By ELMER SOTELO
Guest Coloumist
Throughout history, many leaders have shown to be admirable for their work during their generation.
Whether it be Argentina’s World Cup squad led by renowned player Diego Maradona in 1986, or John F. Kennedy’s space race through the sixties many prominent leaders have shown to rectify expectations. It also goes to question, how such actions were achieved.
These types of achievements inspire various generations and have influenced more people to take charge and achieve greatness, yet, it seems that for the last decade, our leaders have seemed to be less proactive or less motivated to continue forward.
The flaming passion we once had is now a shadow of its former self. So now it begs the question, are we building better leaders or are our preexisting motives not as big or inspiring as back then?
Today many of the leaders who represent great sanctions have only raised tensions rather than make peace amongst all fronts. It seems the very thing many people are fighting for may lead to their deceitful demise.
Accountability itself is nonexistent, as many prominent figures have avoided the consequences of their actions. It may seem like a stretch, yet it’s a concurrent cycle with no end.
Now, you may ask yourself why is it important to build better leaders. I have seen different types of leadership coming from many different fronts. Whether it’s the many professors who’ve taught me or the several coaches that I’ve trained under, leadership can take many forms. These forms are different leadership styles and have their impact on people, the problem is, are these styles being represented effectively?
Anyone can take charge, but not everyone is meant to be a leader. Are these current leaders that we decided to influence the future, or are they the ones we decided to put in power due to social status alone?
I asked myself this question after comparing the many different leadership styles throughout my experiences in real life and questioned why is it important to continue building great leaders. It seems now that instead of investing time and effort in one big goal, the leaders in today’s society have shown to be working for their own benefit.
Personally, it’s safe to presume now is the time to re-educate ourselves on the meaning of true leadership.
It’s not to say that all leaders in today’s society are ineffective, but I believe it’s time to start informing younger demographics of the impact they wield by becoming strong leaders.
It’s a matter of how their ideas influence themselves and others to become the next big thing. Instead of feeding our time for mediocre representations, we should drive towards leaders who will advocate for their cause as if it were a religion.
Leaders who constantly preach their views and are open to different viewpoints. Figures who work towards greatness with their followers always in mind. With the right knowledge and time, we could put all our efforts into creating influential moments that inspire more to become great leaders.
This type of impact can be seen everywhere, especially in the world of sports. Many soccer stars pay tributes to their past predecessors showing how deeply former players impacted future generations.
For instance, Lionel Messi led Argentina to win the World Cup this last year reminiscent of when Diego Maradona won it in 1986. Not only was Messi influenced, he was shown what he needed to do to be able to succeed.
It is safe to say our future is always uncertain and many changes in this world occur, yet ultimately without great leaders this world would forget the greatness humans can achieve.
Elmer Sotelo is a junior business administation major from Lexington, Nebraska
