Real leaders seek to serve, not command

I recently read the article about Rodney Boyd Jr. being denied the class presidency despite working for it by Neuqua school officials who did not consider him qualified to stand in the elections. The boy who received write-in votes from fellow students believes it was because he refused to take up secretarial duties and is launching an aggressive campaign against the perceived injustice.

We often forget the way to leadership. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King never held any office or presidency and yet they were undisputed leaders. They often faced injustices and often demonstrated against the system but their goal was to serve the people and not to seek position power for themselves. So anything the system or those in authority did against them automatically stood out as injustice in the eyes of all people. This power was placed in their hands by the people only for resolving their shared problems. Even if they faced the same end faced by all rebels, their efforts made lasting changes in the system.

Rodney Boyd Jr has a choice. He can become a lackey trying to become a leader through the system. He can become a rebel, spoiling relations with the school and ending what could be a bright career. Or he can look in the mirror and ask, "Why do I want to become a president?" If the answer is to serve the people, he must understand, you don't need to be president to serve the people, and the existing president or authorities cannot prevent him from doing so. The write-ins show that people are waiting for him to serve them. If the answer is "I want position power, its perks and followers to do as I command" he will soon understand real leaders who change the system are those who seek to serve rather than command.

Kalyan Krishnan

Woodridge