A LEADER NOT A BOSS

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader success is all about growing others”. - JACK WELCH

Whether you’re looking to kick start a leadership career or you’ve been managing teams for decades already, sharing stories of well-respected leaders provides us with a set of role models to look up to. I am telling this because I have been teaching for almost two decades and had many experiences with my former leaders and all of them exemplify characteristics like integrity, self-awareness, empathy, and gratitude—traits we might not immediately think of when we try to imagine leadership skills. Seeing how others practice these traits in real life inspires us to do better and be better in our own roles.

If you’re looking to see how some of the world’s best leaders came to their success as a leader, well, I think you need to read this first. This is for you!

As leaders or aspiring leaders, we need to face challenges constantly from our surroundings. It sometimes deviates us from our intended path. We need a constant search for motivation to get us back on track with our leadership behaviors. Where do we get this motivation? We have many sources and one such source is short stories.

Sir VITO L. MENGOTE. I am proudly saying that he is my leader, he isn’t just my boss. I was inspired to write a story about my present leader not just only to commend him but also to inspire other leaders to be like him. Let me tell you why I cannot consider him as a BOSS. These are all my take aways after reading, watching, and listening to some of what really a leader is. These stories help us to understand the importance of leadership behaviors in different situations and how we can take these examples to improve our leadership skills.

Prince EA had these comparisons about the two concepts: The Bosses say “I” and the leader always say “We”. Bosses are blinded by pride while leaders can really see. A leader always asks, bosses they command. The boss point fingers, but a leader extends a hand. The boss says go, leaders say let’s go. Leaders consider ideas while bosses say outright NO. Bosses may put you down while leaders will lift you up because leaders give love a boss couldn’t just give. Bosses use people, abuse people, but leaders groom people. They look for what’s good inside and improve people. Leaders have mastered the act of inspiration. Bosses have mastered the art of manipulation.

For me, Sir Vito possesses all these characteristics of being a good leader. In fact, we are so grateful and honored to be one among my co- teachers who got promoted under his administration. We have a total of 17 teaching personnel and 13 of us got promoted partly because of his words of encouragement like a father would say to his son or daughter who only wants the best for his children ... Pressure? It is a word that was never encountered by the SLES family because of him. We have a harmonious relationship with each other as he shows us how to be a good father, brother, and a friend that really cares.

I believe that everyone has a leader inside of us. We all have a story to tell in a way that will inspire and impact others. We should know our people better and win their hearts and minds for organizational efficiency.

On the flip side, sometimes, we think we have to be born and bred to be leaders. But based on my experiences, the answer is a simple No. Anyone can be a leader one day, as long as we know the secrets of keeping our herd safe and productive.

My warmest salute to you, Sir Vito, and to all the leaders out there!