Ramblings Intérieurs

For centuries it has always been debated if leaders are born or made.

This blog is my two cents worth about the question.

When I was in high school, I was always been invited, nominated, and even forced to be a leader. However, I was the type of person that does not want responsibilities and a lot of work. I also did not want a position where I have to lead people because I am also not good in PR (personal relationships). In my opinion, to be a good leader, you have to have a good inter-personal relationships which I don’t have being an introvert.

I declined the positions offered or given to me, whether it’s just a leader of a small group or a president of the class (the only position that I gladly accepted was Escort…yes, believe it or not I was an Escort in 1st year high school). If I am forced to be the leader, I didn’t do the work to the best of my knowledge and abilities. I gave a sub-par work. I did that so that the next time, they won’t get me as a leader. How stupid was that?

This continued even when I started working. However, when I started working I am no longer the type who abhors work. I love working and I am a hard-worker but I still didn’t accept work that entails a lot of responsibilities. I always run away from responsibilities.

It was only later that I realized that you cannot run away from responsibilities. If you do, it will keep haunting you. The more you run away from it, the more it comes closer to you and the bigger the responsibility becomes. The worst part of it is that you don’t learn. I learned the hard way. All those experiences that I could have learned when I accepted the challenges and the responsibilities in the positions I declined could have been valuable experience to me.

It seems kinda odd that I don’t want to be a leader when I love reading leadership books and articles. I have clippings of management and leadership articles from Philippine Daily Inquirer. I also love reading books by John Maxwell, Stephen Covey and the likes. And of course, I love reading the book where the best leaders can be found. Where else but the Holy Bible? I can name a few like David, Solomon, Jeremiah, etc. The list can go on but if you’re looking for the attributes of a great leader, it can be found in one man - Jesus Christ.

Today, I am in a country that even in my dreams I never imagined to be and holding a position that entails a lot of challenges and responsibilities. I am in a position where I am to lead people that are not of my own race. The only difference is that this time, I don’t have the option to decline, to back out or run away from it.

The road has been bumpy and a lot of times I stumble but this time, there’s nowhere to run. This time, I cannot run away from the responsibilities that I have been always running away from.

I have to face the music.

From the day we were born, God already has plans for each one of us. We just have to know it and not veer away from what God planned for us.

I think I was born a leader.

The question is will I be a good leader.

Good leaders are made, not born. By the decisions they make, the experiences they had, and the lesson they learned from mistakes they have done.

Are you a born leader? ☺

(Blogger’s note: I will take a quick Sunday break from my posts about eTelecare because I would like all of you to know one of probably the most gifted painter of our time)

238. Joey Velasco

I first heard the name Joey Velasco in one of Bo Sanchez’s talk in The Feast. Bo played a video about one of Joey Velasco’s painting entitled “Hapag ng Pag-Asa.”

It was one of the most stirring video-documetary that I watched. Joey Velasco talked about the painting in which Jesus is shown having his Last Supper with street children. He speaks about the children in his painting and these children are real children, poor street children. He chronicled the lives that these children are undergoing and his thoughts and feelings about each children. I can’t remember if I cried the first time I saw it but I was moved. It’s probably one of the reasons why I did visit an orphanage, donated some money and lent a little of my time by reading a book I donated to the orphanage a few months ago (I wasn’t able to write about this one. I probably will in the future because I just started helping this orphanage.)

Joey Velasco’s paintings are a gem and would really inspire you.  If you want to see his other paintings, you can go to Glorietta until Tuesday, September 30 where his paintings are currently in exhibit.

I will be posting pictures of his paintings in my Multiply site this week. For starters, below is the painting “Hapag ng Pag-Asa.”