Good ways to show leadership

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
J

joy3401

New Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
What are the good ways to show leadership skills other than being a president of a club?
Members don't see this ad.
 
being vice president of a club.
 
organize a fund raiser

captain of sports team

camp counselor

tutor

its a pretty long list...
 
Members don't see this ad :)
2 words: Bake sale.
 
Be unique. And don't ask other people this question.
 
I heard that UCSF really wants to see that you've had experience in world domination.
 
gettheleadout said:
Always volunteer to be the line leader when the class takes a bathroom break.
Click to expand...

lol

-Also, become a 9K member and assistant mod on SDN

For srsly, if you aren't likely to be chosen for a leadership position on a sports team or student government (or...shudder to think....greek organization), then you'll have to (god forbid) take action to become a leader without people passively selecting you.

-start a club or student group
-start a radio program if your school has a radio station
-start a service project
-lead a team in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life
-run a food drive to benefit a local homeless shelter
-run a book drive to benefit local schools/teachers that aren't doing so hot.

Lastly, use your own brain to come up with a project that is interesting/meaningful to you. Then plan it, and do it. Open the trunk. Do it.
 
I'm the head of my local Klan chapter. This always comes up in interviews.
 
I really didn't like being an officer of a club, because the club is only as good as the people in it. I really love teaching/volunteering so that is where I get all my leadership.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Malice said:
I'm the head of my local Klan chapter. This always comes up in interviews.
Click to expand...

This is funny. Also, Malice, I loved your interview story (I think it was you?) about some guy staring you down in the bathroom and you pissing on yourself.
 
medzealot said:
This is funny. Also, Malice, I loved your interview story (I think it was you?) about some guy staring you down in the bathroom and you pissing on yourself.
Click to expand...

Nah that was some other guy. I've only had one peeing accident. It was the first time I missed the seat. There was a fruit fly that flew out of the bowl after I started and I tried to hit it with the stream. I actually got it, but there was a lot of collateral damage.
 
Malice said:
Nah that was some other guy. I've only had one peeing accident. It was the first time I missed the seat. There was a fruit fly that flew out of the bowl after I started and I tried to hit it with the stream. I actually got it, but there was a lot of collateral damage.
Click to expand...

lol, even better!

This is your post I was talking about:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=10512097&postcount=58

Full text:
Malice said:
Before one interview, I really had to go to the bathroom (number 1). So I go to the urinal and there's like two right next to each other really close together. One was taken by this other dude who was like staring at me for no reason. I was kinda creeped out and I didn't want him to see the goods, so I got in real close to the porcelain and covered everything up all nice. I had to go real bad, so I started relatively instantly and everything went wrong. It was one of those weird streams that came out in full force and in the beginning in two different directions.

Normally, it would be okay, but I was so close to where I was aiming and it was coming out with such force that it started splashing back all over the front of my pants. I backed up to mitigate the ricocheting droplets (the other dude definitely got a peak), but the damage was done. I tried to cover it up with the jacket, but it was painfully evident that I had had an accident. I tried rubbing it out with paper towels, but it just started smearing and becoming bigger. Then I tried the straddling the hand dryer with my crotch while people weren't watching, but there wasn't any time left. I eventually had to untuck my shirt out of the pants to cover it up. It didn't look good, but it was the best of the two bad options I was presented with.

I secretly hope that the dude I interviewed with reads this and realizes that I didn't intend to dress like that and they give me a decision preferably with some sick financial aid. Anyways, after this incident, I always make sure to take a long pee in the morning dehydrate during the day of an interview.
Click to expand...
 
Let's try and derail this into a bathroom story. Here's my favorite (courtesy of Reddit):

"This is my story about never going back to a grocery. There is no tl;dr for this. I will keep it as brief as possible.

