Whilst I was completing the 2.5km hike, the capability I improved on the most was leadership. This 2.5 km wasn’t easy and was a challenge for some people. People had to face some challenges, like their legs being tired, the creek being hard to cross, and most of all, motivation. This caused us to move quite slowly as a group and we started losing light. I noticed this and decided to step up and make something happen to make us move more efficiently as a group and make us get to our destination on time. To do this I went to the front of the group, and took charge as the leader. I knew that the only way we could all be faster is by doing something at the front as the leader. I started off just walking faster, and I thought this was all we were going to have to do, although quickly I realized that this wasn’t going to work perfectly on its own. This faster pace was tiring out my group more causing them to not want to walk at all, this is where we noticed our key issue, motivation.

I realized that being a good leader isn’t just leading the group from the front and leaving everyone, but caring about the person at the back who might be struggling at the same time. Before I was just walking and ignoring everyone behind me thinking if I am fine they will be too. This was the main source of demotivation. I saw this and decided to change what I was doing, I would slow down in parts that were more difficult and encourage from the front, also stopping to encourage someone facing a challenge so that they didn’t feel like we were leaving them behind. Out of many capabilities, this hike really helped me grow my leadership and made me realize what the true characteristics of a leader are and how I can work towards being a good leader myself.