Past to Future: Early Leadership Lessons

Suddenly, the regularity of certain words throughout my elementary and middle school memories stuck out to me like they never did before.

...in charge...
...voted in as...
...editor of...
...started...
...chosen to...

Huh. Eight to sixteen years later, now a manager at 22, I'm realizing just how much my early school years and the roles of leadership I held then have impacted me to make me who I am now. I always knew and loved how much my time at Hinkletown Mennonite School had shaped me, but never thought of it in a leadership sense. But this time as I read through the memories that I had put together, that was what I saw.

I saw the times that I was viewed as competent by the peers and teachers who put me in leadership positions. In fourth grade, I was voted in as the president of our After School Enrichment group. In fifth grade, my teacher asked if I would like to start and lead a class newsletter and my peers chose me as one of two delegates to be a part of the middle school Student Council. In seventh grade I was chosen as a team representative for a health class competition (one of many similar situations). Also that year, I became one of the main organizers for our special Game Day event. In eighth grade I was asked to be in charge of the play promotional committee.

Communication always came fairly naturally to me, but I saw evidence time and time again of how writing - and even speech on occasion - proved a key role in my school life.

I found it interesting to note of all the times I ended up delegating tasks to group members. Almost any time I was in a group for a project or committee or something (except maybe in gym class), I was the one who ended up splitting up tasks and planning out who would do what. Though it did become more refined in middle school, I did it back in elementary school too. For example, any of the four years that I was editor of a newsletter and would give others on the team what they were to write and by when. During just about any school project that was done in a group, I would end up being the one to split up the jobs and assign tasks to everyone. (My mom used to just tell me I was bossy - and when I was younger and very unrefined at delegation, I probably was, but thankfully my friends didn't seem to mind too much.)

One of my favorite category of examples, though, is that of the creativity and innovation that sparked class fads, activities, and more. In first grade my friend and I started a fad of trading stickers. In third and fourth grade we made up games at recess that most of our classmates would play. In 6th grade I decided to do a class newsletter again since I had enjoyed it so much the year before. When we were in small groups and had to plan out a Bible study for our class, my teammates weren't much help so I came up with basically the whole thing one night.

Please, don't take this post the wrong way - I am by no means trying to boast about "my amazing leadership skills" (because I don't view it that way at all); I am simply making observations. Really, I just love how we can look back on our past and see how God worked in our lives to grow us into the people we are today. It makes me excited for how He may be growing us now and we won't even realize it until ten years from today. Also, it makes me even more thankful for what HMS helped to bring to life in me - who knows if I would be any kind of a leader at all if it wasn't for all of those experiences and encouragements.

I will also throw in the fact that the one day in eighth grade, when a sixth grade boy was rating the "scariness" of everyone in my class, I was rated as "kinda scary." Though at the time I was purely amused, presumably that ended up helping me as well - especially when having to discipline employees who are at least ten years older than me!

Where are you in life today that your past has helped to bring you there? How has God grown you in ways that maybe you've never noticed before?

More importantly - are you still growing?