Beyond the dissimilar interpretations that frequently appear on the term, there is no doubt that, when the word leader is mentioned, we are immediately drawn to the idea of someone exceptional, with qualities that are not common to the average human being, someone who was born to trace the paths along which thousands of people of his time, and after him, will walk.
Without fear of misunderstanding, I would affirm that the leader is one of those concepts placed on a pedestal, if it is a matter of sincere respect, admiration and appreciation. It is, in equal measure, a privilege and an infinite responsibility, essentially because those who occupy this position in the minds and hearts of those around them will never again live for themselves, and will begin, even without intending to do so, to live for others.
One can be a leader in various ways, in any of the areas of life. There are leaders in the family, leaders in communities, leaders in companies and schools, leaders in science or research, political leaders. Each one of them is undoubtedly a leader because of their human, moral, ethical and intellectual qualities, and because of a natural process of recognition that places them at the head of initiatives, actions, behaviors and ideologies, always on their own merits, earned through effort, perseverance and example.
Logically, this is not enough; we need humility, respect for others, and the necessary sensitivity not to turn recognition into vanity. It also requires awareness and maturity to assume, in its full dimension, the commitment that leadership implies, in whatever field it is exercised.
It is precisely in this last reflection that the true greatness of a leader lies. His ability to distinguish himself, even among other human beings with qualities very similar to his own. It is these attitudes that mark the turning point for the birth of the exceptional within the exceptional, the great within the great, the unique within the unique, the leader of leaders.
Sometimes it takes years, and even centuries, for a presence of such magnitude to take its place in that extraordinary dimension, in which virtue is the very meaning of life, and otherness, love, will and constancy are irreplaceable ingredients of the attitude.
And it is a slow but imperturbable forging, in which the human being overcomes himself, fighting against his own weaknesses, building himself in the daily struggle, by free and spontaneous will. The leader does not understand that he is a leader from the beginning; only the circumstances, the historical moment, those who surround him, make him understand the place he occupies and become fully aware of it.
He has to face hard battles, not only with himself, but also with an imaginary that places him at the maximum point of perfection, without taking into account his human condition, which prevents him from living exempt from mistakes.
But every great leader understands and assumes responsibility for his actions, and amends them with character, without weakness, because he knows the high price paid by those who collapse, who sink into self-pity, and stop fighting for the conquest of the highest dreams.
Dreams that are not his own, because he always dreams collectively, and his greatest fulfillment is to build the benefit of the majority, even if it implies his own wear and tear by a constant vigil. Ingratitude often accompanies him at every step, promoted by the perennial revisionism of eternal nonconformists, not because of the revolutionary nature of their ideals, but because of their inability to see anything other than the sun's spots.
But there are lights that are impossible to extinguish, and which, far from diminishing in intensity, grow, mutate into extraordinary expressions of humanism, sensitivity, wisdom, foresight, solidarity, justice, in their most exalted, noble and true expressions.
At that point, there is nothing to prevent a leader from transcending, nothing to slow down his path to immortality, to existence beyond the time and space we occupy in the world. There are footprints in history that are too deep, too firm, to be also the foundation of other steps that follow, that become a committed extension so that the road already traveled is not cut short.
Proud and privileged are the peoples who have seen such beings grow in their midst, who treasure their legacy and have known how to preserve it because of the incalculable value of this immaterial treasure.
Privileged Cubans, for having had a Fidel who was a leader in all possible dimensions, who speaks to us from the immensity of his legacy, and who left the soil fertilized so that other leaders may also write their history on this land.
