Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby reaches out to NMS student leaders

--- Published on November 20th 2015 ---
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There’s a book for math, reading, science, history – but for student leaders, expertise doesn’t always come from words on a page.

Sacramento Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby reached out this week by speaking to the leadership class at Natomas Middle School, touching upon how she got involved in city government and key attributes of a good leader – starting with a “servant’s heart.”

“It’s really important to follow your heart, it really is,” she said, pointing out other leadership qualities as well. “I speak my mind and I stand up for myself.”

Ashby emphasized that people should become leaders for the “right reason,” to serve, rather than for prestige, fame or power.

“Because I care about my community,” Ashby said of her motivation. “That’s the only reason you should ever, ever be a leader.”

A big part of leadership, she said, is “creating opportunities and listening.”

During her hour-long presentation and question-and-answer session, Ashby said voters need to research political candidates rather than simply rely upon campaign ads. She discussed her accomplishments as a Natomas councilwoman and reasons for launching her campaign recently to replace Kevin Johnson as Sacramento mayor.

Though she now seeks Sacramento’s top political post, Ashy described her entry into politics years ago as an unplanned product of civic activism. As a young mother, she was involved in her neighborhood and in her child’s school, pushing for a stop sign and raising money for a student trip to Washington D.C., for example. Eventually, she decided that she could do more good as a councilwoman, so she ran – and won.

“Here’s the thing about leadership: It’s not always easy,” Ashby told NMS student leaders. “Everybody doesn’t always agree.”

To illustrate her point, Ashby asked the student leaders to consider what they would do if they had money to allocate – but only for one class. Which one would they choose? Would computers have a higher priority than school sports teams?

“I promise, whatever you choose, the people on the other side will be disappointed,” Ashby said.

“Here’s what is not good in leadership, to say, ‘I can’t decide, so I give up. I think the right thing to do is to solve a problem.”

People who disagree with a leader’s decision tend to be more understanding if they understand what motivated it, she said. “If you know it’s right, you have to stick with it and defend it.”

“Half of being a leader is about explaining your actions,” she said.