Highschool Tips | Memimpin Organisasi di Sekolah

Mendapat kepercayaan memimpin organisasi di sekolah seperti OSIS, eskul olahraga, musik, hingga keagamaan adalah tantangan yang membuat masa muda kalian lebih seru!

Kalian bisa belajar dasar-dasar kepemimpinan, bisa mengenal berbagai jenis orang, dan yang lebih penting belajar memegang kepercayaan  dan tanggung jawab.

Simak sharing tentang leadership dalam organisasi sekolah dari Nicolas Benjamin, Prasmulyan angkatan 2014 dan alumni SMA Santo Aloysius Bandung.

Things I Wish I Knew

When I was in the 11th grade, I got a marvelous opportunity to lead a student organization. It was an amazing and unforgettable year. Having said that, I know that I had made a couple of mistakes back then. The good news is that I learned a couple of things from that experience. That lesson, added with the ones I learned here in Prasetiya Mulya, made me realize how avoidable those mistakes were. I wish I’d known better.

Since I cannot go back in time to tell my younger self those lessons, I’ll just tell you guys so you won’t do the same mistakes I did.

The first lesson is about energy management. Yes, energy management. I’m willing to bet that you guys have heard some tips about time management. However, energy management is just as important as time management, if not more important. The key is having a clear priority and sticking to it. Focus more of your attention to the task that matters most. Your brain has its limits. When you push yourself too hard to accomplish too many tasks at once (to save time), you will become exhausted and either end up wasting even more time or lose quality (maybe even both!). It’s also essential to take care of your health. You cannot manage your energy if you don’t have any.

The second one: stress management. You have your academic performance to manage. You also have the organization you’re leading. There’s also your social life and love life — and the fact that you’re raging with hormones doesn’t really help either. You need to have a healthy outlet to relieve yourself from those pressures. Have a friend you can talk to. Read a book. Exercise. Meditate. Whatever works and doesn’t hurt anyone (including you). The point is, stress is certain, but being overwhelmed by it is avoidable.

The two things above are more tips for yourself. I put them first because you would not be able to lead an organization if you cannot even take care of yourself. Now on to the next stage:

Strategy and tactics. Let me sum this one up using this quote by Sun Tzu in his book The Art of War:

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Strategy is the long-term plan for success, while tactics is more of a step-by-step execution to achieve that success. Both are equally important. Unfortunately for us inexperienced leaders (including me), we often forget about the strategy. We only do the organizational activities as a routine, and end up going nowhere. Don’t fall into this trap. Every once in a while, take a step back and think of the long term goals you have. Make sure that everything that you do supports that final purpose.

Last but not least: risk and mistakes. One of the mistakes I made was that I was too afraid to make one. The problem is, mistakes are bound to happen when you’re in high school. The fact that I avoided risk like they were plagues just made it worse because it prevents me from taking any. It also made me freeze whenever I encounter any problem because I was severely unprepared. Don’t do this. Doing your best to achieve is good, but it doesn’t mean that one mistake is going to be the end of the world. High school is a place where most mistakes are still tolerable. Use that to your advantage. Take risk and learn from your mistakes. Everything is going to be okay.

There you go! Four tips to survive and even thrive as an organization leader when you’re in high school.

Simple as they seem, they are hard to implement, so never underestimate them. Do keep in mind that these are just the beginning. You can learn so much more from other sources — and of course — experience is the best teacher. Good luck for you and your organization!