Take the Lead

Leadership is a term that gets thrown around a lot, but it’s more than just a buzzword on a résumé or curriculum vitae (CV). Whether changing their neighborhood for the better or setting their sights on a whole continent, leaders make a difference.

“The nice thing about leadership is that it truly is universally applicable—it’s about working with people, problem solving, and taking responsibility for a situation,” says Dan Gaken, coordinator of the Leadership Institute at Central Michigan University. “We really encourage students to think of leadership as a skill set that allows them to affect their world. If things could be the way they should be, what needs to happen?”

Leaders Wanted

Leadership in the bleeding disorders community is particularly needed according to Ed Kuebler, a social worker at the University of Texas Gulf States Hemophilia and Thrombophilia Center.

“We currently have many strong, successful leaders who are aging out,” he says. “At a time when we lost 65 to 70 percent of our bleeding disorder men to HIV, people stepped up because they had to. But we’ve had no crisis in the last 15 or 20 years that has compelled this generation to take a stand for something bigger themselves.”

That leadership void prompted Kuebler to found Step Up Reach Out (SURO), an organization that gives 18- to 25-year-olds the skills to be leaders, with the hope that they’ll go back to their local communities and be catalysts for change.

“Young people have the feeling that the world works on its own, like we were just carried by it,” says Juan Ramón Olmos Sánchez, a 25-year-old who lives in Granada, Spain, and participated in SURO in 2007 and 2008. “We must get involved in leadership so that others like us see that there is no problem in assuming responsibilities.”

What’s In It for Me?

Taking on a leadership role can clearly help the people you work with, the people you live with, and others around you, but there may be no one who benefits more than you.

“On a personal level, leadership training, whether through a job, church or any other program, adds a valuable extra dimension to skills you learn in the future,” Kuebler says. “It allows you to manage situations with confidence.”

Through leadership training, Olmos Sánchez made friends all over the world and grew comfortable speaking in front of large groups. He’s now actively involved with his regional association of hemophilia and serves as its Granada delegate. “Anyone can be a leader if he has the will to act for other people,” Olmos Sánchez says. “The abilities can be learned, the only thing that is required is to be really interested in helping other people like you.”

Still not sure you want to take on a leadership role at your school, in your community, or on the job? Consider this: It can only help. As Kuebler says: “I don’t know of any downsides to stepping into some kind of leadership training or program.”