Leadership

Some people are born leaders, some people are bred leaders, and then there's the rest of us. This semester has forced me to consider leadership in a way that I don't think I was entirely appreciative of before now. In the past, it seems like all I remember are moments of me being the main character in some struggle to save the world, usually a zombie apocalypse, because the Resident Evil series is one of my favorites. I do remember moments of feeling completely incompetent, and in fact, it's probably a pretty equal number of moments of feeling like either the hero or the guy with the red shirt on; just another extra waiting to be cast aside. It's easy to consider yourself the leader because that's what is always spoon fed to us growing up. We will be the Robin Hood, we get the girl, we save the world, roll credits, but life doesn't play out like a Hollywood script. Dealing with people isn't romantic the way it's made out to be when we watch Harry Potter. The reality is, we are all the Ron Weasley. Every last one of us. We are all looking for that chosen one to guide us.

When I first started this project, I was completely in shock when it got picked. Now here I am, having to make the decisions about what color the side bar is and if we are using Times or Sans font, and oh yea what size font please. I've actually been multiple positions where I was the smartest, baddest motha' this side of the Mississippi (yes I sung the song to spell it), then I had to manage 3, three, THREE computer scientists, all of whom I hold in VERY high regard. Gulp. How is Ron Weasley going to deal with three Harry Potters?

This semester for me, has been about the metamorphosis from Ron Weasley to Harry Potter, going from zero to hero in no time flat. We were expected to hit the ground running and when this first project start I knew I was on the right track... then post Spring break hit, and it turns out, there isn't much a consumer would be willing to buy. Sure the framework was there and without me I don't think that would have happened. But now comes the time when we have to make a product people will buy and that was where we should have been all along. We should have been there yesterday. I should have been there 5 years ago. And that's when it hit, "you have 4 weeks to make something people want to buy and you have squat." Engage maximum overdrive, we are hacking machines. Slowly, I see that all along, everyone was just waiting for me to deliver that story that would turn everything around, grab this thing by the short hairs and make some moves, and we did.

This project has taught me about more than just working in groups. Group interaction is no doubt important, but understanding ones role in the hierarchy is as important in some respects. I am slowly realizing that people need direction. Especially in a setting like this where everyone has an idea but only one in the groups is picked. When the hand is played, the winner needs to do what is necessary. Before, I was just tricked into thinking I knew what a leader was. Now, I am the leader of a project that, without my teams help, wouldn't have been possible. And while there is always going to be things that shoulda/woulda/coulda/ been better, we managed to pull off a small victory. We worked together and we came up with a novel idea that DOES have potential to be much greater than it is. Without my team, this would not have been possible and without me this would not have been possible.