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Over the last few weeks, I have tried to make listening to TED talks through my phone app more of a priority. There is a function called “Surprise Me” that allows the app to randomly select a video from its database after you have chosen the category of the talk and also the time length by five minute increments. It’s a great feature that helps me to find new videos that fit my immediate interest and schedule.

Last week, I listened to a talk by Drew Dudley named “Everyday Leadership.” He describes a story where during his college career he unknowingly helped an incoming freshman girl from dropping out of college and also finding her soulmate and soon to be husband. The story is only made known to him because that same college girl approached him four years later right before his own graduation and describes the impact that he had on her. However the only thing is, he cannot recall this incident occurring in his own memory, where he simply joked with her for a minute and connected two strangers . From his talk he describes that leadership is not only in the extraordinary accomplishments but should be celebrated in every capacity.

In the PLA, it is so easy to get caught up in the accomplishments and accolades that many of our students have received. Truly, it is no small feat to be able to run a student organization; help build models and crafts to enter into space; or start up a company with little more than an entrepreneurial spirit; and here it is easy to recognize the leadership. Drew Dudley’s talk however asks that we acknowledge the seemingly small things in leadership like helping a friend through a difficult day with the same emotion. It is important to understand that leadership can be used in any scenario, even when it feels personally insignificant. It is for more than those that have been trained or pre-determined as leaders. There is leadership in everyone.