How should leaders be selected?

[BJC]

This is an interesting discussion.

On 33 we don't select leaders per say. While the mentors meet to discuss who will be on the pit crew, drive team, scouting, CA presenters, etc. this is really more of acknowledgement of the respective students' hard work. The truth is that leaders select themselves through their actions -- encouraging other students, putting in the hard work, and generally showing a passion for the program beyond their peers.

Each year that I've been on the team I've thought to myself, "Man we lost some great seniors this year," and each year younger students have stepped up on their own to fill those leadership positions.

Regards, Bryan

[hiyou102]

Originally Posted by BJC

The truth is that leaders select themselves through their actions -- encouraging other students, putting in the hard work, and generally showing a passion for the program beyond their peers.

This is the system that our team currently uses and it seems to be working. Is it sustainable? Only time will tell.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by hiyou102

This is the system that our team currently uses and it seems to be working. Is it sustainable? Only time will tell.

It is obvious that leaders emerge on their own in most cases, but I think the application process (with variance each year as Eric stated) is a good way to bring organization to the whole thing. It also allows students to apply who aren't as well known amongst their peers but the mentors can all see potential. Overall, I think the application process allows the mentors and the graduating seniors to really get a feel for what direction a student wants to take the team in and through an actual plan, not false promises like most elections.

I'm a bigger fan of application/interviews + graduating seniors' recommendations because I've seen it yield more consistent results when it comes to team leadership.

[hiyou102]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

It is obvious that leaders emerge on their own in most cases, but I think the application process (with variance each year as Eric stated) is a good way to bring organization to the whole thing. It also allows students to apply who aren't as well known amongst their peers but the mentors can all see potential. Overall, I think the application process allows the mentors and the graduating seniors to really get a feel for what direction a student wants to take the team in and through an actual plan, not false promises like most elections.

I'm a bigger fan of application/interviews + graduating seniors' recommendations because I've seen it yield more consistent results when it comes to team leadership.

In my opinion leadership isn't something chosen, it's earned. I think the students that are already leaders on the team should be the ones taking these positions. An important aspect of leadership is, well, the ability to lead. If students aren't well known amongst the team the probably don't have many leadership traits. Is that true all the time? Of course not. I just find leadership is something is reliant on peers. I think this strategy might work well for assessing technical skills of team members and seeing who should lead smaller aspects of the team.