Leadership of the Heart

April, 2016

This one has been sitting in draft form for awhile.  Hunter would have graduated this year. 

Gladstone Schools in Michigan has a pretty special band director.  She leads from the heart.  She is an inspiring person who also lives with heart - an avid ice climber, mountain climber, and over-all independent free-spirit, who never lets her MS get in her way.  

The other day in the lounge Gina, the band director, told us about an award she was creating to honor an 8th grade band student with special qualities.  It was in memory of one of our 8th grade students who passed away this year.  Hunter was a special guy - a member of our Boy Scout Troop as well as my Science Olympiad team.  He was born with half a heart and other than his small body size, you would never know it.  As a 6th grader, he joined us on many ten mile hikes, keeping up with all of his buddies. He participated in all of the camp-outs and was a part of our Science Olympiad team that was able to compete at the state level at Michigan State University. He had an infectious smile and always seemed to like everyone.  

Gina, in explaining her award, said there are four kinds of leaders.  The first type of leader is the "Control Freak". These are leaders who lead solely because of the power and control they can exert over others.  This type of leader has no business being a leader.  The second type of leader is the "Perfectionist".  This is the person who leads because they think they can do it best.  When others don't perform to their expectations, they just do it all themselves.  This person should not be a leader, and will likely burn out anyways.  The third type of leader is the "Cooperative Leader".  This person is able to motivate others to work together to accomplish a goal.  This is a good type of leader.  However, the best type of leader is the "Leader of the Heart". This is the person who inspires others to be their best, to do for others, and expects no recognition.  This is the type of person who will stop to help a racer who is hurt, losing the race themselves, rather than see the hurt person as their chance to win the race. Not only do they motivate others to do their best, they inspire others through their selfless acts and by putting others first.

Leaders of the heart are inspiring. Leaders of the heart are rare. Hunter was that type of leader.  Gina inspires her students and all of us to be that kind of leader.

Thank you to all those "Leaders of the Heart" that are out there, doing your best to make the world a better place!