The father-and-son tandem of former GMA president and CEO Nardz Jimenez  and PLDT senior vice president Butch Jimenez graced the occasion with powerful and meaningful leadership speeches.

Butch Jimenez went first on stage and spoke about three important elements to properly lead people.

Here are some notes I have taken during the meet.

PRESSURE
Likened to a balloon, people needed just the right amount of pressure to move up. Putting in too little helium into a balloon, will make the balloon drop to the ground and not serve its purpose. Likewise, too much pressure will stretch the balloon so much and inevitably, burst. However, if the right amount of helium into a balloon will not only make it move, but let it “fly” into insurmountable heights, more than we expect it to be.
People, as well, needed the same appropriate pressure on them not to make them lazy nor restless… and this will make the best out of our peers and people.

PASSION
Infuse onto the people a burning desire that will give them the motivation to work beyond what is asked from them. Passion drives people to love the work they’re into and treat it as if not working, but as a “pleasurable” duty.

PURPOSE
Inject a sense of purpose on the people – a purpose far greater than themselves. No man has ever lived a life not seeking for his purpose. Neither does a follower. A clear purpose gives the people beyond what good pay or even passion can bring. For people will reach for anything and strive continually to meet the purpose – if they envisioned themselves being an important part of that great purpose they are up to.

After that Butch, his father Nardz stepped towards the podium and took his turn. Manong Nardz, as he is popularly called, stated his nearly-Cinderella story coming off from humble beginnings to a big finish as president of GMA.

Coming from a not-so-rich family from Pangasinan, Manong Nardz financed his own schooling through limpia bota sideline or shoe shining.

After saving money, he bought comic books and fixed his bike. From there, he launched his business of renting out comics and bike.

When he reached college, he worked as a clerk in a government office to augment his educational needs. He said the lack of printing machines during those times, made him stamp hundreds of thousands of government envelopes. He spent eight hours a day just stamping “for official use only” on piles of envelopes, every working day.

Good for him that he believed in something vital to the success of any individual: no job is too big or too small.

He then graduated accountancy. He took a bookkeeper position in an abaca firm, even though he was a CPA already that time, thinking that there is more to him than just a bookkeeper.

It didn’t take long for Manong Nardz to rise in the ranks and became the assistant general manager.
There was an opportunity for him to be the next general manager of the company, but somehow, it was not meant for him. His belief was that “when God closes a door, He will open the window”.

This ‘misfortune’ led Manong Nardz to take the dilapidated and sunken station of GMA to be his next vocation.

Lo and behold, after many drastic and faith-filled measures, GMA grew to be one of the country’s best stations now.

Surprisingly, amidst all the great talks and fascinating success story I was more focused on the underlying story I see during the event. I was more amazed not on the principles they both are sharing the public, but more on the “story behind the story.”

While hearing the speeches of the Jimenez father-and-son tandem, I was dwelling on the thought of where true leadership would matter to me.

More so, during the time that Butch was reading the foreword he wrote for the book of his dad. I was moved when Butch said that to him and their family, Manong Nards was like a rainbow. Though it was a belief that at the end of the rainbow, there is a pot of gold – for Butch and their family, Manong Nards was both the treasure at the end of the rainbow and a representation of God’s promise after the turmoil.

Seeing Butch, the principles he said in the speech, is the epitome of what his dad Nards has taught him, directly and indirectly. And that I say, is one of the best things that Nards can take pride of until the day he dies.

Bottom line is, for me, the family should be one of the first followers of a true leader. This is both a privilege and a challenge.

I would miss out one of God’s greatest privilege for my existence – leaving a LEGACY behind – if I won’t live up to the challenge of leading my son (and my children in the future) to lead them to a life worthy of living.

To me, that’s Beyond Business. Family goes first more than anything – except God ofcourse.

By the way, there is a re-run of this engagement on the 18th of June, 7pm at the Assembly Hall of Every Nation Building, Fort Bonifacio Taguig for only Php 500 (inclusive of dinner).

I hope you take the time out to participate in this rare event.

You can contact Every Nation Secretariat Office at Tel (632) 817-1212 loc. 224 or 0918-951-5826 and look for Ms. Mayet Lempin.

Let these bits of wisdom guide us all in choosing our next sets of leaders.  These following words may be brief, but speaks highly of the essence of leadership that the Philippines need.

Let our decisions not be persuaded by just mere hearsay and publicity stunts. All the more we need to look at the character and vision of our leaders.

Thus, here are some words about leadership. Let their lessons be the bedrock for our WISE decision making.

Our nation’s leaders and managers for the next three and six years depend on the decision we make during the few minutes we will be in our respective precincts.

I hope and pray that most Filipino voters will be wise enough not to short sell the nation’s future for money, cheap talks, empty promises and publicity stunts.

