"The Truth Behind Leadership" (Essay)

This is an essay I wrote from a prompt by Institute for Excellence in Writing that asked how I "strive to be a leader". My topic of choice was the importance of diversity and representation in children's literature.

Prompt: President John Quincy Adams observed, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” In what ways do you strive to be a leader by serving and inspiring others?

The Truth Behind Leadership

When you think of the word “leader,” what is the first image that comes to mind? Perhaps you imagine a king or an emperor, someone who has total power and control over a group of people. Maybe you picture someone a bit less commanding, like a president or the head of a company. All these people are skillful in government and management, but they are not necessarily leaders. A true leader is someone who motivates and encourages others to reach for their dreams and develop to their full potential, someone who doesn’t directly tell people what to do, but rather energizes and excites them. Anyone can be a leader, if they have an open mind and willing heart, and I would certainly like to inspire others in such a way.


The first step in becoming a leader is to identify an issue you see in the world around you—or experience yourself—and how you can stand up against it. You could decide you are frustrated with the way animals are treated, or sick of watching bullies torment kids at your school. I have encountered many of such problems in my daily life, but one in particular has stood out to me time and time again over the past few years.

I’ve been reading books since I could write my name. Fictional stories have always had a way of capturing my imagination like nothing else can. When you need to escape reality for a little while, books provide the perfect hiding place. An issue that I often find in them, however, is a lack of diversity in the cast of characters. The reason most readers become hooked on a story is because they can identify with the main protagonist—but sometimes that sort of connection is simply not possible because children, teens, and adults in minority groups often have trouble finding characters in books who represent them.

To many, this may not seem like much of a problem. After all, if a reader is white, for example, they’re used to having the privilege of seeing people like them portrayed in the media, and they often don’t take notice of the lack of representation of other races. However, it is extremely important for everyone—especially children and young teens—to be able to identify with people they look up to, whether they’re real or fictional, and it doesn’t just affect the minority group—others can be influenced by seeing variance in characters, too. If a little girl picks up a storybook about knights and princesses, it is likely that the knights will be depicted as strong, courageous, and kind-hearted, and the princesses as lowly, submissive, and reliant on others’ help. In every story the girl reads, the characters possess these same traits, and that’s what she becomes used to. She grows up in a society that tells her that women are worthless and dependent on men, and even if she learns better when she’s older, part of that mindset stays imprinted in her for the rest of her life. On the other hand, a little boy could read the same stories, and gain a false sense that men are always braver and tougher than women, which can and will lead to sexism, self-hate for not acting “manly enough," and an assumption that he has control over girls. If all of this is rooted from a simple children’s story, there must be an easy way to change it.

As a leader who has recognized an issue, the next step is to figure out how you can bring about change. My personal goal is to write stories and books for children and teens that inspire and connect with them in the same way my favorite authors have written novels that strike a chord in me. If I can educate and influence someone, even if it’s just one or two people, from something that I write, perhaps they will then go on to do the same for others in their own way. It’s a chain of events that leads to the world becoming aware of an issue, and it all needs just one spirited and determined person to start. Most people don’t expect simple things like books to change their lives. They can, however, whether through subtle messages or a more major statement. All it takes is a tiny spark to start a wildfire. 

John Quincy Adams also once stated that “courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.” A leader’s job is to bring about that courage in the hearts of others and inspire them to persevere and achieve what they want. This is what I hope to accomplish someday, even if it just affects a few people. A leader doesn’t need to be extremely famous and popular with everyone—a leader can be anyone who is brave enough to take a stand for what they believe in.