I was about to complete a large shopping trip, when in the last aisle I felt like I was going to crap my pants. I jogged to the ladies room, which was on the other side of the store, next to the deli. I left the cart outside of the bathroom, and went in, anticipating that this would be brief. But no. I apparently was actually constipated. I pushed and pushed, and then learned my poop was ABSOLUTELY ENORMOUS. Like my forearm or something. It wouldn't go but halfway out. It was SO painful and my sphincter was very sad. After about fifteen minutes of pushing with no results, I began to cry from panic and embarrassment. I sent a helpless text to my husband to please come buy the groceries, but his car wasn't working and he couldn't come. I sat there another half hour, crying, while people came in and out. I hit a point where I was going delirious. There was a little string next to the toilet and it said, "Pull in case of emergency." My warped brain thought, "Ok, this is an emergency!" and I pulled. An alarm went off. About 30 seconds later a girl from the deli ran in. She asked me what was wrong. "My poop won't come out!" I yelled. "It hurts so much! It hurts so much!" She ran off to get laxatives, she didn't know what else to do. People kept coming in and out, and I was screaming in agony. Suddenly, the poop came out. Very suddenly. The relief was overwhelming. Again, with the warped brain, I didn't realize that flushing the world's largest poop would not end well. The toilet clogged. It began to overflow. The girl from the deli came in, and I said, "I'M-SO-SORRY-I'M-OKAY-NOW-BUTYOUNEEDTOCALLAJANITORI'MSOSORRY!" She tried to calm me down, but I waddled out. I grabbed my cart and walked to the front of the store, walking cowboy style because my anus felt like it had been shot by a sand blaster. Everyone at the deli was giggling as I passed, and I'm pretty sure that the cashier even knew I was the douche in the ladies room with the poop emergency. When I got home, I flopped onto the couch and said, "I am never, ever going there. I will drive further away. My anus hurts, don't talk to me, don't look at me, I never want to see people again."

I never went back. After two days my anus was back to normal. The end."
 
LuciusVorenus said:
Let's try and derail this into a bathroom story. Here's my favorite (courtesy of Reddit):

"This is my story about never going back to a grocery. There is no tl;dr for this. I will keep it as brief as possible.

I was about to complete a large shopping trip, when in the last aisle I felt like I was going to crap my pants. I jogged to the ladies room, which was on the other side of the store, next to the deli. I left the cart outside of the bathroom, and went in, anticipating that this would be brief. But no. I apparently was actually constipated. I pushed and pushed, and then learned my poop was ABSOLUTELY ENORMOUS. Like my forearm or something. It wouldn't go but halfway out. It was SO painful and my sphincter was very sad. After about fifteen minutes of pushing with no results, I began to cry from panic and embarrassment. I sent a helpless text to my husband to please come buy the groceries, but his car wasn't working and he couldn't come. I sat there another half hour, crying, while people came in and out. I hit a point where I was going delirious. There was a little string next to the toilet and it said, "Pull in case of emergency." My warped brain thought, "Ok, this is an emergency!" and I pulled. An alarm went off. About 30 seconds later a girl from the deli ran in. She asked me what was wrong. "My poop won't come out!" I yelled. "It hurts so much! It hurts so much!" She ran off to get laxatives, she didn't know what else to do. People kept coming in and out, and I was screaming in agony. Suddenly, the poop came out. Very suddenly. The relief was overwhelming. Again, with the warped brain, I didn't realize that flushing the world's largest poop would not end well. The toilet clogged. It began to overflow. The girl from the deli came in, and I said, "I'M-SO-SORRY-I'M-OKAY-NOW-BUTYOUNEEDTOCALLAJANITORI'MSOSORRY!" She tried to calm me down, but I waddled out. I grabbed my cart and walked to the front of the store, walking cowboy style because my anus felt like it had been shot by a sand blaster. Everyone at the deli was giggling as I passed, and I'm pretty sure that the cashier even knew I was the douche in the ladies room with the poop emergency. When I got home, I flopped onto the couch and said, "I am never, ever going there. I will drive further away. My anus hurts, don't talk to me, don't look at me, I never want to see people again."

I never went back. After two days my anus was back to normal. The end."
Click to expand...

This was the only part I read...I feel like I should read the rest but now I'm scared.


Plus OP...leadership is very easily mimicked, especially in premed applicants. They've seen it all before so just go out and take charge of something. Most likely it won't stand out but then again, no one else does either.
 
LuciusVorenus said:
Let's try and derail this into a bathroom story.
Click to expand...

I have two from high school. First, I was on a sports team, and we were at a competition at our most hated rival high school. So at this school, the visiting team used the girl's locker room to get ready.

We show up, ready to compete. We go into the girl's locker room; naturally there are only stalls, no urinals. I go into a stall to take a leak -- there's a huge dump in there. Disgusting. I move over to the next one. Another humongous dump. The guys on the other team had help in their crap for a day or two until right before this sporting event, then let loose in every single stall so we had no choice but to deal with their dookie before competing. I think it gave them an interesting psychological advantage.

