Regis Cebu Leadership – Leader Oliver Solijon – Call to arms speech

Leadership and survival of The Triskelions Grand Fraternity and Sorority

By: Oliver Solijon

Fraternal Brothers and Sisters, I certainly consider it an honour and a privilege to have been invited here to talk to this august body, to this very important occasion our of 47^th anniversary of our beloved Triskelions Grand Fraternity and Sorority and I thank you very much for the very kind invitation. 

Brothers and Sisters, our beloved fraternity and sorority have reached another milestone as we celebrate 47 years of supremacy guided by the tenents and code of conducts. I don't pretend to think that the things I'm about to say will have an impact in your lives but if I can get one person here tonight to reflect about and act upon what I might say then I will not have laboured in vain or spent my strength for naught. 

The very reason why we have come this far is not only because of our tenents and codes of conduct but also of good leadership. Leadership is loyalty, it is energy, it is positive attitude, it is dynamic, it is enthusiasm, it is risk-taking, it is strategy, honesty, it is inspiration and it is prestige. Certainly if you pull all those words together you will come up with the word leadership. 



Brothers and sisters, I submit to you tonight that never before in the history of our beloved fraternity has there been a greater need for leadership. Never before in the history has there been a greater need for effective, dynamic, prestigious leadership particularly at a time when some of our fellow Triskelions are staying away from our Chapter meetings. I have not always been convinced that we have a membership problem. Yes, never before in the history that has there been a greater need, particularly when we have more brothers and sisters going out the back door than we have coming in the front door and we have to ask ourselves why? Yes leadership is so desperately needed for the survival of our beloved Triskelions Grand Fraternity and Sorority. That is why I have chosen as my topic: Leadership, and the survival of Triskelions Grand Fraternity and Sorority. 

To understand profoundly the absolute significance of our being a Triskelion is of vital importance in the attainment of our goal for supremacy. We defined Triskelion as "the conglomeration of the three (3) Dynamic Forces, which aims to conquer the Universe". As we can see, there are two parts of our definition, first is that the Triskelion is "the conglomeration of the 3 Dynamic Forces", and the second part is that "it aims to conquer the Universe". The first part has a very clear message that in order to be called a Triskelion, you must therefore possess the three (3) Dynamic Forces, which are the FORTIS, VOLUNTAS, & FRATERNITAS. It will also mean that the absence of any of the three immediately indicates incompleteness of being a Triskelion. So in order to have a complete grasp of our being, let us try to comprehend the 3 Dynamic Forces.

What do we mean by the term leadership? If we take a look at the literature again on the topic of leadership you will find many definitions. I've come up with two more common ones, the long and the short of it. Leadership is the exploitation of every opportunity to take people forward towards the common goal, although known by all, often grows dim or gets lost in the challenges and the problems of our day to day operations. Taking people forward!! The short of it; Leadership is the art of causing others to want to do what the leader thinks needs to be done; causing others to want. Causing and want; terms that go together. 

Leadership and management, is there a difference? Yes, I think that there is a significant difference; they are not synonymous terms; they are not interchangeable. The leader inspires, the manager maintains. The leader is the original, the manager is the copy. The leader does right things, the manager does things right. The leader looks at the horizon, the manager looks at the bottom line. The leader is concerned with people, the manager with form and structure. The leader paints creatively, the manager paints by numbers. What are you? Are you a leader or are you a manager? Do you paint by numbers or do you paint creatively. Do you inspire or do you maintain? Do you challenge the status quo or do you accept it. As an Elder, have you caused others to want to do what you think is necessary for the fraternity/sorority? Are you causing others to want to do what you believe is necessary for the survival of the fraternity/sorority? How do you cause others to want to do; to take people forward toward that common goal which often grows dim or even lost in our day to day operations? I believe that there are five crucial components of effective, dynamic, enthusiastic leadership; - challenging, inspiring, enabling, modeling and encouraging. 

Challenging is a process. Challenging the status quo is examining carefully the very form and very structure of an organization. Great leaders cause things to happen; they don't wait for things to happen. Some may compare a leader with an orchestra conductor; sometimes you have to turn your back to the audience and face the music. We too, as Triskelions require that same kind of leadership. Leaders are prepared to challenge the status quo; keeping in mind and building upon the strengths. I think it is important for leaders to shake up those in the comfortable pews; to make changes; not to accept the status quo. 

Not only must we challenge, but we must inspire. We must inspire what is called the shared vision. But before we can inspire that shared vision we must have a vision. We must have a plan of action; a long term plan. Organizations don't succeed because they plan to fail, they don't succeed because they fail to plan. Every organization needs a long term plan. That plan must be a shared plan. It can't be one man's idea.

Enabling. We need to enable others to act; to give them the tools and the power and the authority to work up the action plan for the vision. Some organizations develop such a sterile environment that the people never have a chance for failure; it always has to be based upon success. People have to learn to feel failure before they can feel success. We need to rid ourselves of that mushroom effect. You keep them in the dark, you feed them 'you know what' and you expect them to grow. When people accept things, they are better prepared to act upon them.

Modeling the way. What do we mean by modeling the way? Modeling the way means to me that the leader, the great leader is the true and living example of the vision. He lives it, he breathes it, he talks about it, he inspires it. Gandhi once said, my life is my message. We cannot praise in public and condemn in private. We as Triskelions must be the living example of what we mean. If we are going to talk moral conduct, we must be seen to be practicing moral conduct. 

Encouraging. We must encourage the heart. That is the role of Leaders to help people to feel good about themselves, to know that they are part of the process and that they are part of the organization. It is of great importance that they feel that they count and that they are appreciated. Give them that encouragement and make them feel that they are important before it is too late, before we lose too many brothers and sisters as Triskelion.

Brothers and sisters, any business that is short on capital can borrow, any business that has a poor location can move, but any business that is short on leadership will not survive in the long term. Leadership, is necessary to establish the vision and it is necessary to translate that vision into action. Great leaders do not go where there is a path and lead. They go where there is no path and leave a trail. 

And so I say to you my brothers and sisters in closing, what are you? Are you a follower, or are you leaving a trail? Do you challenge, do you inspire, do you enable, do you model, do you encourage. Can you provide that leadership of loyalty, of energy, of positive attitude, being dynamic, enthusiastic, risk-taking, strategist, honest, inspirational, and prestigious? Can you provide that kind of leadership so that our beloved Triskelions Grand Fraternity and Sorority will continue to be the most dynamic, the most powerful, the most prestigious and the greatest organization in the universe? I leave it with you. Thank you!