You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader!

30 mars 2021

“The key to leadership is influence not authority”- Ken Blanchard. On Tuesday March 9, 176 high school students from SSCC Ain Najm attended a virtual leadership session held by USJ. It was an eye-opener for the young leaders of tomorrow as it widened their knowledge on the topic.
The students identified the main differences between a boss and a leader and recognized the characteristics of the latter. In fact, instead of talking more than taking action, of being superior to one’s team and of taking other people’s credit, a leader should be a role model, have integrity, embrace change and have an influence on the team members. One additional but basic quality of a leader is emotional intelligence, which is divided into 5 different competences: self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, social awareness and social skill.
They also learnt that as leaders, there are some essential tips to live by, such as:
• having ownership to what one intends to discuss
• developing communication skills and addressing questions and concerns
• providing feedback
• establishing shared expectations and goals
• embracing team members perspectives
In conclusion, leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others towards the achievement of a goal, a process which requires others because “team work makes the dream work!”

Marianne Zahr S2SC
Christa Abou Tayeh S2SD