Elizabeth Long
I was sitting around the pond at the campground this weekend and noticed a line of ants busy gathering items to take to their colony. The way the creatures marched in succession reminded me of leadership and our traits lesson this week. According to Northouse (2013), some of the five main leadership traits are determination, integrity, intelligence, self-confidence, and sociability. Let’s look at each trait a little closer and compare it with the behaviors seen in ants.
Determination is the want to complete a task (Northouse, 2013). The team of ants were working together to move a half dollar sized cracker. Each ant took a side to lift up the cracker while others got underneath the cracker. It took them several attempts but there were persistent until they got the cracker off the ground and on its way to the rest of the family.
Integrity is defined by the “quality of honesty and trustworthiness (Northouse, 2013, p. 25). This trait was not as easily to prove observing the ants but I can imagine that the ants taking care of the babies have a great sense of trust in the gathering ants to provide for the colony by making sure that all of the ants are provided for.
Intelligence is evident in everything the ants do. The sheer construction of their home is a work of art. I can remember when I was a kid and we used to step on ant hills. Within minutes, I’d see them tunneling their way out and immediately begin rebuilding the opening. It was absolutely amazing to see how smart these tiny insects are.
Self-confidence is the certainty of one’s abilities (Northouse, 2013, pg.24). Ants seem to be full of self-confidence in the way they are diligent even when it appears to us that they will not be able to lift that piece of food or repair their home. I’ve even seen an ant take on a spider over three times its size! They were having a disagreement over claiming a dead bug. The ant was confident in his ability to overcome the spider and dragged off the bug; the spider gave up.
Sociability is a strong trait in ants. They have a huge family and everyone has their special jobs. Ants work well within their colony; I’ve never seen them fighting among each other. They seem to get along with other insects with the exception of when facing survival situations.
It’s funny how such small creatures that many of us take for granted can serve as role models in many aspects of life. Ants know how to survive as a team. They are fearless and do what they must to get the job done. Ants have the ability to work alone but always return to their colony. They socialize well with most insects and display high degrees of integrity. I wonder how many other insects or creatures of nature we can relate leadership to.
References
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Rebecca Leah Freeman says
It was very interesting reading the connection you made between ants and leadership. In fact, it was quite well-observed. I can see the determination you speak of especially with relation to ants. I think we have all observed ants at one time or another and can see how “determined” they are. And you are right. For being such tiny creatures, they have tremendous fortitude. Especially when that one kid on the playground steps on the ant mound and I suppose because of their determination they get right back at it rebuilding their mound as if nothing happened. You would think they would give up after that. All that hard work spoiled in an instant from a size 6 tennis shoe.