[9608] in APO-L
Leadership
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Malinee M Chuaprasert)
Mon Oct 3 22:20:29 1994
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 1994 20:13:26 CDT
Reply-To: Malinee M Chuaprasert <malinee@IASTATE.EDU>
From: Malinee M Chuaprasert <malinee@IASTATE.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L%PURCCVM.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
I don't know how appropriate this is for this list, but I saw this cool poem
dealing with one of our cardinal principles, leadership, and just wanted to
share it with you.
A Leader
by Kathryn Nelson
I went on search to become a leader.
I searched high and low. I spoke with
authority, people listened, but alas, there was one
who was wiser than I and hey followed him.
I sought to inspire confidence but the crowd
responded, "Why should we trust you?"
I postured and I assumed the look of
leadership with a continence that glowed with
confidence and pride. But many passed by an
never noticed my air of elegance.
I ran ahead of the others, pointing the way to
new heights. I demonstrated that I knew the
route to greatness. And then I looked back and I
was alone.
"What shall I do," I queried. "I've tried
hard and used all that I know."
And I sat me down and I pondered long.
And then I heard voices around me.
And I heard what the group was trying to
accomplish.
I rolled my sleeves up and joined in the work.
As we worked I asked, "Are we all together in
what we want to do and how to get the job done?"
And we thought together and we fought
together and we struggled towards our goal.
I found myself encouraging the fainthearted. I
sought the ideas of those too shy to speak out.
I taught those who had little skill. I praised
those who worked hard.
When our task was completed, one of the
groups turned to me and said, "This would not
have been done if it weren't for your leadership."
At first I said, "I didn't lead, I just worked
with the rest."
And then I understood, leadership is not a goal.
It's a way of reaching a goal.
I lead best when I help others to use themselves
creatively.
I lead best when I forget about myself as leader
and focus on my group, their needs and their goals.
To lead is to serve. To give, to achieve
TOGETHER.
Hope you like it. Maybe some people can learn or be inspired from this
poem. It gave me some insights.
In LFS,
Malinee
---
Calculus is full of beans sprouts.
