Leadership and hierarchy

Should we equate hierarchy with leadership? Is the Filipino ‘bossing’ how people interpret what is assumed as leadership when it is more an acknowledgement of hierarchy? And hierarchy could be a slippery slope – when it elevates the personal, undercuts principle, and undermines transparency and integrity?

In true Filipino humor, friends hosting balikbayans would intone, “How do you see us, aren’t you jealous of our lifestyle”? “You’re all ‘bossing’ here”, comes the reply. The Filipino rite of passage is best characterized by the acceptance to a higher tier in the hierarchy – a home in a gated-community, membership in a country club or a couple, foreign travels, among others? And with it comes the title, ‘bossing’? It may in fact be an affectation of endearment. And so when people talk about our culture of corruption, some would still hope against hope: “He’s an achiever; I never thought he’d be like them”!

It brings to mind the uncle who retired at Loakan, in Baguio, just outside the PMA. He loves the institution so much that before he retired as Dean of the Cadet Corps, he decided he was going to retire near his beloved academy. He prides in being a common citizen, living on his military pension. He had married an American (now deceased; May she rest in peace!) he met at school in the US; she had her feet on the ground – she was no ‘military queen’. And he was a model to the next generation. And today, whenever he visits Baguio, the writer would treat the uncle at Camp John Hay. He has led a humble life, and age has slowed him down. Decades ago he introduced the nieces and nephews from Manila to Camp John Hay, then a US facility.

The uncle and the writer would not talk about PMA boys who’ve made headlines. The writer would share that when People Power erupted, he was on a flight from Singapore, and the plane turned back after the pilot was advised of gun fires at the airport. And in Singapore he was stranded. (But has the Philippines turned into a banana republic through at least 25 years of insidious corruption, ruled by the personal thus undermining the rule of law?) The uncle follows the straight and narrow and would only make reference to and say one word: ‘politics’. The topic must pain him. He’s not as brutal as the maternal grandfather (who had let his wife raise a Catholic family even when he was not, turned off by the Spanish rule), a CPA, and who would say to the writer, while cursing: “Do whatever you like, but don’t be a politician or a lawyer”. He must have said the same thing to his children, 3 entered the military with one graduating at a US naval institution, and all retired poor, not wealthy; but no politicians and no lawyers. The writer remembers the uncle hosting cadets at home and tutoring them in math, the academy being essentially an engineering school. He wanted them to excel. And to non-cadets like the writer, he would explain the Cadet Honor Code: "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do."

Marcos was amid Upsilonians while Estrada was among Ateneans – both surrounded by acquaintances and/or friends? It’s not the school – it’s the Filipino instinct to personalize and to defer to hierarchy, e.g., asking or being asked to be a ‘sponsor’ at church rites? This blog often talks about the perils of hierarchy – because it connotes power and thus perpetuates parochialism or an inward-directed economy? And as we learned with Marcos, power corrupts! And tolerance of corruption – and its byproducts, inefficiency and mediocre economic performance, among many scourges – explains why our global rankings in competitiveness and economic freedom are pitiable? And we’re the least able to attract (FDIs) foreign direct investments! ‘It’s everyone’s fault except us?’

Given our very low investment levels, foreign investors are giving us a second look. It behooves the Aquino Administration and our economic managers in particular to do their homework and promote the strategic industries proposed by the private sector; and for the rest of us – including legislators, local governments, the public sector in general and major local investors – to ‘think country’ and to reflect it in our actuations? In a globalized economy, stronger and more aggressive countries and enterprises would dominate – and thus we need to equip ourselves before we could give it our best shot? Failure would force us to wall ourselves off from the rest of the world – and label every other nation an imperialist – so they wouldn’t see us slide down the abyss? Are we there yet?