“Real wealth is the ability to
think and feel and not being possessed by possession”. These are the lines that really struck me in
the middle and end of the film, “Who Are My Own”, featuring the life of St. La
Salle. I had been a La Salle alumni but
it is only now that I have really reflected the life of St. La Salle. St. John
Baptist de La Salle was born in a wealthy family. He might have lived a very comfortable life,
with power and popularity. But he chose instead, serving the poor children by
giving them a free education. St. La
Salle’s vision is to build a number of Christian schools and teach young and
poor children. Although St. La Salle is known for being the patron saint of
educators, some of his traits may also apply and hopefully be emulated by our
modern-day corporate leaders and entrepreneurs.
St. La Salle as a Risk Taker
One of the most common traits of
successful entrepreneurs is the ability and willingness to take risks. This is true even for new and small entrepreneurs
– leaving the day-job or giving up the stable pay-checks to venture into its
own business; spending personal time and capital to run a business with various
uncertainties, etc. St. La Salle has
taken risks in several clips of the movie.
One of the biggest risks he has undertaken was when he decided to resign
his canonry, gave up his fortune and inheritance from his wealthy parents, devoted
his life instead educating the poor children and living with his fellow
teachers and “Brothers”. Relative to
this, the brotherhood formed by St. La Salle, a new religious institute, was
opposed by some ecclesiastical authorities.
Despite these resistances, not to mention their diminishing financial resources,
St. La Salle and his fellow brothers risked and continued with their
mission. Fast forward, De La Salle
community has now spread to various countries, and a number of schools and
universities were already established; truly a high reward for a high risk
taken centuries ago.
St. La Salle as an Innovator
In today’s business and corporate
world, innovation is one of the keys to success and to keep abreast with the market
competition. Although not an
entrepreneur nor a corporate man, St. La Salle has also demonstrated his
innovativeness.
Forming a new religious
institute, now known as the “De La Salle Brothers”, or “Christian Brothers”, is
an example how St. La Salle has demonstrated being an innovator. This brotherhood was the first Roman Catholic
teaching religious group that did not include any priests. Instead, this group is mainly composed of lay
teachers whose primary purpose is to give a good Christian education to the
poor children.
St. La Salle’s innovativeness has
also transformed the educational system on some informal schools. A clip from the film presented how one school
educated the children one-on-one, while the rest of the students are either
playing rough games, gambling, or doing manual labor. The old system was a chaotic, and St. La
Salle has transformed the system by providing more formal lessons, teaching
good values and refining the manners of the students. With St. La Salle’s innovativeness, he was
considered as the founder of the first Catholic schools, and thereby naming him
the patron saint of teachers.
St. La Salle as a Mentor
Another key to success,
particularly in a corporate world, is to have someone to inspire and guide you
in your journey, in your career --- a mentor.
Andre, one of the film’s
characters who used to be a theft and a trouble-maker, turned out to be one of
St. La Salle’s mentee. His life has
completely changed, when he decided to join St. La Salle’s journey. Andre,
along with the other lay teachers and brothers, were inspired by St. La Salle’s
vision and teachings. St. La Salle went out of his way to pursue his
plan of training the lay teachers. During
the times of their financial difficulties in sustaining their educational
institutions, as well as criticisms from the society, relatives and even some
religious institutions, some lay teachers have doubted and some have given up
on their mission. Despite those trials,
St. La Salle has remained grounded and has kept his faith in both God and their
mission. This strong faith was shared to
his fellow teachers and brothers, to keep walking in achieving their ultimate
goal – to provide Christian education to common and poor children.
St. La Salle as a Servant-Leader
A Servant-Leader, according to Robert
K. Greenleaf, is “SERVANT-FIRST…It begins with the natural feeling that one
wants to serve, to serve first.” (Wikipedia)
With St. La Salle’s inherited
wealth, he may have lived a rich and powerful life. He may have pursued business, or may have had
a high position in the religious order. However,
this path was completely out of St. La Salle’s primary mission --- to serve and
educate the poor children. Aside from
the poor children, St. La Salle has also served his fellow teachers and brothers,
by giving them more formal trainings and resources…and all these were shared
out of love and passion and not for profit.
He is indeed an epitome of a true Servant-Leader. Service to others, especially for the
unfortunate children who were deprived of a good education, is certainly what
St. La Salle considers as “Real Wealth”.
He believed that if he can open
the children’s minds, if he and the teachers can reach beyond the boundaries,
if they can open the children’s minds to this light, our world especially these
children will have a brighter hope, closer to peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment