What makes a successful leader? A successful leader can be defined in many ways: someone who works at a company and leads a small team, a person who runs an organization and is called the CEO, or someone who serves as the head of the household.

Despite the different titles, successful leaders can be anyone, including you and me. Leadership can be seen in multiple facets and multiple settings. The critical part of leadership is it’s always dynamic. There are not certain parameters that define what makes a successful leader. Today, the challenge is for you to figure out your own definition of leadership. How have you demonstrated leadership and how are you going to grow as a leader? Most importantly, don’t confine yourself to a set definition, you can always change and adapt until you become the leader you want to become.

At the Eccles School, there are many leaders among us. Caroline Daley is one of them.Daley is a senior in the marketing major and will be graduating in the spring of 2017.

“I have demonstrated leadership by helping support others as much as I can. Working in a variety of group dynamics, leading doesn’t always infer that someone is dominating over the others; in fact, it’s the one that is willing to keep an open mind for others. Everyone can be a leader, but being a great leader takes time and experience,” Daley said. “This is why I tried to be as involved as I can to support groups all over campus so that I can learn how to be lead by others, but also be a leader myself.”

Her statement exemplifies truly how great of a leader she already is. She understands that leadership isn’t innate and that with practice, she will become the leader she desires to become. That’s what great leaders do. They change and adapt.

Melanie Zeng, majoring in marketing, is also a great leader.

“Leadership plays an important role in my Eccles Experience. I organize guest speaker events and site visits for members of the International Business Club as an event coordinator. I led my team in Adobe Analytics Challenge and guided my team members in marketing analytics during the competition. I am also the leader for many course works, such as a marketing analysis case and capstone projects for statistics class and marketing research,” Zeng said. “My understanding of leadership is to give a clear goal and direction to members, divide tasks based on different talents of individuals and monitor and help with the efficiency of the process during a project.”

Her Eccles Experience in leadership is extraordinary. She sets a major example that many students should follow because she is not only a leader in organizations and clubs, but she is also a leader in the classroom.

Today, I want to encourage and motivate you to think about who you are as a leader and how are you going to work to become the leader you want to become. Be courageous and lead with all your might! That’s leadership.