Jim Korba Leadership Style

One leader whom I admire the most is my old cross country and track coach, Jim Koterba. Mr. Koterba, I still call him that from first having him as a Social Studies teacher in middle school, had one of the most challenging jobs I could image from a leadership perspective. Most people think of business’s and corporations when they think of management, but many forget that those guiding our youth everyday are just as engaged in leadership than any corporate executive. I’ve been able to view Mr. Koterba’s leadership from many different perspectives in my last 8 years of life, from a student in his classroom, to a runner in his running club and eventually cross country team, and even as a friend. The first think one needs to know to understand a leader is his character, and to understand Mr. Koterba’s character you need look no further …show more content…
Koterba has worked as a seventh grade social studies teacher at the same school since 2004, and was the head cross country coach and assistant track coach at the nearby high school for six years. Anyone who has had experience teaching the middle school age bracket would tell you that it is extremely challenging, especially in a subject so… let’s just say tedious as social studies. But Mr. Koterba always made class fun, he always engaged his class and got the shy/quite kids to engage back without forcing them (I can attest to that personally). But this is not what makes Mr. Koterba a great leader, it’s what he does above and beyond the job description. I was always one of the shy kids, and I had problems making friends having moved from one school to another, however, Mr. Koterba invited me to join the running club he started, and from that many friendships and opportunities blossomed. That is what makes Mr. Koterba a great leader, being able to read his students and athletes and help motivate them towards being the best they can be, even when the don’t think they can or when they need to be pushed slightly in the right