Leader, team player
On this very same stage last year, I promised that my voice will no longer be hushed, shut, and silenced; that we will all speak our way to greatness; that I will lead Sinulog Toastmasters Club and keep it great the way it was and the way it will be. Tonight, I am honored and privileged to stand before you and report that all is well; that I have done my promise and that Sinulog Toastmasters Club is great the way it was and the way it will be.
When I took on the presidency last year, it was my leadership comeback after 21 years. 21 years after I became a Sangguniang Kabataan Chair and Supreme Student Government president. I was excited to accept the responsibility because I started to realize the promise of good leadership and the challenges that came with it.
We do have some stereotypes of what an ideal leader is. My idea of a leader used to be this: Professionallooking, prim and proper, and charismatic. I remember one person suggested that I could be an ideal president. I evaluated the feedback and I agreed. Nevertheless, during my stint as president, I learned more about the meaning of leadership. At the start, I thought this was going to be very easy but along the course of my term, challenges cropped up and I was really tested. Thankfully, I weathered them, of course with the help of my team and my fellow members.
By actually leading my club, I realized two important things. First, being a leader meant leading oneself. Second, being a leader meant being a team player.
Before leading others, I believe one has to lead oneself first. I prepared myself for the task ahead. I took control of myself and I had a mission and a vision. People know me as someone who laughs out loud and who is not afraid, who speaks up and stands up for what is good and right. I did not change that because it was part of who I was. Still, I recognized that I needed more if I wanted to be an excellent leader; hence, I accomodated what resources I could get from other leaders, books, and experiences.
Leading Sinulog Toastmasters Club, I reinforced my belief of team play. Leading is a communal effort. I needed a good team to advance the club and I am thankful for my fellow officers for being with me in my journey. Moreover, leading also takes the involvement of the members and I thank the members of Sinulog Toastmasters Club for their support and cooperation. Nowhere is this team play more demonstrated than when Sinulog Toastmasters Club achieved the President's Distinguished Club award way ahead of the deadline, joined speech contests, and achieved all the awards available—Smedley Award, Talk Up Award, and Beat The Clock.
Team play likewise means asking counsel from the leaders before me, my fellow leaders and seasoned leaders from other toastmasters clubs. So, there was a time when I gathered the past presidents and pillars of Sinulog Toastmasters Club and sought their advice and wisdom.
Indeed, my presidency was an interesting journey. I was enriched, molded, and heard. My voice was no longer hushed, shut, and silenced. On this very stage, I was inspired to lead my club and tonight, I am inspired to commit my support to the new leadership of Sinulog Toastmasters Club.
Let us continue the legacy of excellent leadership handed down to us but let us also not forget to leave our marks and those of our teams.