A leader is a dealer in hope. -Napoleon Bonaparte-

“A wise leader doesn’t completely abandon the past but builds on it as he or she moves toward the future.” -From a Bible commentary, Be strong Joshua-

“He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander” -Aristotle-

The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. -Theodore M. Hesburgh-

“A tyrant is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” -Plato-

“You do not lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.” -Dwight D. Eisenhower-

“Leadership can be thought of as a capacity to define oneself to others in a way that clarifies and expands a vision of the future.” -Edwin H. Friedman-

“Whoever is providing leadership needs to be as fresh and thoughtful and reflective as possible to make the very best fight.” -Faye Wattleton-

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” -John Quincy Adams-

“Leaders aren’t born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.” -Vince Lombardi-

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born — that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” -Warren G. Bennis-

-Margaret Mead-

True indeed. That during the course of history, the movers, shakers of the world evidently are a small portion of the society wanting change. The rest of the society either want to go with the flow, if not just be in a status quo.

Many ask for change. But only few move to change.

If there is anything I have learned, in my nearly 30 years of living, if I want something to change, change must start from me, then things around me changes.

After seeing what to expect, then, we can prepare.

This is the key to whatever we want to achieve in life. We prepare for the best things to come. And more is needed in preparation for the worst things to come.

Like athletes, they take so much time and effort preparing themselves for the big “storm” on their competition. They train so much to keep to enhance their agility, strength and knowledge about their opponent. And they also take time to train themselves on how to endure the long excruciating fights. No wonder, the boxers who spend more time on these things, are the same boxers who most likely to win the fight. Because part of winning the game is expecting to counter the downhills of the game.

As leaders, we need to learn how to prepare our “athletes” before they go into the fight.

Point #3: DELEGATION

Lastly, I like to point out the essence of delegation.

I think, this is a key ingredient in every success of any system… and especially in countering the “worst”.

I don’t know if the people in the national government are too selfish to take “ownership” of the responsibilities or is it our system of government that makes it so centralized to the national government (it’s like asking which comes first, the chicken or the egg).

Anyway, regardless of which come first (for those who don’t know), I believe, many of our leaders should value delegation, teamwork and interdependence.

#1: Our government should encourage and support having small groups in each city / town (especially baranggay) as an emergency team. This team should be properly trained and have facilities (adequate, if not complete).

These sub-groups will act as the first response team of the community. They will act as a group to remind people of disaster preparedness, and also the immediate people to call to in the time of actual rescue.

If these sub-groups are not sufficient enough, then nearby sub-groups (not affected) can help. handle the rescue operation, then, and only then, the national level of aiding can give help.

#2: Even Clark Kent or Superman can’t save everybody in an instance. In essence, we don’t have any real-life heroes with superhuman capabilities. And this is why delegation is needed. If our leaders are secure enough and mature enough not to take the “credit” of being the “heroes” at the of disaster, then, I’m sure they will decentralized all the responsibilities to sub-groups.

I don’t know if it’s our society, time or culture that promotes more for the “MAN OF THE HOUR” thing concept.

That as individuals, we try to carry all the load in our shoulders so later on, we can take credit for everything we have endured for.

In reality, we can only do so much independently, more things can be done if we work together, simultaneously.

Even history shows that all successful organizations (eg. business, nation) showed teamwork, interdependence and true leadership.

And true leadership is ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO BE LEADERS themselves.

If our leaders would only look into the things I earlier mentioned, we can immediately reap the following benefits:

Aid can be given the soonest possible time
Survivors can “recover” faster
Victims will be lessen

Also:

This promotes being active and responsible citizens of the community
People will have more trust in their government (both the people and the system)
Our national government can focus more on bigger issues

These are the concerns I appeal (and I believe, majority of Filipinos) to the leaders regarding this matter. If not taken immediately, I’m afraid for the more properties and lives that might get affected (if not lost) by inaction. It’s not too late to take the necessary steps.

However, I believe there are three main things we need to look into, for us to prevent this tragedy to happen again. But first, let me present some facts.

Fact #1: Our country is not a “typhoon-free” country. Studies show that our country is expected to have more than 20 typhoons per year.

Fact #2: Natural calamities are part of living on earth. As long as we live, we will experience these kinds of disasters, one way or another.

Fact #3: We always have a CHOICE… the choice to do what is right.

I believe as leaders, we may not be able to “fully” grasp the gravity of natural disasters (or any disaster for that matter), but, we can always EXPECT for these kinds of things to happen. From there, we can plan ahead to cover whatever possible circumstances there is to come. We may not be able to fully counter disasters, but we don’t aggrevate it as well by being unprepared.

As part of our choices, I submit to the leaders of our society three ideas that can somehow help better our society in facing the best and worst of times.

Point #1: EXPECTING THE WORST

I’m not promoting paranoia…

We must see the reality of life as it is. It’s not everyday that it’s asunny day. Neither it is everyday a rainy day. There are seasons in our lives. Even ants know this. And in every season we must expect the worst, in order for us to prepare.

Like the famous saying goes: Hope for the best… but expect the worst (or something like that).

This is not being paranoid or anything to that effect, this is what I call countering the punches even before they are blown.

A leader has to have a vision in how he/she should lead his/her people. A leader should not only cast their visions on what’s good for his/her people, but also should envision the “what-ifs” scenarios of reality. That way the leader, together with the people can prepare for the best and the worst.

*credit goes to the original poster of photos and videos