This year, the team also comprised of experienced and inexperienced players. While I have a certain level of skill, I am not the strongest player. However, my experiences at IFG and initiative to step up and guide others eventually allowed me to be selected again as Captain. Hopefully, this experience will forge me as a better leader. I aim to improve my people skills and learn more about my leadership style by taking on this opportunity.
Today was our first official training as a team of 12 floorball players selected to represent the Faculty of Science at the Inter-Faculty Games (IFG) AY 2013/2014. About 9-10 players turned up for training and we did a few drills and played a friendly against the School of Computing (SoC). Due to a lack of floorballs to train with, I took out three of my personal floorballs to share with the team.
As so many players from two different faculties (both the girls and guys team for both schools) were present, it got messy and things went missing. Specifically, all three of my personal floorballs. My teammate hit my precious hot pink floorball onto the ledge in the MPSH and couldn't get it down. This may seem really petty but it was my favourite one. I loved it so much I could never bear to use it. It's squeaky clean. But I took it out just this once for my team and look what happened to it. It's like a lucky charm of sorts. I was heartbroken :(
My neon-green floorball went missing from the hall entirely, so players from the other faculties could have taken it by accident (or NOT by accident). And my bronze-coloured one (which is actually on loan from Tembusu College) went missing as well.
Was it worth it to be so "self-sacrificing"? I could have just delegated the job of sourcing for balls to someone instead of using my own, which are bound to go missing in chaotic situations like these.
I also had to look for floorball sticks from others for some of my teammates as well, and I went to great lengths to procure equipment. I had to liaise with team managers and captains from other faculties about use of the hall and training schedules. As such, being a "leader" as a Captain may seem to be more of a managerial role where details like equipment and training plans and schedules have to be taken care of.
But do I really have to do everything on my own? This is one of the reasons why I didn't actually want to be Captain again this year. Last year, my team managers practically did nothing and I was the one handling all these responsibilities. I was bogged down by all this administrative work that I didn't have any time for my other commitments. Well, since I took on the role again this year, I must make sure things are different. A good leader can delegate work in certain situations, to capable teammates and managers. I must learn this skill instead of tanking everything on my own. Today's incident is a reminder that it doesn't have to be such a hard process.
Other things have to change this year - I'm not the only experienced player on the team. So many others have more experience and much more to offer the team. A good leader works together with his people and brings his/her team to greater heights. I must share power and not be completely "authoritarian". I must learn that I can rely on my teammates, as they can rely on me to be responsible for them.
A good leader knows when to follow and when to lead. I will learn to differentiate these moments, and take a step back when necessary.
I sent this message to them after training today:
This marks the beginning of my leadership journey for these few weeks. May I learn valuable lessons and emerge a better leader, as well as contribute to an amazing IFG experience for all of my teammates!
(posted on 21 August 2013)
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