“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” ― Ronald Reagan
So it is not the perfect boss, the perfect dad, the perfect preacher, the perfect husband that makes a good leader. It is the one whose agenda is to make you win and achieve things. It is the one who does not only teach, explain and demonstrate. But the one who stands to inspire because he knows you could be better and even greater. Such is a leader we all want to be around with and we aspire to be someday.
I will never forget the moments I was around ordinary people whose leadership pushed me to be better in so many ways.
1. When I was working as a project manager, I was assigned to join a group and help in resolving a very critical project. As I sat in the room waiting for the president of the organization to come in and resolve the bigger issues, I thought that it was easy to blame the consultants and the fellow who made the mistake. Just then the president arrived, did not resort to blame game, addressed the critical issues and said all the encouraging words. We were tired and did not want to redo the whole thing with a very limited time frame. But I learned that leaders don’t blame. They are bold in correcting mistakes. And they work harder than anybody else.
2. When I was working full time in Tokyo, my boss listened and observed the way I did an assessment with a potential client. I did my best and was actually happy with the turn out. But during my meeting with my boss immediately after that, he reprimanded me for not following the standards and the example he taught me earlier. I reasoned that I used a mix of strategies depending on the needs of the client. He insisted that I follow standards and set up another date for another evaluation. I felt horrible because I thought I was doing my best. But I did promise to try harder and told him that if he still thought I was not ready to do such things, he could always assign somebody else. So I was so shocked when he apologized the next meeting. He confessed that he personally thought my style was actually good, even great. He told me that as soon as he left the room on the day he reprimanded me, he saw the client in the lobby, very happy and the client even expressed his satisfaction with my performance. My boss apologized profusely for insisting his way. He even encouraged me to think out of the box the way I always do. That incident made me respect him so much that I would do anything for him. I learned that leaders know how to apologize and they do it so well. They stand by their mistakes and are not afraid to make others shine.
3. When I was working as a researcher in a notable research organization in the Philippines, I became a part of a small executive team that worked on a project funded by the World Bank. It was a high profile project on anti-corruption where I got to work with the President, Vice President and a brilliant consultant. I was the main researcher. One meeting, the president needed some data that he felt I failed to deliver. It was a critical set of data and we were beating a very tight deadline. I sat there, quietly berating myself for not being good enough. I am usually confident when making a presentation but with the President and the Vice-President around, I was quite uneasy. Then the consultant who I was closely working with spoke and told everyone that it was her mistake. She overlooked the data and forgot to tell me what I needed to do. We immediately worked on a plan to find and analyze the data. We left the meeting room soon after. She tapped me on the back and said, “not your fault.” I learned that leaders are willing to take the blame on behalf of those they lead, even if it is not entirely their fault. I worked so hard on that project and endlessly admired that consultant. I thought that someday I wanted to be like her.
4. When I was asked to be part of a small team that would plant a church in my hometown, I hesitated. It turned out that the moments I spent helping Doc Joey and Ate Tess in planting VCF-Pasig (I did nothing grand, just helped in any way I could), were nothing but grand teaching moments of how it is to really lead people to Christ. We wanted to reach the biggest high school in Asia that was in the area. Doc Joey, our head pastor who is also a doctor by profession kept reminding all of us about the value of discipleship. Discipleship was a totally big word for me. But he kept telling us in the Sunday services and in meetings. But what totally arrested my heart was when I saw him actually doing it. A professional doctor who could have been earning a lot of money, would spend his precious afternoon going to the high school, giving away his own money so he could help some of the students he was reaching out to, and actually loving them in every sense of the word. I learned that leaders do not just preach and tell, they live a life of love and integrity whether people are watching or not. The more I got closer to Doc Joey and his family (I would ride their car and spend time in their home), the more I learned that leaders who don’t genuinely love won’t be able to do so much. No wonder these two have raised leaders who are doing even greater things in different parts of the world. They were even the founders of a national foundation that Every Nation supports, the Real Life Foundation.
Someday, somehow I want to be like them. And so when l lead I remind myself the following truths:
I learned that GREAT LEADERS don’t blame. They are bold in correcting mistakes.
I learned that GREAT LEADERS know how to apologize and they do it so well. They stand by their mistakes and are not afraid to make others shine.
I learned that GREAT LEADERS are willing to take the blame on behalf of those they lead, even if it is not entirely their fault.
I learned that GREAT LEADERS do not just preach and tell, they live a life of love and integrity whether people are watching or not.
I pray that God will lead me to people who lead well and that I would inspire others to be better in so many ways. And there is always something precious to learn.
littlegreatjoys 