Two months into MORT-U, the leads of our team were hand-selected by our board of advisors and mentors. From a student perspective, this was the equivalent of being selected to be part of the Avengers. Many of us have looked up to our seniors in the past who guided us in our subteams. Now, it was up to us to uphold the MORT legacy. The question in the air was what type of leaders do we want on this team? And how much potential do these leaders on the team have?
“Leadership is an action, not a position” -Donald McGannon
We asked in an interview…
What does Leadership mean to you?
What are your goals for the season?
What type of leader do you want to be?
Tech
First, we would like to introduce our tech leads to our community. Going forward, they will be the ones to impact how our robot will look going into the season whether it be externally or internally. These are the type of people who will be designing how the world looks like in the future.
Ryan Bedell (Tech Project Manager aka “Tech King”)
“I believe being a leader isn’t someone who simply leads, but also a teacher, engages, and inspires others. My main goal within the team is communication. In years past, only the leads would know what each person is doing; even then, the communication was mediocre at best. After a 1.5 year hiatus, I believe minimal communication is the last thing this team needs. Leading isn’t about flaunting power and status, it’s about subtly guiding others; I can only hope I can guide others to the point of them not even noticing”
Max Cerasoli (Design Lead)
“Leadership to me is being able to bring up others around you and supporting them. The most important part of being a leader is not telling people what to do, but to be able to trust and respect the people you are working with to achieve a common goal. Some of the goals that I want to accomplish as a leader this season is encouraging my subteam to stay on top of deadlines. The type of leader that I want to be is an encouraging and flexible one so that I can bring the best out of the members of my subteam”
Amelia Alfano (Mechanical Lead)
“Leadership is when an individual, or even sometimes a group, possesses the ability to be able to guide and influence others towards the achievement of goals. It’s important for leaders to not only guide, but motivate others as well. I want to make sure everyone is enjoying what they are doing, and communicate to them that they can come to me with any problems they may face at any time. With this, one quote reflecting what type of leader I want to be would be a leader who unlocks people’s potential to become better”
Sumeet Singh (Programming Lead)
“Leadership is the leading of others in a certain direction to help them towards achieving their goal. Leadership will guide people and keep them on a path to succeed. Some goals I have as a leader this season is to make sure that everyone is able to succeed and learn as much as they can throughout the season. would like to be a leader who is able to connect with all the members and be approachable”
Rohin Parajapati (CNC Lead)
“Leadership is having a positive influence on others, through guidance, and gaining and sharing knowledge. It is important that a leader stands with others, not above others. Some goals as a leader that I want to accomplish this season are to seamlessly manage manufacturing status, learn more about advanced manufacturing, teach others who are interested in this field, and get more people in MORT involved/interested in 3D printing and CNC manufacturing”
Hannah Jolie (Electrical Lead)
“I believe that leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to "win" as a team or an organization. A few goals I would like to accomplish this year are teaching the electrical subteam a new way to organize all wiring on the robot this year. Another goal I would like to accomplish this year is working on communication within the subteam”
Strategy
Unlike past years, MORT has also selected our strategy leads during our build season selection of leads. During Kickoff, these leads have guided the MORT team to create an overall strategy for the upcoming season. These are the type of people who could finesse the system if placed in the Hunger Games.
Sofia Murphy (Strategy Co-Lead)
“Leadership is about facilitating others' ideas and ensuring everyone feels heard and has input. As a leader, it's important to make sure that everyone on the team is happy, comfortable, and providing their best work. This year I hope to make sure everyone's ideas are heard and everyone contributes”
Aryan Singh (Strategy Co-Lead)
“Leadership is helping enable your team to succeed to the best of their ability. This can be through delegating tasks, teaching your team members, or finalizing decisions for your team. This season I want to most importantly be successful in competition. However, it's not just about competitiveness - coming up with a good strategy will also be really rewarding. This season I want to be a leader that creates a good environment where everyone can have fun while being productive”
Non-Tech
For the first time all-grade levels have been involved in the creation of the non-tech team. They will be organizing never seen before non-tech projects and laying down the foundation for non-tech subteams going forward. These are the type of people who would make the tables turn in Shark Tank.
Aswini Subramanian (Non-tech PM aka “Non-Tech Queen”)
“Leadership to me is more than showing authority and recognition from society. Being a leader is to bring people together who share the same vision. More importantly, help each individual reach their potential. My goal is to establish relationships with FRC Teams Worldwide. I want to be a leader that leaves a legacy for this team"
Izzie Alvarez (Media Lead)
“I believe leadership is the ability to guide others in an effective direction. This includes creating a space where everyone feels comfortable and has the opportunity to be heard and share their ideas without judgement. As a leader, I strive to make sure our team has an environment where everyone is able to have fun and be genuinely excited about their work. I want to be a leader that encourages people to be their best and to be proud of their work and themselves”
Amulya Kuntamukkala (Chairman’s Lead aka “your blog-writer”)
“I believe that leadership is about being a person who's not afraid to share their opinions and also be able to hold a vision for the group that they are leading. I want to encourage others to grow beyond their potential by leading them with my experiences. This year, my goals are to win beyond the District Chairman's award and create a foundation for the Chairman's team for next year”
Note from Editor:
Thank you to all the leads for participating! We will be doing a similar post later with our competition season leaders. While writing this post, I was able to really see the vision behind each of the lead’s goals and I hope it shows how we as a group view leadership on our team.
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