Lea Salonga shared a quote on leadership from two leaders of popular Korean groups BTS and ENHYPEN that made an impact on her recently.
In a tweet on April 21, Lea cited a statement from Jungwon, leader of ENHYPEN, on leadership that he got from RM (Kim Namjoon) of BTS.
“’A group’s leader is not someone who pulls in front of the other members, but someone who pushes them from behind.’ – RM, leader of BTS as quoted by Jungwon, leader of ENHYPEN,” she tweeted.
The multi-awarded singer and actress said that this line “stuck with her” as a quality of what a leader should have.
“This stuck with me. I guess that means an effective leader is willing to be in the trenches with you,” Lea said.
“A group’s leader is not someone who pulls in front of the other members, but someone who pushes them from behind.” – RM, leader of BTS as quoted by Jungwon, leader of ENHYPEN
This stuck with me. I guess that means an effective leader is willing to be in the trenches with you.
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) April 20, 2022
The quote is from Jungwon’s cover story with an online platform called Weverse Magazine titled “JUNGWON: It’s better to create positive energy” released on May 8, 2021.
In the interview, he was asked the following question: “How do you feel about taking on responsibility as the leader?”
The following is Jungwon’s full response:
“Naturally there’s some pressure, but I’m not perfect, and I’m still one of the members of ENHYPEN. Plus I’m young, so I think I’m still in the learning stage. I don’t think the job of being leader is something you do alone. Usually people think of the leader as someone who guides from the front, right? Well, RM said something to me: A leader doesn’t pull from the front; they push from behind. That’s so inspirational that I still think about it.”
This story is part of Weverse Magazine’s comeback special for the group’s previous album “ENHYPEN BORDER: CARNIVAL.”
The magazine is a division of Weverse, a Korean mobile app that serves as a hub for fans of their member-artists.
Different reactions from fans
Lea’s tweet, meanwhile, got the attention of both BTS and ENHYPEN fans on the micro-blogging platform.
So far, it garnered 12,700 retweets, 1,129 quote-retweets and 51,300 likes.
Fans of BTS, collectively called ARMYs, and ENHYPEN, called ENGENEs, expressed how happy they were for Lea’s recognition of their favorite Korean artists.
“Kinikilig ako T^T I was Ms. Lea’s fan first before I became an armygene so this meant so much to me,” one fan said with a crying emoji.
Others also continued to praise Jungwon. They shared to Lea how the young Korean performer also looked up to RM.
“And both are great in leading on their own unique way. I love how these two got so much compliments as this as they deserved so much!” one fan said.
“Despite of his young age, he is leading the team well. He speaks wise words and is an effective communicator. His leadership is indeed commendable,” another fan said.
Some Filipinos, on the other hand, associated the tweet to some presidential candidates in the May elections.
“Jungwon is surely learning from a great leader. Jungwon may be young, but he is more than capable and empowered. We need more leaders like RM and Jungwon. Kulay rosas,” one fan said with pink heart emojis, referring to Vice President Leni Robredo.
“And Yorme Isko is a living testimony for that matter,” one user said.
“Yes. That’s what UNITY is all about…not paninira,” another user commented.