Senior Abby Carlson gives insight on how her idea of leadership has developed at DGS. Carlson is a member of Peer Leaders, Blue Crew, JKB, ACE and is also a PE leader.

Q: What makes leadership difficult?

A: “I think the hardest thing about leadership is the fear of being looked at differently or kind of taking the road less traveled almost. I guess other people’s opinion of you when you try and step up in a leadership role and not seeming like an authoritarian. You don’t want to be mean and heavy and in charge of people, but [you have to find] a good way to have the balance of being in charge and being with them and on a common ground.”

Q: Do you consider yourself outspoken? Do you feel that led you to leadership?

A: ”I would say no. I don’t feel like I’m outspoken, but I feel I like being in different leadership clubs and having different leadership opportunities gives me that extra step to be able to voice my opinion. So not necessarily feeling outspoken, but it gives me a place to put my leadership into action.”

Q: What do you achieve by being a leader?

A: “I feel like mostly just knowing that I’m leaving an impact on other people, it makes me feel good. The goal is to help other people and make other people feel good, whether they’re just feeling more comfortable, or whether they just feel like they have a little more confidence to be able to like be a leader in their own situation. So I think mostly for me it’s just trying to use the skills that I’ve obtained, and then make that mark on other people.”

Q: Do you like leading or do you feel expected to be a leader?

A: “I sometimes feel like it’s expected of me, but I also feel like I really enjoy it. I have an older sister, and she’s kind of gone through similar stuff as me; she’s a gymnast, she was in some of the leadership clubs I was in, but I’ve also branched out and done some stuff that she has never done before. I definitely [think] my sister was the one who helped me start that passion, but then I kind of found that I really enjoyed it, so I took it and branched out doing it.”

Q: What are the top three important qualities of a leader?

A: “I would say empathy — just always understanding what other people are going through, and understanding how people work best. Some people like a leader up front and some people like a quiet leader. I would say respect, sometimes if you’re a leader you can get caught up and think that you’re better [than someone else], so definitely having that mutual respect from the people you’re leading.

“I would say honesty, I feel like that goes for a lot of things but especially leadership. If you’re not being honest with them or with yourself, then you cannot expect them to listen to you or actually follow what you’re doing.”