© Stepback ©

LLOYD ABRIA LUNA, RSP, the first Filipino to represent the Philippines in Global Speakers Summit, the first to speak in a French and European Speakers Convention, and the first to become member of the board of Global Speakers Federation, is a renowned professional speaker and author of 16 books. He has spoken in over 1,000 conventions, conferences, and seminars, appeared in over 200 media interviews, and lectured on leadership to personnel of several major global companies worldwide, to key managers and staff of Philippine government agencies, and to students and faculty of various schools in Asia. He has been given awards over the years, among them the Collegiate Ambassador for Peace award in South Korea, remarkable alumnus of Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the 2010 SM Supermarket Brand Ambassador award. In 2019, he was conferred Quezon Medal of Honor for Literature, the highest recognition given to a civilian out of 2 million population of Quezon Province.

For speaking invitation and consulting work, please go to stepback.ph. You can also send an email to [email protected] Also by LLOYD LUNA

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Stepback

The Lost Art of Filipino Leadership Copyright © 2018 by Lloyd A. Luna. All rights reserved.

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Second Edition: May 2019

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 DEDICATION

To all the stepback people of Ifugao and to our unnamed angel in heaven

CONTENTS

Foreword i Introduction 1

1 The 8th Wonder of the Ancient World 15 2 An Ancient Edifice that Defines Filipino Leadership 25 3 Understanding the Ancient Filipino Culture 33 4 The History that Buried the Filipino Leadership System 43 5 The PLG Leadership Model 83 6 The STEPS Leadership Process 115 8 Step in 121 9 Step back 135 10 Step up 151

Afterword 175 Acknowledgment 181

This is a working material, and hence it represents research in progress. This book represents the observation of the author, and is the product of professional research. Any errors are the fault of the author. The information contained herein is subject to change. Updates can be monitored at www.stepback.ph/book-updates/.

Additional research and proof of concept is carried out as you read this book. Applying the concepts, principles, and insights from this book and the consequences of its application is sole responsibility of the reader.

Reader’s discretion is advised.

FOREWORD

I was wrong.

For decades, I’ve been taught that leadership is about one single person on top, and in order for me to be there, I will have to beat every person in my way, whatever it took.

Because that’s what I knew, I competed and fought my way to the top. Sometimes, I would win. Many times, I would lose. Either way, the result didn’t make me happy. After all, knowing that I have beaten someone is as equally as heartbreaking as knowing I’ve been beaten by someone.

Nobody wins in a competition. However, the concept of leadership that has been around for a long time encourages

i STEPBACK people to compete on different levels, at different times, in different styles. If you want to be a leader, you’ve got to be on top, in front, and in control. Beat everybody else and rise from the ranks. It goes on and on. Not only that, the same competitor’s mindset cascades down to the very last man in the organization. It wears down everyone eventually.

No wonder many leaders today say it’s lonely at the top. You have to defend your position constantly from whoever is trying to steal it from you. As it happens, the people under you will never stop challenging you and your rivals will never stop jockeying for power. You’ll keep hanging on until you’re exhausted or it’s simply time to let go and admit defeat. Beating everyone during the quest for leadership won’t make you happy. The same goes for the people you work with. But maybe it’s the system that puts you there. Regardless, you’re trapped.

In the end, nobody gets out of it unhurt. Yet, we are made to believe that competition is good for an organization because it brings out the best in all of us. In reality, it does not always work that way. In fact, many times it breaks the

ii FOREWORD leader, then the people, and in the long run—the entire organization. While competition drives progress and gives the leader the focus and energy to great heights of accomplishment, it can overwhelm the leader. Admittedly, winning can bring satisfaction to leaders. It also leads to recognition, which leaders need every once in a while. However, winning over our fellow human beings for the sake of recognition, if that’s the only thing that defines our leadership, can also lead to self-destruction. That is, when the winning mindset leads to extreme stress, unfair judgment, or unethical practices and misbehavior. In the long run, we can’t sustain an organization fueled by greed, self-centeredness, and rivalry.

Chances are, our type of leadership today creates a culture of self-centeredness, individualism, doubt, and competition —a perfect recipe for an inevitable disaster where everyone becomes a casualty.

But in the grand scheme of things, this is not even the original Filipino leadership philosophy. It was imposed on us and we embraced it. And because we have gotten used to it, we’ve forgotten our own art of leadership.

iii STEPBACK

Prior to the European invasion of the Philippines in the 1500s and Americans in the late 1800s, we already had our own unique leadership structure. In fact, it built one of the world’s most advanced mega-structures in ancient times. Learning about it can shed light on our leadership challenges today. It explains what brought us in this chaotic leadership situation and why you can’t get away from it.

Let me tell you a story.

Two thousand years ago, our Filipino ancestors built the world-famous rice terraces in the Cordillera Mountains in northern Philippines. They were able to accomplish this feat with nothing but their hands, ingenuity, and their strong sense of community.

They used no advanced machinery, no heavy metallic equipment, no modern technology. They carved out the mountains by hand, using only primitive tools made with wood and rocks.

All the other wonders of the ancient world like The Great Pyramid of Giza, The Great Wall of China, The

iv FOREWORD

Colosseum, and the Taj Mahal were either built by salaried skilled workers or slaves through an order of one ruler to serve their personal interest. In contrast, the handmade Ifugao rice terraces were built in their entirety by freemen.

This is contrary to the leadership and management concepts that we apply in our organizations today: Our people are not free. They are still hostages of our painful and distant past. Our leaders act like kings who think they are entitled to subservience. Everyone tries to save face every time. We doubt our teammates’ abilities or worse, criticize and censure them to work better. We compete to prove we’re better than every one else in the room. We put our own interest before that of our team. To be part of something bigger than ourselves doesn’t excite us anymore.

Long ago, it was different. Unlike their counterparts elsewhere in the world, the Ifugao Rice Terraces were built without a single leader getting credit for the achievement.

This is another contrast to the idea that leadership is about one single person on top, in front, and in control. If there’s a chance, they won’t hesitate to manipulate people, and if

v STEPBACK something goes right, they’ll take the credit too. But if something goes wrong, it’s the people under them who are at fault. We’ve gone from people-centered to personality- centered leadership.

This is completely opposite to how the mountain terraces were created more than two millennia ago, which were built out of the community’s collective desire for a common good. The Ifugaos worked together regardless of which tribe they belonged to.

In retrospect, they built those terraces not just to feed their generation, too. They were a visionary people and constructed those terraces for all succeeding generations to come—a huge contrast to many Filipinos’ short-sightedness and smallness of thinking today.

Rediscovering this lost art of Filipino leadership is key to our success as a people and as a nation. The Western concept of leadership doesn’t fit our Eastern culture. This explains why we are in a messy situation these days. We have embraced a leadership philosophy that turned us from collaborators into competitors, from friends to enemies,

vi FOREWORD from leaders to second-class citizens in our own country. It turned us into weapons against our fellow Filipinos. It set us up to take arms against our own race. It divided and eventually broke us. It has been breaking each of our hearts and our individuality. It allowed us to take more than what we need. It made us greedy. This state of things doesn’t fit culture. It never did. And to put it bluntly, it didn't bring out the best in us.

We have been slaves long enough to endure another century of being slaves to Western leadership ideology and management systems. For at more than 400 years, we became inferior to their influence because we thought we didn’t have anything great here at home. Or perhaps, the invaders have already successfully deleted our history and modified it to make their way superior. We’ve never been taught about the greatness of our ancestors—how they were the best architects, engineers, agriculturist, navigators, sailors, warriors, astronomers who were inarguably one of the most advanced in the ancient civilization.

Now, we think like the Westerners do. We dream like they do. We speak their language so fluently because we

vii STEPBACK thought it’s our own. Or we’ve accepted it as our own because our native language isn’t good enough. Our decision-making process follows that of the West.

It’s time to set ourselves free from the mindset and systems that have since broken us and our organizations.

The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a full display of our leadership and management ingenuity that has stood the test of time. There’s no other ancient structure in the world that survived that long which still serves its original purpose to this day. The Filipino ancestors made it as an indelible proof of their greatness as leaders and as a people.

The philosophy and management system I wrote in this book are products of a cultural archeological research I made through a leadership expedition, a series of months of informal interviews with the locals, and actual observation of the Ifugao community. Inspired by the magnificent beauty and mystery of the mountain terraces, I immersed myself into the Ifugao culture and experienced their ancient rituals and practices. I tried to find out what

viii FOREWORD leadership philosophy could have created such an outstanding structure. Living with them allowed me to appreciate and distill the ancient leadership wisdom that the Filipinos have lost over thousands of years.

We were leaders before we became slaves to someone else’s leadership concept. It’s about time that we re-imagine leadership and claim what’s rightfully ours. This time, it’s the leadership art that we can proudly call our own.

It’s time to see the bigger picture.

ix

INTRODUCTION

See the bigger picture

We have been introduced to so many leadership principles, concepts, insights, and ideas over the years. Some of them work. Some don’t. Some do work for a while. Some never work at all. Some need time to take effect. Some take effect instantly.

Yet, despite putting all those principles to the test, many of us still remain wondering if there’s one thing, one principle that works for everything. Well, there is none.

But one thing is for sure. The leadership philosophy that always works is the one that fits the identity of the people and culture of the organization.

1 STEPBACK

THE LEADERSHIP GENIUS OF THE FILIPINOS

In 1995, the 2,000-year-old Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordillera in northern Philippines was officially inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Down in lowland Southern Luzon in Angono, Rizal, Angono Petroglyphs hint that the ancient Filipinos may have understood science and mathematics based on a series of scratches carved into a chalky white hillside in the province earlier than 2,000 B.C. The carvings included figures of people and animals with circular heads and varying geometric bodies. In the same canvas were abstract figures of triangles, rectangles, and circles—all drawn by a firm hand—which suggests their knowledge of geometry.

In Laguna Province, Laguna Copperplate Inscription, a legal document inscribed on a copper plate in 900 CE, is the earliest known calendar-dated document found in the Philippines long before Magellan set foot in 1521.

2 INTRODUCTION

Back up in the north, the colorful woven clothing of the indigenous Cordillerans would have been impossible to make without knowledge in symmetry and scale.

Down under in the Butuan Province in Mindanao, there were balangays—huge, versatile, hand-carved wooden boats that were far advanced than any of their counterparts during the Stone Age. They were made without using a single nail, light enough to be lifted by a few men, and were able to be deployed instantly. These were flexible maritime machines which could sail both deep ocean waters and shallow seas. The Filipinos invented outrigger canoes or bangkang may katig as early as the 10th century.

The Spanish priest Francisco Combés, describing the large karakoa outrigger warships of the Visayan Islands in the Philippines, remarked:

“That care and attention, which govern their boat- building, cause their ships to sail like birds, while ours are like lead in this regard.”— Francisco Combés, Historia de las islas de Mindanao, Iolo y sus adyacentes (1667)

3 STEPBACK

In the 1500s, the ancient Filipinos had an inkling of astronomy, naming what the Ancient Greeks called Orion as Balatik, according to the late Dr. Dante Ambrosio. However, instead of seeing the constellation as a huntsman’s robe, they saw it as a wild pig trap. They have called the “star” tala even before they were taught to call it a “star.” In other words, they already had a very strong connection with the elements in heaven and the nature around them—star formations, animal movements and behaviors, the color of the sky, and the life cycle of plants. Understanding their environment gave them a remarkable wisdom to make sense of their lives. Positioned many millions of light years in the deep galaxy, the stars assisted our Filipino ancestors in creating a connection between celestial events and human activities. For thousands of years, they have become one with nature and the universe itself.

These celestial movements were clues to how our Filipino ancestors managed their time and activities—when to plant, when to harvest, or when to prepare for upcoming

4 INTRODUCTION weather. They didn’t need a clock or a calendar. They understood lunar cycles as time itself.

These remarkable milestones happened in the entire archipelago because the Filipinos understood the world from their own lenses. These inventions, constructions, and innovations were a proof of their natural talent, artistry, and leadership ingenuity in managing their already- organized communities during precolonial times.

THE SEARCH FOR OUR LOST IDENTITY

Back in the Cordillera Mountains, it is difficult to imagine how the ancient Filipinos constructed the millennia-old rice terraces if they didn’t have technical knowledge, collective strength, leadership philosophy, and management systems. For example, terracing the mountain, building the irrigation and setting up the hydraulics system required knowledge in architecture, design, and engineering. How they constructed the terraces is an indication of their advanced skills and construction methods at the time.

5 STEPBACK

Considering that they have a number of tribes—an issue that assumes misunderstanding and infighting here and there—they must have learned to organize and manage their resources, too. In addition, they must have agreed on certain terms among their ranks to ensure that they achieve a common objective despite their differences. No one carves out a mountain alone. To have it done in such a massive scale—7,700 square miles and range in altitudes of 2,300 to 5,000 feet above sea-level—is proof of the ingenuity of Filipino leadership.

However, these original Filipino concepts are now largely forgotten mainly because of a series of invasions that occurred in the early years of the 16th century. While these events couldn’t be the sole excuse for the miseducation of the Filipinos, they still linger in our distant memory.

As leaders, how we think and act today isn’t Filipino anymore. We act like second-class citizens in our own country. We look up to foreign people as far more superior over our race. We admire the talent and ingenuity of other nationalities without looking at our own greatness.

6 INTRODUCTION

We were great leaders until we lost our identity, connection with our ancestry, and appreciation of our original story. When it happened, our inherent leadership art got lost with it. Rediscovering our identity as a people and our forgotten leadership art, which is endemic in our culture, is key to a better future.

For hundreds of years, we’ve been applying Western leadership principles despite living in an eastern community where collaboration works far better than competition. We’ve followed the advice of foreign authors and experts who’ve never been to the Philippines and have no inkling about who we are as a people. They haven’t read our story, or haven’t made themselves familiar with our history.

Indeed, this work is an addition to the already crowded leadership playbooks, which were written by leadership gurus from all over the world.

THE ROAD TO DISCOVERY

Coming off from my trip to Auckland, New Zealand to represent the Philippines at the Global Speakers Summit

7 STEPBACK

2018, I planned to finally do research. Somehow, the summit’s theme, “From leader to legacy,” challenged me to work on an original topic. Thinking about it, the idea was born. On my flight going home on February 27, I decided to go on a leadership expedition.

I wanted find out how it was possible to build one of the world’s engineering marvels without having a single leader identified for its construction.

For this, I traveled almost hundreds of miles from the city. After about 10 hours on the road, I arrived in Banaue, Ifugao with my expedition companion, Nic Satur, Jr. Our host welcomed us by conducting a millennia-old ritual of butchering a native chicken, reading the bile and liver of the chicken, and praying to their gods and ancestral spirits.

They still believe in omens. This bile reading is important in determining whether or not it is safe to conduct an activity. For example, the same ritual is performed before marriage as it is before building a house. The go or no-go of almost each activity depends on what the bile alignment suggests.

8 INTRODUCTION

It’s remarkable that they’re able to keep this practice for a long time considering how the world has changed. To be able to hang on to this ritual is a remarkable feat of the Ifugaos.

WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT

This is not a Western book, or at least it’s not a product of Western thinking. While I cited a few materials that came from other researchers outside the Philippines to validate my claims, majority of its contents is a product of a careful distillation of the wisdom of ancient Filipino leaders.

This book doesn’t intend to help you quickly fulfill your aspirations to become an effective leader. But I hope that the leadership philosophy the book presents—principles drawn from the experiences of our Filipino ancestors who built the Ifugao Rice Terraces—would be enough to help you re-imagine leadership.

In this book, I’ll be telling you about my discovery that sprung from my encounter with the Ifugaos, one of the oldest settlers in Northern Philippines. It will give you fresh

9 STEPBACK insights about what your original leadership art is and how it can make you a great leader when applied. I intend to help you make sense of your history so that you can understand your present and then design your destiny.

In the succeeding chapters, I will show you a systematic approach in leading and managing your people along with the values required to achieve them easily. When this process is followed and they become part of the organizational culture, it can help you get the job done with ease and confidence.

During the course of this book, you’ll understand that increased productivity automatically happens when every single player becomes a master of his or her craft. Productivity is not a product of a single person’s abilities and talent. It’s a product of the entire community working together as one for a common good as the ancient Filipinos exhibited during their time.

Most leadership problems today are not situational. They are cultural. We must stop taking the band-aid approach

10 INTRODUCTION on solving our problems and start coming up with real, long-term solutions.

Indeed, I believe that the ultimate test of leadership isn’t what happens when you’re around. It’s what happens when you’re in the background. For when I look at the majestic rice terraces, I don’t just see an agricultural marvel. I see selfless leaders, dedicated people, and a great community.

As a leader, you don’t have to be forever in front, hands on, at the center of it all, and in total control. There’s a time when you have to take the back seat away from the limelight to allow your people to exercise leadership with you.

To do this, I introduced the “STEPS” model as a leadership process. It includes three steps that a great leader must take: Step in to inspire, teach, and equip the people; Step back to permit, coach, and evaluate them and; Step up to mentor, explore, and grow with them.

Finally, building a community within the organization may be the best way to maximize productivity. I believe that a

11 STEPBACK community-enabled organization is key to consistency and sustainability.

The Western idea of the so-called healthy competition is a bad idea specifically in the Philippine setting. As a stepback leader, you must realize that while we live in an age when competition is at its peak, it is extremely important to acknowledge that leadership isn’t about one single person on top. It’s about one community standing side by side no matter what.

