As stated by John C. Maxwell, "a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way."

During the past few months, our country has been absorbed by two individuals who are fighting to be the leader of the United States. In doing so, they have each worked to portray themselves in ways which they feel most people want to see them. To do this, they take what they feel are positive traits about themselves and go out of their way to try and make others see what they are talking about. These two individuals strive to take charge. However, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have missed one of the most important aspects of being a leader: listening to the critiques from others, and using those to better themselves instead of thinking that they already carry all the traits they need to be an effective leader.

Being a leader is more than just taking charge and telling others what to do. Being a leader involves not only creating your brand, but also becoming it.

So, what is your brand?

A brand is something that encompasses who you believe yourself to be, as well as how others think of you. It incorporates personal values, unique attributes, and a personal mission. It consists of the message you put out and how consistent you are about keeping that message. In being a leader to others, it is important to distinguish yourself and create a personal brand. This personal branding is essentially an ongoing process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others about who you are.

Although being the president of the country is a huge leadership position, there are many other areas in everyday life that involve leaders as well. Being that I am a student striving to one day be a nurse, it is my goal to become a successful leader. I hope to be someone that works to not only be an inspiration, but also someone who is able to create more leaders along the way. In order to do so, I have become a member of Gwynedd Mercy University's Evolving Leadership Program. In addition, for the past four years, I have been an officer for the school's Voices of Gwynedd choir group. Every day, I strive to be a leader in many areas of my life. What I have recently learned though, is that being a leader deals with both how I see myself, as well as how others see me.

I can admit that there are aspects about my personal being that I need to work on, but I also feel as though there are traits that I possess that are positive as well. At the end of the day, though, it doesn't only matter how I see myself. In order to be a successful leader and inspiration to others, I also need to take into account how others see me,both good and bad. As an attempt to learn how others see me, I created a short survey in which I ask people about positive traits and areas that I need to work on. I ask that people share their opinions of me. However, I ask that it is done in an appropriate and kind way. I do not mind positive critiques, but I ask that people shares their opinions in ways that will not intentionally hurt me.

Anonymous survey can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GZ78RDZ

For those that do not know me on a personal level, I would like you're input as well. Although you may not know what traits I currently possess, I can guarantee that you know what traits a leader should and should not demonstrate. For that reason, I created a second survey for interested readers to fill out. In this survey, I am looking for general positive and negative traits that a leader should either have, or stay away from.

Anonymous survey can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KF7H6GT

At the end of the day, success is not a one-man job. Instead, it takes help and direction from others. It takes learning about yourself, both through your own eyes, as well as other people. It is my intention to reach success, but always accept help along the way.

Thank you!