The Passion of Leadership

The Passion of Leadership: Changing the World for the Better

Leadership is considered a myriad concept to many. There are those who prefer to seemingly dismiss leadership as nothing more but a required compulsion whereby those with less authority are required to listen and follow one of a higher authority.

However such a simplistic understanding of leadership would negate the many great leaders who have inspired their organizations, countries and the world at large with their grand visions and passions. None can deny the effect that leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi had as a leader, nor can anyone challenge the greatness of Nelson Mandela as a leader and others of their ilk. Yet neither derived their leadership from any sense of compulsive authority. They led because they had a vision of what they could do to make the world a better place. They led because they had the passion to do so. They led because they were willing to die for their beliefs and to meet their goal, and thus inspired countless thousands to follow them, thereby changing their respective societies.

Leadership involves heroes with a vision and the passion to change the world. In this regard the definition of Atty. Eugenio Villareal of the Ateneo School of Law is one of the better ones. Leadership to him, is “being able to define a vision, embody it, and boldly lead people to follow that vision — notwithstanding the odds.” Associate Dean Sedfrey Candelaria of the Ateneo School of Law agrees. To him, leadership is “the capacity of a person to inspire or motivate other persons to perform their tasks or pursue their mission with passion.”

Thus, leadership is having a grand vision, the passion to reach that vision and the ability to inspire and motivate others to step forward to meet it. Leadership therefore also means an unwavering and never ending courage to face seemingly insurmountable odds to reach that same grand vision, and continuing to inspire those around you to reach that goal, and thereby change the world for the better — For leadership is nothing if the vision inherent in it does not seek the betterment of the world. Leadership for the sake of leading is not true leadership. Leadership only becomes such if the vision and the passions involved have the goal of helping others, changing society and the world for the better, and most of all, seeking the good and ensuring that right will prevail.

True, these are seemingly lofty and perhaps unreachable ideals, but it is only by setting the bar so high that change can be brought about. Gandhi and Mandela led in this manner. As did other great leaders such as Winston Churchill who led England to stand alone against a monstrous army so vast it swallowed nearly the entirety of Europe. As a result of such bravery Churchill helped change the course of the world.

Henry Dunant changed the world for the better as well when he created the International Red Cross. He did this after he saw the devastating effects of war in the Battle of Solferino. Thousands of soldiers were left for dead in the aftermath of that battle. Affected greatly by the tragedy and suffering of the wounded, he advocated the formation of national voluntary relief organizations to help nurse wounded soldiers.

It is the vision of these leaders that make them all similar. They all sought to make the world a better place, and they all did it with their passions, their hearts and their souls.

Leaders have made a great difference in the world with their visions true, but it is with their passion, with their hearts and souls that leaders have changed the world. And that is the true magic of leadership: that one man, one leader, can make such a great difference and change the world for the better.

That is what leadership means to me. The vision to make the world a better place, and the passion to make it happen.

(This is a revised version of an essay which the author submitted to the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations [HPAIR] and which allowed him to be selected as a Philippine Delegate for the 2007 HPAIR Academic Conference in Beijing. Email comments to babbleoncolumn@yahoo.com).