How you feel for your people is more important than how you feel for your title or position. Put the people at the center of leadership because the most important character in your leadership story—and your greatest treasure at that —is people, people, people.

Lloyd A. Luna Manila, Philippines June 5, 2018

12 AT A GLANCE

1. The 2,000-year-old rice terraces—which resemble steps carved into the mountainside—cover some 4,000 square miles (10,360 square km), and their total length is estimated at approximately 12,500 miles (20,100 km), roughly half the Earth’s circumference.

2. The terraces, which are located about 1500 meters (4,900 ft.) above the sea level, are sustained by an ancient irrigation system, which suggests the ancient engineering ingenuity of the Filipinos.

3. In 1995, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) listed the rice terraces as one of the World’s Heritage Site.

Panoramic view of the Banaue Rice Terraces.

13

CHAPTER 1

The 8th Wonder of the Ancient World

On my first night in Ifugao, I had the most silent night in years. With all the prior reading I made before this trip, the buildup was just too overwhelming! Before 6 A.M. I woke up to the most breathtaking view I’ve seen in years: The Banaue Rice Terraces.

I must admit though that all I knew about the Terraces was what I saw on the one thousand peso bill and our books in primary school. I knew only one thing about it: the capital of the province is Lagawe. And it’s only because our teacher required the class to memorize the capital of each province.

As a brief introduction of what the Ifugao Terraces is, the Encyclopedia Britannica states:

15 STEPBACK

The rice terraces are situated in the Cordilleras of Luzon island. The remote area—some 220 miles (350 km) from Manila—has long been home to the Ifugao, wet-rice agriculturalists who began building the terraces about the 1st century CE. Despite possessing only basic tools, the Ifugao created an engineering marvel: a vast network of rice terraces sustained by an elaborate irrigation system. According to reports, the terraces—which resemble steps carved into the mountainside—cover some 4,000 square miles (10,360 square km), and their total length is estimated at approximately 12,500 miles (20,100 km), roughly half the Earth’s circumference. While the rice terraces were important to the Ifugao economy, they also served a cultural function, requiring intensive cooperation among the people.

In addition, the terraces are approximately 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) above sea level.

16 THE 8TH WONDER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

In 1995, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) listed the rice terraces as one of the World’s Heritage Site.

Here’s how UNESCO described it:

The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras is an outstanding example of an evolved, living cultural landscape that can be traced as far back as two millennia ago in the pre-colonial Philippines. The terraces are located in the remote areas of the Philippine Cordillera mountain range on the northern island of Luzon, Philippine archipelago.

While the historic terraces cover an extensive area, the inscribed property consists of five clusters of the most intact and impressive terraces, located in four municipalities.

They are all the product of the Ifugao ethnic group, a minority community that has occupied these mountains for thousands of years.

17 STEPBACK

The five inscribed clusters are: (i) the Nagacadan terrace cluster in the municipality of Kiangan, a rice terrace cluster manifested in two distinct ascending rows of terraces bisected by a river; (ii) the Hungduan terrace cluster that uniquely emerges into a spider web; (iii) the central Mayoyao terrace cluster which is characterized by terraces interspersed with traditional farmers’ bale (houses) and alang (granaries); (iv) the Bangaan terrace cluster in the municipality of Banaue that backdrops a typical Ifugao traditional village; and (v) the Batad terrace cluster of the municipality of Banaue that is nestled in amphitheatre-like semi- circular terraces with a village at its base.

The Ifugao Rice Terraces epitomize the absolute blending of the physical, socio-cultural, economic, religious, and political environment. Indeed, it is a living cultural landscape of unparalleled beauty.

The Ifugao Rice Terraces are the priceless contribution of Philippine ancestors to humanity. Built 2,000 years ago and passed on from generation to generation, the Ifugao Rice Terraces represent an enduring illustration

18 THE 8TH WONDER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD of an ancient civilization that surpassed various challenges and setbacks posed by modernization.

Reaching a higher altitude and being built on steeper slopes than many other terraces, the Ifugao complex of stone or mud walls and the careful carving of the natural contours of hills and mountains to make terraced pond fields, coupled with the development of intricate irrigation systems, harvesting water from the forests of the mountain tops, and an elaborate farming system, reflect a mastery of engineering that is appreciated to the present.

The terraces illustrate a persistence of cultural traditions and remarkable continuity and endurance, since archaeological evidence reveals that this technique has been in use in the region for 2,000 years virtually unchanged. They offer many lessons for application in similar environments elsewhere.

The maintenance of the living rice terraces reflects a primarily cooperative approach of the whole community which is based on detailed knowledge of

19 STEPBACK

the rich diversity of biological resources existing in the Ifugao agro-ecosystem, a finely tuned annual system respecting lunar cycles, zoning and planning, extensive soil conservation, mastery of a most complex pest control regime based on the processing of a variety of herbs, accompanied by religious rituals.

This information made me even more excited to see the global landmark. It isn’t really as easy as it seems to say that declaring it as a World Heritage Site is easy because it’s ancient. Indeed, UNESCO has the following criteria before a structure can be declared as such:

Criterion (iii): The rice terraces are a dramatic testimony to a community's sustainable and primarily communal system of rice production, based on harvesting water from the forest clad mountain tops and creating stone terraces and ponds, a system that has survived for two millennia.

Criterion (iv): The rice terraces are a memorial to the history and labour of more than a thousand

20 THE 8TH WONDER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

generations of small-scale farmers who, working together as a community, have created a landscape based on a delicate and sustainable use of natural resources.

Criterion (v): The rice terraces are an outstanding example of land-use that resulted from a harmonious interaction between people and its environment which has produced a steep terraced landscape of great aesthetic beauty, now vulnerable to social and economic changes.

The Ifugaos believe in the harmonious co-existence of five elements—which they further believe couldn’t simply exist without one another: (1) the terraces, (2) the forest, (3) the irrigation, (4) the people, and (5) the Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSPs).

The IKSPs are local knowledge preserved and developed over centuries of experimentation and practices by our Filipino ancestors and are passed from generation to

21 STEPBACK generation orally. It is the key sustainable development that connects the past, the present, and the future.

For two millennia, they have kept these five elements together to make the Terraces one of the world’s longest standing man-made structures.

But UNESCO has more to say about the terraces, which I think are three of the most important characteristics that every organization must possess: authenticity, balance, and consistency.

UNESCO writes:

The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras are authentic in form, character, and function as a direct result of the 2,000 year-old and continuously maintained regime that balances climatic, geographical, ecological, agronomic, ethnographic, religious, social, economic, political and other factors.

Through ritual practices, chants and symbols which emphasize ecological balance, the Ifugao community has maintained the intactness of the terraces’

22 THE 8TH WONDER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD traditional management system over this long period of time, ensuring the authenticity of both the original landscape engineering and the traditional wet-rice agriculture.

Once this balance is disturbed the whole system begins to collapse, but so long as they all operate together harmoniously, as they have over two millennia, the authenticity is total.

Being a living cultural landscape, evolutionary changes continuously fine-tune and adapt the cultural response of the terraces’ owners and inhabitants in response to changing climatic, social, political and economic conditions.

However, the fact that the Ifugao community continues to occupy, use and maintain their ancestral lands in the age-old traditional manner ensures appreciation and awareness of the enduring value of these traditional practices which continue to sustain them.

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Nevertheless the reduction in the workforce and other social and environmental factors, including changes in management of the watershed forests, makes this traditional system and thus the overall balance highly vulnerable and requires sustained management and conservation.

This is a full display of Filipino leadership ingenuity—one that we forgot we had and we still have within us. We had one of the most advanced leadership and management systems in the ancient world. If this isn’t proof that we were great leaders long before the Westerners visited the Philippines in 1521, I don’t know what is.

24 CHAPTER 2

An Ancient Edifice that Defines Filipino Leadership

It’s not fair to discount the Filipinos as great leaders. We may have been subordinate to foreign influence for centuries now but make no mistake. We were leaders in our own right long before we were colonized by foreign powers. It may be difficult to understand why we never recovered from historical events that broke us and our communities. However, nothing can change the fact that we are leaders for good reason.

What makes us deserve a place on the global leadership map is the idea that we had our own unique leadership philosophy: We put the people at the center of leadership.

25 STEPBACK

Our mountain terraces were built for a specific reason but without a single leader identified for its construction. Even foreign and Filipino anthropologists found no document to point a chieftain who could have ordered its construction. While it doesn’t suggest that there was no known leader at all, it could be because it was the people, not the leader, they credited for its construction. It also suggests that in those times, our ancestors didn’t run their communities as kings, emperors, or absolute rulers. They cared less about the credit. All that mattered was that the job was done for the community.

I have picked some of the world’s popular ancient mega- structures to demonstrate the contrast in leadership systems. All these were built for a specific purpose on the orders of a specific leader at the time. It’s useful to take note of their different functions as establishments.

The Great Pyramid of Giza. Also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops, it is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids

26 AN ANCIENT EDIFICE THAT DEFINES FILIPINO LEADERSHIP in the Giza pyramid complex bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact. Towering at about 481 feet (147 meters) above the plateau, its estimated 2.3 million stone blocks each weigh an average of 2.5 to 15 tons. It was built roughly in 2550 to 2490 B.C., and King Khufu was the leader who was in charge of its construction. It was built either by salaried skilled workers or slaves or a combination of both.

The Great Wall of China. Totaling 8,850 kilometers in length, it was built by one dynasty after another, started in 220–206 BC by Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China When Emperor Qin ordered construction of the Great Wall around 221 B.C., the labor force that built the wall was composed largely of soldiers and convicts. It is said that as many as 400,000 people died during the wall’s construction; many of these workers were buried within the wall itself.

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The Colosseum. It was built around A.D. 70-72 by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty as a gift to the Roman people. In A.D. 80, Vespasian’s son Titus opened the Colosseum—officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater—with 100 days of games, including gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights. Measuring some 620 by 513 feet (190 by 155 meters), the Colosseum was the largest amphitheater in the Roman world, with seating capacity of at least 50,000 people. It was a place of entertainment combat among gladiators who were generally slaves, condemned criminals, or prisoners of war. They built it primarily for political preservation after the Romans revolted against the government because of tax increase.

The Taj Mahal. According to History.com, this enormous mausoleum complex was commissioned in 1632 by

28 AN ANCIENT EDIFICE THAT DEFINES FILIPINO LEADERSHIP the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the remains of his beloved wife. Constructed over a 20-year period on the southern bank of the Yamuna River in Agra, India, the famed complex is one of the most outstanding examples of Mughal architecture, which combined Indian, Persian and Islamic influences. More than 20,000 workers from India, Persia, Europe and the Ottoman Empire, along with some 1,000 elephants, were brought in to build the mausoleum complex.

It adds: Named the Taj Mahal in honor of Mumtaz Mahal, it was constructed of white marble inlaid with semi- precious stones (including jade, crystal, lapis lazuli, amethyst and turquoise) forming intricate designs in a technique known as pietra dura. Its central dome reaches a height of 240 feet (73 meters) and is surrounded by four smaller domes; four slender towers, or minarets, stand at the corners.

These four Wonders of the Ancient World are not only a concrete proof but a perfect example of what leadership can do—it can build awe-inspiring structures that can last for centuries. Leadership creates structures. But structures

29 STEPBACK themselves are created by people, who in these cases are barely acknowledged and, worse, only get little or no credit at all. It has always been about one person—the reigning leader.

The Ifugao Terraces stand in great contrast from these four wonders of the world by the way they were built. No single person—whether ruler, leader, or emperor—had been identified as responsible for building it. No name has ever been credited for its construction because the Ifugaos depended heavily on transmitting information orally. Thus, no written record was created.

In sum, these are some scenarios in Stepback Leadership:

• No single leader takes credit for the organization’s achievements. There are multiple leaders authentically working together regardless of their title or position.

• There is no forced labor, slavery, or salaried work only for the sake of a salary.

• Leaders don’t impose their authority over people, see them as subordinates, and treat them like they are one

30 AN ANCIENT EDIFICE THAT DEFINES FILIPINO LEADERSHIP

level below them. Instead, they see them as collaborators with equally important contributions.

• Leaders build an organization which doesn’t only serve their present requirements but also their organization’s future needs.

• Leaders don’t use their power over people to build something for themselves.

Stepback leadership is our contribution to humanity. This is our leadership wisdom that can make our workplaces better, and it deserves to be in the global leadership map.

31

CHAPTER 3

Understanding the Ancient Filipino Culture

Originally, the people of Ifugao Province had no remnant of constituted authority or organized government among them. To say that they lived in anarchy is the closest description. However, they lived peacefully and were secure. Perhaps this is due to the fact that their society and laws were based mostly on custom and taboo.

The Ifugaos are a tribe of barbarian headhunters.

Headhunting is the practice of taking and preserving a person’s head after killing the person. It was done in historic times in parts of Oceania, South Asia and Southeast Asia, West and Central Africa, Mesoamerica, and Europe. (Encyclopedia Britannica

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(2009-02-23). “Headhunting (Anthropology) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia”)

Today’s scholars generally agree that headhunting’s primary function was ritual and ceremonial. It was part of the process of structuring, reinforcing, and defending hierarchical relationships between communities and individuals. Some experts theorize that the practice stemmed from the belief that the head contained “soul matter” or life force, which could be harnessed through its capture. (Hutton, J. H. “The Significance of Head-Hunting in Assam.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 58, 1928, pp. 399–408.)

In Southeast Asia, anthropological researches have explored this practice and other practices of tribes such Murut, Iban, Dayak in Borneo and Ilongot and Igorot in the Philippines. Common among these groups, headhunting was usually a ritual activity rather than an act of war or feud among communities or families. A warrior would take a single head. Headhunting was also seen as a motivation for the

34 UNDERSTANDING THE ANCIENT FILIPINO CULTURE

cessation of personal and collective mourning for the community’s dead. Ideas of manhood and marriage were encompassed in the practice, and the taken heads were highly prized. Other reasons for headhunting included capture of enemies as slaves, looting of valuable properties, intra and inter-ethnic conflicts, and territorial expansion.

Ironically in Ifugao, there had been very little or zero loss of lives on record among them even before any governing body was established for them. They managed to self-organize a community of happy and free people. (R. F. Barton, Ifugao Law, 1919). In essence, this easily reflected the values and characteristics of ancient Filipinos.

Geographically isolated, they were able to keep their pure communal belief and traditions uninfluenced by anyone from the outside world. In an account from American Archeology and Ethnology published on February 15, 1919 by B. F. Barton, under Ifugao Law, “two or three military posts were fitfully maintained in Ifugao by the

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Spaniards during the last half century (in the early 1800s) of their sovereignty; but the lives of the natives were little affected thereby.”

Ifugao men wear clouts and Ifugao women loin cloths or short skirts reaching from the waist to the knees. Men would always carry spears. Both sexes ornament their persons with gold ornaments, beads, agates, mother of pearl, brass ornaments, and so forth. They dress according to social class they belong to: rich, middle-class, or poor. Each has different design and color combination.

For cultivating rice, the Ifugaos built the most extensive terraces of elaborate beauty that are next to nothing in the world. They are not the only terraces of their kind in existence but none is comparable, even that of Japan. These steep mountains were carved out with wooden spades and crowbars. The result: picturesque “stairstep giants.”

Some of these terrace walls are 50 feet high. More than half are walled with stone. The process of building the wall, in some cases, is called rip-rapping. Water to irrigate

36 UNDERSTANDING THE ANCIENT FILIPINO CULTURE these terraces is retained by a little rim of soil at the outer margin. The soil is turned in preparation for planting with a wooden spade. For the Ifugaos, no mountain is too steep to be terraced, if it affords an unfailing supply of water for irrigation.

The Ifugaos planted sweet potatoes and numerous less important vegetables too. Although not formalized, they had a scientific foundation for their agriculture, growing their crops skillfully and artistically.

They didn’t have well-established political and judicial systems. However, the absence of any governing body in their tribal society had made the Ifugaos exemplary diplomats. In modern language, any misunderstanding is amicably settled. As an ancient practice, legal procedure is conducted by and between families, not by a court or a council. The family as a unit is the most important thing for the Ifugaos. Family unity takes the highest precedence and therefore the first to be preserved.

In the case of murder by treachery, the moral turpitude involved might perhaps hasten punishment, or the

37 STEPBACK punishment might even increase in severity such that the kin of the murdered person might retaliate by inflicting greater harm on an even greater number of those concerned in the murder. But on the record, such an abuse of hospitality appears never to have occurred.

Barton writes further:

In most parts I believe all of Ifugao, peace was never made between districts or villages. Peace was always made between families; but peace between the principal families of two villages or districts was sometimes in effect a peace between the districts or villages involved, I say sometimes because such peace was uncertain and undependable.

When peace was made between families of different districts, or between families of the same district in cases of serious controversy, two men were chosen, one by each party, and with appropriate prayers and ceremonies, were given good spears. It was understood always that these spears were for the purpose of killing

38 UNDERSTANDING THE ANCIENT FILIPINO CULTURE

the first one of either party who reopened the feud, war, or controversy.

