“Be better tomorrow than you are today” (Maxwell, 2006). This quote means that you should try to improve yourself from day to day. I chose it because it basically embodies many of my goals in life. I make a lot of mistakes, and my goal is to turn it from a negative into a positive and learn from them so that I can be better tomorrow because of them rather than in spite of them. When it comes to TALONS, this quote is often relevant because TALONS is an accelerated program, so schoolwork is often more challenging. In this kind of environment, it’s easy to feel like just because you can’t do something today means you’ll never be able to do it, but it is important to have a growth mindset and be better so that you can overcome the challenges of today. As a leader, you or your followers can start to give up if they feel like something is not possible at the moment. However, it is important to grow and learn from challenges instead of backing away so that you can eventually overcome them. To be a better leader, I could set a growth mindset for my team and guide them through difficult tasks so that we can all grow and learn. An inspirational speaker that I can’t remember stated that improving by a miniscule amount each day adds up to a large amount by the end of even a single year. Even the smallest change can be significant, so it is important to never stop growing and always be better tomorrow.

“See everyone as a ’10’.” (Maxwell, 2006). This quote conveys the idea that everyone is useful to the team in some way, but not always in the position that they are in. It notes that it is important to recognize that and put people into positions where they are likely to succeed rather than to set them up to fail. I chose this quote because I think it is very important to leadership as a whole. There are certain leaders that get rightfully frustrated when a team member fails to do their job multiple times. I personally have been on both sides of this; I have gotten frustrated at team members for failing their task, and have seen even good leaders lose confidence in an individual after failure. However, many fail to realize that this might just be because they are in a position that they cannot effectively fill. In TALONS, this does not appear to happen too often because groups are often small and leaders have much more opportunity to recognize and support team members’ strengths. The leaders also usually recognize that certain people are better in specific fields. So this concept is usually applied. As a leader, to more efficiently get things done and involve every group member, I will take it upon myself to observe each group member and see if they are struggling in their field. If they appear to be having trouble, rather than seeing them as worthless, I should find out what they can do well and give them a job that properly exemplifies those strengths rather than sticking them in a position where they are destined to fail.

“Know when to push and when to back off.” (Maxwell, 2006) This quote points out that it is important to let your leader know certain things, but not to ask them to baby you every time a problem arises. It is important to let your leader know about a problem when time is running out and your responsibilities are at risk. If you are simply requesting help so that only you can benefit, it is not a request you should make. While most people in a team will follow this quote, there are always a few who either can’t handle problems themselves or ask the leader for too much. I think it is important to remember that your leader will often put you in a position because they know you can do well in that position, so if you constantly need your leader to solve your problems, maybe the job is not right for you. In TALONS, much of the leadership and group work is done in a way that this isn’t usually a problem. The few problems that require leader attention are often quickly resolved. Personally, I as a leader definitely want my team to succeed, but don’t want to help people that make unreasonable or unnecessary requests. I will try to exemplify this principle by providing aid if a group member genuinely has trouble with a task, and listen when I need to know something important. However, at the same time, I want the team to understand that sometimes it is best to hold on to information if the leader does not need to know or you do not actually need help.