Can Leadership Change the Culture of an Entire Country?

We cannot continue to have poor leadership in our nation. There’s so much corruption.

I have four children. I’m thinking about them and the next generation. My country needs a whole new culture of servant leadership. We need to break the paradigms of dictatorship throughout all of Latin America.

I have a dream.

I dream about servant leaders being influencers for change in whatever position God places them. We desperately need leaders like this in politics. And we need those leaders thinking about and developing other leaders. I dream of a different culture in terms of how we use leadership to serve others.

The Global Leadership Summit is part of that dream.

I started coming to The Global Leadership Summit in Chicago about 12 years ago with a group of leaders from the Dominican Republic. We looked to implement the lessons for ourselves and our ministries. And it was making a difference. So, when the idea came to start doing the GLS in our country through video conferences, we saw that as a great opportunity. And since 2014, I’ve been serving as the country leader. It’s a great adventure and privilege to be in this role for my people.

One of the things I love about the GLS is learning about leadership-based values and ethics. It is governed with a biblical and Christian world view of leadership.

One of the most inspiring ideas that I’ve had for the last three years is about the potential for the GLS to impact society to inspire change.

Before I attended the Summit, I knew a lot about management, and I loved working with people, but I didn’t have leadership skills. I remember being at the Summit and a speaker challenging us to develop our leadership potential, not only of ourselves, but also of our teams. It is essential for me to see the opportunity to lead others and be responsible for the development of those around me. It’s very personal and developing other leaders has been my agenda for over 10 years now. It’s blessed my life, my family and my ministry.

One of the most inspiring ideas that I’ve had for the last three years is about the potential for the GLS to impact society to inspire change. My passion is to make sure that every leader in the Dominican Republic really understands this. I’m dreaming about all the different sectors, including the next generation, educators, arts, media, government, business, social services, NGOs—there’s so much potential. I think about my own children in terms of their potential and some of the tools they can take and run with. The GLS is a great opportunity to develop the leadership gift God gives you and use it where ever you are.

Expanding the impact of the Summit in Latin America requires this one thing.

Today, the GLS is hosted at three sites reaching 1,300 attendees across the Dominican Republic. We expect to get to over 2,000 in 2019.

Translation of the GLS is one of the most key and important things to do in order to grow. Once the GLS happens in Chicago, we take it to all of our countries in Latin America where the Spanish-speaking population exists. The GLN is using some of the best voice-over! When I listen to the GLS in Spanish the quality of the translation is amazing.

One of the challenges that we face when we are sharing the GLS with others and saying, come to our event, enjoy this, you need this, People say, are they coming live? I say, how can we bring all of them here? They are coming through video conference. So, it’s so critically important to have good translation.

We feel very lucky to have the GLS in Spanish. I know it’s a huge difficulty to execute this and a very expensive part of the program, so we are so thankful to the GLN for making it possible. It is a great endeavor and undertaking.

When you listen to the GLS in your own language, there is something that connects with you and your own culture. It happens to me. Language is one of the most powerful things to create culture. When you can receive the GLS and apply it to your own culture, it is such a great blessing.

I’m so grateful for your generosity and belief in what is happening in my country.

When you listen to the GLS in your own language, there is something that connects with you and your own culture.

It has been such a great opportunity to be mentored and blessed with access to books and content from the GLS. It is now my intention to make the GLS really accessible to the next generation as well. I want to start when they are young—12 ,13 and 14—so they can start dreaming and developing their leadership potential and embrace great causes. I see this new generation of leaders that have been awakened. The Church needs to take responsibility and open up our spaces to become coaches and mentors, because they will continue leading us. My hope is that they will lead us in the right direction for the good of our people and for the glory of our God.

Thank you for making this great resource available for leadership development to be taken from South Barrington, IL to our nations. We are being blessed because of your generosity. You made the translation possible and started new sites. We have so many hard places where it is difficult, and to provide access to the quality of this top-notch leadership material, and make it available to our people, is a huge undertaking. We are blessed because of your generosity, and we give thanks to God for you.