Classroom Wisdom.

I'll be finishing up my undergraduate degree in Public Affairs this spring, and I could not be more excited about that! One thing I am not very excited about though is going to my leadership class every tuesday and thursday. As you may or may not know, Public Affairs (much like political science) is a major that is full of "Type A" personalities- of people who want to be lawyers, work in government, and even run for political office. The people in my leadership class are no exception. In fact, given the structure of the class, there always seems to be competition to be the most effective "leader" of the group. When I was in grade school and high school I thrived on academic excellence, on answering questions, and being singled out and put into classes for "enriched" and "gifted" students. I was confident in my abilities and I always lead group projects.

But things are different now. I've realized one thing, I am a leader among followers, but a follower among leaders. It was easy for me to take the lead and feel confident about my leadership when no one else jumped at taking the lead. But in my class, with every member of my group chomping at the bit to have things their way, I feel much more comfortable just sitting back and doing what I'm told. This is evident in my horsemanship as well, I have a right brained horse who needs leadership and rarely challenges me for authority. I feel comfortable settling into the role of leader for my horse. I am interested to see if I ever own a more dominant horse if I would have trouble maintaining leadership..(Hmmm!?...)

All in all, I think having "savvy"means having the ability to decide when to follow and when to lead, when to apply pressure and when to release. It's a balancing act, but it makes us better, more centered horsewomen in the end- and it obviously spills over into every aspect of our lives!