A blessing in disguise

At Texas ChalleNGe Academy, one of our eight core components is leadership/followership. Each week, cadets from each platoon are selected to be squad leader, a position that is held for a week. This person is responsible for one of the squads in his or her platoon.

Every two weeks, two cadets from a platoon are selected out of the squad leaders to be a platoon guide. This brings more responsibility as the PG and the APG are in charge of their entire platoon. Eventually, two first sergeants will be selected from the platoon guides to be in charge of the whole company.

I have had the opportunity to be both a squad leader and a platoon guide, and something I have learned is that you have to deal with disrespect. I have learned that disrespect is a powerful thing and can easily bring people down. Often, it can destroy a team.

CS Vela often speaks about how important it is to respect whoever is in a leadership role and to not let others make us mad. For me, this means even when I am not in the best mood, I need to listen to the one giving direction and think about how my attitude affects others. When I am in a leadership position, I also have to respect others.

All of us here at TCA will have the squad leader position at some time or another and learning how to follow orders as well as give them is so important for our teams to be successful. So, while getting leadership positions can be stressful, they are also a blessing in disguise.