Day 5 // 8 Jan

The highlight of today would be the leadership activity, the Amazing Race. The post activity reflection session really helped put things into perspective, and I realized I had actually learned a lot from this simple activity. One of the major things I did today was to evaluate myself as a leader. Jason, our senior attached, went round the group and told us what he thought were our good points, or instances when he felt that we showcased good leadership. For me, he described me as a “good follower”. To me, that translated into his inability to pick out moments of active leadership from me, and hence his inability to also comment about my leadership style and plus points.

Yes, being a good follower is needed in order to be a good leader. I do think that I am a good follower. I’m very used to going with the flow and doing what I am told to do. However, I think I need to work on being a good and active leader as well. Perhaps it is just in my personality, but I have difficulty being more assertive in leading, giving out instructions or voicing out my opinions. It is good to be patient, understanding and compliant in order to avoid any unnecessary conflict and hence disruption, but I am aware that these traits alone will not get me far in the real world; in fact, I would be trampled on and be taken advantage of very easily. Assertiveness is a required skill to survive as not just a leader but a person, and is definitely something I will be working on from now on.

One of the activities we had prior to setting off was to introduce ourselves and say why we are, and are not good leaders. For the trait that made me a good leader, I stated my patience and understanding. The thing that makes me a not-so-good leader is my lack of confidence. I find myself to have lower confidence levels than others, and I tend to lose even more confidence and will become easily discouraged when I meet with failure, or make mistakes.

I don’t know if my group mates or the seniors noticed this, but I became a lot quieter and less opinionated after I made a mistake in giving out directions when we first headed off. I felt really guilty that I caused a lot of wasted time getting lost, and I did not know how to “redeem” myself, and I could not take back my mistakes either. So to me, the only way to somewhat resolve this was to become quiet and just follow the instructions disseminated to me. Thinking back, I realized how cowardly I actually was. Being a good leader, and a better person in general, meant that you have to be aware of your shortfalls and mistakes, and be courageous and humble enough to admit them. Furthermore, a good leader would amass good followers. This relationship has to be established and sustained on a lot of mutual trust and belief in one another. If I were a good leader, my followers would not have lost their trust and faith in me, but instead be forgiving. This in turn would encourage me to keep my head up and continue with regained confidence and a boosted morale of the whole team.

As I reflect on this, I know I would also have to be the kind of follower I would like to have. I may not have fully figured out my leadership style, or how to go about correcting my weaknesses, but I am glad that at least I am aware of my strengths and weaknesses as both a leader and follower. Hopefully this would be beneficial to me in future projects, not just for USP but for life in general.

I think my group mate, Corn, is an example of what I believe a good leader should be, and I strive to learn and be like him. He is definitely both a good follower and leader, but unlike me, I felt that these two “personas” in him were very well balanced in the race. There were times where he too just followed instructions and directions from our other group mates, but he also knew when to step up and take initiative at times when all of us were unsure of where to go or what to do. For instance, revising the maps continuously and leading us, or running ahead to check for right destinations and landmarks such that the rest of us would not have to waste energy running back and forth. With regards to my previous point, he also embodies a leader with the confidence that his group mates are supporting and trusting him well regardless of the situation. There were times where he led us to wrong roads, but again, unlike me, his confidence never wavered and he simply picked himself up and continued again, after apologizing to us. I have really learned a lot just by observing and reflecting on his actions throughout the course of the activity, and he really set the example of what I
believe is a good, efficient and understanding leader.