After this ceremony, other spears were broken and tied together as a symbol of the breaking and tying up of all enmity; as a symbol, too, that spears were no longer needed.

My own research validated such claims and in addition, I discovered that their religion is a mixture of an exceedingly complex polytheism, ancestor worship, and a mythology that is used as an instrument of magic as observed by Barton.

Spaniards made countless attempts to colonize the Ifugaos but to no avail. The Ifugaos are hillmen. They live and die in the hills. They were independent in nature and cannot stand confinement. Many prisoners jailed by the invaders have courted death rather than endure incarceration.

The rice field and the process of its preservation from generation to generation is evidence of the visionary

39 STEPBACK attitude of Filipinos. Paddies in one place that are owned by a single person make a “field.” This is what is inherited from Ifugao parents. The most interesting part is that the inheritance is never divided. If parents have two heirs or more, the eldest of the heirs, regardless of gender, takes the entire field. The youngest inherits the house, where parents are taken care of until their death.

The forward-looking way of thinking of our Filipino ancestors can be justified by this reason: The Ifugao consider that it’s better for the family to have at least one powerful member that they can run to for aid anytime. If they are to split the family property among heirs, it will make an insignificant land parcel in the future. For practicality, too, the process of dividing the rice field is rather difficult and could cause quarrels among family members.

The Ifugao system of inheritance also reflects their deep understanding of leadership and management processes as well as succession strategies, which are essential in a sustainable organization. In addition, their culture allowed

40 UNDERSTANDING THE ANCIENT FILIPINO CULTURE them to make sense of what a community means for each member.

The Ifugao community is not a perfect community. Their culture is as flawed as any other culture in those times around the world. Despite the imperfection, they must have done something right that allowed them to survive until this day.

41

CHAPTER 4

The History that Buried the Filipino Leadership System

In 2018, of every 1,000 employed, 110 or 11% is hired (accession rate), 93 or 9.3% is either laid off or quit their jobs (separation rate) which results to 17 or 1.7% added to the workforce (labor turnover rate). In the same year, 5.3% unemployment rate out of 70,897 workforce populated aged 15 years and above.

Underemployment rate is at 18%. In a survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, the number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who worked abroad at anytime during the period April to September 2017 was estimated at 2.3 million. Overseas Contract Workers (OCWs) or those with existing work contracts comprised 97% of the total OFWs during the period April to September 2017.

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The rest (3.0%) worked overseas without contracts. People are leaving. They are not happy.

The Philippines is only the 71st happiest country in the world, according to the United Nations’ annual World Happiness Report for 2018. The World Happiness Report 2018, a landmark survey of the state of global happiness, ranked the countries by their happiness levels. The rankings of the world’s happiest countries came from an analysis of data from surveys in 156 countries taken from 2015 to 2017.

In politics, the Philippines is the 99th least corrupt nation out of 175 countries, according to the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption rank in Philippines averaged 93.17 from 1995 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 141 in 2008 and a record low of 36 in 1995.

We’ve come a long way from being one of the greatest civilization to some of the most messy nations. The turn of events in Philippine history explains why Western leadership ideology is prevalent in our organizations today.

44 THE HISTORY THAT BURIED THE FILIPINO LEADERSHIP SYSTEM

These events practically buried the Filipino identity, subsumed our culture, and overrode the leadership and management practices that existed since 1 A.D.

This series of colonization led us to dilute our sense of nationhood. We forgot about our own when we started to mimic our colonizers. Homi K. Bhabha, Indian English scholar and critical theorist, wrote mimicry as a strategy of colonial subjection. He said that mimicry is a metonym or equivalent of presence. Mimicry appears when members of a colonized society, in this case the Philippines, imitate and take on the culture of the colonizers, Spain and United States. Colonial mimicry comes from the colonist’s desire for a reformed, recognizable Other, as a subject of a difference that is, as Bhabha writes, “almost the same, but not quite.”

These events allowed the colonizers to turn them into weapons against their own race that benefited the oppressors highly.

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THE SPANISH INVASION

In 1521, the Spaniards came to the Philippines on a sailing expedition. They arrived when we already had established communities all throughout the archipelago. Admittedly though, there was no single nation called “the Philippines” or a single race called “Filipinos” at the time.

Zeus Salazar, a Filipino historian and philosopher of history best known as a leading proponent of the historical movement known as “Pantayong Pananaw” writes:

Sa lahat ng mga wikang Pilipino, may mga konseptong katumbas ng “tayo,” “kami,” “sila,” at “kayo” na tumutukoy sa mga nagsasalita at lahat ng kanyang kausap, kasama kahit na iyong wala. Halimbawa, “tayong mga Pilipino,” kung ihahambing sa “kaming mga Pilipino,” ay nangangahulugang ang nagkakausap-usap ay mga Pilipino mismo at implisitong hindi kasali ang mga banyaga. Sa sitwasyong ito, ang bagay, konsepto, kaisipan at ugali na maaaring pagtuunan ng pansin ay madaling maintindihan, dahil sa napapaloob sa ating sariling lipunan at kultura. Mapag-uugnay natin sila sa isa’t

46 THE HISTORY THAT BURIED THE FILIPINO LEADERSHIP SYSTEM

isa na hindi kailangan magkaroon pa ng pantukoy sa iba pang mga konsepto, tao, ugali at kaisipan na kaugnay nila. Katunayan nga, maraming bagay ang implisito nating nauunawaan. Ibig sabihin, kung ang isang grupo ng tao ay nag-uusap lamang hinggil sa sarili at sa isa’t-isa, iyan ay parang sistemang “closed circuit,” pagka’t nagkakaintindihan ang lahat. Samakatuwid, ang lipunan at kultura natin ay may “pantayong pananaw” lang kung tayong lahat ay gumagamit ng mga konsepto at ugali na alam natin lahat ang kahulugan, pati ang relasyon ng mga kahulugan, pati ang relasyon ng mga kahulugang ito sa isa’t isa. Ito ay nangyayari lamang kung iisa ang “code”—ibig sabihin, may isang pangkabuuang pag- uugnay at pagkakaugnay ng mga kahulugan, kaisipan at ugali. Mahalaga (at pundamental pa nga) rito ang iisang wika. Madaling makita ito kung titingnan natin ang mga grupong etno-lingguwistiko sa atin. Halimbawa, ang mga Tagalog ay may iisang wika at nagkakaintindihan sila sa loob ng wikang Tagalog kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng lahat ng may kaugnayan sa kanilang kaugalian at kaisipan. Kaya noong araw, pati ang kanilang relihiyon ay iisa—nananalig sa anito, at sa mga mitolohikal na personahe na ang

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pinakasentral ay tinatawag nilang “Bathala.” Ang mitolohikal na tauhang ito ay siya ring prinsipal na katauhan ng kanilang epiko. Nang mawala ang epikong ito ni Bathala noong panahon ng Kastila, ang ipinalit ay ang pasyon, na ang pangunahing katauhan ay isa ring “bathala”—ang diyos ng mga Kastila, si Kristo. Makikita natin na bago pa dumating ang mga Kastila sa kapuluan, bawa’t isa sa mga grupong etniko ay may sarili nang “pantayong pananaw,” o sariling kabuuan na nakasalalay sa pagkakabit-kabit ng mga elementong kultural at panlipunan sa isa’t isa, na naipapamahagi at naiintindihan ng taga grupong etniko sa iisang wika: ang sarili.

While we may already have organized communities, we haven’t had any concept of one nation. This became an entry point for colonization—a divided “nation” can be further divided for an easy conquest.

Salazar added:

48 THE HISTORY THAT BURIED THE FILIPINO LEADERSHIP SYSTEM

Noong ika-19 na dantaon, nagkaroon ng mga Kolehiyo sa Unibersidad na napasukan ng mga Indio, mestisong Sangley at mestisong Espanyol, na nasamahan na rin ng tinatawag na kreolyo (mga Kastilang ipinanganak dito sa Pilipinas na tinatawag na “Hijos de Pais,” o mga anak ng bayan). Dahil sa ang edukasyon nila ay hindi sa seminaryo, mas nakatuon sa tunay na daigdig (sa kalagayang panlipunan at pampulitika) ang kanilang pag-iisip. At dahil sila ang pinaka-intelektuwal at edukado sa mga “katutubo” sa Pilipinas, sila ang pinakamadaldal, pagka’t puwede silang makipag-usap sa Kastila. Sila rin ay puwedeng pagbuntunan ng mga alipusta ng mga Kastila hinggil sa mga “katutubo” (na, para sa mga kolonyalista ay tulad nila), dahil nakakaintindi at nakakausap sila ng mga Kastila. Sinabi ng mga Kastila sa kanila, “Kayo ay mga Indio lamang, at lahat ng nalalaman ninyo ay utang ninyo sa amin, sapagka’t ang kasaysayan ng inyong bansa ay may dalawang bahagi lamang: una, ang panahon na hindi pa kayo Kristiyano at sibilisado, kung kailan lugmok pa kayo sa kadiliman; pangalawa, dumating kaming mga Kastila dala namin ang kabihasnan at ang aming relihiyong Kristiyano upang kayo ay bigyan ng

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liwanag.” Ganoon palagi ang direksyon ng paglait. Walang pakialam ang 95% o 98% ng mga Kristiyano sa mga insultong ito; dahil hindi nila ito naiintindihan (pagka’t ginagawa kadalasan sa banyagang wika). At lalong walang pakialam ang mga Moro—ang Bangsa Moro natin ngayon—at ang mga grupong etnikong nanatiling katutubo, sapagka’t sila ay hindi pa lumalabas sa kanilang sariling kultura, o hindi pa napapahiwalay dito, ibig sabihin, ang malaking porsiyento ng Kapilipinuhan ay mayroon pang pantayong pananaw na hindi pa naapektuhan ng kultura ng mga kolonyalistang Kastila, o di kaya ng mala-Kastilang kultura ng akulturadong elite, kung saan ang nangunguna sa pagiging mala-Kastila ay ang mga ilustrado, mga “naliwanagang katutubo.”

But they came here and were awed by the natives’ advanced maritime navigation skills on their fast outrigger boats that cover both the deep and shallow waters of the Philippine archipelago. They conquered the country and made it Spain’s colony for the next 333 years.

50 THE HISTORY THAT BURIED THE FILIPINO LEADERSHIP SYSTEM

The colonization of the Philippines practically divided their communities by instilling a parochial mentality in them. Building one church after another, they imposed Catholicism as religion. They forced the Filipinos to convert or suffer its consequences. As the people slowly subscribed to the new spiritual belief, their loyalty to the community had shifted to the church. The communities during the Spanish Period were designed with a church, a government building, and a market next to each other as the center. The Filipinos had to attend regular church services, follow its government, and trade the way the invaders would. For one, absenting oneself from the church will send the soul to hell for eternity.

Fearful of damning their souls to hell, they turned to the church as their new community where priests acted as the new leaders. But the new leaders needed more time get acquainted with the nation particularly their leadership culture. Without understanding their way of life, the oppressors would find it difficult to lead. So they built their churches in places where the natives would perform their rituals in order for the natives to associate the new religion

51 STEPBACK with their old religion. Patron saints would take the place of the festival of some forest spirit or deity.

Upon their second arrival in the Philippines 40 years after they were defeated by the group of Lapu-lapu, the Spanish friars immediately spent their time familiarizing themselves with the native dialects. Realizing that there were existing dialects at the time, they translated their religious materials from the preparation of prayers and catechisms to these native dialects. Some claimed that priests could learn the language in three months or less.

When more and more Filipinos were converted into Catholics, the Spanish strengthened their hold on our nation. Generation after generation, the Spaniards called the Filipinos “indio,” which means indigenous or native. They treated them like second-class citizens in their own land.

The original Filipino leaders may not have the god that the Spaniards introduced but they didn’t coerce the people into forced labor the way the Spaniards had. While there was indentured servitude in the Philippine society at the time, it

52 THE HISTORY THAT BURIED THE FILIPINO LEADERSHIP SYSTEM was not as widespread or as exploitative as during the Spanish occupation.

Before the Spaniards colonized the Filipinos, the general term for servants is baal. As a rule no pay is given a servant other than his board and clothing. It is the obligation of the master, however, to furnish animals for sacrifice when the servant falls sick. It is, further, considered good form for the master to furnish animals for sacrifice in case of sickness of the servant’s father or mother; but I do not believe it to be an obligation. A servant that has been with his master a long time is called nikkop. It is an obligation resting on the master to furnish the animals and other necessities for a marriage feast for such a servant. As a rule there is no definite time set for the termination of a contract between master and servant, and such contracts are terminable at any time at the will of either party. (Barton, Ifugao Law, 1919)

Barton also observed:

Before the American occupation, except in those few parts of the habitat that were prosperous and in which

53 STEPBACK the obtaining of the daily ration was not a serious problem, the selling by parents who found themselves poverty-stricken of one of their children was not at all uncommon. The price that a child brought his parents varied from five pigs to five carabaos. There was no difference in value between a male and a female child. A slave was most valuable at the age of eighteen or twenty. Some men were slave dealers, and carried great numbers of children to Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela. In those parts a slave was worth from five to twenty carabaos.

Among the Ifugao a slave was absolutely the property of his owner. The latter had power of life and death over him. Even if the master killed the slave it was not considered that the slave’s family would be justified in avenging the death. But a slave’s children, even though they may be the children by another slave parent, were free. Frequently one of them was assigned to take the place of the father and another of the mother, and these two then became free. In the lowlands, however, the children of slaves were slaves, which accounts partly for the higher prices paid for slaves in those parts. It would be interesting to know whether the

54 THE HISTORY THAT BURIED THE FILIPINO LEADERSHIP SYSTEM

lowland (Christian) Filipino held children of slaves as slaves before his civilization and Christianization by the Spaniard, or whether his practice then was that of his Ifugao brethren.

The purchase of a slave was celebrated by a very pretentious series of religious ceremonials. Oftentimes, with the Ifugao, a slave was set free, at or before the death of his master, and was given a rice field. Unless set free he was inherited by the master’s heirs as any other property. Sometimes a slave child was adopted by a childless couple as their own son or daughter.

Servanthood and slavery in Ifugao were part of their culture. However, even the servants or slaves were given some dignity, respect, and opportunity. Then, the Spanish legislated a law known as Polo y Servicios or forced labor for the Filipinos. They appropriated the country’s resources for their own use and abused the people.

Sa ilalim ng patakarang polo y servicios, sapilitang pinagtatrabaho ng mga prayle and mga katutubo sa

55 STEPBACK pagtatayo ng mga simbahan, paggawa ng mga kalsada, daungan at tulay sa loob ng 40 araw. Kadalasan, ang sapilitang pagtatrabaho ay umaabot ng maraming buwan. Maraming katutubo ang nagkakasakit, namamatay o dili kaya ay hindi na nakakabalik sa kani-kanilang bayang pinagmulan.

Hindi lamang pang-aalipin sa mga katutubo sa pamamagitan ng pagbubuwis at paggawa sanhi ng hidwaan ng mga encomendero at prayle, kundi bunga rin ng pansarili nilang mga interes at pag-aagawan sa mas mayayamang mga lupain. Ang sumisinding hidwaang ito ay siyang naging dahilan upang magkaroon ng imbestigasyon sa mga titulo ng lupa ng mga prayle noong 1578 at pagkaraan ay noong 1697.

Para sa mga Kastila, encomendero man o prayle, wala silang pakialam kung maghirap man ang mga katutubo. Ang mahalaga ay makapamuhay sila ng maginhawa at masagana.

Mula noong 1721, gayunman, mabilis na nabuwag ang sistemang encomienda mula sa taong ito, magmula

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ng magbago ang pangangasiwa ng pamahalaan sa kapuluan kasabay ang paglikha ng mga probinsiya.

Mahalagang bigyang-pansin na lalo pang lumala ang pagpapahirap sa mga katutubo dahil sa digmaang kinasangkutan ng mga Kastila laban sa mga Olandes at Portuges na naging kaagaw nito sa mga kolonya.

Mula noong 1567 hanggang 1647, ang ating kapuluan ang naging lunsaran ng Espanya sa pakikidigma. Upang matustusan ang pakikidigmang iyon, kinakailangan nitong mangolekta ng malalaking halaga ng buwis sa anumang paraan mula sa mga katutubo. Kinailangan din ang mas maraming katutubo bilang mga tagagawa at tagasagwan ng mga barkong panlaban sa digmaan. Kinailangan ding manguha ng bigas kapalit ng mga pangakong babayaran ang mga ito sa paggawa, na kadalasang hindi naman natutupad.

Sa kabuuan, ang sapilitang pagbabayad ng buwis at ang sapilitang paggawa ay siyang pangunahing dahilan ng hiwahiwalay na pag-aalsa ng mga katutubo sa

57 STEPBACK kapuluan. Ayon sa tala, umaabot sa 200 puta-putaki at maliliit na pag-aalsa ang pumutok sa panahon ng pananakop ng Kastila.

Noong 1583, halimbawa, maraming katutubo sa isang lugar sa Luson, na tinawag na Pampanga nang lumaon, ang sapilitang hinakot at pinagtrabaho sa minahan ng ginto sa Ilokos. Hindi sila pinauwi sa panahon ng pagtatanim. Nang sumunod na taon, nagkaroon ng tagsalat ng pagkain sa Pampanga at sa Maynila. Nag-alsa ang mga Pampangueno laban sa mga Kastila dahil sa matinding pagkagutom noong 1584.

