My leadership word 

I’ve had a lot of signs lately that have been pointing me towards leadership, from conversations with great leaders around Houston County, to seeing my mother deal with (not so) great leadership at her job, to attending the Robins Regional Chamber’s annual meeting. One of the things that stood out to me at the meeting was the Robins Leads Class of 2023.

During their graduation ceremony, each emerging leader was tasked to describe their leadership superpower in one word. It was extremely inspiring to hear each one and see how they apply it to their leadership style. It got me thinking: I’m an emerging leader as editor. If I had a leadership superpower, what would that be? 

My first thought was detail. As editor, the final product I strive for is one that looks good, reads well, informs and entertains. To ensure this, I go through every detail, and while some things do pass by me, most are caught before the final copy hits the racks. 

The second superpower I thought of was communication. This was my major in college, and I do enjoy storytelling and connecting the community, it always warms my heart to hear someone say “I saw this in the paper.” 

But I think after much deliberation and reflection, my superpower is adaptability. Life is going to throw curveballs at us, we know this to be true. And no day is more apparent than the day I wrote this; Not once, but twice, my tire has blown on the way to work on the most crucial days of the paper: press day. 

This is the day where we edit everything and prepare it for layout, as well as design the layout for the front page. This is where I truly get creative: I’ve edited stories broken down waiting for a tow truck, and even set up shop at the tire shop writing emails and editing on my laptop.

In the meantime I was in constant communication with the team and we still managed to get the paper out. In fact, I wrote this column waiting for a tow truck while my tire was blown on the side of the road. The battery died too; when it rains it pours. But we always come out okay.

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