Ronald M.

Quileste Advanced Innovations in Education

PhD in Education 1 Dr. Lourdes Tolod

Reflection Paper
Dumb Leaders

Context
“Dumb Leaders” written by Francis Kong is all about describing people who act
as false leaders. He describes these people overall as selfish individuals and who
answer the call of their ego.
Experience
When I first met my spiritual master, I acted as if I knew everything. I boldly
defended every answer I gave him when he tried to speculate how spiritually mature
am I. For instance, he asked me if I am really Ronald Quileste, then I answered a
resounding “yes” immediately. He then asked me who I am. I answered him back with
all the details in my bio data and thought how stupid his questions were. When he
evaluated my answers, he told me I am very immature and incapable of making the
right decisions in life. He added that I am very materialistic and I focus on describing
what I see rather than what God sees of me.
Reflection
The lesson in my experience, though it does not point immediately to
leadership, is that most leaders keep on going through life, leading people by only
listening to their own ego. They are so materialistic that they become so narrow-
minded, too objective and do not anymore let their constituents speak for themselves.
What my spiritual master taught me is that I am not the body (ego) but the Spirit (God-
soul). He told me that in every critical situation in my life, I must not be moved by any
worldly sin such as pride, anger, vengeance but through what my conscience is telling
me. I should not be so stuck in protecting my name to the point that I cover my
mistakes with huge piles of lies. Leadership I believe is vital in my daily living.
Everywhere I go I need to make important decisions. I may not be handling people
that much but being with myself in a difficult situation is the best test for leadership. I
must take shelter under God’s guidance during those times and ask Him to speak to
me through my Spirit.
Action
The concrete actions that I will be doing to make the best decisions in life are
actually summed up to three: meditate, breathe, humble. With meditation, I will fine
tune my communication with the Divine. In times when I will be needing life-changing
decisions I know I can hear God talk to me because I sincerely connect with Him every
day. I also need to breathe. When I see that I am juggling too much already, I find
time to listen to my physical body too. If I feel I am overburdened with too many tasks,
I let my mind and my body unwind. The God-soul in me cannot function properly if my
body isn’t that physically fit anymore. So I breathe and exercise. Lastly, I think humility
is the last step. With every recognition I receive as a leader I make sure that I stay
humble and learn to thank the people who have been part of my journey, the
blessings received, the love, as well as God. With every mistake, I become humble by
admitting my mistakes and take part in finding an immediate solution. No need to
play the blame game.
Evaluation
Overall, I can say that to become a good leader I should learn how to lead my
life and present myself as an example to my future constituents. I will reiterate to myself
and to them the importance of following the Spirit.