Ms. D gives leadership a spin

For most people, the life of a leader can look glamorous on the surface, but in reality, leadership is all about the sacrifices we are willing to make. "He who wants to be first should be last," as the Holy Bible says.

Sure there are plenty of "bosses" in business, life, and politics. But a true leader provides the glue that sticks everybody together, inspires people to do great things, and empowers them by encouraging them to bring out the best in them.

The unforgiving hard truth is sacrifice is thankless, painful, and sometimes costly. The Daily Tribune is fortunate to have someone willing to make sacrifices and take on the role of a true leader.

Dinah Ventura, our managing editor, is well aware of the need to sacrifice that is inherent in her responsibilities. On a daily basis, Dinah faces challenges, such as initiating measures that need her to give up something to gain something. For Dinah, life is always a set of scales that require balancing.

But Dinah is wise to know that the best type of sacrifice is something she cannot take back or earn back. She puts in extra hours to 'close' her section (she has the most number of pages per section) or finish an article, an editorial, or a column. Take the workload from a struggling colleague, even if it means she has to push her limit.

She also makes personal sacrifices that will gain her nothing but allow others around her and the organization to win so much.

For over a year, I often see Dinah wiping tears from her eyes. When I asked her why she would relate her desire to visit her ailing father in Bicol.

Since November this year, she has struggled to contain her emotion and maintain that balance between completing all the pending projects entrusted to her and attending to her bedridden father to fulfill her duty as a daughter.

"You have to go, Dinah," I advised her.

"I can't," was her constant reply. "I need to ensure that all our projects will come to fruition. We have so many things to do." She finally left for Bicol to attend to her father a few days before the Daily Tribune's 17 December Christmas Party and returned to Manila on the 19th to take care of business — as usual.

But even in Bicol, Dinah would send instructions to concerned committees and individuals to ensure things were executed according to plan.

Dinah was still managing remotely while attending to personal matters.

From the eyes of the believer
In truth, Dinah takes her responsibilities seriously. But she is not always serious. While managing the serious business of running a news organization, her candidness and childlike demeanor endeared her to colleagues and even her bosses.

Pauline Songco, one of Dinah's lifestyle reporters, has this to say, "I'd love to say Ms. D is one of the kindest, most considerate, and hardworking person I know. (Dinah is also called Ms. D by people close to her)."

Pau went on to say, "I did not know much about writing when I joined Daily Tribune in 2016. It was her guidance and patience that helped me along the way. I hope I got better. Haha. Part of me believes she would have been my mother in another life, and she is now in every sense of the word.

"Thank you, Ms. D, for everything. Have a happy Christmas and new year!"

Avic Clemente, one of the pioneer layout artists of Daily Tribune since its merger with the Philippine Post, described Dinah as "one of the coolest editors. Fashionable in all senses of the word, but is level-headed. She is a 'gem' as a friend and a colleague.

"Dinah Rowena Sabal Ventura, an editor, a friend, and a kind-hearted woman," Clemente said. "We share common and personal sentiments concerning family life. When she works, she works hard and gives her best, 101 percent. She seldom gets angry, but beware when she's on it."

Of course, our executive vice president Chingbee Fernandez also admires Dinah for "Stepping on the plate when things need to be aligned."

"How she sacrificed her personal time to reach the goals set by the team. And how she tried to navigate around her to ensure harmony among a sea of people of varying beliefs and sometimes clashing points of view," were how Mrs. Fernandez sees Dinah's performance.

Onion-peeled
Dinah's biggest asset is her power of compartmentalization. She is like an onion that you must peel one layer at a time.

She is capable of dividing each task — and emotions — per section. It's how she can provide harmony and ensure a seamless process "of various beliefs and clashing viewpoints."

Her pragmatic approach to varying characters and personalities allows her to sail smoothly and get the desired result for the betterment of all.

Dinah has a layer for everything and is most often capable of looking at things from "a larger perspective," as she would always say, in a manner, only she can provide.

Shared responsibility
Indeed, Dinah is offering more sacrifices than just time and energy. These sacrifices also involve dividing some of her authority between sub-editors and staff.

As a great leader, Dinah sacrifices some of her power and distributes it amongst the people she can rely on and trust. She believes that with more members of her team holding authority, more people can amend, adjust, or change plans for the future of the Daily Tribune.

More importantly, Dinah has no pretensions that with more people given authority to make changes, the wide variety of ideas will continue to flow, encouraging more inspired people to share the sacrifices to achieve a common goal and shared dreams.

Despite all these, Dinah remains grounded. Humble and "self-deprecating," often undervaluing her contributions and worth. I often joked that she must have been sent by the gods above to teach us, mortals, the meaning of humility, kindness, and courage to face the odds in front of us.

Lastly, what makes Dinah a great leader is her ability to be a good follower and a loyal friend. Truly, she is the heart of the Daily Tribune's leadership.