George Washington as leader

The purpose of this speech is to show George Washington’s success by his unwillingness to continue his presidency for fear of becoming a dictator or a king.  Although he was very popular and love by his peers, he did not like the direction that his position was going in.  He did not want to become a king.  He did not want America to become a monarchy.  He hoped it would continue the direction it was going at that time and would not change.  He stepped down even though the people begged him to remain in office.  His precedent was set and the presidents after him followed in his footsteps until Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  It is now a law that a president may not be in office for more than two terms, or for a total of eight years.  I respect Washington’s approach to the matter because he could have stayed in power, but he loved his nation and countrymen too much to remain in office.  George Washington shows tremendous amounts of leadership through this action.  It takes a true leader to know and realize when his time is up and when he needs to step down in order to help his country stay intact.  His actions helped save the country from foreign ways such as becoming a monarchy and we have George Washington to thank for that. 

Leadership in sports

Leadership is an important attribute to have in the sports world today.  Like in football, quarterbacks tend to assume the role of a leader when it comes to calling plays, building up the team, and getting the guys to give it their all.  When people think about certain teams, usually the quarterback is the first name they think of and then they move on to the other star players.  The quarterback position is a very highly pressured position to play and it takes a strong leader to take on that role and then be successful.  Quarterbacks such as Payton Manning and Tom Brady are very successful leaders because people respect them for their skills and success.  They know how to lead their teams to victories.  However, just because someone is a quarterback does not automatically make them a good leader.  Jake Delhomme may be a quarterback; however, he is a poor leader and is not very successful in his games.  Although he may have a relative amount of talent, he does not work very well as a leader.   Tim Tebow may not be the most talented quarterback in the NFL right now, but he is still young and working hard.  He is the kind of leader that leads by example.  Although he leads through his role as a quarterback, he also leads through his Christian example.  He is a believer and a follower of God even when he is continuously getting ragged on for it.  He never hesitates to continue what he does and simply leads through the thick and the thin.  Leaders can be very evident when it comes to sports because they are usually the stand out players, but we have to distinguish who is the right kind of leader through their actions as well as their skills. 

be a leader no matter the situation

Being a leader is not just something that you need to do when in sports, debates, big groups, or even with your siblings.  Being a leader is a consistent thing.  There is never a time that it is okay to slack when you are held at a leadership role.  Most people only try to lead when they have people watching them but they do not realize that people are always watching them.  There will always be younger people that look up to those that are older and relatively wiser than they are.  In order for those children to grow to be well mannered and well behaved kids, those that are held up as leaders must be making the right choices consistently and setting a good example for the others.  For example, at pep rallies, the little kindergarteners and first graders go into the gym or onto the field thinking oh my goodness, this is they best day of our lives.  We get to see the highschoolers and middleschoolers!  However, the highschoolers and middleschoolers go into the pep ralley with bad attitudes and trying to act cool when they are really setting a bad example for the children.  Not all of them act inappropriately, but the ones that do can be setting a bad example for the kids that will be growing up to be them one day.  Once again, you never know who is watching and it is always important to work hard to be the best you can be not only to benefit yourself but also to benefit others. 

Hand shakes

            In order to look professional in front of bosses, colleagues, and peers, a key brownie point to success in other people’s eyes is a solid hand shake.  Going to an interview for a new job, a lot of people concentrate on what to say and do but really what they should solely concentrate on is their hand shake because the hand shake is the first impression to their possible new boss.  When someone gives a hand shake they must look directly into the person’s eyes, have a firm grip, and not have sweaty hands.  I took a survey to see what kind of hand shakes I would receive from my peers.  Nine out of the ten people that I shook hands with gave a firm hand shake and made eye contact with me.  The other person was limp but did make eye contact.  I shook four guys’ hands and six girls’ hands and all were successful except for one girl.  My respect for those with good hand shakes went up due to their control of their demeanor and interactions with me.  The way that people are perceived are not always by looks but also by interactions such as hand shakes.         

Leadership in TV

            In the show Bachelor Pad, there were twenty six people involved to compete for friendship, love, and $250,000.  In this game came honesty, trials, fights, and scheming.  In order to go far in the competition, the contestants had to work together and some of them even had to step up and be leaders.  They had to collaborate on who they were going to vote off, in the competitions they were competing in, and in relationships.  There were clear leaders who told the others simply what they wanted to hear, and also who knew what the game was like and what was to be expected not only by the people, but also by the game itself.  Whatever they had to do to win, they did it.  There were alliances involved that had evident leaders that made the game sway in different ways.  Voting people off was very strategic and the leaders were the ones who really had to step up and decide what to do about it.  Although money got in the way of friendships, the leaders ended up staying the longest of all of the people simply because they were very good at scheming and successful with people.  It took nice, confident, and mature people to be leaders in this competition even if it was all an act.  Sometimes as a leader, stepping up and acting like a leader even when it feels out place, is exactly what one must do.