LIVESTRONG

Our country is full of leaders between politicans, acotrs, singers, athletes, doctors, lawyers, and the average citizen who may lead a girl scout troop or a club in the high school or college. The leader I am about to share has not only been a success on the bike path, but an inspiration in the health field, Lance Armstrong. US News and World Report ranking Armstrong as one of the best leaders in America in 2008.

Athletically, Lance Armstrong has won seven Tour de France competitions while suriving cancer. He gives his winnings from races to his teammates, saying that he could only win with their help. He is a good leader on his team, and is not cocky or over confident. He is thankful for the opportunity to be able to bike.

Not only does he cycle, he also tries to raise awareness and money for cancer through his Lance Armstrong Foundation created in 1997. Chances are many of you have worn his rubber yellow bands that say LIVESTRONG. In 2005 over 55 million livestrong bands were sold. His accomplishments and the amount of people he has influenced have made him a leader and he continutes on giving. Armstrong is a democratic leader always seeking influence from his team. At just 25 years old he was diagnosed with cancer, but has now survived and raised over $14.4 million for cancer research.

Armstrong exhibits a few types of power including reward power, and expert power. Reward power is exhibited because Armstrong provides followers with things they desire, such as connections to doctors working on cancer to find a cure. He also exhibits expert power because he provides other bikers and cancer patients with advice and information. He seems to be a democratic leader because he states that he likes to hear from the people he works with, and is a flexible guy. I have no doubt that if a decision that he feels strongly about needs to be made, he may turn into an authoritarian leader.

My favorite thing about Armstrong is his attitude for life. He has a go-get-em, never quit attitude which carries over into all of the work that he does. I admire how he has been through so many traumatic events, yet retains a positive attitude. Here are a few quotes which display this:

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.

“I have a very hard time being around pessimism and negativity. I can't ever imagine walking into a room or a meeting and saying, "Well, we can't do this." We may not do it, but damn straight, the whole time, we're going to believe we can do it.”

As much as I researched, I literally could not find any flaws that he had as a leader. I am not doubting that there isn’t one, but I am not sure what it would be and do not feel capable of identifying one.

Lance Armstongs succeeds not only on the Tour De France but in his efforts as a cancer advocate. His dedication to helping other makes him an inspiration to many. He is an advocate for people affected with cancer, and is undoubtedly doing everything he can to find a cure.