Rockefeller Leadership Fellow: Chris Huberty '18

This series introduces the 2017-2018 Rockefeller Leadership Fellows. Each fellow reflects on why he or she wanted to be a part of the program and what aspects of leadership most interests them.

I began studying leadership during my first year in high school and have intensively studied it several times since. Despite my relatively lengthy immersion in leadership studies, I find that leadership means something slightly different to me each time I reflect on it. Thus, many of the particular aspects of leadership that interest me have changed, and I suspect this trend will continue as I grow older and further develop my own leadership style. Leadership is a broad topic, yet I have been able to study it from many angles to improve my own leadership style.

I think of my leadership style as a toolbox of strategies that I can employ as a leader. How I lead changes based on the situation and people I am leading. For example, when leading a mountain biking trip, I have to be direct and assertive. Only by giving clear instructions can I ensure that a trip runs safely. In other contexts, such as in my role as Accountability Chair of the Greek Leadership Council, it is more important to lead by example, effectively engage in dialogue, and work flexibly with others to develop initiatives.  Both these contexts require me to act as a leader, but how I behave in each is radically different. To effectively lead, I must choose the best tools for the situation from my leadership toolbox.

RLF gives me the invaluable opportunity to add new tools to my leadership toolbox. The program challenges me to think in radically different ways and exposes me to people with different experiences and new perspectives on leadership. I have already acquired new tools related to delegation and motivation, and I can only imagine what other tools I will add over the course of the year. RLF is an incredible opportunity, one that has already changed how I lead at Dartmouth and will impact every leadership role I take on after graduation.

Christopher Huberty ’18 grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota and graduated from Saint Thomas Academy as Brigade Chief of Staff, third in command of the school-wide JROTC Program. At Dartmouth, Christopher majors in Anthropology and Religion. He is currently writing a thesis exploring the potential influence of Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs on early Christian cults under the guidance of Professor Susan Ackerman of the Religion department. Outside the classroom, Christopher is involved with the Dartmouth Outing Club, having directed The Fifty during the fall of 2016 and later serving on the 2017 Directorate of the First-Year Trips program. He is the Accountability Chair on the Greek Leadership Council and mentors Upper Valley youth through the DREAM Program. Christopher has conducted full-time research on Egyptian animal mummies and held a Marketing internship with a Fortune 500 company, a position he will return to upon graduation.

Edited by Alexandrea Keith '20, Rockefeller Center Student Program Assistant for Communications