Leadership enlivening people 사람을 살리는 리더십

             (written in 2006)

 We often talk about leadership, and many books are devoted to that issue these days. Two books on leadership based on the spiritual thoughts of St. Benedict have been also published by Pauline. Many authors seem to touch on this topic, and various seminars deal with leadership programs.

 I think leadership is not a matter to be considered by leaders or superiors only; it is related to everybody, especially in the sense that everybody is the leader of his or her own life. And a true leader knows how to let others live to the fullest and draw their potential for the sake of common goodness. Good leaders with good inner personalities and qualities have led people to live with passion and dreams.

 In this high-tech and high-touch society, people are used to giving more priority to ability, self-achievement, success, and fulfillment, without paying attention to the ongoing process of appreciating others as they are and making them alive every moment. That would be one of the reasons why we try to mention the issue of true leadership so often nowadays.

 Among the diverse qualities of a leader, German Fr. Anselm Grun regards enlivening others through making them live to their fullest potential as the primary and foremost quality in his book entitled 'Menschen Fuhren, Leben Wecken.' The leader sees, ponders, and enjoys the work of people and appreciates people as they are. Therefore, the goal of business or management is not only to expand profits but also to be considerate of creation and human beings. In other words, it is to enliven others in every moment.

 When I think of people who let others live to their highest potential, the word "mother" comes to mind immediately. The mothers of Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and T. A. Edison are well-known. Mengtzu's mother moved house three times, and Han Seok-bong's mother made her son the best calligrapher. Hines Ward has also become the MVP of American football thanks to his mother through sacrifice, sustaining her son, and teaching him not to give up. 

 Small or big, everybody has a unique life story. I thought I was a failure long ago, and my mother worried and constantly prayed for my transformation. It was my mother who rented a room near the university when I decided to study further after wandering even to the point of death.

 I know how she prayed during my study and I wrote a poem on her faithful and enduring companionship:

 

"When she learns one

Let her know ten.

 

When she knows one

Let her awaken ten.

 

When she awakens one

Let her love ten.

 

When she loves one

Let her give out ten.

 

When she gives one

Let her praise the Lord to the sky.

 

Day in and day out

Rolling the beads of a rosary

Mother, my mother."

 

My mother is not educated well at all but she knows how to lead herself and her children. Who is the true leader of life? Like our mothers, each of us can be a leader. Like the sunshine making the universe grow, we can control ourselves to be wise and mature, humble and silent, simple and single-hearted, considerate and thoughtful, peaceful and moderate, sharing and responsible, lively and lovely.  

 The Korea Times/ Thoughts of the Times/ Feb. 21, 2006