Leading with a Heart and Mind

How do you define a “leader”?

The one that’s in position above everyone else?

The one that gives orders?

The one that just got promoted?

The one that you call “Sir” or “Ma’am”?

The one that has a prefix on their names?

The one that studied MBA in Harvard? or in MIT? or in Standford?

The one that sits in his or her own office, with a secretary, and goes into every meeting scheduled for him or her?

Or it can be that someone who gave you the task you’re currently doing now?

What is really a leader? And how should be a leader doing that one thing he or she is “assigned” to do.

How should a leader, lead?

These past few weeks or months I guess, I’ve been inspired by the things I realized, observed, and questioned about leadership. And I just want to let these words out there in the wild…

Of the things I mentioned above, none of them is my definition of leadership.

For me, it’s not about how many MBAs and PhDs you attained or wherever premier University you got that from that defines you as a leader.

A leader for me is someone who leads with a heart and mind.

Sounds a bit Wurtzbach but, yes.

A leader is someone who has ears that can listen and responds sensibly,

…someone who has eyes that can observe and for see things and not just points out what’s wrong, but better yet form solutions to the problem or for the problems that will arrive,

…who has the hands that can tap you at the back and say “Good Job!”,

…who has the sensitive mouth to let you know your mistakes but undoubtedly corrects them for your sake and improvement,

…who has the arms to welcome your questions, doubts, disappointments, and fears and embraces them by making you feel that failures are part of growing up, it has always been..that they, too fail sometimes and it’s normal and they accept it,

…who has concerns in his members or team because he or she understands that they are the “bread and wine” of the project,

…who the team sees as their morning coffee,

…who inspires the team and is inspired by the team to do better, and if not, do the best

…someone who sees imperfection in his team but strives to make it perfect, or atleast. No one’s perfect anyway.

Not all leaders out there can do these things. But this is somehow how I see leadership. A leader is not just someone who leads but leads with a heart and mind.

For the sake of the organization, everyone must work together.

The success of an organization is dependent not only in its leader but also in the foundation that was built under it.

I believe that the foundation of any organization relies on the hard work of people under that leadership.

Though, a leader is hard to find.

Others can call themselves leaders and I believe the everyone can become a leader, but not everyone leads with a heart and mind.

Have a nice day!