Being a Leader
Author: Lauren B. / Editor: Ariana W. / Photos: Chapter Provided
Leadership, whether titled, title-less, or otherwise, is an important aspect of all stages of life, and it’s a trait that Madison W. knows well. A junior in Delta Zeta (DZ), she serves as their current Vice President of Philanthropy and has served in the past as the chapter’s Assistant Vice President of Philanthropy and as their Greek Relations chair. Outside of her chapter, she has consistently been involved in Dance Marathon, a student-led philanthropic movement designed to raise money for children in need of specialized medical care.
In regards to her current executive board position within DZ, Madison explained “I like how open the position is; it’s a lot of flexibility and creativity.” As Vice President of Philanthropy, she organizes events and delegates the many tasks that need to be completed for those events to be successful. Delegation plays a vital role in her leadership style, which she described as “taking people’s talents and putting them to use.” This is especially true for large-scale projects that involve hundreds of people and thousands of dollars. Not only does Madison help her team by empowering them to complete tasks and goals that align with their strengths and incorporating them in the ideas process, which typically consists of a lot of communication, brainstorming, and idea boards.
When asked to give advice to people considering applying to a leadership position, Madison had a lot of wisdom to share. Making sure you have time to lead is essential for team success. This is especially true in larger organizations such as a Panhellenic sorority where you’re putting in work to your office specifically in addition to aiding the success of the executive board as a whole. The ability to take criticism is another important leadership quality. Madison explained how she’s a “do it, learn it kind of girl” who is always looking for ways to improve. For example, after many successful events, she still puts out a suggestion form to find ways to help her team improve for the following semester. This ability to take criticism and learn from past successes and failures in turn helped the organization as a whole to thrive and grow.
Leadership isn’t always easy. Despite all the planning and preparation that she puts in her positions, Madison discussed how things can still suddenly go wrong. She gave the anecdote of how on the day of one of DZ on the Block philanthropy event, one of the food trucks called her and informed her that they had a flat tire and thus would no longer be able to work the event. Instead of panicking, Madison quickly found a solution and saved the day by ordering pizza. However, not all obstacles have such an easy solution. As a STEM major, Madison described how in some of her classes, she’s one of the few women there and has to work harder to overcome the implicit assumption that women are somehow unfit to be leaders. Her experiences of surprises, biases, and hardships have cultivated her leadership motto of “adapt, react, and go with the flow.”
When considering her past and current positions, Madison summarized leadership as “a lot of work, but so rewarding.” Her favorite part of being a leader was not the skills she learned, the recognition she received, or the power she gained, but rather the experience of “seeing all the pieces coming together and realizing the impact you can have for something bigger than yourself.”