Second, I didn't run cross country but had a few friends on the team who related this story. I could launch into a detailed description of the kid this involves, and it would add to the story but the tl;dr is that this guy shat himself during a cross country meet and didn't even realize it. At the end of the race he was walking around with skid marks advancing down his legs. It earned him quite the nick name.
 
Last edited:
start your own blog about nutrition 🙂 like me 🙂
 
Narmerguy said:
This was the only part I read...I feel like I should read the rest but now I'm scared.


Plus OP...leadership is very easily mimicked, especially in premed applicants. They've seen it all before so just go out and take charge of something. Most likely it won't stand out but then again, no one else does either.
Click to expand...
I feel like if you happened to organize and lead some huge even with like 1000+ people, that would stand out among all the "Pre-Med Club Presidents." But I don't know what exactly it takes to wow people that review applications from people that get into the most competitive schools.
 
medzealot said:
I have two from high school. First, I was on a sports team, and we were at a competition at our most hated rival high school. So at this school, the visiting team used the girl's locker room to get ready.

We show up, ready to compete. We go into the girl's locker room; naturally there are only stalls, no urinals. I go into a stall to take a leak -- there's a huge dump in there. Disgusting. I move over to the next one. Another humongous dump. The guys on the other team had help in their crap for a day or two until right before this sporting event, then let loose in every single stall so we had no choice but to deal with their dookie before competing. I think it gave them an interesting psychological advantage.
Click to expand...

This is brilliant.
 
gettheleadout said:
I feel like if you happened to organize and lead some huge even with like 1000+ people, that would stand out among all the "Pre-Med Club Presidents." But I don't know what exactly it takes to wow people that review applications from people that get into the most competitive schools.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree with that. In all honesty I believe the only way to stand out is to do things outside of something club related.

Things like organizing massive charity events or running an actual nonprofit or organizing a local campaign group for a politician will likely make someone seriously standout for their leadership capabilities. Most of the other stuff is still nice and certainly it will convince them that you're not incapable of being a leader but most of the things (even being president of some club) wouldn't make them recognize you for unique leadership qualities.

I don't understand the fascination with leadership to be honest (not just in medicine but this is a common theme in all professions). We seriously don't need or want everyone to try to be a leader. Sometimes you need someone that's good at following.
 
Become the president or dictator of a country. Any will do! 😉

1. I will be teaching classes to hospital staff (nurses, RTs, social workers, physicians, you name it) on different subjects.

2. I'm putting together a pre-medical club at my college.
 
In my opinion, the point of leadership is twofold:

1) It proves that you are passionate enough about something to devote large amounts of (often-thankless) time to it. This can weed out resume-padders from those with a real interest. Except of course when the resume-padders go specifically hunting for leadership opportunities...

2) It shows that you are good at motivating and instructing others, handling irritating paperwork, and otherwise running damage control. These are all very good skills to have as a future physician.

I guess what I'm saying is that leadership experience is important because it really will teach you useful things. Being a sorority president was much more of a headache than I ever expected it to be, but I learned a good deal about being diplomatic and anticipating problems because of it.

My advice to you would be to stop hunting for leadership experience. Just find something that you enjoy doing and then take a more active part in that thing. Eventually, you'll be doing enough to be considered a leader, and hopefully you'll enjoy the process.
 
Narmerguy said:
Yeah I agree with that. In all honesty I believe the only way to stand out is to do things outside of something club related.

Things like organizing massive charity events or running an actual nonprofit or organizing a local campaign group for a politician will likely make someone seriously standout for their leadership capabilities. Most of the other stuff is still nice and certainly it will convince them that you're not incapable of being a leader but most of the things (even being president of some club) wouldn't make them recognize you for unique leadership qualities.

I don't understand the fascination with leadership to be honest (not just in medicine but this is a common theme in all professions). We seriously don't need or want everyone to try to be a leader. Sometimes you need someone that's good at following.
Click to expand...


Something you learn from leadership experience is that leadership is not positional. The way you are saying things like "we don't want everyone to be a leader" indicates to me that you think of leadership positionally (exclusively). Someone can be "president" of a club or organization and not be a leader (I've seen it many times -- quite often w/ premeds -- the organization usually doesn't last long unless someone takes a leadership role from behind the scenes to keep things running). Furthermore, to be a good leader you must be a good follower and servant first. That follower-servanthood foundation to leadership is something people learn as leaders and it influences how they work in both "leadership" and "non-leadership" positions.
 
