Spirit of Leadership Reflection

 

Reflection Paper #3

Spirit In The Practice Of Leadership

 

This Leadership module had the most impact on your life. I have practically been a leader all my military life. Being a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy,  it was expected for me to perform the following roles; 1) Leader of Character, 2) Military Professional, 3) Combat leader, 4) Manager of Resources, and 5) Support National Development.

In my stay in the academy for five years, I have been prepared to perform the above roles. According to Fr. Dennis Cagantas, during his lecture about the Spirit of Leadership, these are the Whats and the Hows of leadership. As I looked back, it never occurred to me that the inner source was discussed during the lectures. Further, I realized that the leadership I learned in PMA was more in the classroom, where we were given readings and then took exams to see if we learned from the lessons and some of the lectures. We never talked about the “Who.” It has moved me because I have already been in the military service for more than twenty-five years. Maybe if I have been aware of this before, I could have done better in the past.

When I reported in my unit as a young officer, I have just my knowledge and skills of leadership. It has been ups and downs in my administration at that time. There were lots of trial and error but still missing out on the Who. All my life before was black and white, and somehow, dealing with the gray areas was not how I was supposed to confront. I was merely a platoon leader. I follow orders and concern myself about surviving together with my men. But who am I doesn’t make sense because I was doing combat patrols. As platoon leader, I could have made more connections to the places where I understood and connected with the people. Who am I really should be a servant of the people because they the ones we should be protecting? I should have been more discerning during those times. I could have done more for these people. Yes, I knew that one of the reasons for the insurgency in the Philippines is poverty. I should have been more attentive to where I am and how I am doing through the lens of the people, and lastly, why am I doing this. I was merely trying to survive instead of helping solve the problem. The institution I came from was straightforward in teaching us and did not even bother to give us the entire picture of the problem. In reality, we were made into warrior leaders and not protectors of the people. 

Part of the lecture discusses the inner life, interiority, and depth I appreciated because it is true that the real world dismisses and devalues them. The majority of the people in the world values money and power. But I realize that inner life, interiority, and depth connect us to the people by showing our authenticity as a leader. The compassion to make things better drives our leadership and motivates us to be better for them. Still, somehow, as we present our true self, we get stuck for the world dismisses and devalues our intent to be personal and display compassion. Others call it weakness.

I have my share of encounters, especially in combat, but I generally agree that encounters pushed my inner self to respond to situations out of compassion. There were choices to be made, and I had to pause and reflect even in the shortness of time I did knew what to choose. I followed my heart, but things did not go all well as I have expected. I had to embrace it even though it was never a perfect world.  The realities of military life are not always of the grandeur of battles. Some sacrifices are untold underneath it. It pains me that others capitalize on the efforts of others and dishonoring their sacrifices. I believe that the Spirit in leadership was with me at some point in my life, but I often falter and get stuck because the world dismisses and devalues my inner life and my compassion. Maybe it is because there were things beyond my control, making it hard for me to accept the Spirit in leadership consistently.

I have been cruising for several years, and I think it is time for me to arise once more and emerge as a leader for the people I need to protect. I will need to make conscious decisions and discerning what is in front of me with my inner self while giving what the world needs from me as a public servant. In the end, my leadership mindset should not be a position but a process of actively engaging in choosing and making choices that hones my soul.