Two of the country's sought after and award-winning inspiration speakers–Gina R. Lopez and Francis R. Kong spent an afternoon talking about leadership, integrity, and failure with the next gen leaders of FEU Tech during the 6th Mid-Year Leadership Training and Seminar.
Former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez encouraged students to take advantage of their positions as student leaders as an opportunity to take care of the environment.
"We should not forget to love one another because if you are only focused on making money, it's like killing your soul," she said.
She also showed places where people used to live in poverty but are now earning incomes by helping them develop the area into tourism sites.
Leadership is about serving other people.
This was highlighted by inspirational speaker Francis Kong during his speech.
To be able to serve, he shared the nine critical skills that a leader should have in the age of technological advancements: problem solving skills, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, values and ethics, resourcefulness, creative processing, leadership perspective, manage ambiguity, and communication skills.
Mr. Kong also emphasized the importance of communication skills. He said that your degree or title will not matter if you cannot communicate your thoughts or ideas eloquently and clearly.
He compares leadership with finding true love. "[In love,] you attract what you are. If you are God-fearing, honest, and responsible, there is a huge chance that you attract someone who has the same attributes. This is true for leadership as well. If you are responsible and hardworking, you attract the same members," Kong said.
Mr. Kong reminded them that while skills and talents will help them get to the top, only integrity will keep them there.
"This is why it is important to keep your name clean. Do what you promise and deliver what you committed to do," he said.