Sat With Ree: How To Be A Good Leader

On Monday, May 9, we are going to cast our vote for our chosen candidates for the 2022 National Election. We are going decide who are going to be the next President, Vice President, Senators, Governor, Vice Governor, Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Councilors, Members of the House of Representatives (from district and party-list groups) and Members of provincial boards. Some have already decided who they're going to vote while some are still weighing things. 

In choosing a good leader, what are your considerations? What are your deciding factors in choosing your candidate/s?

For me a good leader is someone who has the credibility to to lead people. He/She should already have experience/s when it comes to leadership. He/She should be trustworthy and should be open to tell the public what we're suppose to know. No need to sugarcoat things. We deserve to know what is happening to the nation.

To be a good leader, you must be willing to listen to the concerns of other people. You must be willing to take advice from your subordinates. It doesn't mean that just because you're a leader your opinions or decisions are always right, and you expect people to follow every thing that you tell them even if it's wrong. You can't know everything. On the other hand, one of the things that I am looking for a great leader, is someone who won't be easily influenced by other people. He/She must not be easily manipulated. There's definitely a fine line between listening to other's suggestions and knowing whether to follow them or not. 

As a great leader, you should be able to stand your ground. As long as you know that what you're fighting for will contribute to the betterment of the country especially to people, it doesn't matter whether you don't get support from others. People choose you in that position because they know that somehow you could make their lives and the society they're living in even better. So, as a chosen one you should be able to give to the people what you promised to them when you were just trying to win their heart. A good leader shouldn't only be good with their promises, but you should be able to turn them into reality.

A good leader must have a strong confidence in terms of his/her abilities to lead. Because how can you make people believe that you can if you don't believe in your own capabilities?

A good leader must be fully equipped with his/her duties and responsibilities. He/She should know how to prioritize other people. You most certainly have an idea about the big responsibilities that you're going to face the moment you decided to run for that position. So, you should know how to balance your personal life and your political life. You shouldn't let your family interfere with your responsibilities as a leader.

A responsible leader must be well-rounded. He/She should not only focus on a single problem. Poverty isn't the only problem of the society. The country is facing many challenges and problems. There are still other issues that should be acknowledge and need attention. To be a good leader you must be able to identify the main cause of these problems. Because it's a lot easier to cut off something if you know where it is coming from. 

To become a great leader is to become fearless and courageous when it comes to fighting for the things that can help with the progress of the country and its citizens. 

A good leader must never use his/her position only to gain power over anyone. A great leader must never use his/her power for personal motives. Never run for a position just because other people told you to do so. A person must never run because other people are using him/her for their own personal interest. A true leader must never be a puppet of others. You shouldn't let others dictate what you're supposed to do, especially if it won't add any good to the society.  If you run for a certain position, your whole heart and being should be dedicated to it. Because if not, you are most probably won't be able to fulfill your duties. You are only fooling the people if your heart is not set for public service. You are only going to fail at it, and most especially you are going to fail your fellowmen who gave you their full trust. As a dependable leader, your priority should always involve helping other people. Your intentions should always include creating solution for a specific problem not worsening the problem. 

A good leader should be physically, emotionally, mentally and of course spiritually strong. He/she should be well prepared with whatever challenges he/she might encounter in the course of his/her leadership. Not all those who are going to be proclaimed new leaders are liked by everyone. There are at least 20% of the population who won't vote for you simply because they don't like you. There are probably some who are only waiting for you to make mistakes then they will start criticizing you and throw rocks at you. And if you are not strong enough to handle them, you should definitely not run in the first place. It is also possible that some of the people who are supporting you now are going to be the first ones who will condemn you with your one wrong move. And if you will get easily discouraged with their negative opinion about you, how can you be able to do your job. You should be prepared for all the criticisms that you are gonna receive because there will be a lot of them. You must be resilient to withstand whatever negativity people are going to throw at you. You should be tough to be able to last.

A great leader must have a concrete plan on how he/she could possibly execute all of what he/she promised to people. It should not only be about enumerating all the problems that need to be solved, but there should also have laid-out plans on how he/she could possibly solve these problems. It's not merely knowing about the whats, but a great leader should also know the hows and whys of the problem. 

A great leader must posses a brilliant and creative mind. He/she should know how to act and think quickly. To be a good leader is to always have a plan and a back-up plan in case an emergency arise. You never know what you are gonna face in the course of your term, so you should already be aware of those unexpected occurrences and you should know how you are gonna deal with them just in case. Like what he/she is going to do when calamities came, or how he/she is going to deal if this covid-19 pandemic began in his/her term. He/She should have already learned from the previous leaders. So, he/she must already know by now what should and shouldn't be done. 

