These were the words of the lecturer, Prof. Barry Z. Posner, a known leadership speaker from Santa Clara University. I was present at this particular assembly in 1988 after attending a conference in the West Coast.
Posner’s words are so relevant for our business and government leaders today. There is a need to always scan the so-called external realities, to destroy confining barriers. There is a need to prevent the shutting of doors to the world outside. There is a need to have outsight.
Harlan Cleveland, a former US ambassador and a highly respected university dean once said: "The best leaders are the best followers. Leaders find the common thread that weaves the fabric of human needs, their dreams and, above all, the principles and values they believe in. Leaders develop a deep understanding of their collective yearnings and seek out the brewing consensus among those they would lead. They listen carefully for quiet whisperings in dark corners and attend to subtle ones. They get a sense of what people want, what they value, what they dream about. Good leaders will never defy the people they lead nor destroy their principles. To do so is political suicide of the highest order." Ambassador Cleveland is right. And this is what a leader’s outsight is all about.
Leading the Holy Mass on the first day of the wake of the late Sen. Raul Roco was Fr. Ferdinand Hernando, OAR, of the St. Ezekiel Moreno Healing Ministry, a young priest in his late 30s. His homily, though stunning, was so true and could be captioned "Culture of Death."
"We are here because we are confronted by death. We all know that death is both a possibility and a reality of human existence. But today, death has become larger than an individual reality," he said.
"Death has become a culture. We live in a culture of death. Crime has become a daily occurrence. In politics, we are all witnesses to death as the cheap price to pay for political power. We see how candidates to public office are too willing to kill, destroy or harm one another in the name of public service. As we pray for the soul of Raul Roco, let us all pray for the soul of our country that it may rediscover its transcendental values. Raul died of cancer. But we need to pray for our country too, that it may be healed of its many cancers."
Those were strong words from such a young priest, but they were words of truth. Fr. Hernando delivered his homily without any notes but the words are memorable. I think our business leaders should bear this in mind, too.
The gift of outsight is not an easy gift to acquire. If a leader’s desire to hang on to power has become so overpowering that sobriety, even sanity, vanishes. This consumes the person and drastically weakens his or her capacity to do anything else. The funny thing about it is the leader is not even aware of it. Outsight has to be part of a leader’s daily living and leading. As Emerson said, "Nothing can bring a leader peace but the triumph of principles."
Leaders and managers who only focus on themselves and do not have the outsight to listen to his or her constituency fail because there’s a limit to what they can do by themselves. If those they lead do not feel strong and capable, their leaders will not be able to achieve what the business or government agency aspires to accomplish.
The successful leaders are those who are able to realize that power should be used in the service of others. This requires a tremendous deal of outsight and sensitivity to others.
After all, whether in business or the government sector, what every constituent holds dear is what John Milton so correctly explained in this statement about what every person craves for: "Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to my conscience, above all liberties."
I firmly subscribe to something that was told to me not too long ago: "Leaders speak to people’s hearts and listen to their heartbeats." This is the only way to give leaders the outsight they need to fight the culture of death the young Fr. Hernando so eloquently said in his homily as prevailing in our country today.