Monday mornings my class starts at 7:45 a.m. (0745 for you military types). That’s early for college students. But my students are unique.
To wake everyone up, I ask a simple question:
“How was your weekend?”
One student replied, “It was good.”
“What made it good?” I asked.
“I volunteered at the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. I’ve been there five time now.”
I assumed he was pursuing medicine. He wasn’t.
“I want to be a Marine Corps ground officer,” he said. “I don’t want the first time I experience trauma to be with my Marines.”
Let that sink in.
He is choosing to face trauma now, so he can be a better leader later.
That’s leadership.
Too often, people prepare for promotion, evaluation or visibility.
But they don’t prepare for responsibility.
The moment you receive that authority, is too late to start building emotional readiness.
This student understands something powerful:
Leadership isn’t about earning rank.
It’s about preparing for the weight of it.
As you head into this weekend, ask yourself:
What responsibility do I hope to carry someday? And how am I preparing for its hardest moments now?
Leaders aren’t formed in crisis. They are revealed.
Fly High,
Barbara
P.S. My student has volunteered at the center 5 times now along with another of my students.
Want to know more? Connect with me at CaptainBarbaraBell.com and of course check out my book, Flight Lessons: Navigating Through Life’s Turbulence and Learning to Fly High. #coaching, #crisisleadership, #leadership, #veterans, #networking
Photo by Laurasaman on Unsplash
