What Does a Good Leader Do?

"What does a good leader do?"

This is one of the questions that was posed to us in Monday's class. This got me thinking about my position as a leader and what I could do to be a better leader. I want to be able to add value to the instructors experience that I supervise. I could do this by not "spoon feeding" them all the information that they need. Like in class, where we were not handed out a syllabus and told in person when assignments were due; we were expected to look for ourselves. All of the information was there and we knew what was expected of us, we just had to be leaders ourselves and find it. The people who were concerned about the class did the necessary research. I believe if I left it up the instructors to find information I could find out who really was interested in their job. Not only would it do that, but it would also make them better leaders themselves.

Another thing I could do to be a better leader is to let the instructors know how much I appreciate them. Just like the exercise we did in class where we called someone just to let them know we were thinking of them. It would not take much, just a quick hand written note or even attending one of their classes. This would make the instructors feel appreciated and and happier which makes a better work environment.


I want to be a leader who is looking out for others and making a difference. I want to make a positive impact and leave a good impression on the instructors that will still be here after I graduate. They will be the ones who will be taking my place next year and I want to make sure they are ready and effective leaders themselves.


Hopefully when I start implementing some of these easy changes it will be contagious and caught on by other leaders in the work place. It would definitely make working there even better!

Day 3

When I got to class tonight there was a girl standing in front of the room. I had never seen her before but I got the feeling she was not "one of us". She said she was the TA for the class and that our professor was out of the country and that we were to watch a movie. In most of our eyes, she had authority therefore she was our leader for the day. Although she did not have that much authority according to some of the class since a large part of them got up and left after about five minutes of the movie. For the rest of the class that stayed we must have thought she was a good enough leader for the time being. She gave us a few tasks and kept the class organized; which is what a lot of us had been looking for since day one.

I had no clue what this movie had to do with leadership until about 30 minutes into it. So I am glad I stayed so I do not have to take five hours to download it and watch it at home (and mostly for the fear that the professor really was not out of the country).

Leadership. We Need It.

The second day of class was just as hectic as the first. It is very apparent that 300 students need a leader. (And not all students are cut out for it, even though I applaud them for getting up and trying!) Having the professor stand up and tell us what we need to do is what we expect and what is normal to us and this is why we are freaking out. I personally need structure and organization in the classroom and this class is driving me crazy so far.

Leadership is important an any organization; without it everything is chaos. Even though the professor has a different way of approaching leadership and has not really "shown his face" I am still learning a lot (through all the disorganization and chaos).

It has obviously been shown in the first few days of class that it just can't be leadership from anyone. It has to be someone that can grab our attention and keep it. Someone that can point us in the right direction and that is looking out for all of us, not just what he or she wants to do. A good leader could get us to do what he or she wants to do, without us knowing it.

Very interesting week and I'm excited to see whats going to happen this week!

First 309 Class

As I was going to class with a few of my friends we figured it would be like any other class we had taken in the past seven semesters at Purdue. We would get there get to know the professor and go over the syllabus and be out in twenty minutes. But we were in for a surprise.

We found our seats in Physics 114 and noticed the professor for the class was not there. We thought it had to be some kind of joke or mistake. What kind of leader was this guy? Instead of going over the syllabus and hearing about our professors life story we watched what seemed to be an infomercial for a guy named Anthony Robbins who wanted us to change our lives in a week. After we wrote why we thought we had to watch it and turned it in most of us were baffled at what to do next. The professor that was there filling in for our professor never said we could leave; just to turn in our paper. Some students hit the door as soon as they turned in their paper. The rest of us just sat and talked for a while wondering if we were going to get extra credit for staying.

After catching up with my friends for about ten minutes we wondered what was going to happen. We heard talk of a syllabus on the professors website that said a paper was due that night. We also heard talk that someone in the class needed to be a leader and direct the class so we could know what to do next. There was also talk that the professor was in the room watching to see what was going on. By that time we had a pretty good idea of what we thought was going on.

Seeing as the name of the course is Leadership Strategies we knew this had to be our first test to see what kind of leaders we were. It definitely grabbed my attention. Being leaders we should have looked harder for the syllabus, rather than just blaming Blackboard. Also someone should have been an even better leader and taken control of the situation given to us. I was sitting there thinking someone else will get up and do it, probably like most of my classmates.

I am in a leadership position now at my current job at the recreational center. I am a fitness instructor and help lead the Group Exercise and Learn to Play programs at the Purdue rec center. I lead fitness classes with 30-50 participants five times a week and supervise 30 instructors. Why was it so hard to get up and lead my peers? Hopefully this class will help me develop skills that will make me a better leader and help me be able to answer that question.

Lesson learned from class: You can not rely or wait for someone else to do something; be a leader and do it yourself!

Already the first day and I have learned something! (And I have never even seen the professor!)