Armstrong Essay

[thecadet]

I've been wondering about the "Describe leadership mistakes you have made and explain what you learned from them" Armstrong essay. By leadership mistakes, does that mean  something like describing micromanaging or does it mean a situation that you have fallen into due to personal leadership flaws?

[davidsinn]

I've been wondering about the "Describe leadership mistakes you have made and explain what you learned from them" Armstrong essay. By leadership mistakes, does that mean  something like describing micromanaging or does it mean a situation that you have fallen into due to personal leadership flaws?

[coudano]

Interesting I think the prompt used to be, leadership mistakes you have made or witnessed
I wonder when that changed?

Anyway yes, mistakes you have made.
If you are a chief, and you haven't made at least 3 mistakes between C/AB and now,
then you're doing it wrong.  Micromanaging might have been one of them, if not, then something else.

Nice 5 paragraph essay format:

Intro
Mistake you have made #1 & lesson learned
Mistake you have made #2 & lesson learned
Mistake you have made #3 & lesson learned
Conclusion

[thecadet]

Ok. How is this for a start?

Fears Aside

Of all the mistakes in leadership that I have made, there is one that has influenced me more than the rest. It happened when I was a sixth grader. I had recently read the book, A Child Called It by David Pelzer. When I read this book, I thought, how can anyone do something so horrible to their own child? Little did I know, it was happening to one of my friends.
   My friend, Jack, had been bullied since he had moved to New Lenox 3 years prior. I'd met him in 5th grade. No one stood up for Jack when people called him "gay" or "queer" or various other slurs and swear words. Many people just ignored it and went on with their lives. Jack was a nice kid. Jack rarely fought back.
   In 6th grade, the bullying only got worse. He would wear the same plain white tee every single day. It looked worn, dirty, and had holes in it by December, the same time I read that book. I started to see connections to David from the story and Jack. My suspicions only got worse when Jack told me that his father would hit him and his stepsiblings would bully him too. I knew what was going on. But no matter how many times I wanted to tell someone that my friend Jack was being hurt and beaten, I always convinced myself otherwise. I never told the teacher, because I had a fear of being wrong. If he's being abused, why doesn't he tell someone? I thought. It never occurred to me that he probably felt the same way I did about being bullied: that teachers only make things worse.
   I was right about Jack. In 7th grade, his father tried to strangle him, but Jack was strong. Jack fought back. But it pains me knowing that I could have helped him. What kind of friend are you if you don't help your friends when they need you most? I had to watch Jack struggle with cutting and depression. I've watched Jack struggle with Facebook requests from his abusive father. I've watched Jack struggle with repeated bullying. But I've also had a chance to help Jack. One day, there were some girls sexually harassing Jack during a presentation. I made him come with me to the guidance counselor, and she made sure that the four girls got disciplined. They haven't bothered him since.
   I learned from Jack that we cannot let our fears of being wrong get ahead of what we believe is right. I've also that we have the power to change another person's life.