One thing that my teammates and friends know to be true of me is that I love to start most of my pep talks with a quote. So, to stay true to my nature, I am starting this blog with a quote too!
‘A team is a reflection of it’s leader’ - Sunday Adelaja
After my senior season, this quote holds a lot more weight to me. Transitioning from being a younger member of the team and looking up to the seniors of the team, to actually BECOMING those seniors, is something very surreal and, honestly, a hard task to navigate. But if being a senior member of my team this past year taught me anything, it taught me just how important the leadership on a team is. Too often I feel that in the dance industry we try to be successful by coming up with the newest and most difficult skills, the hardest turn sequences, or a breakdown section from the best choreographer in the business. What I now know is that without strong leadership on your team, it doesn’t matter who you hire or what level your athletes are at, you will ultimately not be successful in the way you want. So maybe it’s time we shift our focus into building strong leaders instead of just strong dancers.
Now, when I say successful, I don’t necessarily just mean successful in the way of placement or trophies. Accolades are definitely a product of leadership, no doubt about it, but unfortunately in a sport as subjective as dance, sometimes you do have the perfect formula and still don’t get the desired outcome. So when I say successful, I mean successful in yes, the quality of routine and performance but more so in the quality of the team dynamic. When you have strong leadership on a team, your season will be so much more FUN, and honestly probably much easier as well. Strong leadership leads to a closer team. A team that is aligned in goals and spirit. A team that cares enough to put in extra work to get what they want. A team that perseveres even when they don’t get what they want. A team that, at the end of the day, you will remember because of the joy they brought into the studio each practice. And that’s the kind of team that will be successful no matter what how they do because just being a member of a team as special as that is a win in itself.
Leadership is necessary on a dance team, but how do you motivate others to become leaders and create that strong team dynamic? So many times people have told me that they don’t feel like they can contribute to a team as a leader because they are not outspoken, or aren’t old enough, etc etc. To that I always say, “Everyone is a leader.” It takes much more than just one loud voice on a team to build a strong leadership. Leaders are also the athletes who stay after practice to keep working on that one trick they can’t land. When others see that athlete putting in the extra work, they are motivated to follow suit and do the same. Leaders are also the athletes who text in the group chat after a hard practice, or the ones who bring everything in their backpack to a competition so that they can fish out snacks, bobby pins, and hairspray to the whole team. When everyone on a team can find their own way as a leader, the team will thrive. It’s bigger than just one person, or just one voice. It takes a whole team to commit to sacrificing their time and energy for their teammates, whatever that looks like for them individually.
When a team commits in that way, magic happens. A team IS truly a reflection of the leadership behind it. By focusing on developing a strong team instead of just developing a strong routine, I believe that you will likely end up with the latter in the process. And even if you don’t, I promise the season will still be so productive and so successful in the fact that the team will be so joyful to be around and to be a part of. They will be good humans and strong leaders on and off the dance floor. Honestly, what could be more successful than that? Leadership changes the game!
