By Terry Manning
The following are excerpts from notes I made for a speech to a group of young people in my hometown recently. I share them not because they say anything so profound as much as they represent how I feel about qualities leaders should have:
I believe that leadership in anything is leadership for everything, no matter what you decide to apply your talents to doing. Learning how to lead with compassion is a talent any elected person should acquire and develop.
When you are elected to a position, you are responsible for and accountable to everyone who is part of your constituency. Not just the people who look like you, not just the people who have the same interest as you, not just the people who voted for you. You are responsible for and accountable to everyone. If you are not accepting that challenge, then you are really missing the full potential of what you can do to make a difference for others.
Nearly 40 years ago, when I decided to run for Student Body President, I didn’t run to become the first Black student body president at Gaffney High School. In fact, I didn’t even know that was a thing. Our guidance counselor, Miss Bobbie Woods, came to me after the results were announced, and told me that I was the first Black Student Body President. But I didn’t run to represent the Black students. I didn’t run to represent the football players. I didn’t run to represent the English nerds.
I ran because my previous experience showed me that student leadership could make a difference in the student experience. I knew from being in student council at the junior high level that student input could make a difference in how teachers and administrators approach events. But to be heard, you have to be present.
My first task as newly elected Student Body President was to go to the principal and ask that we be allowed to have a senior talent show. I approached the principal’s office with no small amount of hesitation, but I had been given a mission by my constituents. When I told him why I was there, he replied, “They told you to come ask, didn’t they?” I answered yes, and he told me, “My answer is no.”
He proceeded to explain how the talent show was just an excuse to miss class time and would be exploited by some to find places to make out under the bleachers and others to sneak into the parking lot to smoke whatever they could find in their glove compartments. I was dejected, but he left me with this: “I respect your coming in. You knew I was going to say no, didn’t you?” I nodded and said, “Yes, sir.” He said, “That took guts.”
That made me feel better, but it also let me know the desired outcome is not the only measure of success. Sometimes a successful effort can bring its own rewards. That lesson made a difference. And those kinds of lessons can make a difference in your lives, too.
If you go back and look at the names of people who served in student leaderships positions at Gaffney High in the past, whether at the class level or student body positions, you will find people who went on to become doctors, lawyers, judges, banking executives, an honor graduate at the United States Military Academy at West Point and more. We brag about football (and rightfully so) here, but Gaffney High has a legacy of accomplishment in other areas it hasn’t even started to tell about itself.
And now? You are a part of that legacy. My being the first Black Student Bbody President isn’t about Terry Manning. It’s about the class of 1985. I didn’t do it, I only had one vote. They did it. We did it together, the Class of ’85. That’s not just my small piece of Gaffney’s legacy, that’s OUR piece of Gaffney’s legacy.
And I can’t wait to see what YOU do, both here and later to make sure your name is remembered. Remember: You don’t have to be the first to be the best.”
I wish I’d read everything I wrote. I got a little hurried and went off script a couple times. But I do believe in leadership that is inclusive, not exclusive. We work better united, not divided.
Terry E. Manning is a Clemson graduate and worked for 20 years as a journalist. He can be reached at teemanning@gmail.com.