Nagkaroon din ng sunud-sunod na pag-aalsa sa Pangasinan, Bohol, Zambales, at iba pang lalawigan. Pinakamatagal ang pag-aalsang pinamunuan ni Dagohoy sa Bohol na ipinagpatuloy ng mga katutubo hanggang umabot ng may 85 taon.

Ang pag-aalsa ng mga Boholano ay manipestasyon ng hangaring lumaya sa paniniil ng kolonyang Kastila at maituturing na maningning sa kasaysayan ng pag-aalsa

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ng magsasakang Pilipino. Nakapagtayo ng sariling komunidad at matitibay na kuta sa kabundukan ang mga rebeldeng Boholano. Tumagal ang natamong kalayaan ng mga Boholano hanggang 1829.

Mahalagang baybayin sa kasaysayan ang mga pag- aalsa ng mga magsasaka at manggagawa laban sa paniniil ng kolonyalistang Kastila. Ito ay pagpapatunay na may magiting silang tradisyon para palayain ang kanilang uri sa matagal na panahong pang-aalipin. Bagamat hindi lubusang nagtagumpay, nakapagbigay ito ng aral sa mga magsasaka at manggagawang Pilipino na pag-aalsa lamang ang makapupugto sa tanikala ng pang-aalipin ng kolonyalistang Kastila.

Nabigo ang pag-aalsang ito dahil sa hiwa-hiwalay ng pagkilos ng mga katutubo. Maliitan din ang mga pag- aalsa at ang pangunahing dahilan ay karaniwan nang nakabatay sa di makatarungang pangungulekta ng buwis at sapilitang paggawa. Hindi nagkaroon ng pambansang saklaw ang mga pag-aalsa ng panahong iyon. (Manggagawa: Sa Kasaysayan, Dante G.

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Guevarra, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations ng Politeknikong Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, 1989)

They also imposed their form of government on them as the invaders rolled out their leadership system. Worse, they appointed the leaders for them as if they knew who were the best for the Filipino. So, whether or not they liked the chosen ones or they deserved the position didn’t matter. They followed the rules or they died.

Using the divide-and-conquer strategy, the Spaniards succeeded in invading the Philippines and their occupation stretched for 333 years, with a few exceptions such as the Ifugao Province and many parts of Mindanao under the leadership of Sultan Kudarat, a community leader in southern Philippines.

But because they were divided as a people, they had little success in defeating the European imperialists.

The following information details how divided the Philippines was at the time.

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The 1300s saw the arrival and eventual spread of Islam in the Philippine archipelago. In 1380, Karim ul’ Makdum and Shari’ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr, an Arab trader born in Johore, arrived in Sulu from Malacca and established the Sultanate of Sulu by converting Sulu's rajah, Rajah Baguinda Ali and marrying his daughter. (100 Events That Shaped The Philippines, Adarna Book Services Inc. 1999 / Published by National Centennial Commission, Page 72 “The Founding of the Sulu Sultanate”)

At the end of the 15th century, Shariff Mohammed Kabungsuwan of Johor introduced Islam in the island of Mindanao and established the Sultanate of Maguindanao. The sultanate form of government extended further into Lanao. (“The Maguindanao Sultanate”, Moro National Liberation Front web site. “The Political and Religious History of the Bangsamoro People, condensed from the book Muslims in the Philippines by Dr. C.A. Majul.”)

Islam then started to spread out of Mindanao in the south and went into Luzon in the north. This was

61 STEPBACK accomplished because the Sultanate of Brunei, which was previously known as Poni, had seceded from Majapahit and had converted to Islam and then had invited an Arab Emir from Mecca, Sharif Ali (“Brief about Ta'if City”. Ta'if City in Arabic. Taif Municipality), to become Sultan and his descendant, Sultan Bolkiah set up Manila in Luzon as an Islamic colony during his reign from 1485 to 1521. (Sidhu, Jatswan S. (2009). “Bolkiah, Sultan (r. 1485–1524)”. Historical Dictionary of Brunei Darussalam (second ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-8108-7078-9.

Thereby again subjugating rebellious Tondo by defeating Rajah Gambang in battle and thereafter installing the Muslim rajah, Rajah Salalila to the throne. Thus reestablishing the Bruneian vassal-state of the Muslim Rajahnate of Maynila as its enforcer in Luzon. (Munoz, Paul Michel (2006). Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet. p. 171. ISBN 978-981-4155-67-0.) Sultan Bolkiah also married Laila Mecana, who is the daughter of Sulu Sultan Amir Ul-Ombra of newly Islamized Sulu, to

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expand Brunei's influence in both Luzon island and the Sulu archipelago. (Sidhu, Jatswan S. (2009). "Bolkiah, Sultan (r. 1485–1524)". Historical Dictionary of Brunei Darussalam (second ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-8108-7078-9)

The Muslims then proceeded to wage wars and conduct slave-raids against the Visayans. (Celestino C. Macachor (2011). “Searching for Kali in the Indigenous Chronicles of Jovito Abellana”) Participating in the Muslim raids, the Sultanate of Ternate, a Muslim state centered in the vicinity of Papuan-Indonesia, consequently destroyed the Animist Malayo-Polynesian Kedatuan of Dapitan in Bohol. This forced the people of Dapitan to reestablish their country in northern Mindanao and displace the citizens of the Sultanate of Lanao as they conquered their territory. The Hindu Rajahnates of Butuan and Cebu also endured slave raids from, and waged wars against the Sultanate of Maguindanao while their southern Hindu ally, the Rajahnate of Kutai, struggled with the Sultanate of Brunei for hegemony over Borneo island. Simultaneous with these Muslim slave-

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raids against the Visayans, was the rebellion of Datu Lapu-Lapu of Mactan against Rajah Humabon of Cebu. There was also a simmering territorial conflict between the Polity of Tondo and the Bruneian vassal- state, the Islamic Rajahnate of Maynila, to which the ruler of Maynila, Rajah Matanda, sought military assistance against Tondo from his relatives at the Sultanate of Brunei. The rivalries between the Datus, Rajahs, Sultans, and Lakans eventually eased Spanish colonization. Furthermore, the islands were sparsely populated due to consistent natural disasters and inter- kingdom conflicts. Therefore, colonization was made easy and the small states of the archipelago quickly became incorporated into the Spanish Empire and were Hispanicized and Christianized. (Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1990). History of the Filipino People (8th ed.). Garotech Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 978-971-8711-06-4).

A nation that was yet to be formed, the Philippines didn’t get a chance to establish nationhood before it was made a colony to Spain.

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THE AMERICAN INVASION

In 1898, the Spaniards ceded the Philippines to the United States after the latter was defeated in war. The cession was made through an agreement known as the Treaty of Paris after the United States paid the government of Spain $20M to fully take over the Philippine archipelago.

Perhaps still recovering from traumatic experiences with the Spaniards, they turned to the US as their savior. Little did they know that they had their own agenda for taking over a still recovering nation.

Whereas the Spaniards instilled parochial mentality in the Filipinos, the Americans had another idea. They introduced “individualism” as an ideology and used the “Western education system” as a tool for an impending colonization. Fresh from a centuries-long occupation, they looked at the Americans as their saviors and newfound allies. The Americans’ generosity made them think they were sincere and so they trusted them. But nothing can be further from the truth.

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The American invasion of the Philippines was about the US rather than about the Philippines. Since the Philippines was a colony of Spain and the United States was at war with Spain, it invaded the Philippines to neutralize this force. The American attack was successful and as expected, the Spanish surrendered. After the war, the Americans simply decided to keep the Philippines in their control. The Americans saw the Philippines as a strategic military base in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. In addition, colonizing the Philippines enhanced America’s image as a superpower.

On another front, the educational system they provided complemented their own interests. It was designed to correspond to the economic and political reality of the American colonizers.

It’s no wonder that educational leaders today have yet to realize that our educational system is broken and that it causes more division among people. The country’s education system, as it is known today, can be traced to the first soldier-teachers of the American invasion army. While they are proud of their profession as teachers, the system

66 THE HISTORY THAT BURIED THE FILIPINO LEADERSHIP SYSTEM was set only within the framework of American colonialism.

In an article written by Renato Constantino in 1959 entitled, The Miseducation of the Filipino:

Thus, from its inception, the educational system of the Philippines was a means of pacifying a people who were defending their newly-won freedom from an invader who had posed as an ally. The education of the Filipino under American sovereignty was an instrument of colonial policy. The Filipino has to be educated as a good colonial. Young minds had to be shaped to conform to American ideas. Indigenous Filipino ideals were slowly eroded in order to remove the last vestiges of resistance. Education served to attract the people to the new masters and at the same time to dilute their nationalism which had just succeeded in overthrowing a foreign power. The introduction of the American educational system was a means of defeating a triumphant nationalism.

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His further observation on how the Americans made us more like them instead of preserving who we are as Filipinos is important to understand why we think in the Western way:

The first and perhaps the master stroke in the plan to use education as an instrument of colonial policy was the decision to use English as the medium of instruction. English became the wedge that separated the Filipinos from their past and later to separate educated Filipinos from the masses of their countrymen. English introduced the Filipinos to a strange, new world. With American textbooks, Filipinos started learning not only a new language but also a new way of life, alien to their traditions and yet a caricature of their model. This was the beginning of their education. At the same time, it was the beginning of their mis-education, for they learned no longer as Filipinos but as colonials. They had to be disoriented form their nationalist goals because they had to become good colonials. The ideal colonial was the carbon copy of his conqueror, the conformist follower of the new dispensation. He had to forget his past and

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unlearn the nationalist virtues in order to live peacefully, if not comfortably, under the colonial order. The new Filipino generation learned of the lives of American heroes, sang American songs, and dreamt of snow and Santa Claus.

In many ways, Constantino’s insights reinforce my claim that the US education system was put in place to serve the interest of the US rather than our own. It made us foreigners in our own country:

The education of the Filipino must be a Filipino education. It must be based on the needs of the nation and the goals of the nation. The object is not merely to produce men and women who can read and write or who can add and subtract. The primary object is to produce a citizenry that appreciates and is conscious of its nationhood and has national goals for the betterment of the community, and not an anarchic mass of people who know how to take care of themselves only. Our students hear of Rizal and Bonifacio but are their teachings related to our present

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problems or do they merely learn of anecdotes and incidents that prove interesting to the child's imagination? We have learned to use American criteria for our problems and we look at our prehistory and our past with the eyes of a visitor. A lot of information is learned but attitudes are not developed. The proper regards for things Philippine, the selfish concern over the national fate—these are not at all imbedded in the consciousness of students. Children and adolescents go to school to get a certificate or diploma. They try to learn facts but the patriotic attitude is not acquired because of too much emphasis on forms.

He continued:

Education should first of all assure national survival. No amount of economic and political policy can be successful if the educational programme does not imbue prospective citizens with the proper attitudes that will ensure the implementation of these goals and policies. Philippine educational policies should be geared to the making of Filipinos. These policies

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should see to it that schools produce men and women with minds and attitudes that are attuned to the needs of the country. Under previous colonial regimes, education saw to it that the Filipino mind was subservient to that of the master. The foreign overlords were esteemed. We were not taught to view them objectively, seeing their virtues as well as their faults. This led out citizens to form a distorted opinion of the foreign masters and also of themselves. We must now think of ourselves, of our salvation, of our future. And unless we prepare the minds of the young for this endeavor, we shall always be a pathetic people with no definite goals and no assurance of preservation.

The Filipinos welcomed the education given by the Spaniards, and in the same way, embraced the American educational system. But the education they provided for the Filipinos encouraged even more competition among them. They provided a space where the Tagalog competed with the Bisaya and with the Mindanaoan and so on and so forth. It encouraged them to prove that one is better than the other Filipino tribes while being made to believe that

71 STEPBACK they were not any better than any other race in the world. Their education system didn’t unite the people. It may have given them information but not real education. The system didn’t allow the Filipinos to establish a strong national identity.

In essence, the Western education system made them adversaries to each other.

For example, the education system allowed children to compete as early as five or six years old. Their system suggests that “intelligence” is measured through ranking. For the most part, ranking may have hindered collaboration inside the classroom. Students are encouraged to work individually rather than by groups. The first honor student may not likely collaborate with the second honor student. Honor students, who are busy working harder than everyone else in the class to improve their class standing, may not likely to help the worst performing members in the class.

Ironically, the first thing that an organization will ask when anyone is applying for a job is, “Are you a team

72 THE HISTORY THAT BURIED THE FILIPINO LEADERSHIP SYSTEM player?” How can you possibly be a team player when you’ve been trained in your formative years to compete, beat, and defeat whoever gets in your way? How will you appreciate team work when you’ve been trained all those years to work alone? That’s why it’s no surprise that within some organizations, it’s cutthroat competition from top to bottom almost every time. Western education cultivated a competitive nature in us, which in turn engendered the desire to beat someone in order to win. It became our nature to think of each other as adversaries. It’s every man for himself.

The Americans also set up a government for the Filipinos based on their democratic leadership ideology, which gave us another way of looking at freedom.

The democracy that we knew gave us an illusion of unlimited power and freedom, where we put individual rights before responsibility. In a democracy, we can freely choose our leaders in an election. But this process is yet another form of competition, where one has to lose for someone to win. This was not the pre-colonial Filipino way of installing a leader.

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Coming off fresh from a divided and broken community as a result of the Spanish colonization, combined with an individualistic attitude and highly competitive tendency, democracy simply didn’t fit. Giving everybody a voice and “freedom” made the Filipinos turn against each other—a masterful move for the Americans and a losing situation for the Filipinos.

In the ancient Philippines, the family with the largest terraces took the leadership role. Only the eldest child can inherit the land, consequently, the leadership is passed on through bloodline, and not through a democratic election. Even without the power to choose their leader, their leadership structure worked well for them for hundreds of years. Leadership was not a reward for winning a contest. The Filipinos understood that concept, respected the tradition and stuck with the leadership model for a long time.

While this structure was never close to perfect, it was a structure that’s embedded in the very culture of the community. It reflected how the the Filipinos self-organized themselves during pre-colonial times.

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One notable practice in their leadership system back then was the turnover of power or inheritance. Having built in their culture that only the first-born can inherit the terraces, the siblings no longer challenged the practice. They simply respected the tradition and accepted it as their reality.

Some may argue that it’s not fair. However, if they didn’t do that, there’ll be no more terraces existing today. If they divided the land equally among children, there’ll be no more significant land parcels today. Thus, their leadership structure provided their community a way to survive. Their wisdom allowed them to govern themselves with very little leadership clashes within their community. In other words, understanding their place and social classes was key to their leadership and management system.

While this system proved to be effective at the time, the invaders imposed their way of leadership among the Filipinos. They were united under a foreign banner, which is far from their original culture. This resulted to forming a single state (the Philippines) without a single nation (the Filipinos). There was never a unified national Filipino

75 STEPBACK identity before and during the Spanish colonization. In short, we had a broken identity to say the least.

THE JAPANESE INVASION

On December 8, 1941, Japan started its invasion of the Philippines. This happened ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Perhaps part of the Japanese war strategy, they bombed Pearl Harbor, which severely damaged military planes and infrastructures. Without air cover, the American army in the Philippines was forced to leave for Java on December 12, 1941.

On March 11, 1942, the US ordered General Douglas MacArthur leave the Philippines. He took shelter in Australia. Left without a leader, about 76,000 starving and sick American and Filipino troops surrendered on April 9, 1942. This marked the infamous Bataan Death March—a forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000– 80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from Saysain Point, Bagac, Bataan and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, via San Fernando, Pampanga, where the prisoners were loaded onto trains.

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The transfer began on April 9, 1942, after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. The total distance marched from Mariveles to San Fernando and from the Capas Train Station to Camp O’Donnell is variously reported by differing sources as between 60 and 69.6 miles (96.6 and 112.0 km). Differing sources also report widely differing prisoner of war casualties prior to reaching Camp O'Donnell: from 5,000 to 18,000 Filipino deaths and 500 to 650 American deaths during the march. The march was characterized by severe physical abuse and wanton killings, and was later judged by an Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime.

Japan occupied the Philippines for over three years until its surrender. A highly effective guerrilla campaign by Philippine resistance forces controlled sixty percent of the islands, mostly jungle and mountain areas. MacArthur supplied them by submarine, and sent reinforcements and officers. Filipinos remained loyal to the United States, partly because of the American guarantee of independence, and also because the Japanese had pressed large numbers

77 STEPBACK of Filipinos into work details and even put young Filipino women into brothels. (“The Philippines Campaign 20 October 1944 – 15 August 1945 – World War II Multimedia Database”).

A people who has yet to establish its nationhood was caught in the middle of two powerful nations—Japan and the United States. Strategically located in the Pacific, the Philippines was a territory of important islands both in trade and in the military. In between Japan’s ambition to expand its territory and America’s interest to protect its territory was the Philippines.

The Second Philippine Republic, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas, or known in the Philippines as Japanese- sponsored Philippine Republic), was a puppet state established on October 14, 1943. President Manuel L. Quezon declared the national capital Manila an “open city,” and left it under the rule of Jorge B. Vargas as mayor. The Japanese entered the city on January 2, 1942, and established it as the capital. Japan fully captured the Philippines on May 6, 1942, after the Battle of Corregidor.

