Who's in charge?

Five months ago I started a local writing group. There are now about 5 members who can be counted on to attend the meetings and I refer to them as the core members. This morning I learned a valuable lesson about leadership that I have probably been trying to learn all of my adult life. Every group needs a leader or very little will be accomplished.

I have been trying to push that job onto others, but apparently no one else desires to wear that hat. It looks as if I am stuck with it for as long as the group exists. Some people are born to lead, some are nudged, some fall into the role and some are pushed by an invisible force.

This month the group has been working on plans to sponsor a writing contest and writing camp for the kids who attend the summer program at our local family center. Completing important details have been dragging and I could see we were running out of time. I had asked another person to take care of them and she cleverly gave the job back to me a couple of days ago. Apparently she didn't think I would notice!

At first I was a bit annoyed, but then I decided to move ahead. After meeting with the necessary staff of the center and gathering information from their experience I clearly wrote my conclusions out and calmly presented them to my group. I then went over every detail of my findings, asking if anyone objected or had a better idea. I cannot believe how well the meeting went and how much we were able to accomplish.

As the result everyone now has a job that suits them in connection with the projects and I no longer feel it is all being dumped on me just because I am the group organizer. Perhaps I am finally learning the difference between leading and allowing others to take advantage of my generous nature. (Some people might call that my controlling nature).

As for the question who's in charge? I guess that would be me.