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After leading an important gathering, I visited a friend and mentor. She is currently the Dean of a state’s Graduate School. Through the course of our conversations, she mentioned about how the school’s president tries his best to implement all the changes he thinks are the best as early and as fast as possible. And he is trying his best to do it within his three-year term as the university’s president.
Later that day, I was reading a Time Magazine Special Ediition where a small portion was dedicated to the discussion of Collin Powell, former US Secretary of State. It was mentioned there how he tried to impose positive changes for the best of the institution, which he once led.
I felt the surge in me. There is one thing that kept resonating in my head. These leaders made a change, and are continuously tring to make new ones in a good way and in whatever they do. They know that their term will pass. They will not forever be in that place or position or duty. But there is a principle they never depart from: they will make a difference—good ones, better ones. They will effect changes to improve the lives of the people they lead and the people who directly benefit from their leadership and program.
As a leader, I have to keep asking the same question to myself: How will I make a difference? Life is fleeting. At the moment, I am entrusted to fulfill important obligations. People rely on me for leadership, for values, for changes. I cannot be stupid or weak. I must be strong for them.
I know that I will have to leave in a matter of months if not years. I will not be here forever. But before that they arrived, I should be able to ask and suceesfully answered these questions: What changes have I done for the people I am leading? What contributions have I done for them? I know I need tangible list of those things. And I have to be committed. Two words I think dominate the idea: discipline and committment.
Related articles
- Standing Up, Speaking Out (bookstechandocd.wordpress.com)
- Leadership Worth Replicating (leadingonpurpose.org)
- Defining Leadership (Part 1 of 5) (uofcleadership.wordpress.com)