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While the Japanese didn’t have that much influence on the Filipino’s way of life, its short-term invasion had left the most damage. It took a heavy toll on the emotional state of the Filipinos. While the Japanese only managed to invade about 40% of the Philippines, the damage to property and morale was tragic and traumatic.

The presence of the imperial Japan also caused unfathomable suffering among the Filipinos. The notable effect of this event was the Filipino’s loss of freedom of speech and expression and art development.

How the Japanese further divided our regions that is yet to organize itself was shown when they helped put up the Makabayang Katipunan ng mga Pilipino (Patriotic Association of Filipinos), better known as the Makapili). It was a militant group formed in the Philippines in 1944 during World War II to give military aid to the Imperial Japanese Army. (Republic of the Philippines’ Supreme Court, En Banc G.R. No. L-943, November 22, 1947).

Organised by Benigno Ramos and Artemio Ricarte, they were born out of José P. Laurel's refusal to

79 STEPBACK conscript Filipinos for Japan. (Jovito Salonga, ‘A tribute to Dr. Jose P. Laurel’)

The Japanese decreed that the group should be founded in November 1944 when they brought together many of the supporters of the defunct Ganap Party, an influential political party at the time. (William J. Pomeroy, The Philippines: Colonialism, Collaboration, and Resistance, p. 114).

Like Ganap its main area of support was Metro Manila, although Makapili established chapters across the islands, attracting some support. In all it attracted 4 to 6,000 members, many of them poor or landless farmers who came to the group due to vague promises of land reform after the war. Their main purpose was to counter the recognized guerrilla and the Philippine Commonwealth military activity by anti-Japanese forces in rural areas and to this end members of Makapili were given rudimentary military training. After the war ended in 1945, the group was disbanded and vilified for its involvement in some Japanese atrocities in the islands and individual members faced

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trials for treason as a result. (Stein Ugelvik Larsen, Fascism Outside Europe, Columbia University Press, 2001, p. 785)

While imperial Japan will be remembered mostly for its abuses, they tried to diminish the Philippines’ association with and dependence on the US by reinstating Tagalog as the primary language. In 1942, they also introduced Japanese currency to further establish their control.

Love for labor was encouraged, as seen by the massive labor recruitment programs by the KALIBAPI by mid-1943. Propagation of both Filipino and Japanese cultures were conducted. Schools were reopened, which had an overall number of 300,000 students at its peak. (Agoncillo, Teodoro (1974). Introduction to Filipino History. Garotech Publishing. pp. 217–218.)

THE LINGERING EFFECT OF COLONIZATION

The Filipinos’ long history of being under three foreign rulers made them unsure about their identity as a people.

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They were unable to establish a truly unified nation, still looking for a national identity.

Unaware and perhaps confused about who we are as a nation, we move forward by simply accomplishing one task after another.

In sum, the colonization of the Philippines brought about these changes in their leadership philosophy:

• From communal, collaborative mindset to individualist, competitive mindset with heavier emphasis on personal achievement rather than community success

• From leadership by bloodline (a no-contest) to leadership by democratic election

• From collaboration to cutthroat competition, where leadership is a prize for beating everybody else in the contest

82 CHAPTER 5

The PLG Leadership Model

Fig. 1 PLG Leadership Model

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In today’s leadership landscape, it’s tempting to think that the leader is the most important character in the leadership story of an organization. Anyway, most would say that the people are clueless about where they should go and how to get there without a leader directing their path. They feel that it’s reason enough for them to be at the center of leadership.

Leadership has a prize. But to get that, every leader has to pay the price. But more often than not, the price is too high. Nonetheless, leaders are willing to make the trade.

Here are some sacrifices a leader has to make:

• Relationships are at risk. Upon assuming the position, a leader’s relationship with his people may be jeopardized. There must be some truth about when some people say “It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.” However, many times, business decisions are carried out and taken personally. Maintaining the balance between personal and professional relationships is a constant struggle for leaders. Some friendships and

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family relationships may be ruined because of a leadership decision.

• More hours of work. Contrary to popular belief, most leaders spend more time working than their own people. In addition, they tend to devote more time learning and mastering new things. They tend to sacrifice more time they could have spent on their personal lives

• Enemies are made. Outside the organization, a leader doesn’t always look great. The head seems to be a constant target of external competition. Thus, a leader can make an enemy in defense of his people.

• Envy kicks in. To be on top, one can easily become an object of envy. If this happens, leaders are expected to be the talk of town, object of fun, subject of conversation, and target of character assassination.

But leaders are willing to make these sacrifices because of the prizes that come with a leadership position.

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• Power over people. You can influence your staff or employees to do what you want them to do. You can give an order and expect people to follow that order. You have the authority to decide. Whether they like it or not is another matter.

• Attention from peers outside the organization. Recognition and a bragging rights are important to many people. They matter to leaders, too.

• Material and financial rewards. People in leadership positions get more material and financial rewards than others.

When achieving these benefits becomes the goal of the leader, the organization will be doomed in no time. To avoid this critical error, I introduce the People-Leader-Goal or PLG Leadership Model. In sum, this suggests that the leader isn’t central to leadership.

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STEPBACK LEADERSHIP EQUATIONS

In this chapter, we will discuss the following leadership equations:

Leader + Goal - People = No function

People + Goal - Leader = No direction

People + Leader - Goal = No destination

STEPBACK LEADERSHIP DEFINED

By definition, Stepback is a practice of putting the people at the center of leadership. It suggests that the people, not the leader, is the core of a leadership circle. It further proposes that the people are the most important character in a leadership story.

The only reason why you are called a leader is because of the people who have a certain goal. That should briefly explain the greater importance of the people over your position of leadership. If nothing else, your only responsibility is to make sure the people are able to achieve their goal.

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If the leader takes the center position, the people become the bridge between the leader and the leader’s goal. That is self-preserving, self-centered, and self-serving. If that happens, the people also become subordinate to the leader. Once your people take the subordinate position, their desire to be free starts to kick in. This situation is what you must avoid as this can easily either lead to slavery or transactional leadership. The people are not meant to serve the leader. It’s a give-and-take relationship where both the leader and the people pitch in to arrive at a common goal.

The goal takes the outermost rim as they vary from time to time. In the olden days, the goal could simply be survival. People look for a leader because they had to survive. Whatever the goal is, both the leader and the people must agree on what the goal is and work together to achieve it.

Still, it may be difficult to imagine how people could ideally be at the center. It can be argued that the people may have little or no knowledge at all about their goal and therefore, this model is wrong. Some may say it’s the leader who identifies the goal, tells the people about it, and asks them to follow him.

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While this argument may have a basis, such line of thinking isn’t ours. It’s Western. When the Spaniards set up schools in every Christian village they founded, their knowledge was what made them powerful and superior. Because we Filipinos were “uneducated,” we depended on them. Being unable to read and write based on their language simply meant one is uneducated. Or at least they made it appear like that.

In reality though, we already had a pre-colonial writing and reading system known as Baybayin. In fact, Baybayin was noted by the Spanish priest Pedro Chirino in 1604 and Antonio de Morga in 1609 as a system widely used in Luzon. When Spanish friars learned about this native system, they translated the Bible and catechisms Baybayin, a strategy that made them easy to convert the indigenous people to Christians.

When the people have only a little or no knowledge at all, that’s a leadership problem. You don’t build your leadership based on self-contained knowledge, hoping that making people hostage to your intelligence would be the best way to lead. It’s not sustainable. Stepback leadership is

89 STEPBACK built on shared knowledge, where the leaders and the people come together and share information. The people have the right to know and the leader has the privilege to share what he knows. For the more information you withhold from your people, the less they would trust you. One day, they will find a way to access that knowledge from somewhere else and once they do, you’ll become irrelevant.

The people, the community, has always outlived its leaders. The leaders, just like the goal, would come and go, but not the people. Therefore, the first order of business in leadership is identifying the goal of the people.

The PLG model encourages open and clear discussion between the people and the leader about their goal through a defined communication channel. The people can’t be kept blind about the plan and strategy of the leader. One reason is, the execution of the plan involves even the last man in the smallest unit of the organization. Without a clear understanding of what you want to accomplish as an organization, the leader may find it difficult to effectively rally his people.

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Fig. 2. People at the center of leadership

THE PEOPLE

Consider this. There you are, a so-called leader. And then you have a goal, say, for example, you want to change the world. But you don’t have a group of people. Then, your leadership has no function. Certainly, you’re not a leader.

People equation: Leader + Goal - People = No function

The only reason why leaders are called leaders is because of the people. Without the people, leadership is not possible.

Thus, people are the core of leadership. They have a life, ideals, and goals. But they don’t have similar aspirations.

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They have individual goals. How you align those aspirations can determine your leadership success or failure. The leader is always on a balancing act among the members of the organization. Maintaining a delicate balance is one of the key challenges leaders have to deal with every time.

To succeed in finding balance and harmony among members within your organization, I suggest the following concrete actions:

OPEN COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Creating a number of communication channels where everyone can express their personal goals can give you a broader perspective of the past, the present, and the future. Without these channels, you’ll be left guessing about what the people need and where they want to go. Remember, we take the cue from the people, and not the other way.

One good example of a communication channel is holding a “People’s Day.” Here, the leader gathers all members of the organization say, for example, for a breakfast meeting.

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Members are given an opportunity to share their goals so that everyone, including the leader, can have an idea of the members’ individual goals. The same gathering can also be a venue for members to ask questions and express their insights on company initiatives, processes, and new directions they may want to take.

The information from People’s Day isn’t a direct instruction from the people that leaders must follow automatically. They’re significant clues that may help the leader make wiser, more strategic decisions.

Another way to communicate with your members is to make use of social media platforms such as group chat on Facebook, Viber, Slack, or Flock. You can set a schedule when everyone can post their views on a certain topic. This technology can encourage members to share their ideas without having to be physically present. The challenge with this channel though is, written words don’t have the same impact as a face to face conversation.

Written messages can be subject to misinterpretation very often, which may cause more confusion than clarity. If

93 STEPBACK you’d like to use this channel, you must come up with clear guidelines. You may want to consider answering these questions: “What is the objective of this chat group?” “What kind of posts are allowed and not allowed?” “When can members post a message?”

DISPLAY A MOOD METER

Have you ever wondered how your people feel about their day? By displaying a mood meter in a public place at the office, nobody has to wonder anymore.

After work, before they head home, ask them to place a sticker corresponding to their mood on the board. Summarize the mood meter every month and at the end of each year. This can give you an idea of the collective emotion of your people. Emotions play an important role in production. Keeping an eye on your employees’ emotional health can help you make necessary adjustments. Sometimes, you may not like what you see. But it is what it is and that’s exactly the point.

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You either help them set the right mood or suffer the consequences.

ATTEND CELEBRATIONS

Don’t miss out on celebrating with your people. Your priority is your people, not someone else’s. Between a party organized by an outsider and your company’s celebration, choose your company’s. Believing that“your people won’t go anywhere so I must attend another function instead” isn’t reasonable. Your loyalty is to your community. As a leader, you have to show them that you’re with your people in time of victory, big or small.

Celebrations are important in keeping your people together as it empowers the people. You don’t want to miss gatherings or programs where a certain person is awarded a loyalty citation for having worked in the company for 20 years. You must be there.

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DON’T BE A DIVA

Develop a habit of appreciation, openness, and kind- heartedness. Your people are neither your servants nor your slaves. In fact, they are not your fans. You may have earned your reputation as a leader but it doesn’t give you a license to act as if you’re some rockstar.

Your role is to inspire your people by working with them. That includes appreciating their contribution in as many occasions as possible. Even when they commit mistakes, they exerted their time and effort. While efforts don’t necessarily convert to desired results, it’s only fair to appreciate them for that as you work together with your people to make the necessary corrections.

We all commit mistakes in one way or another. Don’t make them believe you’re perfect. Your people reflect your kind of leadership. If you’re too difficult to please for whatever reason you may have, they may not give their all. In fact, they might give you a little less for fear that you won’t be pleased.

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RESOLVE SMALL CONFLICTS

Conflicts grow. At it grows, it widens the gap among people. Anybody can take a side and the next thing you know, it’s a civil war within the organization. As the people are the most important character in your leadership story, there are a couple of ways to prevent possible conflicts or resolve them early as them come.

You may consider the following:

• There are always two sides in a conflict. Encourage each party to honesty tell their version of the story. Listen to both sides separately because it can help you prevent confrontation.

• Judge based on merit, not on personality or reputation. A leader may be a leader but it doesn’t mean he is right all the time.

• Unless necessary, avoid rendering judgment in public as it may cause further division when members take a side.

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• You may give your people assurance that you’ll do everything you can but don’t make any promises. Broken promises amount to betrayal of trust.

• Everybody has bias towards someone or something for a couple of reasons. For example, we like people who make our leadership easy. Some help us lead more effectively. But not everybody knows why they’re your “favorite.” Tell your people why you like these people and maybe they can make necessary adjustments, too.

By paying attention to people intently, you help them achieve their goals, thus, fulfilling your mandate. That’s why it is important, if not outright required, to consider them in every decision you make. Your leadership isn’t about you. It’s about the people you serve.

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Fig. 3. Leader in the middle circle.

THE LEADER

As leaders, our primary obligation is to provide direction for our people. They have goals but if we don't do our job, they are clueless about where they're going. The leader connects the people and their goal whether it is mere survival or towering success.

Leader equation: People + Goal - Leader = No direction

But the original leadership philosophy in ancient Philippines takes a rather unique position in leadership

99 STEPBACK playbooks. Unlike the Western concept where the leadership positions are fought over, the Filipinos made it a birthright.

One notable advantage of this leadership system is people already expect who the next leader would be. From the family’s end, they already know who to groom as an eventual leader. Because the leadership is passed down to the first-born regardless of gender, there’s no more contest within the ruling family. The accountability is clear and hiding from ineffective leadership is almost impossible. On one end, it doesn’t encourage people to choose their leader. However, it doesn’t divide the family and the people in the community.

The rice field and the process of its preservation from generation to generation is an example of this kind of leadership of Filipinos. In fact, it decides the present and future leadership. One advantage they might have seen for upholding this system is continuity and sustainability. In their lenses, their tribal community may not have survived if they’ve applied what we know today as democracy, which is often attributed to uncertainty and division. They

100 THE PLG LEADERSHIP MODEL may have also found the transition of power more peacefully using this process.

In essence, leadership is a birthright rather than a product of some competition as Western leadership would suggest. Such practice of leadership inheritance still holds true until today.

While we can’t impose leadership by birthright in today’s leadership landscape, I outline the qualities of a Stepback leader.

PRO-PEOPLE

Putting the people at the center of leadership isn’t as easy as it seems. But that is the primary consideration of a Stepback leader as reflected in the leadership practice of ancient Filipinos.

In 2011, Felerina Ellamil conducted a study which examined Filipinos’ concept of leadership. It surveyed 1,141 Filipinos across job levels and professions to gather characteristics used to describe an ideal Filipino leader.

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The results suggest that they prefer a leader who is person- focused and group-centered, but also knowledgeable on the job.

The people want a leader who is pro-people or “makatao”—someone who is easy to talk to, listens with understanding and compassion, and cares about the people’s professional and personal welfare. If the boss is “makatao,” the people are more likely to feel affection and warmth toward the leader. The leader is then able to bring people to work together as a team and get more positive results for the organization.

COMPETENT

In the same dissertation, it was discovered that competence is second only to being pro-people. The people support a leader who are competent to lead or “may kakayahang mamuno.” It further suggested that the competence to lead is better with mentoring skills, which our Filipino ancestors have exercised for more than two millennia.

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In Ifugao, they call it IKSP or Indigenous Knowledge Skills and Practices. IKSPs are local knowledge preserved and developed over centuries of experimentation and practices by ancestors and are passed from generation to generation orally.

For example, companies today rely heavily on written manuals to operate. In many cases, employees are first referred to those documents for them to study on their own. Then, they are trained and taught the skills to get the job done. Mostly, the first thing that they focus on building are skills, not necessarily the attitude, principles, or wisdom from the leaders.

With skills as the primary focus, an organization may find it difficult to sustain. Skills alone doesn’t guarantee continuity. In the case of the Ifugaos, they are not fond of keeping written records of the way they do things. Building and maintaining the rice terraces have to be taught through spoken words and continuous practice. They are taught about their taboos. Elders and parents explain to them the reasons for those restrictions and laws before they are taught about skills. This practice has been religiously

103 STEPBACK transferred from generation to generation. It is key to sustainable development that connects the past, the present, and the future.

CREATIVE

Creativity flows in a Filipino leader naturally. And creative leaders attract creative people. We love to create and co- create with others. That’s who we are as a people.

No wonder why we were able to create rice fields out of the mountains without hurting the environment. Creativity allowed us to follow the contour of the mountain to make sure we don’t destroy its natural beauty.

Why we have become unimaginative and rigid can be explained by the invader’s introduction of a one-size-fits-all system on how our works must be done. Our education system kills our creativity. We were given specific instructions to follow instead of using our guts and common senses. One single teacher replaced the work of our elders and parents.

