Leadership – What’s Your Story?

When did you first learn that there was something especially important about the word “leadership”? When did you first see it in action and start to learn about it firsthand? Who was the first leader that you looked up to and wanted to emulate? 

When and where did you first find yourself in a leadership position? What did you learn then, and how did it start to shape your style of leadership? Do you remember someone in a leadership position that shouldn’t have been, and what did you learn from that experience?

Where do you stand today when it comes to leadership? How do you think about it? How often do you think about it? Do you find it naturally comes to you, or do you need to work at it? How does your style impact those around you? Are you having the impact you hoped?

These were all things that I asked myself when sitting down to write a few words on leadership. I thought back on my first experience with leadership, which was likely in grade school when I was just a simple line leader – guiding my peers from point A to point B. I watched the heroes in movies and TV shows leading people to safety or helping make the right decisions in tough situations. 

My understanding of leadership then advanced once I became involved in sports and realized what hard work was and how it seemed to be closely correlated with positive results. I saw older athletes lead by example and provide words of encouragement, and then I moved into those roles and strived to do the same. That lead to sports at the collegiate level and college experiences where leadership was more dynamic and involved. In fact, one of the greatest leaders I had the pleasure of working with was Coach Gail Pebworth, my coach while swimming at Wabash College. I saw her do incredible things with our group of young men. She cared about us deeply, taught us valuable life lessons, and inspired us to do more than I thought was possible. She trusted us, celebrated us, and trained our bodies and minds, knowing both had to be strong in order to succeed. She encouraged those around her, made them consider the possibilities, and helped us be the best versions of ourselves. My time with her was enlightening and life changing. I imagine many of you have similar stories to look to and reflect on as you grow as leaders.

My concept of leadership again evolved as I finished college, joined the working world, and started coaching swimmers of my own. Teamwork and strategy came more into focus as a manager and coach. The process of planning, preparing, executing, and debriefing was challenging but exciting, and we learned a good deal, both when plans worked and didn’t work. I did my best to listen and learn again to be sure I understood what was needed in different positions and what others were doing to be successful and add value. I wanted to do the same, add value and positively impact the people around me and the community in which I was living. Now, I continually work to learn as much as I can from people leading in all types of positions and from a variety of levels. I constantly think about the kind of leader I want to be and want to see develop and grow in our bank and community.

I ask these questions and share some of my story because I think reflection on where you’ve been has a good deal to do with where you are and where you’ll end up. You can think about the positive experiences that you pull from and work to create for others, and you can think about the less-than-positive experiences that you want to avoid and use to teach others. As young and developing leaders, we should all work with great intentionality to understand our own stories, which leads to better awareness of our strengths and weaknesses or gaps. We should also work with that same intention to understand the stories of those around us so that we can uncover and appreciate their strengths. We can then understand how to ensure we work well with one another, and how we can leverage our more robust comprehension of our teams to positively impact our people, banks, and communities.

What’s your story? Who’s your Coach Pebworth?
 

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This Month's Guest Writer

Jon-Myckle D. Price
Chief Operations Officer
Security Federal Savings Bank, Logansport

2022 FLD Advisory Board President