The Leader’s Greatest Gift (Part 1) by John Maxwell
In our previous lesson we’ve discussed leadership. From there, I learned that a leader
played a crucial role in organization. You see, leaders have the vision towards the organization’s
future. They have the capability to lead and to build connection with people, thus, people needs
them as a guide to achieve goals and the organization’s long-term success. Indeed, a leader has a
good sense of leadership, and in this activity I will accentuate the characteristics behind the success
of a leader which is the Leader’s Greatest Gift according to John Maxwell.
In the podcast, John Maxwell emphasized passion and commitment. According to him,
passion is an essential characteristic as a leader for it draws connection and influence between
people. Passionate people inspires others, therefore, it could turn dreamers into doers. There is a
saying that “It is free to dream” Yes, I personally believed that every one of us is a dreamer,
however, nothing would happen if we only kept on dreaming. Passion adds fuel to the fire that
keeps burning from within us and with this, a person will have a drive to accomplish the things
that they want.
Now let’s move on to commitment. It refers to the dedication of a person to their work.
John Maxwell uses Michael Angelo and his 16 years of dedication in painting the 16th chapel. He
pointed out that “Although he possess great talent, his great accomplishment and fame came only
after investing himself to the point of physical exhaustion.” In here, it was evident that
accomplishments are nice to celebrate if it’s made from hard work. Both passion and commitment
is the greatest gift for a leader. In the podcast, I realized the connection between those two.
Commitment cannot work without passion because it would meant hard work without an
inspiration. It’s the same as Passion cannot work without commitment because it would only be a
heart without backbone. Passion and commitment if combined creates a great leader. They are the
foundation in creating strategic move as well as providing the right path for the followers that the
leader influenced. Thus, with this characteristics a leader will be able to give benefits to the
organization, followers and even to themselves.
I would like to end this discussion with the inspiring quote by John Maxwell. “A leader is
one who knows the way, goes the way, and leads the way.” A leader indeed is someone who is
righteous and knowledgeable. But what makes a good leader the most is their drive to reach out to
their followers and walk among them to the path towards the success. Passion and Characteristics
is the gifts that the leaders possess but I think the best gift that a leader could have is having great
bonds towards their followers.