As a true leader, you must not wait for other people's praise and approval. I mean you must do the right things whether you get enough credit for them or not. Like when someone proposes a certain project that will highly benefit most people, you must give careful consideration about it. You must not think whether or not that certain project will be complete within your term. Your concern should focus on creating possible solution for a certain problem. You most likely thought of a possible solution to some of the problems that our country is currently facing that's why you decided to vie for that position. So, while you are in that position start taking steps on how you could possibly solve these problems. And the next person who will going to sit in that position should be able to continue the already good thing that you started. At the same time, the already good changes that the previous administration did should continue. There should be a sustainability and consistency. Because if the coming leader will desire to change everything just because he/she doesn't like the previous leader (personally), one term won't be enough. As a virtuous person, you should be able to separate your personal issues.

Most importantly to be a good leader, you must be surrounded with reliable people. You should have a common goal which is to make the society and the lives of most people better. And even if at times you won't meet eye to eye, you should be able to set aside your personal differences. You should help each other instead of pointing fingers and finding faults with one another when something bad happens. When the situation is already out of control, you should provide each other with possible solutions on how you could alleviate the damage. If you are always going to criticize each other, nothing good will happen. You should be willing to help and lift each other up.

A good governance is based on the unity among people and their leader/s. If there is no unity, people will only find ways on how they could possibly drag each other down. 

People nowadays are extra in terms of supporting their chosen candidates. To the point that they are willing to fight with their friends or even with their relatives if they are betting for different candidates. They are willing to jeopardize their relationship to other people. Others go to a jam-packed campaign rally only to show their support to their candidates. We are still in a pandemic, so as much as possible social distancing is still required, but others are willing to risk their health. I don't have anything against them, though. I mean, it's their health after all. What I'm trying to say is that people are willing to sacrifice the important things in their life only to show their support. So those who are going to win in this coming election, especially the Presidential position, you should know and keep in mind that people are willing to risk their relationship and their health only to show their support to you. So, it's your job not to fail them. They are rooting for you big time.

As a responsible voter, may we able to choose smartly who we're going to vote in the coming National Election. I hope you don't choose someone simply because you are greatly influenced by your friends or relatives or someone told you. Do not let other people decide for you. You don't have to like what most people like. May you choose the people you think could create the change that most of us have been wanting ever since. May we never be deceived by fake promises. May we never get carried away with their flowery words. May we able to determine those who have genuine intentions for his/her fellowmen, and those who are truly concern with the nation and its people. Think of it as like choosing your significant other. Choose someone who deeply cares for your welfare. Someone who is trustworthy and honest. Look for someone you know you can depend on. May you never let other people bribe you. Do not be easily persuade with money or other things that they use to bribe you. Most importantly, as much as possible, may you never let your good relationship with your friends or family be ruined simply because of your differences with your political bets. Because in the end, these political rivals now will eventually need to be allies. But your broken relationships with people will most likely take time to fix. Your political bet/s will most probably don't like you jeopardizing your relationship with anyone. And if they do, I think you're choosing the wrong candidate. Your political bet doesn't even have any idea that you exist. So, don't invest too much emotion in it. Voting for them is already a way to show your support.

Despite all the traits that I listed above, to be able to have a good leader people should also know how to be a responsible follower. Our duty as a responsible citizen of our country doesn't end with choosing wisely who to elect as a leader. We should be able to do our part and do the best that we can to help our leaders. You may think that your one simple act won't impact the society, but you'll never know. Or you might think that your single vote doesn't have an effect because you're saying it's just one vote. If that is the mindset of every voter, then don't expect to witness that change that you want. Your vote counts and your voice matters. In the end, it will all add up. 

Once the votes have already been tallied and the winners are proclaimed, may we never easily judge them just because we aren't in favor with the result. May we give them a chance to prove their selves to us because let's face the reality, whether we agree or not we can't do anything about it. So, let us accept it and try to give them the chance to prove that they are worthy to be in that position. 

To everyone who are going to win this coming election, I hope you don't fail the people not only those who are going to vote for you, but most especially those who aren't. You have a lot to prove to those who are not going to vote for you. You have to show them how they made a wrong choice in voting for your rival instead of you. You win because a lot of people are believing in you, so might as well not fail them/us. You wished to be in that position, so it's your time to give us a good show. May you never forget those promises that you made while you are still convincing us that you are worthy of our vote. 

To those who won't be able to win, now is probably not the right time for you. You are given the chance to be the better version of yourself. So that if ever you decide to run again, you already know better. If your heart is really in public service, know that you can still help people even if you're not in politics. You don't need to hold a certain position to help others. There are still other ways on how you could possibly serve people. The opportunity is also endless when it comes to wanting to create a positive impact to the country or even the world. All you have to do is begin. Use what you already have, e.g the internet. 

I hope that we're going to have a peaceful and just election. I hope that there won't be any tampering of the result. Most importantly, I hope that those who are going to win will be the ones that God approves. 

au revoir. 😊