When you receive a leadership position — be it in class, work, or other academia — you feel one or both of the following emotions, pride and fear.

Pride, because someone saw something in you which told them that you could handle the challenge. Pride, because your accomplishments and your skill set were deemed enough to earn such a title. Pride, because with your new position you could pave the way for others to follow.

But what about fear?

Fear of failing at your new position, and if you fail, your entire team fails. Fear of disappointing those around you, of knocking those expectations they had of you into the gutter. Fear of coming to that terrifying conclusion that "I'm not ready for this."

Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. You have to decide that.

Being a leader isn't easy. True, the kind of confidence needed can be innate in some people, while in others it needs to be honed and crafted. But regardless, being able to lead a group of people takes more than just confidence. It takes integrity and a strong backbone. It takes empathy and the ability to look past oneself and to your people first. It takes being able to hold the responsibilities and expectations that others have of you and shoulder it with your people.

Because while a leader holds the brunt of the load, your people are and should be the ones helping you, too.

There will be downfalls. There will be times where it seems like no matter what you do, nothing will change or get better and at times, you'll want to quit. As mentioned before, you may even come to question whether or not you're ready to be a leader. But sometimes you need to keep pushing yourself. You need to pick yourself back up and keep going, keep your head held high and accept whatever comes.

Failure is what you make of it. Being a leader is what you make of it.

Do not beat yourself up for not reaching a certain goal. Do not carry the guilt heavy on your back, instead, let it push you forward. Let it encourage you to keep going and to do better next time.

Being a leader isn't easy, but it's worth it. You're worth it.