Start a revolution

revolution.jpg


Or become captain of a sports team.
 
I always hate when people ask this question. You shouldn't have to ask how to be a leader. You just need to get involved in something that you're passionate about and leadership will follow.
 
phnerd1105 said:
I always hate when people ask this question. You shouldn't have to ask how to be a leader. You just need to get involved in something that you're passionate about and leadership will follow.
Click to expand...
A little self-righteous, don't ya think?
 
phnerd1105 said:
I always hate when people ask this question. You shouldn't have to ask how to be a leader. You just need to get involved in something that you're passionate about and leadership will follow.
Click to expand...


QFT.

Same goes w/ the "How can I be a unique applicant" and "what are some unique ECs" threads.

687fea91677be9103defb8dc0b97e8b7.gif
 
Geneticist said:
A little self-righteous, don't ya think?
Click to expand...

How? Why ask someone what activities you should do to be a leader? That means you're just doing it to put on your app or resume. Personally, the best leaders I've encountered are ones that just got involved in this that interested them, whether it be student government, founding a club based on their unique interests, etc.

Besides, why do an activity just because you feel that you have to? Being a leader requires a lot of time and effort into that activity. You should enjoy doing it, not just do it for an application.
 
phnerd1105 said:
How? Why ask someone what activities you should do to be a leader? That means you're just doing it to put on your app or resume. Personally, the best leaders I've encountered are ones that just got involved in this that interested them, whether it be student government, founding a club based on their unique interests, etc.

Besides, why do an activity just because you feel that you have to? Being a leader requires a lot of time and effort into that activity. You should enjoy doing it, not just do it for an application.
Click to expand...


Precisely. While it's good for people to seek leadership to some degree, it really should come naturally. This follows from what I mentioned earlier about leadership being more situational than positional. Someone can walk into a club and volunteer to be a "leader" (or "officer") but the actual leadership of the organization will naturally go to the people who have been there longest, are most knowledgeable, are most passionate, put in the most time, etc. In other words, leadership happens someone is qualified to do something and others look to that person for guidance (in other words, they look to that person to "lead" them). The best examples of teamwork I have seen (and participated in) involved people naturally filling leadership roles as their talents, skills, and strengths allow. Leadership in critical situations is often dynamic with different people fulfilling various leadership and support roles throughout the process. There is often no one "designated leader" (or if there is, often that person is really more of an overall coordinator who cannot give specific guidance to everyone involved but simply acts as a point person as needed and ensures the process proceeds in the designated general direction).

The best advice for the OP is probably to get involved in something in which s/he is interested and maybe has some experience. Good [positional] leaders are always looking [either consciously or subconsciouly] for people to fill in the gaps on their team [of leaders]. If you fit that description make yourself available, people will grab you. If you do a good job with the little stuff you're given, your responsibilities will quickly grow. If you fail to deliver, you'll probably get replaced pretty quickly (either informally by someone else basically brought into to do your job or by being formally asked to step down and actually "replaced" -- the end result really is the same).
 
phnerd1105 said:
Besides, why do an activity just because you feel that you have to? Being a leader requires a lot of time and effort into that activity. You should enjoy doing it, not just do it for an application.
Click to expand...

Some people just aren't meant to be leaders, my boy. Glad I'm a leader.
 
apumic said:
Something you learn from leadership experience is that leadership is not positional. The way you are saying things like "we don't want everyone to be a leader" indicates to me that you think of leadership positionally (exclusively). Someone can be "president" of a club or organization and not be a leader (I've seen it many times -- quite often w/ premeds -- the organization usually doesn't last long unless someone takes a leadership role from behind the scenes to keep things running). Furthermore, to be a good leader you must be a good follower and servant first. That follower-servanthood foundation to leadership is something people learn as leaders and it influences how they work in both "leadership" and "non-leadership" positions.
Click to expand...

No actually that was exactly my point. I didn't say anything about positions. Clearly there are limited positions and someone is going to have to have the title of President, Treasurer, etc. However, if medical schools actually succeeded in getting entire classes full of genuine leaders, that would suck.

Also, your point on someone being a good follower...that may work for some people, but there are others that are naturally drawn to taking control. Perhaps that doesn't make them the best leader, but that doesn't mean they can't still be a good leader when given control. But that's my point...not everyone that is actually a good leader wants to serve a non-leader role. Sure, some of them are fine with that, but we can't so narrowly define leadership.

