I sat there on the stage in my borrowed dress shoes, dress socks, dress pants, dress belt, dress shirt and tie.  I was not prepared for this.  I had no idea I would be doing this – it was a total surprise.  I was feverishly trying to get my thoughts together while the Premier gave his speech.  It was no use listening to what he was saying, there was no way I could understand it.  Cambodian is not a language with which I had any experience.

I had been visiting Cambodia in my capacity as the Board Chair of Hope for the Nations.  The Executive Director of one of our partners was touring me, our founder and a supporter through a number of projects benefiting remote Khmer Rouge villages, orphans and children rescued from sex slavery.

Unbeknownst to us, our partner organization had been working with the Ministry of Education to deliver a program to public school teachers aimed at helping them understand the detriments of using violence as a form of classroom management.  We were now attending the graduation ceremony of 400 teachers who had completed the training.  I was invited to share the stage with the Cambodian Premier, the Minister of Education, and other dignitaries.  I was also asked to deliver a brief speech through an interpreter.

There I sat feeling very uncomfortable in my borrowed clothes wondering what on earth I could share with teachers – leaders – from a completely different culture.  It would have to be extremely simple so as not to get lost in translation, yet profound enough to help them in their role as “stewards of Cambodia’s future”.  So, I encouraged them in the importance of their role as a teacher; that they were indeed stewarding Cambodia’s future.  I then outlined what I believe to be the 3 critical roles of a teacher:

1. Equip the mind.
2. Engage the heart.
3. Inspire the child.

It seemed to go over well – as best I could tell having little or no knowledge of my host’s language or culture.  However, the Minister of Education seemed to resonate with my thoughts.  During his speech he turned to me and repeated 3 points, each time holding up a finger “1…2…3…”.  Either he was repeating my 3 critical roles of a teacher, or he was warning me that 3 strikes and I’m out of the country.

As I have since thought about that experience I believe that those 3 roles actually represent not only that which a great teacher would strive for, but that they also represent the 3 critical roles of a wholehearted leader.

Let’s filter whatever situation you may be in as a leader right now through these lenses:  Would those you lead benefit from being equipped, engaged and inspired? I dare say that ‘yes’ they would.

Too often as leaders we seek to simply equip people to do their job better.  To be more efficient and more effective.  We bypass the heart – our deepest place of conviction, commitment, passion, purpose, identify and life – in order to teach or equip people to work better.  However, if we can engage the heart we unlock the most powerful part of a person.  You see, our most valuable asset is not our skills, abilities, gifting or experience – it’s our heart.

And, the only road to deep-seated, life-changing, “ain’t no stoppin’ us now” inspiration is through the heart.  You don’t inspire people by simply equipping their minds, you must engage their hearts.  A truly great leader – a wholehearted leader – is one who inspires others by engaging their hearts and equipping their minds.  That is not easily done, but it is not so difficult as you may think.

The key to inspiring others is to first ensure that we as leaders are contagiously inspired in regard to the difference that we can affect in the lives of the people we lead; we are engaged at a heart level and equipped with the knowledge we need to lead.

Yes, the 3 critical roles of a leader are to equip the mind, engage the heart and inspire the person.  That is a wholehearted leader.