I think this was the longest two days of my life.  I never thought I would visit a place that takes almost 40 hours of travel to reach.  So far, the language barrier has gotten to me the most.  It makes me uneasy when I can’t completely understand the message someone is trying to get across because I want to make sure I understand them clearly.  When getting breakfast this morning at the New Delhi YWCA, I was hesitant to ask questions because I wanted to make sure I was communicating clearly and that I completely understood what they were saying.  I don’t like feeling like I’m missing something, especially if it seems like important information.

When it comes to cultural aspects, everything about India will make it a different experience for learning about leadership.  The way people live their lives here is just completely different from the United States.  When we were walking to the restaurant for lunch in Dehradun, I was expecting to see drivers slow down maybe a little bit when they saw a group of people (albeit foreigners) trying to cross the street.  I was not expecting, however, to hear them announce their presence with a horn and continue to fly down the street.  Personally, I think the cultural differences as a whole, the dramatic differences between the U.S. and India, will make it challenging for me to learn about leadership.  I feel like leadership style is heavily influenced by your culture, so there might be some butting of heads when leadership styles don’t align.  Specifically, I think gender norms will make it more difficult to learn about leadership because India follows a more conservative belief of gender roles than that of the United States.  There might be those who doubt someone’s ability to lead based on their gender, and that’s not encouraging for leadership development.

I believe that leaders are both born and made, but what stands out the most is what shapes you into the leader you are, and I think this trip will put that to the test.  Experiences make the leader.  You can’t lead without having the skills gained by experience.  This, to me, is like nature vs nurture.  You become a product of your environment, so the people you look up to and see as mentors are the influences on your personal leadership. Self-development and self-awareness are key factors for becoming an effective leader.  You have to be introspective and really work to improve yourself which I think is one of the hardest parts about being a good leader.

I think the hardest part about being a leader is the responsibility.  Even if you share leadership roles and you all contribute equally, you’re in charge of making decisions that affect everyone in the group.  I feel like this could be a heavy weight on the shoulders of a leader because they have to navigate difficult situations while keeping the best interest of the group in mind.  And, while considering all the factors and possible consequences, a leader has to remain levelheaded and accountable.