Is being a lifeguard considered leadership?

[arresteddev]

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I mean, we have full authority over the pool (besides our supervisors/managers). In an emergency, we take full control over all of the patrons and the situation until EMS arrives. Just curious.

 

[tiedyeddog]

I wouldn't consider it leadership but I am sure you could construe it that way if you tried hard enough.

 

[235788]

its "employment - paid" or whatever the tag is now-a-days

 

[JESSFALLING]

I think the better approach, which you allude to, would be to frame your experience in the context of human life. From that standpoint, you have a lot of responsibility, and it is worth writing about. But, responsibility doesn't necessarily equate to leadership.

 

[Ashley1989]

I've been wanting to ask this for awhile. OP, get certified as a lifeguard or CPR instructor and teach some classes. Get your WSI cert, teach people how to swim. Start a swim program at your pool, if there is one in place start an adult class specifically for people who have had traumatic experiences in the water and are afraid (you would be surprised how many people are in this situation). Start an expecting mothers swim/water aerobics class, lead in service/group interviews, start a program for kids who are at a high risk for obesity and teach them how much fun exercising can be, or a swimming class for people with physical disabilities. These are just a few examples of things we do at my facility. There's tons of opportunities for leadership, but if you're talking about your generic summer position where you sit on stand and blow your whistle at kids and yell "no running" no, I don't think it counts.

 

[music2doc]

I've been wanting to ask this for awhile. OP, get certified as a lifeguard or CPR instructor and teach some classes. Get your WSI cert, teach people how to swim. Start a swim program at your pool, if there is one in place start an adult class specifically for people who have had traumatic experiences in the water and are afraid (you would be surprised how many people are in this situation). Start an expecting mothers swim/water aerobics class, lead in service/group interviews, start a program for kids who are at a high risk for obesity and teach them how much fun exercising can be, or a swimming class for people with physical disabilities. These are just a few examples of things we do at my facility. There's tons of opportunities for leadership, but if you're talking about your generic summer position where you sit on stand and blow your whistle at kids and yell "no running" no, I don't think it counts.

Some ideas here. If you go above and beyond, this could be a good experience. That said, leadership generally implies "peer leadership," which lifeguarding is not. As has been mentioned, being a head guard or manager is different and certainly represents leadership experience, although, frankly, I would hope you have stronger leadership experiences than this. While head guard/pool manager is leadership, my feeling from interviewing at a number of schools was that most applicants had much more solid experiences that head guard/pool manager. I know I didn't even mention my 6 years of lifeguarding on my application (4 of which were in management). It simply didn't strike me as that big of a deal. Other things seemed far more salient than my lifeguarding experience (e.g., building, developing, and running several different programs at my university; working with different pt populations; mentoring future leaders; working as an EMT; artistic/musical endeavors; a physical disability I have overcome; etc.). I would say most of the applicants I met along the interview trail also had pretty awesome resumes. It was fun to meet such a group of highly accomplished yet social/laid-back-appearing people.

 

[Ashley1989]

Some ideas here. If you go above and beyond, this could be a good experience. That said, leadership generally implies "peer leadership," which lifeguarding is not. As has been mentioned, being a head guard or manager is different and certainly represents leadership experience, although, frankly, I would hope you have stronger leadership experiences than this. While head guard/pool manager is leadership, my feeling from interviewing at a number of schools was that most applicants had much more solid experiences that head guard/pool manager. I know I didn't even mention my 6 years of lifeguarding on my application (4 of which were in management). It simply didn't strike me as that big of a deal. Other things seemed far more salient than my lifeguarding experience (e.g., building, developing, and running several different programs at my university; working with different pt populations; mentoring future leaders; working as an EMT; artistic/musical endeavors; a physical disability I have overcome; etc.). I would say most of the applicants I met along the interview trail also had pretty awesome resumes. It was fun to meet such a group of highly accomplished yet social/laid-back-appearing people.

It all depends on what you do. While management is nice, it could be noteworthy if a person has started programs that have changed people's lives. There's a difference between being a head guard and doing scheduling/meetings versus training your coworkers to help expand your projects and constantly coming up with new and creative ways to help the community.

 

[arresteddev]

I figured that it didn't count as much towards leadership, anyway. I've been a guard for 2 years so far (I'm just 18, so I got my certs at the age that they first allow it, 16). My boss always talks about how we're strong leaders in our facility, but I never really bought it. Getting the certs isn't very difficult and maintaining the job certainly doesn't require much effort. I could imagine a solid PS if you did have to save a victim (CPR and all), but I'm a good lifeguard and prevent that from happening 😀 I'm going to be busy this summer volunteering at a hospital and hospice, so I'm not sure I'd even have much time to devote to trying to bump myself up with my lifeguarding haha. I'd rather focus on something better/more impressive during the school year. Thanks for the clarifications!

 

[Law2Doc]

I mean, we have full authority over the pool (besides our supervisors/managers). In an emergency, we take full control over all of the patrons and the situation until EMS arrives. Just curious.

It's leadership if your job is the equivalent of David Hasselhoff's, but not Pamela Anderson.

 

[Ashley1989]

It's leadership if your job is the equivalent of David Hasselhoff's, but not Pamela Anderson.

I seriously think my boss one year was trying to turn us into Baywatch. We had these skimpy two piece swim suits that would be totally destroyed if we did a real rescue, and our red "shorts" were equivalent to the 0.0000005" inseams you see at hooters. :-/

Needless to say we got numerous complaints so one pieces are a requirement this year. Haha thank God.