Definition Of Leadership

Submitted By thejajaaj
Words: 633
Pages: 3

Many people have tried to understand and define the concept and practice of leadership, but to no avail. What is it to be a leader? Must one lead their soldiers into battle or wear an overly decorated outfit proclaiming them to be better then there followers to be considered a leader? Must one have the words "Captain" blazed upon their forehead in order to receive respect? There is more to being a leader then having a fancy title and outside recognition. A leader only needs to know that his troops respect him and will support him.
My experience with unacknowledged leadership came in the spring of my junior year. I was on the varsity baseball team for my high school. We started the season with high hopes for a better season then the previous year. The last season had been a disappointment because of our sub-par record and the retiring of our long time head coach. Our team this year was host to eight returning seniors and we felt that their experience and leadership would lead us to a better season. Morale was high entering into the season and we couldn't wait to play. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before things started going wrong.
Within the first couple of weeks of season, the team was already facing a crisis. A returning senior who had started last year and had been appointed a captain this year was displeased that he was no longer starting. Before our first league game, he had quit and abandoned the team that he had made a commitment to. With him went two more seniors who were angry at the coach for not starting their friend. Without even playing a game we had lost some of our seniors. The team was in turmoil as we continued to lose the seniors from our team. Some left because of displeasure with the coach, others were forced off by substandard grades, and one was kicked off for criminal reasons. Midway through the season we were left with only three of the nine seniors we had started with.
It was at the moment when a good friend of mine, whom I had played baseball with all my life, came to me about maybe quitting the team that I had seen enough. I called together a player's meeting before practice one Saturday and told my teammates the choices before