Teedadly Tarlesson is the sophomore president for Armijo High School’s Leadership. His background as a Liberian immigrant has motivated him in his journey as a leader.

As a leader, Tarlesson strives to make sure that everyone feels included and that the people he is in charge of understand where he is coming from when making certain decisions. “I would say my leadership style is always giving a very explicit outline of what I see the vision being, but leaving enough space so that the person I am working with has space to grow as a leader themselves, so we can all bring something to the table,” he said.

There was a time when Tarlesson took a leader position when he didn’t have the “leader” title. He said it was when he was in a committee and the committee leaders weren’t really there, so he decided to step up and help the group.

As a leader, the people you are in charge of will often have a few disagreements with your ideas. Tarlesson said that he deals with this by finding ways to analyze the disagreements from both sides, seeing where he is wrong as well and thinking about ways he can improve. That contributes to his greatest perceived strength, his ability to get along with everyone.

“One thing I’ve noticed is that people will give back the energy you give to them,” he said, “so if you show up to a meeting or practice and you’re giving off bad energy or having a bad attitude, they will give you bad energy back. So, as leaders I feel like it is our job to always come in positive and ready to go and have a little pep in our step.”