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Sometimes, I jokingly say, when you ask a Japanese or Germans or Americans to do a certain task using three steps, they may do it that way. But the Filipinos will do it in this fashion: Step 1 then Step 1.1 then 1.1.a and then Step 2 and so on and so forth. We are a creative race and as leaders, we don’t put our people in a box. Still, the leader takes the second circle next to people.

Fig. 4. The goal in the third circle.

THE GOAL

Whether you are a leader or a member of an organization, one thing is for sure: you have a goal. And this is what leadership does: Leadership gets the people somewhere.

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Goal equation: People + Leader - Goal = No destination

Every structure that made it to the Wonders of the Ancient World which I mentioned in previous chapters was once a goal of either the reigning leader at the time. For some reason, leadership in the West back then was mostly about conquest. The goal was to find resources and enlarge their territory and that became a measure of success.

Thus, it became every leader’s desire to expand their territories while amassing a large army. Generation after generation in the old days, leadership had been about accumulation. It’s not necessarily bad until accumulation becomes greed—the idea of not having enough! Needless to say, you either defend your land and your people or fight to get more land and more people. In the modern setting, it’s about merging and acquisition. The world seems to have agreed: If you can’t beat them, buy them. Such is not the case in the ancient Philippines.

In the context of Filipino leadership, among the Ifugaos, it was about peaceful co-existence among peoples and communities. Despite their reputation as headhunters, they

106 THE PLG LEADERSHIP MODEL we able to restrain themselves from conquering neighboring tribes. Occasional headhunting was only part of their old belief. It didn’t represent their entire culture. They defended themselves but they didn’t have the desire to expand their territory to prove their superiority. Fighting among between tribes only happened as a consequence of crime or misunderstanding but even that would be settled among families amicably.

The community goal is to live harmoniously, almost stress- free while being able to attain food security. That said, the goal has something to do with their success definition.

IS IT A REACTION OR A RESPONSE?

Living in a time when production is king, or at least what we think is king, you can easily be sidetracked when marking a specific destination for your organization. Framed vision and mission statements become more of an office ornament than a compass for everyone. For many organizations today, it has become business-as-usual. Perhaps because of the overwhelming demands of every day business, the goal of leadership has turned into survival rather than legacy.

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At the same time, you may look at innovation as the only form of success. If you don’t innovate, you’ll be rendered irrelevant. You’ll do everything in your power to avoid that situation because doing so means the end of your business.

So admittedly, it’s tempting to ask, “What happens after the rice terraces? Isn’t it a leadership flaw when you no longer innovate and do something new to produce more?”

The answer is simple but may be complex to understand in the context of the modern business landscape where increased production is given more importance than the goal.

In most organizations today, production is the name of the game. This is especially true with sales-driven organizations in industries like retail, food, banking, and real estate. Their eyes are fixed on the bottomline. Then they look at things they can innovate to stay afloat, if not ahead, of the competition.

In the process, their definition of success becomes a huge blur. In many cases, you may consider it irrelevant. One may argue, we don’t need to define what success means to us and

108 THE PLG LEADERSHIP MODEL our organizations. Like the company vision and mission, organizational success isn’t often defined up front as they can be classified as intangible. However, leaders can still come up with numbers to help them gauge whether they’re succeeding or not. These numbers can’t only be represented by the bottomline. Factors like happiness, engagement, and trust ratings have to be considered as well.

If the company’s definition of success is only about the achievement of an annual sales target, then the people may have the tendency to generate sales without much regard to happiness, engagement, and trust. Therefore, it can be assumed that members of the organization may work hard whether they’re happy or not, engaged or disengaged with the organization’s other development programs, or with little or no trust to their leaders.

However, if the company’s definition of success is the holistic development of their people, members expect other activities and leaders are expected to provide other intervention to what brings them closer to success. In this case, the organization is now sensitive to the other needs of the members rather than just the bottomline. Some other

109 STEPBACK definitions may be innovation, sustainability, impact, and social responsibility—each of them is measurable.

Yet, some organizations may overlook this because of a belief that things are changing too fast. One day you’ll subscribe to this definition only to wake up the next day to decide on another definition because it no longer suits you or your organization.

Therefore, it seems logical for many organizations to simply take the one-day-at-a-time approach. This way, they can easily maneuver and take another approach should they find the existing one ineffective. Once the industry is disrupted, they make immediate adjustments. If a competitor introduces a new product or service that threatens them, they implement a new strategy to mitigate if not totally eliminate the threat. Instead of looking at their own horizon, they’re looking at the competitor’s position. That makes them a reactive instead of a responsive organization.

So how do know when you are simply reacting or already responding to an internal or external provocation?

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Reaction happens in an instant. It happens without logic and doesn’t require you to think. You simply do it because it’s the unconscious mind that causes you to do it. Conversely, you normally react to a situation at the moment. Whether your reaction is right or wrong, it really doesn’t matter. Because it’s not a conscious decision, it’s impossible for you to look at the long-term effect of your reaction.

In almost all cases, reaction is a mode of survival. As a human being, you have that innate characteristic to defend yourself once threatened. It works for a while. And if your goal is only to survive, then reaction is a good choice. Response, however, is delayed.

Having read that statement, I can guess how you may have reacted. “I can’t afford delays.” But that’s your unconscious mind talking, so it’s understandable. But here’s the continuation.

Since response is delayed, it’s well-thought-out. It means that you have enough time to gather information as basis for your decision. In this case, your decision is more objective and intentional at the same time. Response is somewhat

111 STEPBACK future-focused. It allows you to imagine what could happen should you make a certain judgment. And because it’s based on conscious processing of information, you don’t consider just yourself in decision-making. You also consider the effects of your decision on your people. Thus, it reflects your attitude, beliefs, and values.

Clearly, the construction of the Ifugao Rice Terraces was a response to a situation rather a reaction to it. If it were a reaction, the Filipino ancestors could have easily traveled down to the lowlands and settled there, where life is far easier and more comfortable. Instead, they chose the long and hard way. They terraced the mountains using only primitive tools such as rocks and wood and learned about farming methodology, hydraulic technology, and irrigation systems. Such response took them hundreds of years to finish but the effect is a magnificent edifice of a responsive leadership.

This is why an organizational goal isn’t just about producing more sales or reacting to a disruptive event caused by competitive players in your industry. Production is not the goal. It’s not the end-game, if there’s such a thing at all. It’s a

112 THE PLG LEADERSHIP MODEL tool to achieve an even larger goal. Production is only a small picture. When you stepback, you’ll see that success definition is the bigger picture.

SUCCESS DEFINITION

Again we ask, “What happens after the rice terraces? Isn’t it a leadership flaw when you no longer innovate and do something new to produce more?”

The Ifugao community defines success as sustainability.

For over two thousand years, the Ifugaos were able to maintain a certain farming practice. They only plant rice and harvest once a year. To say that they’re insane and impractical is to judge them through modern eyes and the way we define what success is. You may say it’s impractical because nowadays, an agricultural plot of land can produce twice or even thrice what it normally produces annually because of innovation in farming. In addition, tools and supplies are readily available to maximize rice production.

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To understand their millennia-old practice, they have been a believer of balanced and harmonious co-existence among five elements: the irrigation, the forest, the people, the terraces, and the indigenous wisdom and skills that are passed from generation to generation orally. They believe that one element can’t exist without the other. The absence of the other means destruction of the all.

That’s why they allow the terraces enough time to rest. If they don’t do that, they would have used the terraces excessively. Excessive land use—a taboo in their culture— could cause the mountain structure to deteriorate considerable. For Ifugaos, it may have been a choice between “getting more” or “preserving further.” Since their definition of success may be sustainability, they traded the idea of acquiring more with settling for less. For an outsider, it’s stupidity. From their perspective, it’s genius.

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The Steps Leadership Process

Leadership isn’t measured by one’s ability to influence people but by one’s willingness to see their people become leaders themselves.

While influencing people is the beginning of leadership, the next thing to do is to make sure they become influencers to others, too. And it can only happen when you take a step back, dim your light, and give them the stage to exercise their leadership.

But giving them an opportunity to co-lead with us isn’t as easy as it seems. If training yourself as a leader is already a huge challenge, creating leaders is even more difficult. Lasting leadership requires more than a philosophy. There must be a process to support it.

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Fig. 5. The Steps Process

Based on the stepback leadership philosophy, I outlined a diagram of the Steps Process in leading and managing people.

Stepback leaders are shaped and defined by the three crucial steps they make for their people: (1) stepping in to educate them; (2) stepping back to delegate to them; and (3) stepping up to grow with them. At the core of these steps is your stepback leadership.

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Stepping in is about temporary control of the organization. This is where you inspire, teach, and equip your people as part of the organization. In this step, you are encouraged to set the tone of your leadership where you clearly state your identity, philosophy, teaching style, and story.

The key to transitioning from step in to step back is education. As a leader, you are expected to be an excellent educator, too. One of your roles is to transfer the wisdom, information, and the skill to your people. Otherwise, they may opt to acquire these things from someone else in some other place. When they do that, they might lose connection with you. If you cannot make yourself available to be their teacher, they might find some other people to seek learning.

While people are encouraged to learn from other sources, these learnings must be managed carefully. There must be an assessment of what people learn elsewhere and what leaders teach them. This is to make sure that ideas and lessons don’t contradict each other. And if they do, they must reconcile them in different contexts before they move on. These nuggets of wisdom and the subsequent

117 STEPBACK adjustments must be cleared and clarified. For example, a dictatorial leader is not likely to attract a democratic follower. They must be able to discuss insights as they come. Collaboration is key strategy in educating your people.

Once you’ve set everything in place, it’s time to put the first step to test by stepping back. Stepping back is about giving the people a venue to exercise what you’ve trained them for. In this stage, you would permit them to do exactly what you’ve taught them. Expect that your people might make missteps. This is where you take on the role of a coach. Coaching is the act or process of helping and giving advice to a person. After these corrections and adjustments, it’s time to evaluate them. Once they pass your criteria, you can confidently let go and get ready for the next step.

The key to transition from step back to step up is delegation. A stepback leader is a delegation genius. He knows people by their strengths and weaknesses and assigns the best person for the job. Delegation requires you to trust your people. Any doubt can be damaging not only in the process but also to the morale of the people. Failing

118 THE STEPS LEADERSHIP PROCESS to effectively delegate can also affect your stepping up as your focus will be split into looking back and looking forward.

Knowing that your people can do the job excellently even without you in the picture, you are able to step up. Step up is about your growth alongside your people. As a leader, you’re expected to outgrow yourself to secure the future of your organization. It doesn’t necessarily mean making a gigantic change or going through a huge transformation. It could be a small adjustment that is necessary for your organization to stand the test of time.

Once you’ve made a successful step up, you’ll step in again and repeat the process. This time, though, you’re expected to be a better leader with a broader understanding of the organization and the people in it. Consider this your new, upgraded version.

The key to transition from step up to step in is change and development. If you’re unable to explore and discover something new, there’s no point to step in again. Exploration yields new learning, new ideas, new insights,

119 STEPBACK new discovery, and lessons from previous mistakes. The list goes on. These can be considered when strategizing for the future.

From step in to step back, be a collaborative leader. From step back to step up, be a trusting leader. From step up to step in, be a humane leader. Every step requires these moral values.

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Step in

Fig. 5. Step in

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Step in is a prerequisite to a successful stepback. Without stepping in for temporary control of the organization, stepback is a guaranteed failure. It’s like letting a new driver take the wheel without knowing if he’s capable of driving.

During the step in process, you are required to do the following to your people: inspire, teach, and equip them.

INSPIRE THE PEOPLE

People look for someone who can either rekindle their spirit or bring them closer to their goal. For many, they only open themselves up to learning when they are inspired.

It seems like many people are attracted to an inspiring figure. Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, and Jose Rizal are just a few names.

During the Spanish colonial period, Filipinos looked to their heroes for inspiration in their revolt against the foreign oppressors. Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippines’

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National Hero, inspired the revolution against the Spanish, and so did Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini, Marcelo del Pilar, Juan Luna, Antonio Luna, and Melchora Aquino among many others. They inspired the Filipinos with words and visuals through their pens, paint brushes, swords, and guns. Their skills along with their conviction brought out the patriot in the Filipinos.

However, heroism isn’t just about the person. It’s about the impact that the person has with people. When the Filipino heroes during the Spanish regime fought against their oppressors, they must have seen the greatness of their race. In essence, these heroes only reminded the people that they can stand against the invaders because they had everything they needed to defeat them. Most of their works have been about their country and its people. In other words, they reflected the traits, characteristics, and conviction of the ancient Filipinos.

This is why inspiration is key to stepping in. People love and respect leaders who they can relate with and resonate into. If they see themselves in you as if you represent them, you’ll have their support without having to ask for it.

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WHAT MAKES AN INSPIRING LEADER?

• Owning a cause.

• Having conviction.

• Displaying moral ascendency.

• Resonating with the people.

• Being willing to die for the cause.

GAUGE YOUR TEAM’S MOTIVATION

Your people’s drive to join you in pursuing a specific goal may vary. As human beings, we are motivated to bond, to acquire, to defend, and to comprehend. Only human beings have the drive to comprehend. Animals don’t. Such a drive makes us more special than all the other living species.

The late Harvard Business School Professor Paul R. Lawrence suggested that Darwin’s insights about human drives had largely been ignored. In Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Our Choices (Jossey-Bass, 2002), Lawrence

124 STEP IN and Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria proposed a theory of human behavior based on “renewed Darwinism” and on four key drives, which I am presenting here with some slight modifications:

1. To acquire not only food, water, or mate but to do it for survival, conception and our offspring’s survival. We are driven by achievement and what we can take from this world—both tangible and non-tangible—that gives us a sense of identity.

2. To defend ourselves from threats. We are driven to protect ourselves, our family and the group we belong to. We have a natural drive to defend our ideas, properties, and possessions.

3. To bond with others to attain a sense of belonging, to be engaged, and to be cared for by others. We are in a constant search for a group in which we can fit and be part of.

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4. To comprehend, to learn, to create, and ultimately to make sense of the world and our place in it.

Every one of us has these four basic motivations. The importance of each motivation varies depending on our priorities or desires.

As a leader, satisfying these drives is crucial as this can be the thin line between the success of your leadership and failure, between peace or chaos. While these motivations are all within us, these are independent of one another. But the effect of having diverse motivations is crucial. Note that the more you try “to acquire,” the farther away you go from “to bond.” Assuming that “healthy competition” can help your team become better, the same can also lead to greed and the pursuit of one’s desires.

But to put it in perspective, the current organizational environment in which we belong has an effect on the balance of these drives. As a stepback leader, this is what you’d like to know from your people because this provides

126 STEP IN an opportunity for you to reinforce their drives or suppress them altogether.

This may very well be the explanation why it’s possible for members in the same team to produce different results. In other words, the environment in which people work and the kind of leader they follow affects their performance and productivity directly.

Here, I introduce my Four Driving Hats based on the theory. This tool can be used to measure your organization’s motivation. In a workshop, you can ask everybody in your team to choose which hat they feel represents their motivation for being in your organization.

These are the four hats:

1. White Hat means they are driven by belongingness

2. Yellow Hat means they are driven by co-creation

3. Orange Hat means they are driven by defense

4. Red Hat means they are driven by acquisition

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Seeing a sea of brighter colors (orange and red) means most of your people are driven by personal ambitions and many others defending their turf. This is not an ideal situation because people may be involved in leadership disputes, power struggles, and greed. It will be difficult for you to run the organization and to lead them to a common destination.

On the other hand, seeing lighter colors (white and yellow) means your people value bond and belongingness, enabling many others to work together harmoniously and co-create enjoyably. This is an ideal situation because people may have outgrown themselves, thus, no longer serving only their personal needs of the time. They have already become people for others.

TEACH THE PEOPLE

The leader’s role as a teacher comes next after his or her role to inspire. Inspiration can only take you so far, but it’s their education that can take them places. A leader who

128 STEP IN teaches his people will earn more love, trust, and respect compared to a leader who merely issues orders and disrespects employees, criticizing and publicly humiliating them when they fail to follow instructions.

In your leadership, you can’t assume that your people know what to do unless they clearly state they do know what to do and you know they’re telling the truth. People in your organization come from many other places with different educations and appreciation of it. Perhaps, at one time, they have been under someone else’s leadership. Were they taught excellently? Were they given enough information? Were they provided with wisdom?

If the answer is “no,” you know you’ve got more stepping in to do in the form of education or perhaps in some cases, reeducation. On the other hand, when you feel they were taught differently, or worse, badly, you need to un-educate them.

The people also expect the leader to know everybody’s job and responsibilities. You may have heard of stories of the scions of the most notable entrepreneurs being sent to

129 STEPBACK work in their parents’ companies, but starting at the bottom. This is done to prepare them to become leaders in the future. They must know what everybody does to make the organization work, and it’s through experience that they can learn.

In the Philippines, we have learned to value education as if it’s a piece of real estate. For some families without real property, they say that “the only inheritance they can provide for their children is education.” So, they heavily invest all they’ve got—selling even carabaos—just to send their kids to school. It seems like we’re willing to trade everything for education. For many, education is the key to success.

