You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader
I DON’T want to respond to the statement regarding my qualifications as a public health expert. I just want to be quiet about it in the meantime to protect my family, loved ones and persons believing in my advocacy for a better healthcare system.
But I couldn’t shake it off my head. I did my evening exercise last night after coming back from two huge humanitarian partnership programs. I had a good sleep. When I woke up this morning with the same thought and faced with several messages from caring friends. I paused and reflected….If I would answer then that accusation gets a life of its own. It’s not good to be defending one’s qualification in the public eye. That’s true.
However …
Honor. Integrity. Courage. These are values I dearly keep in my heart since birth and hope to carry on till my dying days.
History will remember one’s contributions in the future.
I remember too, Albus Dumbledore once said, “ It is our choices in our decisions in life or in our career that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
I can work without compensation which I did in 2012 when I worked as one peso consultant of DOH Sec. Enrique Ona for noncommunicable diseases that led to the passage of the landmark SIN TAX law of 2012 or even outside of the DOH to help reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases , which currently kill 500,000 a year or 1,500 people a year .
I was invited to join by Sec. Herbosa and I did not volunteer myself.
I believe in the competence and capabilities of Sec. Ted Herbosa as DOH secretary. We worked together during COVID pandemic as national advisers to the national TaskForce. In my humble opinion, HE IS THE BEST PERSON AND LEADER FOR THE JOB. We need him now to put directions and get results for our people.
I know that any public comments and my silence about this matter might give a false impression.
But I have always talked and fought for “THE TRUTH“ even if it hurts me or anyone or endangers my life the past few years and I would like to continue with that path till my sunset years. I wish to live to 100 years so I can help a lot of poor people with their medical problems.
Influence and inspiration come from the heart of a person and not the position. Too often people associate leadership with a title. However, you don’t need a title to be a leader. To me, a leader without a title is better than a leader with title but without motivation, understanding and the ability to lead.
During the height of the COVID pandemic, we recognized whom to believe or follow. It was the best and the worst of times. It was a defining moment for the Filipinos.
Leadership is a choice because it requires a conscious decision to take responsibility for yourself and others. It involves setting an example for others to follow and inspiring them to be their best selves. This is not something that can be achieved through a job title or position of authority.
Robin Sharma once said, “Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence, and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire your team-mates and stakeholders .
Respect is not about a title too. How leaders act, particularly in turbulent times, reassures those around them. Consistency in behaviors is critical to trust, and being an ethical, authentic leader engenders respect.
In this challenging world we will need leaders with strong moral courage and mental toughness.
We will summon again people with Incredible Strength – to me, it is defined as optimism, decisive action, perseverance and taking responsibility.
Genuine, authentic leadership infuses meaning into your life, because you know that your efforts count and that you are serving the needs of others as well as your own.
The people who change the world around them rarely act from a sense of obligation. In fact, the people who act as leaders almost always act from a sense of incredible opportunity. They don’t interact with the world around them because they have to. They do so because they want to.
At the heart of every successful organization is selfless and title- less person.
Genuine leaders make things better not just for themselves but for others, whether or not their contribution results in financial reward or popular recognition.
And most people I think of leaders are untitled – they achieve greatness by working quietly in their organizations and communities, in their own lives, and in helping those around them.
The truth is that titles don’t make leaders, actions do.
One of my favorite leadership quotes is by John Quincy Adams in which he says, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” This quote by US President Adams summarizes leadership for me.
I can only tell you I was motivated by my desire to help the Filipino people.
It is time to stop the pursuit of personal destruction and the prying into personal lives and get on with our national agenda
Our country has been distracted by this matter for too long, and I take my responsibility for my part in all of this in trying to teach and educate patients on public safety and medical problems , to heal helpless people and lead where people refuse to take on due to the fear of reprisals.
That is all I can do. Now it is time-in fact, it is past time-to move on. Our health agenda has been delayed for a year now.
We have important work to do-real opportunities to seize, real huge problems to solve, real food security to tackle , and great economic matters to face.
And so today, I ask you to turn away from the spectacle of the political moves to discredit people doing their jobs and to repair the image of our national discourse, and to return our full attention and focus to all the challenges and all the promise for the next generation of Filipinos.
Dr. Tony Leachon
Special Adviser for Noncommunicable Diseases
Department of Health
Past President ,
Philippine College of Physicians
Internist – Cardiologist
Manila Doctors Hospital
