What Defines San Antonio's Leaders?

As we've frequently discussed through our previous posts, San Antonio is a vibrant city with endless avenues of culture, diverse communities, and a rich history. Our goal in conducting interviews with professionals across the city is primarily to amplify the voices of local leadership. It's important, then, to identify what exactly makes a leader in San Antonio?

Leadership is, naturally, an abstraction that comes in many forms. A term so subjective can't be applied as a "one-size-fits-all", but in our specific community, certain prominent features tend to stand out amongst current city pioneers.

Tower of Americas, photographed by Justin Wolff

Perhaps most importantly, San Antonio leaders exist within the context of the city's multi-culturalism. By this nature, San Antonio leaders must be locally attuned. Leadership does not occur within a vacuum. The leaders of San Antonio are not simply influential in regard to the vague concept that could be called our city, but they are influential in your neighborhoods, your stores, your roads, your schools and places of work. There are real communities and experiences behind the constituents of a leader, so their methods of leadership must reflect this.

Not only is cultural fluency important, but leaders must also be self-aware. The same way a public bus-driver needs to be aware of all of their blind-spots on the road, a leader needs to be aware of all potential shortcomings. For this reason, most sufficiently self-aware leaders have a team, or some sort of feedback system. For all the strengths a person might have, there will be areas in which they fall flat. Knowing what these areas are and knowing how to handle any issues that may arise as a result with grace and dignity is vital in any leading role.

Antorcha de Amistad, photographed by Carl Hunley Jr.

Finally, a leader must be a forever-student. As our host, Cedric D. Fisher--a community leader himself--mentions during every episode of San Antonio's INFLUENCE, "leaders are readers". While it is literally true that many great leaders are often bibliophiles, there is a larger takeaway to be found. A leader is constantly willing and able to learn. Adaptability is a major asset when faced with any kind of setback, and being learned makes hard pivots much easier to handle. Leaders also tend to be models of growth, and examples of open-minded, influential people who are receptive to new information, means that local communities can see this and emulate it.

Being a leader isn't a cut-and-dry role, and anyone can be a leader. There are many different kinds of leaders from all sorts of varied backgrounds and communities, but what's important is that they recognize their influence and strive to do right by their communities.