But are we getting the appropriate education we need to succeed? Or, is college just a credential mill that gives us a piece of paper that enables us to apply for jobs after graduation? Are we taught enough to withstand the challenges presented to us once we finish school? Are we taught to respond accordingly to threats and opportunities? If your team member comes from another organization, would you instantly gauge his knowledge and level of

130 STEP IN understanding of his job? Is his or her education complementary to your leadership philosophy?

These are some questions that can give you a bird’s eye view of what kind of organization you’ll have. But the real challenge isn’t to answer these questions. It’s to standardize your people’s way of learning.

This is where you step in as an educator. You need to teach your people and give them enough information to help them become a better contributor to your team. Assuming that education is enough to prepare employees as to what to expect in the workplace is tricky if not outright risky. You can’t assume your people to have been educated the same way as you have. You have to teach them at this stage to avoid costly misunderstandings in the future. You have to have an internal “education” mechanism embedded in each fabric of your organization.

When people realize how you value them by teaching them, you’re establishing a culture of intentional education where members of the organization willingly teach and help each other.

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In my previous discussion, you learned about how the Americans used the power of education to subtly colonize our nation, which in many counts still prevail until today. While your job isn’t to colonize your own organization and declare yourself a king, you can use the same power to create a huge impact on the people you lead.

WHAT MAKES A TEACHING LEADER

• He continuously and consistently seeks education.

• He applies his learning and then converts them into wisdom.

• He finds time and opportunities to transfer his knowledge and wisdom to his people.

• He doesn’t rely only on his own knowledge, thus allowing his people to challenge it.

• He adjusts his teaching style based on the person’s learning style as some learn better from listening, while some learn from observing, and others learn by doing.

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EQUIP THE PEOPLE

To complete the process of stepping in, you must equip your people with the necessary tools. Otherwise, you’ll have an organization full of theories but with little or no implementation at all. However, equipping isn’t just providing for them with physical tools. A stepback leader equips his people mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Some leaders make the mistake of sending their new hires to the field and then expect them to come back as an expert. The result is a demoralized, if not traumatized, team member. Failing to equip your team is akin to suicide. You’re putting your organization in a losing situation.

How a stepback leader equips people:

• He identifies the gap between people’s talents and their tools.

• He provides holistic development programs for his people.

• He trains with his people consistently.

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Equipping people also requires a leader to be abreast of technological trends and developments. Some organizations lose their talented people for lack of new technology to support their talents or skills. Motivating your people and asking them to be more productive can only do so much. Your people also relies on your ability to provide tools for them to execute their tasks.

However, you must be able to see the thin line between giving them more than they need. Uncaring members of the organization sometimes exploit the organization’s obligatory role to provide. Worse, they make it an excuse not to produce. Remember, your expectations from your people to produce is continuous. But so is their demand to be provided with the tools and equipment they need to accomplish their jobs.

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Step back

Fig. 5. Step back

Probably the noblest of all three steps, stepping back is giving your people a stage where they can freely execute everything they’ve learned from you. In this stage, we give

135 STEPBACK them our trust and let them take the wheel from us— unconditionally.

During the stepback process, you are required to do the following to your people: permit, coach, and evaluate.

GIVE THEM PERMISSION

Allowing your people to freely exercise their talent, skills, and creativity is an outright display of empowerment. When you permit your people to practice what you’ve taught them, you’re giving them reason to trust you. By giving them permission, you’re making them feel that they belong. But this isn’t as easy as it appears. There is more to giving permission than “allowing-them-since-you’ve- already-taught-them.”

Many leaders today may find it difficult to step back, or more specifically in this phase, to delegate. While it’s logical to let them perform on their own, you may have some hesitation in this process for three reasons: one, they may perform so well that their performance may threaten your position; two, you may be afraid that they may fail

136 STEP BACK and your position may be compromised; and three, you simply doubt their capacity to nail it. Whatever the reason, you may find yourself in a losing situation.

But this happens only when you make your leadership all about you. If it were about you, insecurity, fear, and doubt will never go away. You will be constantly reminded of it. Having this kind of mentality doesn’t only diminish if not totally eliminate your opportunity to win people’s hearts and eventually develop them as leaders. It also makes you an antagonist in your own leadership story.

Below are some reasons why most leaders don’t delegate:

• Insecurity, which drives people away.

• Fear, which makes you want total control.

• Doubt, which demoralizes people.

These may keep you from allowing your people to take significant involvement and engagement in the company. You may try to limit their role so in the end, the world may still find you will be the only person fit to lead. It may not

137 STEPBACK be your fault because over the years, the organizational culture has also helped form this attitude toward your people. In many cases, you let the people wait until it’s their turn to lead. This is assuming that they are able take the leadership position from you.

Leadership is meant to be shared, not to be defended. Having beaten all others to be in your current position, you’ve already proven your worth. That should be enough for you to feel some level of security, which in turn could make your people see you as their ally and not their enemy.

Delegation requires not only a confident but also a courageous leader. The leader must be ready to face the consequences of his delegation. If you’re afraid that your people may make some errors at this stage, which is most likely to happen, you probably won’t delegate at all. Another reason is, if they make a mistake, you’ll be the one to clean up their mess. Thus, you’d prefer to do it yourself.

But for how long can you do things by yourself and what effect will it have on you as a leader? Sooner or later, it will catch up with you because developing a habit of “doing-it-

138 STEP BACK by-yourself-for-fear-your-people-might-do-it-wrong” is like digging yourself into a hole. There’s no stopping once you get started.

Lastly, your people expect to contribute. If you shut them down, they’ll get demoralized. This is practically throwing away your initial efforts during the step in process “to inspire” your people. To put it in simple terms, you can’t inspire them and not give them the chance to execute their tasks. Doubting their ability to do it is doubting your ability to lead. If you want to get respect from your people and minimize, if not totally eliminate their threat to your leadership, give them permission to take the wheel.

Lastly, don’t expect Filipinos to always initiate. More often than not, they will wait for instructions not because they don’t know what to do but because they respect your authority. We always look up to our leaders as our ancestors would respect and trust their elders.

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COACH YOUR PEOPLE

A stepback leader is a great coach. After allowing your people to take your place and take the wheel, you’ll need to be on the passenger seat and start paying attention to the person in charge. Here, you must help your people achieve a specific personal or professional goal by providing them with guidance and training.

Coaching isn’t about the coach as leadership isn’t about the leader. When you take the role of the coach, you take the following responsibilities:

• Listen to spoken and unspoken language

• Be present in the moment

• Remove yourself from the picture

LISTEN TO THE PERSON YOU’RE COACHING

Perhaps the most difficult part of being a coach is listening. The reason is, it’s not only the spoken words that a leader must pay attention to. There are languages of aspiration, hope, dreaming, and vision. There are languages of love,

140 STEP BACK sadness, optimism, and frustration. These unspoken words affect the person’s performance and productivity because the truth is, sometimes there are more messages in unspoken language than what you can hear. A stepback leader listens beyond what is said. He always tries to figure out why something was said while the observing the manner in which it was uttered.

The danger of being unable to master this skill is, you may only be addressing the analytical and methodical side of a person. There’s a creative and artistic side, too, which is more difficult to discern at times. Once you understand the mix of these two sides, you’ll be able to have a wider understanding of the person you are coaching, thus, you’ll be able to be more intentional in helping the person achieve a certain goal.

BE PRESENT IN THE MOMENT

There’s no other moment that matters to a coach more than “the now.” The reason is, this is the time when you and the person you are coaching can’t afford to look elsewhere—the past and the future.

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Just like in basketball, every mistake and error committed in the past stay there. Professional basketball coaches and players know that the most important thing every single time in a 48-minute game is the current possession and execution at the moment. What happened in previous possessions and what happens next is almost irrelevant. Coaches wouldn’t normally react negatively to how bad the play was or reprimand the player for playing in a certain way at a certain time. During a timeout, they normally discuss where they are and what they can do better.

This is exactly what coaching means for a person in a leadership role. You must be able to live in the moment and do your job based on what the situation is, not on what it was or what it could have been. Conversely, this can pose a great challenge because of the overwhelming demand your organization may be asking from you in other areas of your leadership position. But that shouldn’t distract you from coaching your people.

Allotting quality time for this “time-consuming” activity can help take some of the load off your shoulder in the

142 STEP BACK future. You can’t play your role in the same way forever. You need someone who is as great or even greater than you are. Besides, the demand of work will only get bigger and more intense as you progress. You will be needing even more team players who not only look up to you as a leader but as a leader who coaches. This gives you an opportunity to be loved more and therefore be trusted even more.

REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE PICTURE

You’re not the most important character in the coaching process. As a coach, you must be as objective as you can. Coaching your people doesn’t mean imposing your views, insights, or opinions on the person. This is not the time to show how intelligent and bright you are. In the step back phase, there’s really nothing more to prove. There’s only so much to understand. Not being the “hero” in the story will be helpful.

Understanding that you are coaching is accepting that you are serving the person, which means that he or she deserves more attention than you give to yourself. Being objective means not imposing your will on the person. Rather, it’s

143 STEPBACK making sense of his or her will and whether or not it can take the person to your agreed destination.

Removing yourself from the picture is challenging especially if you’ve been self-focused for the longest time and you’ve developed a hobby of looking at yourself first before the rest of the team. But doing that will help your people maximize potential because they will realize that they are the most valuable part of the process. Making them feel like they are the heroes will energize your team and you’ll gain more confidence that even if you’re not around, you know they’ll do what heroes do.

EVALUATE THEM

One key to a successful step back is evaluation. This is the strongest clue whether you’re ready to proceed to stepping up or not. Evaluating your people can you help you render a more objective judgment on where your mentee is at the moment. In essence, this can make you see and make adjustments as you move forward.

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To do this effectively, I’ve created a “QWERTY Evaluation Model.” If the term sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve been seeing these letter arrangements in your keyboard. QWERTY (pronounced kwer-tee) refers to the arrangement of keys on a standard English computer keyboard, typewriter or smartphone screen. The name derives from the first six characters on the top alphabetic line of the keyboard.

The QWERTY Evaluation Model suggests that you evaluate your people based on their:

• Qualifications. It involves skill set and mind set

• Workmanship. It involves quality of work and efficiency

• Etiquette. It involves enthusiasm at work, collaboration, self-awareness, and commitment

• Reliability. It involves social skills, problem- solving skills, decision-making skills, visioning skills

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• Talent. It involves business knowledge, learning and development skills, creativity

• Yielding. It involves compliance with protocol and rules, attendance, reporting discipline

Fig. 8. QWERTY Evaluation Model

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You can grade your people from 1-5, 1 being “unsatisfactory,” 2 as “fair,” 3 as “good,” 4 as “very good,” and 5 as “excellent.” Then, get the average score.

This evaluation tool can also be used by the people for self- evaluation, which can be compared with the immediate leader’s evaluation. These metrics will give you an objective number to look at to see if you’re ready to “Step up,” the third stage in the STEPS Leadership Process.

REQUIRED VALUES IN STEP BACK

While stepback is the noblest step of all three steps, it’s challenging, too. But to make this stage manageable, there are values that you must instill in order for you to succeed.

First, you and your people must learn to accommodate new learnings, lessons, and wisdom. In the permitting and coaching stages, acceptance plays a very important role. As a leader, you must learn to accept inconsistencies as a product of former bad habits. Here, you’ve got to continuously work to align with your people as you align your people themselves. As long as everyone is in the loop

147 STEPBACK and aware of this process, it’s easier to accept the downside and the upside at this phase.

Second, you and your people must be agile. The decision- making process today requires you to understand the rules, the roles, and the results fast. Adjustments must be done once the first sign of inefficiency is seen. It’s tempting to blame technology for our seeming inability to catch up with changes but agility is more psychological than it is technological. Needless to say, you can always choose to adjust your perspective on any given issue in your organization. There’s no guarantee that all your decisions will be fail-proof. But when you harness your ability to move, think, and understand quickly as you mentor your people, you’ll find your evaluation sheet full of excellent ratings. It gives you a hint of building trust and stronger relationship with your people.

Third, you and your people must pay attention to details. In between the evaluation and permitting phases, you’ll have a number of realizations, which you can use to seal your stepback effort. For example, you find your people lacking problem-solving skills based on your evaluation.

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You can try to figure out an approach to address this. If you don’t pay attention to this detail, don’t expect that your people can make decisions on your behalf. And if your people can’t make decisions for lack of skill and understanding of an issue, you’ll be stuck in stepback position. Attentiveness is required because any small misstep can ruin the entire STEPS Leadership Process. Paying close attention to realizations matter.

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CHAPTER 9

Step up

Fig. 9. Step up

Assuming you’ve made a fantastic stepback, you’re now ready to Step up. It means you can confidently leave your people and expect your process to progress without you in

151 STEPBACK the picture. If this looks like an exciting scenario for you, it’s because it is.

However, there are some tasks to be accomplished in this stage, too. Just like in step in and stepback, there are three important things you need to execute.

MENTOR YOUR PEOPLE

Most organizations today can’t live without written manuals or legal papers that serve as an agreement between parties involved in the business. Remove the manual and you may very well take the organization out of rhythm and cause confusion. They heavily depend on documented processes and written procedures that their people are familiar with because they memorized them without understanding. It’s just like in elementary school when we were forced to memorize poems. Once you missed a word or a line, you’ve forgotten the rest of it.

In the context of Ifugao culture, there was no written record on how to construct and maintain the terraces. Yet,

152 STEP UP nothing is forgotten and they were able to preserve it for over thousands of years. Why is that?

The Ifugaos have what they call IKSP or Indigenous Knowledge, Skills, and Practices. It’s a body of wisdom and skills that they pass on from generation to generation orally. It’s amazing to note that up to until today, the young generation can discuss this knowledge and their practices in detail. To be able to sustain this transfer of wisdom for more than 2,000 years is a remarkable feat. They preserved not only their physical community but their culture as well.

In the Step Up stage, this is what mentoring means. Mentoring is a process of transferring wisdom from a more knowledgeable and more experienced person (mentor) to a less knowledgeable and less experienced (mentee) member of the organization. Mentoring can also be done among leaders themselves, a leader and his trainee, or among peers.

Mentoring is not counseling or merely giving a piece of advice. It’s not as simple as sharing your knowledge and

153 STEPBACK experience in a particular situation you’ve been in and what decisions you’ve made. Unlike coaching, it’s about giving an opportunity for the other person to identify their own issues, concerns, and goals, which you, as their mentor, can use to help them to find ways to resolve their problems and achieve their goals on their own.

When you take the role of the mentor, you can consider the ADSA Mentoring Process:

• Agree

• Disagree

• Settle

• Advance

Make everyone agree

A successful mentorship starts with an agreement. When you and your mentee agree on the terms of your mentoring arrangement, you’ve got to put your cards on the table and be very clear with both of your expectations. The end-game

154 STEP UP of mentoring is the achievement of a goal due to the decision and actions of the mentee, not the mentor. Therefore, it’s crucial to set the expectations from both sides right off the bat. Get everybody’s commitment to do the program based on a set number of hours, frequency, and manner of mentoring.

To succeed in this stage, specific rules must be set. Mentoring isn’t an open-ended process. It must produce specific results in a given timeframe. It’s up to you whether you’d like to take another round to accomplish a new set of goals.

Disagree gently

The tricky part about the mentoring process is, just like any other process, it’s not perfect and therefore vulnerable to disagreements. Both the mentor and the mentee must anticipate that at some point in the process, their ideas and appreciation of things might be in conflict with each other. If this happens, the only way to save the mentoring relationship is to disagree without being disagreeable. In other words, disagree gently.

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Gentle disagreement warrants an extended understanding and appreciation of the truth that the mentor and the mentee may have a common goal but know and understand that they may be different as human beings. Once in a while, they will have contrasting perspectives on the same situation. But because it’s assumed that you’ve established a rapport and have already built a strong working relationship prior to this process when you stepped in and stepped back, both of you are expected to be familiar with each other’s attitudes, principles, and preferences. You are in the best position to know how and when you’ll disagree and make it as painless as possible. When ideas collide, an objective resolution is preferred.

Settle

To do this, both the mentor and the mentee must learn to leave their ego at the door. No one in any conversation must try to impose their power over another because this isn’t an issue that involves a leadership position. This is an issue of peers trying to achieve a common goal together.

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Amicable settlement has been a practice in the Ifugao community for two millennia now. With the absence of national law to preserve order, they’re able to maintain a peaceful environment on their own. It is our custom as a people to engage in conversation as a way of settling disputes.

By virtue of Republic Act No. 8371 or the The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997, indigenous peoples shall have the right to use their own commonly accepted justice systems, conflict resolution institutions, peace building processes or mechanisms and other customary laws and practices within their respective communities as may be compatible with the national legal system and with internationally recognized human rights. Interestingly, in the absence of modern law, the Philippine National Police recorded a zero-crime rate in Banaue, Ifugao in 2012.

Resolving disagreements might take up time from your mentoring sessions but it’s a necessary step to ensure that you can advance to the next level.

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Advance to the next level

Working together at this point appears to be easy but it’s not. Advancing means preparing your mentee for the open field where the real action happens. In this stage, you enable your mentee to develop his or her own skills, strategies and capabilities so that he or she is ready to tackle the next hurdle more effectively with or without your presence.

PLAY THE ROLE AND FOLLOW THE RULES

Understanding the rules as well as the roles that everyone plays will determine the success or failure of this initiative. But as long as you remember that the stepping up stage is about growth, you’ll find this process useful as you move forward to find new opportunities.

