Today, Janice and I met up with an alumni in our dance crew (DDC) that we’ve never ever, ever, met before for dinner, to talk about our mini-project. His name was Zhan Hui. He was the one that actually initiated DDC, about 8 years ago. But even then, even with just this one meet up, I finally understood the importance of a true leader.

Here are the 3 things that I saw:

Vision

He was able to see what was needed to improve the club and he planned forward. His long term vision did end up being accomplished one by one as the years went by, and some of his plans have continuously been put in place till today. And because of this strong vision, there was a purpose in every single action that was taken, leading to what the club is today.

Genuine

He is genuinely nice. He was so ready to help us, willing to meet us, send us the info that he had to help us. And he genuinely wanted to set up DDC because he saw its potential to foster closer bonds and use it as a platform for a group of dancers to train together and perform together. Because he believed in his vision and his vision had pretty good intentions, he was able to set up both DDC and Funkstyles in NUS. When I found out that his vice president was Eric, I understood why their batch was truly golden, being led by 2 exceptionally nice and genuine people.

Commitment
He committed to what he believed in and he was committed to his actions. He didn’t let go when things were tough, and mind you opening a new club twice in a row has a lot of challenges, including funding, limited studio space, finding members, administration and more. He even managed to overcome the deficit fund that was handed over by the previous committee.

Zhan Hui admitted that he and his committee didn’t have the knowledge or expertise to teach techniques, but despite that, the members still stayed on and are bonded. This was because the one in power did something right in the attitude department. I feel that many leaders today (myself included) are lacking in this, which is really a pity as the current batches are less close as compared to Zhan Hui’s batches. people are leaving the club these days. They are unsure of the ones leading and in turn are unsure of the rest.

With the right leader, whom the people acknowledge and respect, makes it a lot easier for the members to be more understanding, supportive and open with one another.

What about you? What really makes you listen and respect a person? Who will you let lead your life?