Unlocking Leadership
By Rep. Kristi Noem
April 3, 2015
President Ronald Reagan once said, “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”
Leadership isn’t about you. It isn’t about being loud or a showman. Leaders don’t look for credit; they find victory in creating a meaningful change. They unlock opportunities for those around them. They start each mission by listening and learning. They tap into the potential of others and focus it on a common goal, a worthy purpose.
On April 8, I will hold my second annual Lead Now! Youth Leadership Conference for high school juniors and seniors. Here, students from across the state will have the opportunity to learn from those who help unlock South Dakota’s potential – in everything from science to academia to social media and more.
What impresses me most about each of this year’s speakers is their proven ability to inspire other people to do great things. Each leads by building, rather than destroying – and that’s a much needed example of leadership in today’s culture.
Our Founding Fathers did the same thing. Colonial leaders didn’t inspire Americans by focusing on a defeat of the British; they asked the American people to fight for freedom, independence, and representation – principles that still inspire Americans to do great things today.
Consider the Declaration of Independence. Yes, it contains a long list of grievances against King George that made clear what the American people were against at the time, but few of us could recite more than one or two of those grievances today. Instead, we remember – and many can still recite – the sentences our Founding Fathers chose to begin that document: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Inspired leaders – including the leaders who will be presenting to students at the Lead Now! conference – focus attention on the values they fundamentally support, whether it’s greater equality through social media, opportunities for South Dakotans in science, or the pursuit of happiness.
Our state and our country will face some tremendous hurdles in the coming years – hurdles that could define a generation. We will need strong leaders who look beyond their own capabilities and wrangle the potential of others in our community and our country – leaders who focus on building, rather than destroying – leaders who recognize that the greatest leader is one who gets the people to do the greatest things.
My hope is that the Lead Now! Youth Leadership Conference plays a role in inspiring our next generation of leaders. I wholeheartedly believe South Dakota’s young people carry with them great potential. Once it’s unlocked, I know they can change our world.
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Kristi Noem a known intellectual innovator and true leader in the US House of Representatives. A true and consistent Conservative!
Bahahahaha! It’s funny because it’s not true.
Her Facebook and twitter page are like a reality TV show. Look at me 24/7. Selfies, every family activity, everything she does.
I have a lot of respect for John Thune who gets the job done and doesn’t always scream look at me I need your attention 24/7/365.
I would think a leader should value privacy or not singing your own praises 24/7.
i’m guessing you actually hate thune too. enjoy that respect then.
Many of these youth will soon find themselves on a college campus. Explain how to lead through a “dual” process that is finding a home on many of our campus administrations. Specifically, the UVA / Rolling Stone incident.
The Congresswoman seems to forget, our Founding Father’s destroyed the British through many long years of brutal combat on land and sea. They persevered under extremely adverse conditions with the goal of freeing their fellow man from the tyranny of out of control government. Congresswoman Noem has been a moderate her whole career in politics. She has assisted in the growing of government in SD and DC. Saying one thing and doing another for the sake of political preservation is not leadership.
it’d be simpler if she did her work with a gun like the founders, wouldn’t it. oh wait then we’d be at war in a civil war. i’m guessing she’s a pretty good shot, maybe we should be at war then. reagan always said that politics comes from the barrel of a gun. oh wait, that was v.i. lenin. awww, then it’s better if she just keeps making long series of procedural votes that lamebrains can keep taking out of the larger context and the content of her overall work record. it’s slower but less bloody.