Pilgrim Footsteps

I couldn't explain why I didn't like it. It just sounded wrong; it was fingernails on a chalkboard to my soul. "Hey, Boss!" "Don't call me that!" "Why not?" "...Because."  Well, you are!  I was told. It's a term of respect!  Maybe to them. But I don't like to be called Boss. It's the connotation, really. Let's be honest - when anyone hears the word "Boss" they think...well...a not-so-great boss. I don't even like all of those girl posts about "Be a Boss!" Nope. I want to be a Leader. What is a Boss? They tell everyone what to do, and often not nicely. They micromanage. They know everything - or think they do. They live by rank and title. They want to stay your boss, with you under them, directing you only by authority. They don't care if you fear them, and therefore only tell them what they want to hear. They're in it for themselves. So, what is a Leader? Th...

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 mi...

I've been a supervisor now for almost a year. Though some of these things I had a general knowledge of previously as just a worker, here are the lessons I've learned and truths that were revealed to me about leadership. And always remember...Jesus is the perfect example of leadership; after all, He is perfection. Communication Makes or Breaks This is one of the things I had a general idea about as a busser, but as a supervisor - the middle-man between the managers and the employees - I saw just how deep the impact of failed or great communication is. I've seen disasters due to poor or nonexistent communication, and I've determined to not let that happen...or at least, as much as I can possibly prevent it. In order to try and avoid those disasters, I try to consistently over-communicate, because personally, I'd rather hear something three times and know for sure what is going on than have no one tell me anything and deal with a mess. Even if you're not s...

Being in leadership is hard. It's hard when you're short-staffed, when it's busier than it was supposed to be, when the bus groups all come at the same time, when three people need you at once and you don't know what to do first, when you're stretched too far, when the proper communication didn't happen and you have to deal with the fallout of others' mistakes and bad days and grumpiness. It's hard, and sometimes I just don't want to go to work and do it all over again. Yet, I come home after one of the worst days, and there's still something from my day that makes me smile. How can I smile? What is there possibly to smile about? People. The employees that I work with every day who are blessings, who are my friends. They are the reason I can still smile. Don't get me wrong, I know sometimes they don't do their jobs because they're busy talking to a fellow employee or a customer, or they don't come back from break on ...