Leader's Greed
"Many have been said about leadership. Why not? Finding its definition is as old as time itself. People always have the tendency to look for someone to guide them. Yet only a few show up, shape up, much less step up and take the place of leadership. But there’s reason for that as well: Some leaders are darn afraid of their people becoming leaders themselves. While many may call it insecurity, I call it greed. And this is why many leaders fail. They become greedy that they see their position as a source of command rather than a place of self-multiplication. Leadership is about shipping leaders out there to lead."
Crises
"Our leadership crises today stem not from our inability to lead but from our disinterest to discover who we are."
Superstar
"If you're sick and tired of living your life in circle, there's a reason for that. Someone must have made the circle for you. Our inability to lead and live our lives better is mainly influenced by our past. We were great leaders and cheerful members of our communities until we became willing victims to foreign invaders. Back then, we pay more attention to success as a collective effort rather than individual. Today, we look at success as a game where only one person, often the leader, is called a 'superstar.'"
Or being followed?
"In leadership, there's a difference between leading and being followed. If you're leading, it means people rely on you. If you're simply being followed, it means they only comply with you. Such line is so thin that some leaders may haven't even noticed. Leadership is one of the most used and misused terminologies because most leaders make leadership about themselves rather than the people they serve."
Least important
"In today’s leadership landscape, it’s tempting to think that the leader is the most important character in the leadership story of an organization. Well, bloody no! Leadership is more about the people than it is about the leader. But why many people are hungry for a leadership position can be explained by the benefits that go with being a leader. And this gives the leader an idea about unlimited self-interests—the he or she can play god. And what power does to the leader is sometimes unimaginable from both ends. In his or her palm is a force that can be used for good or for evil. And when the leader thinks he or she is the most important character, he or she starts to think about the people as least important."
Competition
"Nobody wins in a competition. However, the concept of leadership that has been around for a long time encourages people to compete on different levels, at different times, in different styles. If you want to be a leader, you’ve got to be on top, in front, and in control. Beat everybody else and rise from the ranks. It goes on and on. Not only that, the same competitor’s mindset cascades down to the very last man in the organization. It wears down everyone eventually."
Intention
"You don’t become great by making other people’s job more difficult for them let alone make things difficult that you are the only person who make things easy. Leadership doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you’ve got an intention. There’s a difference between leading and being followed. Leading requires the leader to lead. Being followed requires people to obey. You don’t want people to simply follow you. You want them to be led by you."
"In leadership as in life, when you understand your suffering, pain will never be an issue."
"Many leaders have an obvious conflict within themselves. One day, they will ask you to do something. The next day he says, "Let me do it." That made me ask, "Why else am I here? Am I an ornament, a sort of display, or an aesthetic to fill the room? The effect of not delegating (for at least three reasons), can't be underestimated. People leave an organization because leaders themselves don't make them useful. Or, at least help them find ways where they can be useful. Meaning, leaders, is what many people look for in an organization. Do I matter here? Do you really need me? Am I really helping?"