Great leader

By Netnet Camomot

“A GREAT leader is someone who doesn’t force himself to say that I should be the best and I should be the one to sit on the throne. A great leader is someone who stands back and says there might be someone out there who’s willing to do this job or who’s passionate about this job. You take a step back and you tell that I want to bring the best out of these people.”

Part of PNoy’s State of the Nation Address (Sona)? Nope. Mayor Oscar Moreno’s inaugural address? Hmmm, puede rin, but I wasn’t there—I was busy planting trees with co-Rotarians—so I don’t know how his speech went. Great leader as in that of North Korea? Of course not.

Those words formed part of Jonathan Yabut’s answer to Tony Fernandes’s question: “Why do you think you’re a better candidate than Andrea?”

Yabut and Andrea Loh were the two finalists of the first season of “The Apprentice Asia.” Fernandes is the man behind AirAsia and Tune Hotels, and he was the host of the show.

The 27-year-old Yabut, a Filipino, eventually became the show’s winner and, for his prize, he’ll immediately start working as Fernandes’s apprentice in Kuala Lumpur with a $100,000 monthly salary.

Yabut already had another victory before when he was chosen as one of the 7th Mansmith Young Market Masters Awardees for 2012 in the Brand Management category.

Another part of the answer he gave to Fernandes was this: “You can throw me at anything not only because I’m passionate but because even if things go wrong, I never lose it. And I never lose it because I have all the inspirations to back me up. And, as I’ve always said, I’m inspired by my people, I’m inspired by my parents, I’m inspired by my family, I’m inspired by the things I’ve gone through from humble beginnings in my life. Those things never die. You want an apprentice who will always dearly hold on to those values and ideals.”

Anyone who’s still craving to be a part of Cagayan de Oro’s new administration could learn a thing or two from Yabut and the way he answers Fernandes’s queries. But one can only reply with such conviction once he has enough experience in the field, and not just because he has memorized these speeches by heart.

For example, here’s the first part of Yabut’s answer to Fernandes’s query: “…the reason why you’re successful in your business is because you love doing these things. You don’t invest in things that you don’t like, and that’s the same that I do with my own life, Sir. You want people who wanna work for you because they share the same passion. This kind of passion is not something that you force into anyone… You don’t force these things into me because I was born that way, Sir.” If that reply came from a city hall appointee wannabe, I gotta feeling Moreno would be finally convinced that he’s qualified for the position he’s craving for.

During the show’s victory party, Yabut remembered the domestic helpers in Hong Kong and said that he “was so motivated to join this is because I was so sick and tired that the Filipino has always been bullied…” Cagayanons could relate with that when they got too sick and tired of the lack of response from the previous city administration during and after Sendong. Some people say that’s one reason why the incumbent mayor then is now the immediate past mayor.

Yabut has inspired us to do the best we can in the careers we have chosen. Although sometimes the things we “kina-career” are not exactly our careers. If only all Pinoys are like him, then this country can be great again. But he’s humble enough to say that “It’s not about me. In the end, I’m just a matter of molecules and brain cells standing in front of you. It could have been anyone but the question is, what it brings out and for me it’s the inspiration… In the end, inspiration sparks hope, hope sparks action, and action sparks change.”