What’s involved in mentoring and exploring new opportunities is partnership. Partnership gradually happens as a result of the relationship you’ve built during the mentoring activity and your desire to explore new opportunities together. This is important because it allows

158 STEP UP you to have someone in your team or your entire team who can be respectful enough to challenge your assumptions and be objective enough to agree with your perceptions. What you don’t want to happen is to navigate the future alone for one good reason: you don’t have to. Having influence on the way your people think and make decisions the way you would have already been ingrained in your people.

EXPLORE NEW OPPORTUNITIES

As a leader, the survival of your people is only a minimum requirement unless you make it your success definition. But even so, it becomes your responsibility to explore other opportunities because missing out can be a threat to your survival.

That’s how important your role is as an explorer. You must have an eye on what could be better for your people and how you conduct your every day business. But finding opportunities and making it your collective goal doesn’t necessarily mean anything is possible and that there should be no limit to the goals you want to achieve. A stepback

159 STEPBACK leader asks whether the same opportunity serves the people or serves only his interests. While there may be a thin line between these two, an honest assessment can come in handy.

The Ifugaos could have taken more opportunities and become more prosperous. However, their culture and their situation at the time only allowed them to achieve a certain goal.

They may have missed many other opportunities in two thousand years primarily because they locked themselves in their own communities to reduce external threats. In fact, taboos may have restrained them from exploring outside of their villages. In a community such as theirs, a taboo was an implicit prohibition on something based on a cultural sense that it is excessively repulsive or, perhaps, considered sacred for ordinary people. Generally, they are restrictions to any area of human activity or custom that is sacred or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs, or cultural norms. The consequence of breaking a taboo is rejection or banishment from the community.

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Similarly, the upside of not venturing into an array of opportunities is that you will be able to sustain your organization in record-breaking time. However, the downside is, you might be missing an opportunity to discover new frontiers. But it’s always possible to sustain your organization while discovering new frontiers provided that you commit to align your people and the organization to your collective goal. To do that, a couple of filters can help you decide which opportunity can best suit your organization.

Here some questions to help you choose among a myriad of opportunities:

• Is it consistent with your primary purpose, vision, and mission?

• Does it reflect your identity and core values?

• Is it within your space or area of expertise?

Opportunities can either direct or misdirect us toward our common destination. That’s why it’s important that we evaluate them based on our purpose, vision, mission, and

161 STEPBACK core values. In some occasions, you must restrain yourself from jumping in to grab an opportunity because some of them can do your organization more harm than good in the future.

For a leader, selecting from a variety of opportunities can sometimes be overwhelming, especially when you have many resources at your disposal. Your uncertain tenure may tempt you to gamble with whatever you’ve got because you know you can’t remain in your position forever.

The organization may venture into developing new products or services or enter into new market or market segment. If they are unfamiliar with these new markets, they’ll likely fail. Once they fail, the immediate, and perhaps, logical reaction is to fire the leader and look for someone new hoping that it will solve the problem.

With the rate of disruption, you don’t want to be the last to jump in. Sometimes, the fear of missing out on an opportunity can cost the organization great talents and enormous resources.

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But an opportunity which isn’t part of your primary purpose can confuse your people and the potential damage may not be immediate but it will show up in the form of self-doubt, poor performance, demoralization, and low productivity. Your people may have more questions than answers.

To solve this, especially if your potential opportunity isn’t part of your original purpose or vision and yet you deeply feel about it, you may consider revising them first before you jump in and take the opportunity. This way, everybody in your organization is still focused on the same big picture. They have to buy in or you lose them somewhere in the pursuit of an opportunity.

The subset between exploring new opportunities and growth is change. In the process of exploration, there will be new discoveries that will test your leadership limit. But once you’ve identified something new that warrants a new attempt, it requires you and your organization to experience the often painful transition process. Thus, the value required here is courage.

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Change is a process that no one can be spared from because you only have two choices: either the external environment changes you or you change on our own. Either way, you’ll have to change. A stepback leader always prefers the latter. It’s less painful when change is done by your own design based on your liking. If a change is imposed on you by the external environment, it is chaotic and disorienting.

GROW AS A LEADER

Taking another form, a better form at that, is both exciting but challenging. For a stepback leader, growing is still about the people he serves rather than himself. Once you’ve got a new opportunity at hand, you’ll have to be “new” yourself to succeed at it. This is a chance for you to be a better leader equipped with new information, knowledge, and skill set which you can use when you step in again.

There’s no easy way to grow. It takes commitment, faith, and selflessness to leave the space that you were once comfortable being in. When other people still believe that

164 STEP UP failure is the enemy of success, a stepback leader believes that comfort is its enemy. Once a leader becomes comfortable, that’s the beginning of his fall.

Our Filipino ancestors didn’t settle for less. They conquered mountains, terraced them, and created breathtaking scenery which is next to none. They grew as a community because their leaders always put the people at the center of their leadership. They built a world-renowned edifice not for their personal glory as leaders but for the people who relied on their leadership.

Conversely, the growth of the Ifugao community is slow but sure. Outside observers may say they no longer expanded when they could have to prove that stepback leadership isn’t a working growth model. But expansion doesn’t necessarily mean growth. Your growth must be consistent with that of your organization’s vision, mission, and expertise.

One leadership case that made it to the headline of major dailies worldwide was Kodak’s bankruptcy. Founded in 1888, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the

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United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in January 2012. The reason for its failure can’t be attributed to a single decision, event or situation. When some observers say Kodak failed to innovate, the record would show otherwise.

In a research paper entitled, “Disruptive technology: How Kodak Missed the Digital Photography Revolution” published by Henry Lucas Jr. and Jie Mein Go:

In 1986, Kodak invented the first megapixel sensor capturing 1.4 million pixels to produce a high-quality 5 × 7 print. Kodak had introduced more than 50 products that were tied to the capture or conversion of digital images. In 1990 Kodak began to sell its Photo CD system in which a consumer took a roll of film to a photofinisher who placed images on a CDROM rather than paper. The consumer needed a Photo CD player to see the images on a TV screen. However, costs were too high and the product never achieved the success Kodak had forecasted.

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By 1997, digital camera sales were increasing by 75% a year while film camera sales increased by only 3%. By this time there were many new entrants in digital photography, mostly Japanese electronics firms. In 2000, the value of digital cameras sold passed the value of film cameras.

Clearly, Kodak was still in the game during this period until 2012. Therefore, it’s not really innovation or missed opportunities that led to their downfall. It’s their failure to grow their leaders and transform the culture of their organization.

In a Business Week article on January 30, 1995:

Kodak’s culture and hierarchical structure also got in the way of an effective response to digital photography. Kodak was a company that valued harmony, so a manager might think that there was support for a new innovation because people failed to speak out against it, even though they opposed the idea. Employees valued hierarchy and authority: It was

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so hierarchically oriented that everybody looked to the guy above him for what needed to be done.

Apparently, the reason why Kodak failed isn’t situational. They had done everything in their power to keep themselves as the market leader as they’d done in the past. In fact, they had done everything to control the situation, changing the business model, direction, and approach. But the reason for failure is cultural. The organizational structure was very hierarchical and no one would do anything without being told by the boss. It appears that while the leaders have a great vision for innovation, the people are the first to oppose the idea. To make matters worse, they may have opposed these ideas silently. The people may have been afraid to speak up in opposition. Because no one had openly opposed the idea, the leadership may have assumed they are ready and moved forward.

For an organization to succeed, the people must be given a space to openly speak up about how they really feel. Unless

168 STEP UP the leadership is sure that they are understood by the people on the ground, and that the leaders are sold on the idea they plan to execute, there’s a greater chance to fail. When you forget that the people are the center of leadership, your organization may find itself on the losing end. This may have been the case for Kodak. With the people out in the loop of planned innovation, they didn’t stand a chance.

The growth of either a leader or an entire organization is not easy. But when your organizational culture doesn’t allow for you to grow and think beyond your position and paycheck, it’s a death sentence.

Therefore, it’s important for an organization’s leadership to recognize that all new threats and new opportunities require a new way of thinking, new perspectives, and new capabilities. Allowing your people to grow in all levels will prevent your organization from suffering the same fate that brought Kodak down.

Your unwillingness to grow may be a threat in itself. As a stepback leader, you must grow intentionally with the

169 STEPBACK strongest of convictions. You must commit to that painful process of unlearning, learning, and relearning so you can give more to your people and organization. Your people depend heavily on how you lead them and the kind of leader that you are play an important role in achieving your goal. If you’re not a growing leader, you’re a dying leader.

Your growth must be supported by innovation. And as you grow, you’ll learn to appreciate innovation as a tool for sustainability. Innovation does’t only apply to a product or service. They also apply to the way we do our business— the process, the procedures, the policies.

Development, as a result of invention and innovation, always presents two sides—the reward, and the price we pay for that reward. Sadly, the price that we have to pay isn’t simply in the form of a tangible payment like cash. Sometimes, the price we pay for development is our very own humanity.

If you think leading is now easier, think again. With leadership tools accessible to almost everyone 24/7, one

170 STEP UP can really be overwhelmed. Because today’s marketing geniuses have been everywhere, it’s easy to get tempted to just buy every newfangled technology and put it to use.

The internet now knows about your every click on the phone. It knows how much time you spend browsing a particular website, which website you go next and next and next. Your phone’s GPS technology knows where you go almost every time, what time you leave and what time you arrive. It can track your routines and rituals. Through social media profiles, companies know about your interests, your likes and dislikes. It can learn about the news you’re following, your political preferences, your circle of friends, and the profiles of the people you get engage with. It recognizes your face when someone posts a photo of yourself. Artificially intelligent, it can predict what you may need based on those data.

Technology can now influence your decision making, your preferred brand, your choice of career, your next vacation destination, your investment direction, and many more. It can sway you to and from virtually anywhere it wishes you to go.

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Overwhelmed, you won’t even realize that these things are happening. But they’re happening in every part of the world. Chances are, you’ve made too many decisions which were not even an indication of who you are. You’ve made many decisions based on “what the machine told you to do” based on your past interaction with your gadget with a simple “click.”

The machines that humanity has been shaping turn out to be the same machines that are now shaping humanity. And the humans are losing the battle!

If this has been happening to you, whether you’re aware of it or not, and it’s been happening to the people you lead and they, too, are aware of it, just how do you think leadership have become so complicated today? Now, unlike 2,000 years ago, yours isn’t the only voice people can listen to in the room during a board meeting. Your people can easily go on their phones and “attend another meeting” while you are in a meeting. And then you might hear, “Sorry, Boss. It’s urgent,” as if your meeting isn’t.

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You’re the president. You’re the manager. You’re the team leader. You’re the boss. You’re the business owner. But what does it mean to your people now? Or does that mean anything to them at all? When they can turn to their screens to look for knowledge, otherwise known as “Googling,” where do you fit in as their teacher? When they turn to their screens to understand how a certain process works, or to read an expert’s advice from a website, where do you fit in as a provider of wisdom? When they can be inspired and empowered by influencers all over YouTube, where do you fit in as an inspiration?

Technology was created to fill the gap, but it can also widen it. Have you thought for a second that you can be connected to your people but can be totally out of touch?

While it seems easy now to lead primarily with the technology at hand, it also becomes easier to lose track of what really matters: our humanity.

What is modern isn’t always human. Innovation as a tool for effective leadership must not allow you to forget that leadership is about people, not machines.

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AFTERWORD

We are Stepback Leaders

You were wrong. But this is your chance to make it right.

West is west. West isn’t East. Look around other countries in the East and you’ll see they use their own language and writing systems. Think of Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, China, and South Korea among others. They are proud because they know who they are. They are proud of their roots.

Other countries have their own way of leading and managing their people—in the business organization, communities, and the government. They’ve proven their style to be working for them. They’ve proven their worth. They’ve proven their system. They’ve done that by sticking with their culture and identity.

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On the contrary, we lost our connection with our glorious past. Today, we are still under our invaders’ influence. They have imposed what is theirs too deep that without us realizing it, we still think we are less and they are better. At some point it has to stop.

We can start by building and running our team and organization using stepback leadership—the lost art of leading and managing people in the Philippines.

The truth is, imposing foreign ways on your organization does it more harm than good. We know they work and for some reason we forced our way to make it work. When you allow yourselves to be who you are, you can give the world more than what you give it today. Giving attention and recognizing the importance to diversity in the workplace has been made popular over the years. Maybe companies have now realized that important individual cultures can make a more responsive and authentic organization. Thus, rediscovering our own culture may allow us to serve even better.

Leadership doesn’t come only from your ability to influence people but from your willingness and resolve to see other

176 STEP UP people become leaders themselves. While influencing people is the beginning of leadership, the next thing to do is to make sure they become influencers to others, too. It can only happen when you take a step back and put them at the center of your leadership.

This study of the Ifugao culture, my eventual immersion in their village, and my in-depth research and appreciation of their oral and written history didn’t come easy. When I decided to come up their mountains, I knew it would be a challenge. In my ongoing quest to discover the best leadership practices, I’ve never been required to travel to a remote area hundreds of miles from the city to get stories from people, especially those with really great stories to tell. This book is the result of that journey.

As the world transforms, so do people. But, transformation doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by desire and by design. This requires a better way to lead.

The Philippines is a nation of stepback leaders. Your leadership has always been about your people. I figured that out now. You’ve had your own way of leading and your own

177 LLOYD LUNA unique way of responding to the way you are led. You’ve had thousands of years of history as stepback leaders—leaders who are confident to remain in the background as they see their people become active contributors in the community.

That, in a word, is noble leadership. That, in a word, is stepback leadership. That, in a word, is Filipino leadership.

I actually didn’t have an appetite for history. I must admit that. Back in school, I thought history was boring and a waste of time. I just couldn’t handle all that information and store them in my head. For a time, I didn’t think that history could be useful—not until I wrote this book.

The 2,000-year-old history of the Ifugao Rice Terraces is the history not only of our people but of the leadership philosophy and management systems that fit who we are as a people. It’s through this kind of leadership that every leader has the best chance of bringing about maximum productivity from your people.

We are communal, collective, and collaborative—so don’t ever let others take that away from you. Nurture these traits

178 STEP UP and you’ll make a great leader. Suppress them, and no one will follow you and your leadership would fail.

We are not individualistic, oppressive, and greedy—and we must refrain from going to that path.

Your success as a leader always begins and ends in people. Therefore, everything rises and falls on people, not on leadership.

It’s always tempting to just stay in the limelight and stay at the top of the heap. But sooner rather than later, being always in front has a demoralizing effect on the people whose fundamental desire is to grow and lead. In the long run, staying in front all the time does more harm than good. For a stepback leader, the limelight is just that, a limelight. It doesn’t make you any less of a person when you leave the limelight so your people can shine brightly themselves.

For sure, leaving the Ifugao Rice Terraces wasn’t the end of the story for me. It was only the beginning of a better appreciation of the past and a better understanding of our culture as a prerequisite to leadership success. For without

179 LLOYD LUNA digging deeper into the history that led to your present, it would indeed be difficult to paint the future.

Your history is your story. It’s the anchor of your destiny. The end-game depends on what happens to the characters in that story.

A stepback leader writes a leadership story that is told from generation to generation. But that story is neither for his personal preservation nor his sense of personal achievement. It’s for the community that made that achievement possible. Leaders die. Communities don’t.

All in all, I believe that the ultimate test of leadership isn’t what happens when you’re around. Of course, when you’re around, people will listen to you and follow you. But it’s what happens when you’re in the background that reveals the kind of leader you are. For what happens when you are not there is the true measure of your leadership.

It’s time to take a stand and reclaim what you’ve lost. Let the world know that you are a Filipino with a leadership art that is so much more than what they see. Step back altogether and you’ll see the bigger picture.

180 Acknowledgments

Surely, this book wouldn’t have been possible without God’s blessings and the support of my family: my loving wife Beth and our baby Erin Sky who never fails to make me smile every time she distracts me from writing.

I am also taking this opportunity to express my love and gratitude to the rest of the Luna family, in particular to my dad Victorino Luna, who’s now retired as a tricycle driver to become a full-time husband, cook, and father; to my Mom, Carmelita Abria, a public teacher who’s now also retired, for her continuous support and prayers for my success; and to my sisters Celeste and Claire, for their tough-love way of challenging me to outdo myself.

My abiding thanks and great depth of gratitude to Nic Satur Jr., for joining me all throughout that Ifugao trip, for connecting me to the right people, and for everything he’d done to make that journey absolutely worth remembering; to Roscoe Kalaw, for giving me his valuable insights; to

181 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Alex Ordillo and his family, for allowing us to live in their native home, for telling us the stories of their ancestors, and of course, for the chicken we partook at mealtimes; and to Prof. Fernando Bahatan, Jr., for the rice wine and his leadership insights that greatly helped make this book possible.

Most especially I’m grateful to Pocholo Gonzales for seeing me through my leadership development from 2001 onwards. And, of course, thanks to Jacqueline Michelle Lim, Jesse Rebustillo, Al Ian Barcelona, Marvin Salazar, Toni Miranda and the rest of PAPS family for allowing me to practice what I preach and for loving me and my leadership.

Finally, my very special thanks Genesis Millare!

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