader’s leadership style for making better society and building nation.From that example, we can understand that on one has same leadership styles for the same purpose.