Leading

By Katharine Wang

You can’t use a formula1. formula: 公式，這里指慣例或常規(guī)。to create a leader, or to even describe one, or to find it within yourself. But, undoubtedly, it is a question that high school students everywhere attempt to answer in a 800 word essay. Every year. Life or death. To get into college. I, too, fell into this very same trap.

When I wrote about leadership, several hundreds of years ago, I should have used parentheses2. parentheses: （parenthesis的復數形式）圓括號。around it. Some examples:

I was voted class president during my first year in high school. My contribution to politics was donut fundraising.3. donut: 炸面圈；fundraising: 募捐，資金籌集。I was not re-elected.Stupe fied, I asked for a recount.4. stupefied: 目瞪口呆的，呆如木雞的；recount: 重新計算選票。

I had no vocal importance or dramatic flair in theatre.5. vocal: 聲音的，有聲的； flair: 天質，天分。[Note: I was the one who stapled a wobbly set together that precariously hung in place with masking tape, bent nails, and faith.6. staple: 把……訂在一起；wobbly: 不穩(wěn)定的，搖晃的；set: 道具，布景；precariously: 不牢靠地，不安全地；masking tape: (繪畫或噴漆時用以遮蓋無需著色或油漆部分的)遮蔽膠帶。]

In softball, I hit my coach in the right ovary.7. softball: 壘球；ovary: 卵巢。She gave me a thumbs up8. thumbs up: 翹起拇指，贊許。while dropping to her knees. “Great job, Kat. You managed to make impact with the ball. Don’t worry about my ovary, I have two.”

Despite my nonsensical, verbal diarrhea about leadership, I still got into Stanford; it was seemingly a miracle, and thankfully not a cruel joke.9. 盡管我對領導能力的見解有些荒謬，言語有些嗦，但我仍然進入了斯坦福大學；這似乎是個奇跡，但還好這不是個殘酷的玩笑。nonsensical: 無意義的，荒謬的；diarrhea: 腹瀉，此處用比喻義。

If you oh-so-casually asked me today—oh hey, Kat, can you tell me something about leadership? —I would probably point and laugh at you.I might even try to hit you with a softball.

But, in all seriousness, the following is some of my rambling10. rambling: 雜亂無章的，漫無邊際的。notes on the subject. To inspire this, be assured that I did not have any grand epiphany11. epiphany:（對事物真諦的）頓悟。. I did, however, work for someone who is captivating12. captivating: 迷人的，有魅力的?！獁ho makes me want to ask the question and find an answer.

When I first met (let’s call her) Brill, I was in the common area at work—minding my own business, peeling a tangerine, pondering the meaning of life.13. tangerine: 橘子，柑橘；ponder:沉思，默想。She stormed in, dropped a bunch of loud (and some very creative) profanities,14. storm: v. 氣沖沖地去某處；profanity: 褻瀆，侮辱grabbed a banana and stormed off. I blinked a few times, swearing that I saw a wake of dust behind her.15. blink: 眨眼睛；wake: （船行中船留下的）尾流，船跡，此處為暗喻。

Ever since that moment, my de finition of leadership went topsyturvy16. topsy-turvy: 顛三倒四的，亂七八糟的。. I’m sure there are several types of leaders, but Brill doesn’t seem to fit any of the ones I knew. She isn’t quite the invisible leader—a leader who builds an empire that will succeed without them. But, she also isn’t the typical dynamic leader—the kind where the success or failure of a project/company is dependent on their vision.

I would drive myself insane if I tried boxing her into a style. But, I will offer a few observations based on my meetings with her:

She is uncomfortably opinionated17. opinionated: 固執(zhí)己見的，剛愎自用的。. Not in an obnoxious kind of way,but in a very decisive and clear-the-path way.18. 她不會采用令人不悅的方式，而是采用一種非常果斷的、能掃清一切障礙的方式。She comes prepared with a principle to back up her thoughts. And, she will argue until you change her mind.

She does change her mind. She is not a stubborn person. She dotes on19. dote on: 喜歡，寵愛。people who she finds capable, and who will also speak their mind.

領導力是一種誠于內而形于外的特殊品質。領導力如何，會直接影響到與被領導者的關系，最終影響到領導工作的效能?，F代社會，人們對領導方式更是見仁見智。如何成為一名充滿魅力的領導者似乎已成為一門錯綜復雜的藝術。那么在一位斯坦福大學學生的眼里，怎樣的人才會成為有吸引力的領導者呢？讓我們一探究竟。

She puts the user first; politics last. She will get on the phone, and will embarrass a senior politician for putting politics before the good of the users. I’ve seen this firsthand.

I think anyone can lead—whether a dance, a song, a story. But, only a small few can be a leader. And only a small few within that few can be a great one. From what I have observed, the key ingredient to a great leader is not a manufactured one—not one money or power can buy. It’s inherent—of truth and humility.20. inherent: 固有的，與生俱來的；humility: 謙卑，謙虛。

Brill will be the first to apologize and admit failure. She will stand in front of 10,000 of us and admit that the team screwed up21. screw up: 弄糟，搞亂。. “But, here’s how we are going to fix it.” Failure doesn’t happen often, but when it does, people admire her for standing up and telling the truth (the whole truth). She doesn’t gloss it up; doesn’t smear some lipstick on a pig and call it a stallion.22. gloss up: 使……光鮮，粉飾；smear: 涂抹，涂上；stallion: 成年公馬，種馬。

It’s not easy. Guiding a team takes up your life, as you feel responsible to each and every individual. It can keep you up at night, ruin your dinners, and take a toll on23. take a toll on: 給……造成重大損失。your relationships.But, if you hunger to make a difference, you better start throwing that softball.

Hi readers! Call me Kat.

I’m a writer and reader enthusiast; a native Harbin-er; a current tech geek in the Silicon Valley; an unapologetic food-lover and sojourner. Above all, I’m a romantic. If you’ve read my other stories—Been There, Done That or my previous ELL column—I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

My goal in writing, especially writing for you, is to bring a bit of happiness. As Roger Ebert spelled out: “We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health,our circumstances. We must try.”

So, keep calm, and read on!