Nothing would get done at all if a man waited until he could do something so well that no one could find fault with it. (J.H.C Newman – 2006)

What this quote means is, that we need to advocate for ourselves and take initiative in our lives if we ever want to grow. The quote is also telling us that we shouldn’t try to become perfect as it’s not necessarily possible and trying for something that isn’t existent would waste time and energy. I chose this quote because it really represents what type of leader that I want to become. I want to learn to be able to have the right motivation to push myself to become better. This way, I will be able to provide support for myself and independently achieve my goals, and then using these skills, I will be able to provide lots of support for others and help the group achieve their goals. This relates to TALONS because in this program, we learn how to become the best leaders we can be and being able to take initiative and advocate for yourself are very important attributes of a leader. This quote teaches you that you have to be able to have these skills in order to further yourself and your goal. This quote also helps you learn that how you spend your time and energy is very important. It teaches you that, although you may have high standards for yourself, sometimes it’s not good to be a “perfectionist” because it may end up with time and effort wasted.

 

 

When to Push Forward

“Knowing when to push” essentially means that a good leader should always know when it’s a good idea to either go forward with a task/idea, work harder, or put in more effort.  It means that a good leader, by using their knowledge and “reading the room”, should be able to tell when to be a self-advocate or when to take initiative. I chose this quote because this is an aspect of leadership that I struggle with, and it stuck with me because I would like to improve upon this skill. I’m not very good at advocating for myself, and I end up doing so at the wrong times. Using this knowledge from this book and other sources, I would like to be able to know when to push. This relates to TALONS because a big part of TALONS is being able to take initiative. During this program, there is nobody who speaks for you, so you need to speak up for yourself and volunteer yourself for jobs you want to take. Also, if you need more tools, if there is information that someone needs to know, you need to know when and if you should speak up. This section in the book furthers your leadership skills because it teaches you that there are times when being a self-advocate is not appropriate. It teaches you that you should be able to stand on your own and take initiative, but also that there are times where you shouldn’t do so.

 

Practice and Perfect the Leadership Loop

The leadership loop is a cycle of steps that you need to complete in order to gain influence the best way. This means that gaining credibility and influence is an ongoing process that takes time, and is something that you can’t rush, and is something that you need to work hard for. This leadership loop also shows that the steps that you take are steps you take with your peers rather than steps that you take by yourself, because you can’t have credibility or influence without others. I chose this aspect because becoming a credible leader is a very important, but scary task to becoming a leader for me, and I’ve always thought that it would be extremely difficult to achieve. But this small diagram really breaks down how the steps work and how to take them, which makes it easy for almost anyone to become a credible leader. This relates to TALONS because TALONS is a program where the concept and steps to leadership are taken, broken down, and explained to younger students so we get an idea of how to lead, and how to apply these skills to the “real world”. The leadership loop furthers your leadership skills by, again, breaking down the steps of becoming influential into small, more digestible pieces, so that anyone can become a credible leader, and apply these skills everywhere they go. Especially in “the real world”.