True leadership begins when standing by one’s principles comes at a cost, Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Filimone Vosarogo told a Leadership Fiji gathering on Tuesday.
He said leadership was not about titles or positions, but the choices people made when faced with pressure, uncertainty and personal sacrifice.
“That is the first lesson of my journey, leadership begins when cost arrives,” he said.
“Before the cost, we, you and I, are all just talking, after the cost, we are leading or we are hiding.”
Mr Vosarogo was one of the speakers at the Leaders Lounge event ‘Voices of Leadership’, held as part of Leadership Fiji’s 25th Anniversary celebration.
He traced his leadership journey to his upbringing in Loa, Cakaudrove, his parents, and Queen Victoria School, saying his formative years shaped his understanding of discipline, service and responsibility.
“QVS has taught me the first language of leadership that I understand. Discipline without being recognised.”
His legal career later exposed him to poverty, power and justice through his work as a prosecutor and director of the Fiji Legal Aid Commission.
He said his years in private practice, including losing cases to senior members of the bar, taught him humility and resilience.
“Those losses were gifts to me.”
Mr Vosarogo said resilience was particularly important for public servants and leaders who faced difficult circumstances.
“Resilience for public servants is the refusal to let bitterness become policy.”
He said his core values had remained unchanged throughout his career, regardless of the positions he held.
“For me, those values have been four – faith, family, allegiance to my country and faireness.”
