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The gist of the entire discussion was that there were three types of Leaders:

1. Leader as a Designer
2. Leader as a Steward
3. Leader as a Teacher

When Sir Jerald was explaining about the Leader as a Teacher, I suddenly remembered my former boss at Level Up!, Jojo Angeles. On my last day at LUG, she hosted a nice lunch at Banana Leaf and even gave me freebies stored inside this huge loot bag. Then I also remembered when I first got this “Certificate of Perfect Attendance” and a gift from HR. That actually surprised me. I just happened to be a punctual person and I never really gave punctuality that much of a thought (except that perpetually tardy people may rub me the wrong way). To be recognized for an inherent attitude that I usually take for granted is really…well, kinda heart-warming. My boss and many of the mid to upper management peeps over at LUG were actually “leaders as teachers”.

I also learned during the Individual Exercise that I actually fall under the “Leaders as Designers” category. When Sir Jerald asked what vision I had for myself, the only word that had always come to mind was “legacy”. As a kid, I had many things I wanted to do and I never could really see myself being in one career as a grownup. I just imagined myself being remembered for a long time over some phenomenal thing I’d do like perhaps write a book or mentor young people or come up with a smart philosophy that generations after me will be discussing in class. I wasn’t one of those who wanted to be rich. I just wanted to leave an imprint behind.

The funny thing is, Lao Tzu said that little credit goes to the designer. “…The functions of design are rarely visible; they take place behind scenes. The consequences that appear today are the result of work done long in the past, and the work today will show its benefits far in the future.”

Most of the imprints I have left behind in most of the companies I worked for are little concepts that I have come up with and organized; piecing together how key figures in a project or group would perform as a whole.

Truth is, I would also like to be under the “Leaders as Teachers” categories, much like the bosses I’ve had at LUG. There’s just so much to learn, to explore and to impart. I’d just be so proud to see someone I mentored make use of the knowledge I provided and improve or expound on it with his fresh new ideas. I really hope that that would be my calling.