"We can learn to lead by discovering the power that lies within each one of us to make a difference and being prepared when the call to lead comes. But when that time comes, there are certain rules that you must apply to achieve success.

As a student of San Beda College, we must equip ourselves with a proper work attitude in the corporate world. Because of the Benedictine Rule of Leadership, we are taught on how to strike balance a true Benedictine Character and Industrial competitiveness. Benedict's renowned practicality makes his way of life appropriate wherever people live and work together. His values can be applied to the family, the parish, the school, and the workplace.

1. The Benedictine Rule Of Leadership:

Rule of Common Interest:
Superior organizations are at all times shaped as elite fraternities, with a clearly stated common purpose. Mission statements must be precise declarations of the common purpose, as well as promises of organizational behavior.

Rule of Selection and Formation:
Organizations are only as good as their people; superior organizations should not be easy to join, and the primary motivator for selection and formation is the promise of fraternity and stability. There must be no preferential treatment of members.

Rule of Merit and Seniority:
This rule explains how to deal with job-assignment issues. Age should not be considered a relevant measure of talent, and, while seniority must be honored because it creates continuity and a reference point for experience, merit should always be the determinant for rewards or positions of authority.

Rule of Focused and Independent Ventures:
Benedict believed organizations should remain lean, self-sufficient and focused on a common objective. He warned against too many levels of management or bureaucracy, and of the dangers of centralization and hierarchy. He believed that subsidiary or offshoot groups should be economically autonomous, maintaining only cultural and philosophical bonds.

Rule of Innovation:
Benedict recognized that paradigms would be challenged and periodically upset. He believed innovation within the existing paradigm would come from the lower levels of the membership, while innovation that challenged the paradigm would come from senior members. Innovations that break the paradigm had to come from outside the organization.

Rule of Ethics:
The rule states that ethics is a fundamental, structural part of the organization and its management system; ethics cannot be forced, so the leader must create an environment in which members naturally make the proper ethical decisions. The ethical leader must ensure that there are no fraud, dishonesty and greed in business practice. He or she must give emphasis to disciplinary acts and have corporate cohesion.

Rule of Stability:
Vow of stability means building strong and sure foundations, avoiding unnecessary and foolish risks, and investing for the long term. A leader must invest in their training, make the workplace enjoyable, and ensure that they remain on board for the long run. Maintaining stability in his relationships with subordinates means building a strong is a good start to achieve success. For the Christian leader, seeking stability means building a solid, disciplined spiritual life and knowing and holding to one's spiritual values despite the pressures of competition and a constantly shifting marketplace. This rule provides for continuity in leadership succession, ideals, culture and job security.
Stable organizations provide continuity – continuity in leadership succession, in organizational ideals and culture, and in job security. The three keys to stability are community, fairness and tenure. The rule does allow for organizational transfers, but only under proper conditions and if a certain process if followed.

Rule of Purposeful Ritual:
Cohesiveness is an all-important bonding process. It is the Positive power inherent in the motion of "elite fraternity". it creates the sense of group "togetherness". However, St. Benedict said that it comes from a management process. it can be traced to purposeful ritual. Ritual provides a powerful sense of stability in a troubled world. the rule also carefully lays out the nature and times of different prayers, and how they change it according to the season. Customary is a document that describe the special custom, celebration, ideal, and other standards of behavior fit the community. it reflects the collective experiences and wisdom of the community. Rituals, must be tied clearly and unambiguously to the shared common objective of the group to be achived. Ritual cannot be contrived or fake. It must be cyclical events and consistently applied. It must be aesthetically pleasing and does not create cohesiveness.

Rule of Group Reliance and Mutual Respect:
Building and nurturing a cohesive working team, St.Benetict would likely offer mutual reliance. Members must learn to rely on other community members. In a Truly cohesive organization, reliance is deep, intimate, and multidirectional. Mutual respect must be given for any and all members of the team,regardless of social status, job title, or station in life. He calls the emphasis on mutual respect between group members the "good zeal", of the community.

Rule of Discipline:
Benedict held that leaders should see discipline as a lesson plan, not as punishment. Benedict believed that cohesive organizations gave second and third chances. He stated that there should be no favoritism in matters of discipline and that the ultimate penalty of discharge from the community, while sometimes necessary for the health of the group, was as traumatic as an amputation and had to be very carefully considered.

Rule of Counsel:
Benedict's idea was that executive appointments should be democratic. Any member of the organization could become a leader, regardless of seniority, as decisions had to be based on merit alone. For St. Benedict, efficiently accomplishing a set of complex and diverse task, require a blend of single-leader management structure and the cohesive dynamics of modern team management. The rule outlines a strict process for selection of senior executive. It also establishes how that senior executive must subsequently interact with the group. He believed that the initial selection of Chef Executive Officer should be a largely democratic process. Sound judgement thus become the standard in Benedictine model. Age, rank, and seniority should be irrelevant. Only the best and the most deserving need apply. Merit is the most consideration.

Rule of Grumbling:
Benedict discouraged complaining, but recognized that grumbling was a major indicator of the health of his organization. He declared that the source of grumbling ought to be found and any problems fixed. Subordinate grumbling is a vital sign that is believed to be the best indicator of health of an organization. Vital signs are not just monitoring devices. Tracking grumbling should be an obsession for the senior executive. Leader’s decisions may be the root cause for subordinate grumbling. Grumbling is contagious and infectious. Some grumbling may, in fact, be justified; if so, fix the problem.

Rule of Leader:
The Rule of Leader explains that actions speak louder than words. Leaders were to teach by example, and were to keep track of, and study, their own failures and successes.

Rule of Humility and Moderation:
Benedict thought the basic leadership virtue was humility. Leaders had to show aptitude and objective, but their enthusiasm was to derive from a aspiration to look up and contribute to the health of the organization, not from individual personality. He believed that true humility was a skill one had to learn and practice.

Rule of Iron Resolve:
Effective managers need to be good administrators and leaders attributes are the inner or personal qualities that constitute effective leadership. To a practicing executive it seems obvious that an effective leader's behavior is a critical factor and will depend not only on his or her own innate personal attributes including ethics and his or her own acquired skills but also on the situation, people and tasks involved. Persistence, honesty, and humility. Persistence pays off! Honesty may not always get you what you want, but I believe it should be a core value in all aspects of life. And humility is self-explanatory. People want to relate to you and feel like they are being seen eye-to-eye. Arrogance tends to alienate others."

Saint Benedict and His Rules