360 Degrees is a series about Volunteer Leadership written by Group 134 TESS volunteer, Bradford Reszel. Bradford would love to hear from you about your experiences with leadership and your reading of this series. You can contact him at bradford.reszel@gmail.com.
Bradford Reszel, 134 TESS
As I finish my Peace Corps service I have often reflected on one of my favorite things about being a Volunteer of any kind: it doesn’t end. With Peace Corps, when we leave our host country we become Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. While our service to the people in our communities officially ends, the impact of our service truly begins and gives all of us an opportunity to pursue the Peace Corps’ third goal: to increase American’s understanding of other peoples and cultures.
To meet that goal, and to meet it continuously throughout the rest of our lives, we will have to continue to lead. In this series we’ve talked through the power of the symbiotic relationship between leadership and service. Leading is serving and serving is leading. As RPCVs, we all will continue to lead in 360 degrees, coming full circle back to our lives in the States.
Many of us will come into roles where we lead down, guiding others as their superior or having experience to help us teach and train. Leading down is not about dominating from a high place of leverage but actually bearing the torch for others to find their way. All of us coming back home will join the vast community of RPCVs and have an opportunity to practice leading across. Leading to one’s peers can be awkward but having the common ground and using that foundation of trust will give way for all parties to lead as needed. There’s no limit on the number of leaders. Finally, we will come back and have to embrace leading up if we really want to fulfill the Peace Corps’ third goal. Friends, family, bosses and others will be interested in our experience abroad but surely we will run into some misinformation and skepticism of our service and our host country. This is when we lead, friends. Meeting the challenges to our experience from those above us will be the most difficult situation but we should be confident in our skills and abilities to talk openly and factually about our experience. We can do this knowing we have each other as our foundation of support.
Lead up, lead authentically, lead with facts and compassion knowing your service had impact and continues even after your time in-country is up. Lead across knowing the community you have been a part of building within the ranks of Peace Corps Volunteers here in Thailand and around the globe. Lead down understanding that you are inspiring future leaders with each and every move you make. Lead to all levels and be willing to be led by all levels. Lead in 360 degrees.
Sticky Rice 