Example: Caesar was very obviously a good leader but I doubt he ever would have been content to be nothing more than a captain or even just a general in the army.
 
Narmerguy said:
No actually that was exactly my point. I didn't say anything about positions. Clearly there are limited positions and someone is going to have to have the title of President, Treasurer, etc. However, if medical schools actually succeeded in getting entire classes full of genuine leaders, that would suck.

Also, your point on someone being a good follower...that may work for some people, but there are others that are naturally drawn to taking control. Perhaps that doesn't make them the best leader, but that doesn't mean they can't still be a good leader when given control. But that's my point...not everyone that is actually a good leader wants to serve a non-leader role. Sure, some of them are fine with that, but we can't so narrowly define leadership.

Example: Caesar was very obviously a good leader but I doubt he ever would have been content to be nothing more than a captain or even just a general in the army.
Click to expand...

Where did I ever say a good leader would be content with a follower's role? A good leader is a good follower first. Someone cannot be a good leader who did not learn to follow and work with others first. Caesar grew up under his father. He learned from his father while growing up. He learned from others as well.

The best leaders have typically been in the shoes of their followers at some pt (this is obviously not true of most monarchs; however, that is an exception and, frankly, the results of that were pretty evident in how the commoners were treated -- it's also much easier to lead people in a forceful manner when you can wield all flavors of death with a simple word or two :laugh:).

People who have the ambition to be excellent leaders aren't likely to enjoy being a follower (because they have ambition), but they learn a lot from being the follower. I know I've learned a ton from being in follower types of roles because I've gotten to watch how great leaders lead people. It has certainly changed my views of leadership more than has leading others. Nevertheless, actually leading others is crucial to fully developing those skills (i.e., you can sit there all day thinking about what it'd be like to lead a team or criticizing the person in charge for their mistakes but until you're actually the "leader," you probably won't develop much further).
 
phnerd1105 said:
I'm a girl actually. But i agree with your point nonetheless 🙂
Click to expand...

Oh my fault, my fault.

Someone has to be the follower, milady. You can even identify some of them on SDN when they make threads like "how to be unique," "how to show leadership," and the ever-popular "what are some good EC's for med school?"
 
LEUNIT said:
Oh my fault, my fault.

Someone has to be the follower, milady. You can even identify some of them on SDN when they make threads like "how to be unique," "how to show leadership," and the ever-popular "what are some good EC's for med school?"
Click to expand...


Honestly, you could add to that list the dozens of posts every week asking the same question w/o taking the time to do their own homework (e.g., search/research). :laugh: Truth be told, there are a lot of followers out there. The problem is that to be successful in the real world typically requires hard work, initiative, creativity, etc. -- all hallmarks of a "leader".
 
apumic said:
Honestly, you could add to that list the dozens of posts every week asking the same question w/o taking the time to do their own homework (e.g., search/research). :laugh: Truth be told, there are a lot of followers out there. The problem is that to be successful in the real world typically requires hard work, initiative, creativity, etc. -- all hallmarks of a "leader".
Click to expand...

That's just the way it is. I think everyone eventually falls into place and into their proper roles in life, which is not a bad thing at all. Success is relative.
 
LEUNIT said:
That's just the way it is. I think everyone eventually falls into place and into their proper roles in life, which is not a bad thing at all. Success is relative.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying there's anything wrong w/ it. Just an observation, that's all. Granted, if you've worked in a hospital setting, you'll notice that the evaluations used on employees often emphasize the "leadership" qualities I mentioned. If you don't do your own homework, you're not going to get good evaluations.
 
There are a lot of alternate ways:
Tutoring/TAing
Starting a Non-profit
Volunteering experiences (head the registration table...)
Become an officer in the military/ROTC
Parenthood/Caring for children/elderly folk
Lead researcher...
 
Be a lawyer for your university's mock trial team
(like me! ^_^)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Lack of volunteering, good hours in research, leadership, and clinical
Replies
4
Views
803
Med Ed
Med Ed
R
Leadership question
Replies
2
Views
497
LizzyM
LizzyM
D
Nonclinical vs leadership question
Replies
8
Views
556
LizzyM
LizzyM
T
Volunteering or Leadership or Social Justice/Advocacy Classification
Replies
5
Views
240
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
C
Do These Activities Count as Leadership
Replies
4
Views
809
Catalystik
Catalystik
Top