To me, leadership means the courage to overcome your fears, learn from failure, and inspire others to do the same.
My purpose is to show my individuality and to express myself. My parents immigrated to this country from Bangladesh many years ago and they brought along their culture which is a major part of my identity. I used to be a high school science teacher/guidance counselor; currently I sit on the board (CFO & Secretary) of Georgia Bright Futures Foundation which is a non-profit organization whose primary function is to facilitate education tax credits and promote scholarships.
As a leader, I have learned the importance of treating people with respect and keeping an open mind. I have also learned to be more compassionate, understand when to be compassionate, and then differentiate when I need to be more authoritative. Overall, from ISBLI, I have learned that a good leader in any social work sector will stay calm, focused, on task, and can understand the importance of boundaries. To me, leadership means the courage to overcome your fears, learn from failure, and inspire others to do the same.
It is best to continually put these leadership concepts into practice so that they become second nature. One of the most important things that I have gotten out of ISBLI is that I need to become more self-aware and examine my own motivations and attitude to create a culture of trust, transparency and respect.
The team project was one of the most practical, useful and challenging experiences I have ever had. The mentoring program we developed for Al-Falah Academy was delivered by our team with an extraordinarily high level of passion and enthusiasm. It was stimulating and challenging but above all a real learning opportunity. I learned that leadership is a fluid exercise, always changing, and accommodating others to elicit their best ideas and efforts.
Through the ISBLI readings, leadership activities, and the team project, I learned what makes a great leader, and understood more about my own motivation for being a leader. Leadership is about true passion coming to life.