By Florivee Erese

The word leadership is just like any other word in the dictionary that has several altered meanings. It has different connotations given by nature, by people and by the culture where it is widely used. Every person can say what he thinks and knows about it. Everyone can be a leader in his own.

But the question is… How to be an efficient, effective and respected leader? What do you have to have to qualify as one? It’s for me to write and for you to read how this one certain person sees the perspective of a true leadership as he take one step forward in being the President of the College Student Council of General de Jesus College.

Fourth year Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education student, John Edward Medina Flores, I can say is the one you’re looking for to comprehend the characteristics and qualities you must possess to be called and treated as a true leader.

Edward was born a normal person without any superpower. He is just like a typical teenager who loves reading novels especially those books that teach moral values about life; and, one specific book he said his favorite of all is Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist.

He’s just that usual pet lover who has a big heart for white cats. Sometimes, he turns into a child who is unmindful of his health because of his best-loved pork belly. And don’t you worry for being alone, because he is also just a commoner who is requisite of taking the backbreaking days of school life.

Not all people know him to the greatest extent. He still has other attributes that are not kept secret but aren’t well-known, too. He has many funny bones and when you take time to get to know him better, you’ll realize that he is the exact opposite of the usual first impression that other students label him—a snob.

Another unnamed fact about him is that he desires to enter seminary for too many to mention reasons.

In terms of handling a high position in the student council, he may not be perfect but he’s not lacking as well. Experience already taught him how to contribute greatly in any circumstance. But inevitably, there are times that everything happening to him seems going down. Those times when it seems like everything is against his will, when the challenge of satisfying people’s demands turns out to be harder and when everyone is telling him to stop persisting. But then at the end of the day, his strong faith in God and in other people who serve as his motivation and inspiration turn him downside up. He realized that he is very blessed for having best friends, classmates, and special someone who never get tired of giving him true hopes, telling him that he can do it and supporting him in everything he does.

A preacher and businessman Bo Sanchez once said that in order to be an effective worker, one must marry his goals and hire his strategies. One can say that Edward is doing the same. His main goal is to serve the students faithfully and then leave a mark that will serve as his legacy to be remembered as a great contribution from his term of service.

He makes sure that his goals are unchangeable and to continuously keep it as it is, he marries and gets attached to it. On the other hand, in making decisions on what to do, he always ask God for help and guidance. He believes in signs that are impossible but probable. He only hires strategies on how to do tasks effectively. So that, when the time comes that his hired strategies are already not working out, he can immediately fire them and then hire more efficient strategies capable of going with the flow of the changing world.

After knowing what kind of leader Edward is, might as well learn some lessons and get some advices from him. He truly believes that life is not a matter of chances but a matter of choices. Can you be a leader or not, it’s your choice. For him, a true leader is the person who may not be the most intelligent inside the classroom but as an individual is best in motivating and serving as a role model to his fellowmen.

“As a leader, you must do your duties and responsibilities without offending anyone, without favoring one more than the other. You have your own mind, use your brain, decide, stand for what is right and never listen to erroneous ideas from crab-minded people around you. You are the leader; you must already know what to do because you do what is right.”

Edward says that as the CSC president, he believes that a sound organization is attained only if there is cooperation among the people in that community. The council needs the cooperation of the students because if one cannot do a task, many can.

“And lastly, I, as your fellow student, would like to say to all of you that we must enjoy our college life. I usually see many students who are very eager to study hard. They are always with their wide and big books to the point that they stress themselves out. Try to enjoy your life and learn to balance. Allot a time for studies, for social life and most of all, for God.”