A Helping Hand

I'm not a bold leader, that's just not my nature. I find myself leading by doing little things. I consider my best "Leadership Experience" to be during a backpacking trip with a few other kids from my grade. The trip was not exactly voluntary, and there was one guy who was not physically fit for the task of carrying a big backpack up a mountain. Don't get me wrong, he never complained, in fact now that I'm thinking about it he in fact was a sort of leader himself, he persevered through something that was really difficult for him. However he was slow, and many times would stumble over on the trail. Most of the group was annoyed by the delay, but I thought, "hey, he really is trying." First I offered to take some of his weight from his backpack, then I stepped to the back of the line behind him. Carrying a smaller load helped him out some, but he would still topple over on the path occasionally. But while everyone else kept walking I stuck behind every time, reached out my hand, helped him up, and kept him going. I couldn't do anything to make the trip physically easier for him but I figured I could at least make it somewhat more enjoyable for him. To most I guess this doesn't seem much like a leadership story, I had no followers, I didn't organize a huge project,but I did briefly impact the life of one person and to me that's what counts, the little things.