“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   - John Maxwell

Good morning Fellow ToastMasters and Soon to be ToastMasters. 

 If you have a mirror in you or just simply your phones. Can I ask you to look into your mirror or open your cameras in selfie mode? The first person you see in there is a leader. Yes, you and I are both a leader. We are all leaders in our everyday life; we present a certain authority in the community we belong to. Before we can exert that, we must first know how to lead ourselves.

Now as a leader, how do we know the way? How will we go the way? Ultimately, how we will show the way?

During my college days, a mentor once said that a leader is someone who is prepared for life. When I first heard it, it doesn’t make sense to me. Does life need preparation? Is not life a surprise every day because we don’t know what will happen next? But I’m just looking at the wrong life. When he said life, he means by:

L.I.F.E.

Leadership. Integrity. Faith. Excellence.

L - eadership

Kindly complete this sentence. Leadership is _________? Did you answer authority? Position? Title? Power? These things are usually the idea when we heard the word leadership. In a book that I read years, it is stated there that “Leadership is serving. Therefore to think like a leader is to think like a servant.” 

Leader and servant are two opposite words but at the same time synonymous with each other as well. A leader means the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country while a servant means a person who performs duties for others, especially a person employed in a house on domestic duties or as a personal attendant.

See? They are the same! No, I’m not out of my mind and I’m not jesting around. Leadership is not about the title. It is not about being above the others. It is not about giving orders about what to do and what not. The true heart of true leadership is to serve.

 “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)

Leadership is the means and serving is the end. As a leader, we should use this privilege to serve. Real leadership, whether at home, at the office, or wherever you are, is about serving. A leader must have a heart of leadership. A leader must have a heart for serving.

I - ntergrity

 “Integrity is measured by your willingness to do the right things … even when it costs you.” 

As leaders, we are expected to implement all the rules and regulations. But how are we following those rules and regulations?

 Do you still remember the time when you are a child and your father/mother is reminding you to not do something and you answered back, “Ikaw nga ginagawa mo, tapos ako bawal?” Yes, I can still remember the palm of my mother on my right cheek.

 A nostalgic memory but speaks a lot when we talk about integrity. There is a saying that no one is above the law. As a leader, it is easy to command or order anyone to what needs to be done and not and we should not be exempted from that.

As a leading figure, you need to show a good example to those following you. Before we impose a lot on our subordinates or those below us, always remember someone is looking at or observing us.

Integrity is synonymous with a lot of terms, discipline, honesty, trust, honor, name it but the best word to describe integrity is the word leader. For people to follow us, we should learn how to make ourselves follow the same road we want our followers to lead. Whether that is household integrity or professional integrity, it always starts in us before others. 

 F - aith

Faith is equal to trust. Faith is basically when we work as a leader sometimes we should not expect that our work will bring all the results but we work out of obedience. A path of a leader is a very difficult path to walk. Leadership or being a leader comes with a cost, a lot of costs. Leading without faith will make you drown you in all of the challenges that we will face along the way. As a leader, we need a purpose to get through and that purpose must be anchored to our faith. Leadership should be anchored by faith. We may not see the bigger picture but we put our faith in Someone who sees the bigger picture and it makes us trust the process no matter how it is presented to us.

 E - xcellence

Leader or not, excellence is a basic standard whether you are a professional or not. 

Excellence originated from Latin Excello (I rise, rise up, elevate, excel), and later Latin excellentia (excellence, superiority).

The end justifies the means. It is the most common measurement of excellence. No matter how we try to achieve something as long as it brings a good result, it is excellent. In reality, excellence doesn’t equate to great results only but when we talk about excellence it should be “the means justifies the end” mentality.

 In search for success, sometimes we forget how to get things done properly. Yes, we achieve the result that we want but whether we admit it or not, it leaves a bitter taste in our mouths. Excellence is not an overnight result but it is the result of the continuous progress of improving oneself through rigid practice until the desired output is achieved. 

Being a leader is a privilege given to anyone. You don’t need validation from anyone to become a leader. You don’t need a big organization to become one. Each of us is a leader to someone and the good news is you don’t need a title to become a leader, the moment you decide to become a leader in the same moment you become one. As I close this speech, I want to leave this question for each one of us to ponder. How can you be a leader to someone?