Don't be afraid to fail and other leadership lessons shared with Hiland High students

BERLIN TWP. − What does it take to be a leader?

Hiland students found out recently through a series of presentations from area business and community leaders themselves.

From Hummel Insurance Group's Christie Mullet who spoke about resiliency, to the Rev. Steven Anderson's message on not being afraid to fail, the speakers all shared important qualities of leadership.

Company leaders passes the torch:Wooster's family-run Bogner Construction still thriving as fourth generation takes over

Other guest presenters included Keim President Jim Smucker, Jocelyn Hamsher of Toward the Goal Ministries, Ross Yoder speaking about addiction, and Andie Raber on trust.

Hiland High School guidance counselor Noah Boyd arranged the leadership seminar and brought in the speakers.

Lessons on leadership taught in first grade

Marcus Yoder, director of the Amish and Mennonite Information Center, kicked off the event. He spoke about growing up Amish, yet he still managed to go on to college in his 30s and 40s, earning a master's from Yale.

Yoder said he learned a lot about leadership in the first grade.

"Being a Yoder, when we lined up in alphabetical order, I was always at or near the end of the line," he explained. "What that taught me was when it was my turn to step into something, I was supposed to step into it. It also taught me there is an order to life and people are worth something."

He talked about respect being earned and how it comes back to you.

"When you treat people with respect, you give them the opportunity to be who they are," Yoder said. "If you are a leader and treat a person with respect, it gives them the opportunity to become a much better person."

Messages of inspiration

Mullet used a rubber band to illustrate the importance of being resilient, stretching it further and further, and showing how it returns to its original shape.

She said when bad things happen, it is important to recover and grow from the experience. This helps build resiliency.

"Don't be afraid of bad things happening in life," Mullet said. "We're all human. We're going to face bad things. Learn to be flexible and adapt.

"Community and connection with people is a must," she continued. "Life is too hard to do on our own. We need people to help us get through it."

She noted a positive mindset helps, and so does taking care of yourself.

Smucker stressed the importance of practice and training, and how he applies that to his ultramarathon running. He said practice simulates the stress of an activity and helps prepare for the event.

"People often ask me how I can run 100 miles," Smucker said. "I tell them one step at a time."

He added that growth is found outside of one's comfort zone, and advised students not to fear what seems to be impossible or be limited by your own mind.

"We make choices in life, and sometimes, as a result, life gets difficult," Smucker said. "There is nothing we can do to not experience difficulties in life. That doesn't get any easier as we get older. Many come about because of the choices we make.

"When I run into difficulties, I try and stay in the present moment with the confidence that eventually the opposite's coming; that life will get better," he said.

Don't fear failure, build trust

Anderson had the students try to build a high tower out of spaghetti, marshmallows, string and tape to help deliver his message about not being afraid to fail.

He pointed out that it's OK to fail, as long as we learn from our mistakes.

The construction experiment has been used with CEOs, engineers, lawyers, business school students and those in kindergarten. The kindergartners generally do best, because they are willing to try and try and try again, where as older, experienced people often have to re-learn how to fail.

Raber spoke about the importance of building trust and, using a bucket challenge, demonstrated how trust can be gained.

He displayed two buckets with blankets over them and asked who among the students is afraid of snakes. He then asked for volunteers willing to reach in a bucket and pet a snake.

When he got four volunteers, he handed the first student a bucket and asked him to reach inside while assuring him there was no snake in the bucket. After much trepidation, the student stuck his hand in. The bucket was passed to the next student, who was much less afraid to try.

The bucket was passed down the line where it was eventually revealed that a stuffed animal was in it.

Raber explained it would have been easy to break trust had he lied, and a snake was in the bucket.

The students also heard about addiction from Ross Yoder of Toward the Goal Ministries, not only to drugs or alcohol, but to things, such as cellphones or video games.

Mentoring and the important role a mentor can play in a person's life was the topic of another session.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Hiland students learn leadership lessons 'one step at a time'