Leadership in Events
As I consider the impact of events on the community, I’m reminded that bringing people together requires leadership and managing expectations of everyone involved. I view this responsibility as crucial to the outcome of any event and leadership comes in many different forms. Here are traits I value in a leader when it comes to events:
They make decisions.
This mostly affects the event staff, but in my experience , unless people know specifically what they’re responsible for, they’re usually looking to someone to make decisions, not look for a consensus or hem and haw about things.
They show appreciation.
Event staff work hard. Really hard. I know the flurry of activity that happens in the lead up to an event start and many things go unseen. A leader who recognizes how much they don’t see, and not only tells but shows appreciations, develops a strong team.
They adapt to change.
In marching band in high school, any time we performed, my band director had a saying “any given Saturday.” This was intended to encapsulate all the things that could possibly go wrong during a performance and our ability to adapt and move on was guided by this principal. It applies to events as well. No matter how much fine detail planning is done, there will always be hiccups and issues and the goal should never be to eradicate them, but to mitigate them in an almost invisible way.
They wear their heart on their sleeve.
This doesn’t mean they’re emotionally erratic and uncontrollable. It simply means they show their humanity and model what it looks like to manage their emotions. When I work events, I want to see that my leaders care and persevere.
They smile.
For those of us who suffer from resting b*tch face, we know how much of a struggle it is to ALSO fix your face while handling competing priorities. A smile will always make leaders more approachable and friendly, even if they’re saying the same words without a smile.
What traits do you value in your leaders?
