Voice in the wilderness
I am a house captain at my school, and after the recent athletic meet, I was frustrated and disappointed. It seemed that I was the only one working hard to achieve good results.
I have been doing everything I can for my house since September, but with little support from other house members, I have had to do everything on my own. I have been the only one willing to take on responsibilities, from buying things to calling schoolmates for help. I envy the other house captains who have plenty of members volunteering to help them.
My house did poorly at the athletic meet, as I had expected. I felt bitter, but I learned something - everybody has to work together to achieve goals. One person cannot do it alone. You have to work as a team.
Venus
From the Editor
Thank you for your letter, Venus. Teamwork is extremely important to getting anything done. But the strength or weakness of a team depends on its leader, and one of the elements of good leadership is making people feel like they're part of a team.
Leadership involves delegation and rewards for efforts, not simply doing everything yourself. The thing to ask yourself about your recent disappointing experience is whether you were doing so much you did not give other people an incentive to give you a helping hand. It is unfortunately true that most people will let you run around and do everything if you do not bring them into the team.
Susan, Editor
