As I wrote recently to our parents:

I’d like to shine a spotlight on our cross-country program, a sport that for the most part practices and competes without a lot of attention. In the lower school, we have more than 70 kids who participate in the program, and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing our runners eagerly arriving early in the morning in order to get in a practice session before school starts. We have very active middle and upper school cross-country teams as well. They can be found practicing in the park, rain or shine, with tremendous enthusiasm and team spirit.

Athletics are an important part of our overall program, as participants learn the qualities of dedication, perseverance, and teamwork. The very large numbers of or middle and upper school students who participate in our athletic program—more than 70%—is outstanding.

The link between athletics and leadership

Participation in athletics is also one way that our students develop the qualities, skills and habits associated with leadership. In every society, in every situation, in every classroom and on every team, leaders emerge. Much has been written about leadership in recent years, including the bestseller “The Art of Possibility,” by Rosamund Stone Zander and her husband, Ben, the longtime conductor of the Boston Philharmonic.

At one point Ben writes of how his views of leadership have evolved over time:

“I had been conducting for nearly twenty years when it suddenly dawned on me that the conductor of an orchestra does not make a sound…his true power derives from his ability to make other people powerful.”

At this point his focus shifted from imposing his interpretation on his players to enabling each musician to play each piece, each phrase, each note as beautifully as possible. This is exactly the same leadership that our conductors—coaches and teachers—show every day. We know our students and strive to challenge and support them as individuals as they learn and grow, all in an effort to make each student more confident and powerful.

Zander adds:

“The activity of leadership is not limited to conductors, presidents, and CEOs, of course…the parent who fashions in her own mind that her children desire to contribute, is exercising leadership of the most profound kind.”

Leaders have a commitment to speak to the passion of the people they work with, which is why we strive to embed leadership opportunities in our school and programs every day. From the rotation of classroom duties in the lower school to the speech of Senior Prefect Corinne White at Convocation, each situation is an opportunity for students to develop and demonstrate leadership qualities. As part of his initiatives as Latin’s Director of Student Life, Tim Cronister is looking at how we structure leadership opportunities throughout the school and how we support the students who take on leadership roles. Tim is working with groups of students throughout the year in order to help them be effective as leaders and as members of the community.

[—excerpted from a letter to parents, October 8, 2008]