Of Meat Floss and Floor

I looked at the note and smiled;

"Inside the bread got meat floss, so don't drop on the floor."

That was a note left by my mother before she left home to do some shopping. Before she left, she prepared breakfast for me; bread with meat floss. As usual, she still thought that despite being in my 40s, I could still drop some meat floss on the floor unintentionally.

One simple sentence (it even sounded like a poem) said how much I have grown up in the eyes of my mother. I would always be that little child whom she had brought up 40 years ago. And she would always be taking care of and protecting me.

In parents' eyes, we would never grow up.

That is not over-protection.

That is love.

Knowing and Connecting

There he was, holding one of the highest ranks in his group, performing crowd marshal duty at the sports' day. The leader was supposed to guard a stairway, preventing the people from using it. He had problems doing that that day - the crowd was too big for him to handle, some began to get rowdy and rough with him. The leader maintained his stand, determined to put in his best to ensure that his duty was done. However, he finally broke down, face red with frustration. For a record :

a) The leader was pushed and shoved by the crowd.

b) The leader was spat at by the crowd.

c) The leader had to tolerate vulgarities hurled at him.

d) and the last straw before he broke down, was his beret, part of his uniform pride was snatched away by someone. That was too much for him to bear.

Perhaps, he did not understand why then. He could command cadets with his rank back at his group's activities. The cadets feared his presence and acknowledged his authority, his rank. Yet somehow, the rank that commanded respect of his cadets did not work with the sports day's crowd.

Why?

Simply, Leadership is an influence - nothing more, nothing less. (Dr John C Maxwell)

It was likely to be a case of the sport day's crowd not knowing the leader's rank, and not connected with him.


Related Link :

http://leadershipsnippets.blogspot.com/2008/11/knowing-and-connecting.html

The Day when I Went Up

We were on the school hall stage - trying to hang up a banner in preparation for the school speech day. There were about 6 of us - our mission was to haul up a 7 to 10 kg heavy banner made of plywood to the top of the stage.

I was the only one that knew how to tie secure knots for hanging up the banner - One Round Turn, Two Half Hitches, Figure of Eight Loop, Round Lashings all came into good use that day. Yet the defining moment of Leadership did not come with my knowledge of knots - it came when a two storey tall ladder was being brought to the stage and someone was needed to go up to the top of the hall using the ladder. There was an uneasy feeling moment and everyone was looking around for that person to go up.

Ok .. I knew knots - I was the chosen one. Straight forward as that.

So I went up - much to the relief of the rest of the people. Afterall, looking down from the more than 2 storeys height was no easy feat for people who were afraid of heights.

And I went up not only once - but about 5 times that day. Everyone helped by holding up the ladder while I solo climb the ladder and solo tie the banner to the metal frame of the hall. After tying up the banner, everyone was looking at me in admiration, praising and thanking me for my help and "sacrifice".

The epsiode did not end that day - what I discovered after that day - the people who were at the stage started to treat me differently - at least they waved and smiled at me when they saw me in school. The relationship with them was brought closer after that day of "climb".

I learnt :

a) It is not always knowledge that brings you closer to people.

b) It is more impactful and lasting when we lead by example and action.

c) People are drawn to you when they sense you have their welfare in your hearts.

and so - things are different now ever since that day when I went up.

I am glad that I made that choice that day.

The Kopi Aunty

Leadership does not need to come as a form of a "Roar" - you do not need to be engaged in something significant to be qualified as a leader.

Just about a few days ago, I was at a food court, slipping in my morning dose of kopi. Reflecting and having my quiet times before the start of a hectic day at school. I heard the kopi aunty calling out the name of the canteen cleaner. The latter was cleaning at one corner of the food court. He responded to the kopi aunty's call and approached her at the beverage stall where she was working at. When the canteen cleaner reached the counter - the kopi aunty just passed him a big cup of hot milo (much bigger than my cup of kopi). What I could sense was immediate gratitude and gratefulness from the canteen cleaner to the kopi aunty - he did not say much but took the cup of milo away and drank along the way as he returned to clean up the area.

What the kopi aunty may not realise was that she had practised "Simple Leadership". She may not have the intention of "leading" the canteen cleaner but she had done some right things that qualified her as a leader :

a) She went down to the ground level - she needed not to make that cup of milo for the cleaner.
b) She took care of the needs of the cleaner, making sure that he did not have an empty stomach.

All things aside - I am very sure that if kopi aunty needs the help of the canteen cleaner one day, the latter will not hesitate to render any assistance she needs. It would be easy because she has already touched his heart.

"Leaders touch the Heart before they ask for the Hand." - Dr John C Maxwell

Leadership as a Lifestyle

The more I read about leadership, the more I realise that we should live a life of leadership - everyday, every minute of our life.

Leadership does not just happen when you lead a group of people, manage a committee or run a project. It is also about the very small acts that you give to yourself and people around you.

This blog will contain accounts of simple acts/deeds that will build our leadership foundation.