Congrats on your boost, I guess...

That stretch between the “Jeezy Crezzy” break and the “It Is Still Winter” break is notorious for a multitude of reasons. It is a strange brew of apathy, sweaters, downtrodden behavior, ice scraping, complaints about the non-uniformity of weather, sleep deprivation, and nostalgia for snow days of yesteryear. With the exception of the final two weeks of classes during Spring Quarter, there isn’t a point in the academic calendar where we don’t want to reside in this higher ground. That being said, our predecessors, in their infallible wisdom, decided this was the time when we held special little meetings in our various organizations. For, in the midst of the most depressing time of the year, we determine who will receive yet another hit when they Google themselves. These fresh additions to the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology website will first address a group of like-minded individuals in these special meetings for an extended period time to increase the substance of a one-page summary of their lives, albeit a very cleverly crafted one-page summary. In these meetings, these individuals are voluntarily attempting to increase the practically unwarranted activity of an exclusively extracurricular variety.

Now, I am not arguing about the placement of elections for our various organizations. It provides an opportunity to let the new guard learn from the old guard, while said old guard still can visit daily. If elections were later in the year, then my fellow seniors might have to be a little more responsible. It is us, the apparent survivors, who understand that our ability to be irresponsible for extended periods of time is rapidly losing its usefulness. Furthermore, I am not trying to suggest that clubs or organizations shouldn’t have officers in the first place. Anarchy is sort of a silly concept; there has to be a person to run meetings, a person to collect money, a person to plan events... The main topic I would like to address in this medium is the reason why a person would run for an elected position at this school.

The first and most common reason I have heard to run for an office is to add “leadership experience” to your résumé. What exactly does the term “leadership experience” mean? Although I haven’t passed the bar, experience is a simple word to define. However, what is this leadership word all about? If you enter this term into Google, you will get 150 million hits, with 62.5 million results as the title of a book. Obviously, we seem to care a lot about this word. In my opinion, leadership is an ability to affect the actions of others by your own actions. With that word defined, the majority of these officers that are currently being elected are simply task accomplishers. At least half of the positions simply exist in order to perpetuate their existence. There we go. If you are an officer that doesn’t affect the actions of others, then you are not gaining leadership experience. If this is true for yourself, all you are doing is creating additional tasks to accomplish.

I am sure if you are still reading this article you are thinking about the offices that you held (or are currently holding), and the validity of them. In order to determine if you held a leadership role or simply accomplish additional tasks, ask yourself the following question: if you wouldn’t have held the position, how much different would the organization currently be,” also known as “the ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ test.” Assuming competence of the person who would have held the position beside yourself, would things be drastically different in your organization? Unless you can give a list of changes that you brought about to your organization during your tenure, you can’t claim to be like Mr. George Bailey. Even if you can claim a Baileioan importance, how much of that difference was only due to your efforts? For, if all the changes brought to your organization were only due to your direct efforts, then you are simply a task accomplisher. (Though, it should be noted, that a person can affect the actions of others and not bring about changes to an organization.) They are gaining a type of leadership experience, one that promotes complacency and discourages ingenuity, a type of leader in which the identity of the leader is inconsequential to the organization. If you have gotten to this point, you are probably expecting some grandiose finish. Well this is my best attempt at it. Leadership experience isn’t something that is guaranteed because you win an election; the only way to truly lead others is due to your own efforts. Outstanding success in this aspect of life is a rarity, but so is everything else.