LEADERSHIP
I was recently accepted into a Ph.D., program titled Global Leadership and Change. I was asked several times by colleagues and friends, why am I doing it? My answer is clear to me but, you will have to read the entire article to get my answer. So, I started thinking about things. I started to focus on the word leadership. I started thinking in a deeper spiritual way about what it truly means to be a leader. In the context of what is currently going on in Europe where the Russians invaded Ukraine, I was motivated to write an article titled "Leadership" to emphasis my definition of leadership. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, is the leader of Russia. But is he truly a leader? The former KGB operative is the longest serving leader in Russia since the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. On the flip side, the country he decided to invade is its neighbor, Ukraine. The president of Ukraine is, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Four years prior to being elected president, he was one of Ukraine's most popular TV comedians. To give you a bit more perspective, he starred in a satirical TV show where he performed a troupe where he played the piano with his penis for five minutes. Is he a leader?
The aforementioned individuals are elected leaders of their countries but are they actually leaders? Putin is described as a tyrant, a dictator and even a super villain. Zelenskyy has been described as a positive, inspiring democratically elected leader. Is he a leader? Webster defines a leader as, a person who has commanding authority or influence... I guess by that definition, we can all agree Hitler was a leader. In fact, he inspired many to commit atrocities. To me society has it all wrong when it comes to leaders or leadership. It seems that the powers to be want us to believe that a leader is born with some power that is only reserved for a few. In my opinion, a leader is not a leader just because he was elected to a certain position or has certain titles bestowed up them. To me, leaders are not about the person who is in a leadership role. It is about being able to inspire others to be their best. A leader is a mom or dad, coach, teacher or anyone regardless of their status who understands that being a leader is not about them but about serving others. It is about making a positive impact on someone else's life. Not to coerce people into compliance or using fear for an end result. It is not about holding degrees or titles. To me, two core principles of a leader is an understanding that it is not about the person in the role of a leader and, the impact has to be a positive one. If you are privileged to be in a position of leader and inspire others to do positive for the common good, that is the ultimate definition of a true leader. The only person so far that has met my definition of leader was my father. He immigrated in this country from Cuba with my mother and had six children and never complained. He inspired me to be who I am today. So why am I embarking on a Ph.D., in global leadership and change at this point in my life with 25 years of experience as an attorney and still in private practice? It is so I can play my part in inspiring positive change in individuals. My goal internationally is to assist the Cuban people with a non-profit after they transition to a free market. Domestically, I intend to do my dissertation in assisting to reform policing in a positive way. I believe that a chief of police should be a civilian. If our commander-in-chief is a civilian, then why can't a police chief be a civilian? It would be akin to a CEO leading an organization. That would be true positive reform. I leave you with a quote by Ronald Reagan. "The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things."
Just a thought.
The aforementioned individuals are elected leaders of their countries but are they actually leaders? Putin is described as a tyrant, a dictator and even a super villain. Zelenskyy has been described as a positive, inspiring democratically elected leader. Is he a leader? Webster defines a leader as, a person who has commanding authority or influence... I guess by that definition, we can all agree Hitler was a leader. In fact, he inspired many to commit atrocities. To me society has it all wrong when it comes to leaders or leadership. It seems that the powers to be want us to believe that a leader is born with some power that is only reserved for a few. In my opinion, a leader is not a leader just because he was elected to a certain position or has certain titles bestowed up them. To me, leaders are not about the person who is in a leadership role. It is about being able to inspire others to be their best. A leader is a mom or dad, coach, teacher or anyone regardless of their status who understands that being a leader is not about them but about serving others. It is about making a positive impact on someone else's life. Not to coerce people into compliance or using fear for an end result. It is not about holding degrees or titles. To me, two core principles of a leader is an understanding that it is not about the person in the role of a leader and, the impact has to be a positive one. If you are privileged to be in a position of leader and inspire others to do positive for the common good, that is the ultimate definition of a true leader. The only person so far that has met my definition of leader was my father. He immigrated in this country from Cuba with my mother and had six children and never complained. He inspired me to be who I am today. So why am I embarking on a Ph.D., in global leadership and change at this point in my life with 25 years of experience as an attorney and still in private practice? It is so I can play my part in inspiring positive change in individuals. My goal internationally is to assist the Cuban people with a non-profit after they transition to a free market. Domestically, I intend to do my dissertation in assisting to reform policing in a positive way. I believe that a chief of police should be a civilian. If our commander-in-chief is a civilian, then why can't a police chief be a civilian? It would be akin to a CEO leading an organization. That would be true positive reform. I leave you with a quote by Ronald Reagan. "The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things."
Just a thought.