One of the most impactful leadership experiences I've had was being a counselor for the Leeds School of Business Women in Business Case Competition. I had the opportunity to mentor five high schoolers through a case competition around marketing to females in the NFL against the sociopolitical landscape of sexual assault allegations. In 48 hours, these girls went from strangers to friends as they put together a thorough analysis and presented their recommendations in front of a panel of three corporate partner judges. Ultimately the team earned first place and scholarship money; however, while the win was the cherry on top, it was more about the process that made the most impact on me. 

 

I participated in my first case competition my freshman year when a senior invited me to his team. At the time, I'd only been a member of a case team, not the leader. But as a counselor, my job was to mentor these girls through the process, and it was one of the first times I've experienced Servant Leadership in practice. According to Greenleaf (1970), "The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions." I was not leading because I had something to gain; rather, I wanted to help lift the girls up with my knowledge that had been bestowed upon me by other upperclassmen about cases. 

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It was also the first time I could clearly see Bruce Tuckman's four stages of group development from forming, storming, norming and performing. From the very beginning, I took the initiative to create a connection with the girls by setting up a quick 15- minute phone call to get to know them. I then made sure to sit with my team throughout orientation instead of with the other counselors to begin building the team culture. I distinctly remember our "storming" phase because the girls had been hard at work brainstorming and had just gotten their first round of feedback and were feeling defeated. They were ready to scrap all their ideas. However, I could feel the tangible frustration and advocated for a break outside where we could reset before continuing on. We were able to set a norm that while we expected everyone to work hard over the next two days, it was also okay and encouraged to take mental breaks. All their hard work paid off when their name was called for first after they performed their presentation.