Leadership in 140 Characters

One of my biggest passions is reading. I love it so much that I review books for publishers that they send to me. I use Twitter mainly for promotional things and communcation with publishers, agents, and various others in the industry! So I decided to talk about leadership in 140 characters (aka Tweets!):

I've found that sometimes, messages about leadership do not have to be wordy. Simple and short sentences can usually deliver the message than an entire speech can. Leadership is what we make of it. 

Influences

This week's blog post topic asked us to talk about our favorite influential activist or figurehead and it's a hard question to answer. Frankly, I don't have one specific activist/figurehead who I've been influenced by. I've always admired Nelson Mendala and Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi and many others.

Today, though, belongs to Malala Yousafzi.

Malala is a now sixteen year old girl from Pakistan who, from the age eleven or twelve, began blogging under a pen name to bring attention to an issue plaguing her country and the eastern world: education for young girls. If you don't know, Malala lives in a country where the Taliban have near total control and on October 8, 2012, she was shot in the head.

Don't worry though. Malala is alive and doing well. But what inspires me about her is the fact that so much has happened to her but her fighting spirit hasn't been diminished. For example, on her 16th birthday, she spoke to the UN:

Not only that but Malala is also the youngest person to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize but you would never get that impression from her. Through all of the hardships that this young girl has gone through, she's still fighting and still strong. 

For me, I'm glad someone is speaking up for the girls in the eastern hemisphere. I guess I could just imagine myself being a girl who would be denied an education based on her sex. I'm lucky to have parents who value education for all people, including girls, and I'm glad someone like Malala is around to speak for those who can't or are too afraid to. 

For a lot of people in America and other first world countries, education is often taken for granted. Malala, to me, symbolizes the hope many people, especially girls, have for themselves. All they want is an education and sometimes, all it takes is one voice to make a difference. Even if she is a 16 year old Pakistani girl. 

Passion

When asked what makes their eyes shine, people will respond in many different ways: from music or science to a sport or something along the lines of teaching. 

For me, my passion consists of my friends and family. For anyone who knows me well, they know that I love people in general. While I might be shy at first, once I get to know you, I'm comfortable around you. I'm weird and awkward and rather out there.

For me, there is nothing I would love to do more than just be with the people I care about. If you ask me about my family, you might just get my full life story (no, not really). When I talk to friends or family, I am animated and my eyes shine. Really, there isn't much I wouldn't do for the people I care about. 

In my opinion, time is just as important as passion. Once your time is gone, you will never, EVER get it back. Passions can change or develop over time. So for me, while I could easily have a passion for reading or books, I'm choosing my family and friends. Sometimes I'll read a book and I'll regret the time I wasted. When it come to the people I love, I never regret a second.  

My sister and I 

Friends!

My siblings

"I Have a Dream.."

Source 

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech changed not only the course of American history but it also had an impact in world history. MLK knew that his speech was going to make history but I believe he would have made the speech regardless. MLK's strong believe in himself and his values gave him the courage to stand in front of more than 250,000 people in our nation's capitol and if that's not enough evidence for leadership, I don't know what would be.

The possibilities were endless as to what could have happened that day in Washington D.C. And more so, the possibilities as to how the speech could change America were also endless. The biggest possibility was the end of racism. I won't say that racism no longer exists or that we've reached a time where equality between race is absolute but it is much better than in the past. I can, as a non-white student, go to school with people of all races and as Dr. King said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." While it can be argued that schools (and everything else in society) would eventually be desegregated, Dr. King spoke about it up front and without hesitation. Now people remember those words all the time.

As for Emerging Leaders and Finis Origine Pendet, "I Have a Dream" and Dr. King represent the fact that while a person can have the qualities of a leader, our qualities are tested everyday. It's how we chose to represent these qualities that makes the difference. Dr. King didn't have to give this speech yet he took a chance. Can you imagine an America where this speech wasn't spoken? While "I Have a Dream" was not the first (or last) demonstration for the Civil Rights Movement, the end result depended on the beginning.

For the end result (America today), someone had to take the first step. 

Who Am I Collage

I'm Akchita Singh a political science major who drinks too many Cokes!