Leadership Interview

For my leadership interview, I decided to interview my twenty four year old sister, Lindsey Glauser. She got back from her mission to Richmond, VA about a year ago and so I thought she could tell me about some leadership qualities she had to have as a missionary. However, when I started asking her questions, she didn't talk about the mission as much as I thought. She talked a lot about how she has transformed into a better leader since she's been on the mission.

I asked her to define "leadership" and "leader" and this is what she said: A leader is somebody who instinctively stands out of the crowd, is able to make decisions quickly, and is also confident and willing to serve. She also said that a leader has to be willing to serve and also willing to step back and follow when needed. Lindsey defined "leadership" as a condition that is obtained by building your own qualities and becoming who you want to be. I also asked her about what she thought was the most important quality and her answer was CHARITY. One of the qualities that I admire in her is her willingness to serve and go help people out. She told me that for her, the most useful quality in serving others was to have a sense of humor and be able to laugh and be happy. She said that when you are willing and happy about serving, all the little things that might bug you will go away.

Another thing I asked my sister was to tell me about an experience where she remembers showing leadership. With that question, she talked about the time when she was Laurel president and helped a less active member. She said that she called her every week to come to the activity, went and visited her once a month, and tried her best to make her feel included. She remembered the one time that the girl came to an activity that they had so she would come. Lindsey remembered feeling that she had made a difference in that girls' life even if it didn't seem like much.

I also asked her about a leader that she admired and she told me about her mission president. Lindsey said that although he was put into that position, he was a natural leader. He loved people and seeing them progress - he loved peoples' successes. He also sincerely constructively criticized people and helped them know how to improve.

I admire Lindsey as a leader because she works well with people and can recognize when people are feeling left out, she loves to serve, and she is a positive person. She influences others through leading by example and serving all that she can. Lindsey also went from having a somewhat negative attitude to being positive. She said that it was a process to become a more optimistic person and that she had to decide to do it. She said that my mom told her that she could either sit and sulk or get up and decide to be happy and have fun. I think a lot of her leadership comes from her contagious positive attitude.

I want to be more like her and follow her example of being positive, being ambitious, and serving others. I think I can be more charitable as a leader and know that by making a concious effort to choose to be better, I eventually will be.