领导，从学习开始

Leading, Starts from Learning

It was from the church fellowship I belong to that I heard about CEA — an organization that helps young Chinese students and professional to become leaders.

I signed up for CEA annual meeting in New Jersey, because the promoter promised good professional development guidance and tutoring.

Being a mediocre software developer, I do want to go up a level in my career; enhancing job security is a big motivation too. Hence I drove 5 hours from Boston to New Jersey to attend the full day seminar offered by CEA.

It turns out to be the beginning of something great, something that is changing me even right now. (It is the first time I write on a leadership topic, I wouldn’t even imagine of something like this if I never went to this seminar).

The speakers were all well achieved entrepreneurs, and speeches covered a wide range of topics, all of which extremely practical as well as inspiring. Even though I always considered myself the least ambitious person, I began to ponder another way to live my life. Life just feels more meaningful when you could make a strong, positive impact to the world.

But, how can I, an ordinary person, start to lead? As one of the speaker mentioned: to be a leader, one needs to have something to be respected, admired and of great value. So, what is the deal for me then? I don’t have anything like that… Is my budding leadership dream dead from beginning because I am not that kind of person? This is the question I asked George Chu* at lunchtime.

What he told me? “You can learn”.

George wasn’t a CEO from beginning, he told us quite frankly that he went back to school after graduate from grad school to re-learn English in his spare time, just to be able to speak and write like an America. He said with great emphasis, that one needs to get out of one’s comfort zone, to not stay in content of material satisfaction, but to live a life with spirit, a life that changes the world.

His words echo in my mind and open up my heart. He is right. Why just identify myself in such a limited way while there are unlimited possibilities for me to engage in learning, growing and sharing my life with other people?

After coming back from New Jersey, the focus of my life has changed, and I attended more seminar offered by CEA, which I will share more in another article, and which will contain more details about taking actions.

But, a thousand miles starts from first step. I believe every leader starts from the same first step: Learning. If one can learn, one has the potential to lead. It is just a matter of how much you open up your heart.

*George Chu, Former CEA president

Sally An

A member of Young Professional Fellowship at CGCGB, Lexington, MA.

A software professional in Boston area since 2006