Video Reflection (Leading)

One important lesson I took away from watching the video is that "leadership is over glorified" and "it takes two". 

A leader needs the guts to stand out while knowing that he is going to be ridiculed by others. However, the (first) follower also needs to do the same, it is an "underestimated form of leadership"; without any followers to lead, one cannot be a leader. Hence, it's not only about the leader, it's about the leader and his followers. The leader should not control his followers, instead he should "embrace the follower as an equal"; the leader is not more important, he is just the one who first initiate the movement. It is about the movement, not the leader.

Also, the followers do not just follow, they have they're role in the movement too, they're role is to "attract" more followers to join the movement (that is not the role of the leader). This is because the others may have wanted to join the movement, however, as mentioned before, it takes guts which they may not have, they are afraid of being ridiculed while doing something they believe in and prefer to stick with the crowd instead. But, with the first follower, it seems less risky since the first follower was a part of "the others" and since he has the guts to follow, why not "the others"? 

I can relate a lot to this as I am one of those people who prefer to stick with the crowd. But after watching this video, l learnt that the first follower is actually the one who starts the movement and gets it going. So I will try to do as the presenter suggested: "If u really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow.".

~Lim En Yin (8)

video reflection

A leader needs to step out and take the initiative to lead or guide the others. A leader needs to have courage and bear responsibility when something bad happens. However, is it only good character and personalities that a leader need?

Through the video that we watched yesterday, I learnt that a leader needs followers too. The first follower is always the most important one and it takes courage. In the video, the first follower joined in the dance and others joined in subsequently. A group of followers is created just by the first follower. People will get influenced and more will join in. Therefore, it is important that leaders have followers.

-Jia En

Leading: Video Reflection

We are all leaders in one way or another, be it the president of a nation or a leader for a group project. The question is, what must we have to be a leader?

I watched a video about leading. In the video, a man is ridiculously dancing in the middle of a field with many people. At first, everyone looked at him strangely. However, that changed when another man joined him in the ridiculous dance. Soon after that, a crowd had gathered, dancing ridiculously. What we need to be a leader is initiative and confidence. If that man did not do anything at all, it would not have led to the massive crowd in the end. Despite being looked at by a lot of people, the man was confident enough to be able to dance ridiculously in front of them. If the man appeared embarrassed by the people looking at him, no one would follow him and dance with him. 

I also learnt that to be a leader not only requires some good qualities. To be a successful leader, one also requires his or her first follower. In the video, the man only had one other person dancing with him. This made the surrounding people feel less embarrassed to dance with the two people, resulting in more and more people dancing with the original 2 people. So, to be a leader, one also needs their very first follower. 

Matthew Lim (29) 

Video Reflection

A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous at first.  A leader must be easy to follow.  A leader needs to embrace followers as an equal.  Once this happens, it’s not about the leader any more. It’s about them; plural.  Being the first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership.  The follower transforms the lone nut into a leader.  As more people jump in, it’s no longer risky. It becomes a cool movement that people are no longer afraid to join.  As a lone leader, one must remember the importance of nurturing their first few followers as equals, and make everything clearly about the movement,not just oneself.  

Sometimes leaders forget what it is that they actually should be focusing on.  Being a leader is not about a title.  It's not about being known.  Being a leader is about overcoming challenges as a team, and empowering new leaders to emerge and succeed. In order to do this, leaders need to be encouraging.  Leaders must not put themselves on a pedestal and preach down to followers.  There must be open communication.  The leader needs to create an environment conducive to success.

Anyone can be a leader.  You may think that you are too shy or quiet, but that doesn't matter!  There are many types of leadership styles, and you don't have to be an extrovert to lead.  Providing encouragement goes far.

The video also expresses the importance of being a first follower.  A person doesn't need to be the founder of a non-profit, for example, to help a cause.  If there is already a group in your area that suits the issues that you would like to overcome, why compete against them? If no one had joined the lone nut in the first place, we would be left with only the "lone nuts."  Lone nuts are nowhere near as powerful as a movement.

Joy Tan (19)