Truth in leadership
As leaders in our school, our workplaces, families and communities, we must motivate and inspire the people around us. There are many ways to do this- most importantly by setting an example in our own actions. Secondly is through our words to others; what we say can change the way people think about themselves, and therefore change the way they act.
We can inspire many feelings in those who listen to us- on one hand: love, compassion, and friendship. On the other, fear, hatred and animosity.
It is our responsibility as leaders to choose wisely which feelings we inspire, and be careful as to how we do it. Some leaders who choose to inspire fear and hatred will use false words and symbols in order to divide us. They will lie to their followers in order to scare them into submission- to stoke the fire of fear and create a war of ideas. Soon enough, we begin to see each other as enemies, unfit for fairness or friendship. False boundaries are therefore drawn between people who are in fact very similar at heart.
Instead, the best leaders among us have chosen to unite their peers. They use language that inspires confidence and restores faith in humanity. We come to believe in common decency- that each and every person might have the ability to change the world in positive ways. We soon start believing we all can work together, and trust each other to do the right thing for the greater good.
We know the truth in our hearts, that our families and friends are not evil. We all have faith in the decency of our communities, the goodness of ourselves, and we all have hope for the future. My home country, the United States, was founded with a declaration, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among them Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” As we reflect on those words about equality and freedom, even in our most trying times, we can all return to the common truth that we want the same basic things. Despite forces of division, our similarity is the truth that continues to bind us together- in the USA, in Hong Kong, or any place on earth. It is a human truth, unalienable, and undeniable. One that we must all uphold every day.Truth in LeadershipAs leaders in our school, our workplaces, families and communities, we must motivate and inspire the people around us. There are many ways to do this- most importantly by setting an example in our own actions. Secondly is through our words to others; what we say can change the way people think about themselves, and therefore change the way they act. We can inspire many feelings in those who listen to us- on one hand: love, compassion, and friendship. On the other, fear, hatred and animosity. It is our responsibility as leaders to choose wisely which feelings we inspire, and be careful as to how we do it. Some leaders who choose to inspire fear and hatred will use false words and symbols in order to divide us. They will lie to their followers in order to scare them into submission- to stoke the fire of fear and create a war of ideas. Soon enough, we begin to see each other as enemies, unfit for fairness or friendship. False boundaries are therefore drawn between people who are in fact very similar at heart. Instead, the best leaders among us have chosen to unite their peers. They use language that inspires confidence and restores faith in humanity. We come to believe in common decency- that each and every person might have the ability to change the world in positive ways. We soon start believing we all can work together, and trust each other to do the right thing for the greater good. We know the truth in our hearts, that our families and friends are not evil. We all have faith in the decency of our communities, the goodness of ourselves, and we all have hope for the future. My home country, the United States, was founded with a declaration, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among them Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” As we reflect on those words about equality and freedom, even in our most trying times, we can all return to the common truth that we want the same basic things. Despite forces of division, our similarity is the truth that continues to bind us together- in the USA, in Hong Kong, or any place on earth. It is a human truth, unalienable, and undeniable. One that we must all uphold every day.