It appears President Aquino is beginning to feel the heat? And is he learning the power of the bully pulpit? “We’re stepping on toes, but we will do what is right!” Whatever it is, it bodes well for his leadership if indeed his radar screen picks up ‘heat-seeking guided missiles’ that can undermine his agenda; and likewise if he masters the bully pulpit!
The Aquino Administration’s ‘progress chart’ can’t be as smooth as a linear regression chart – there will be ups and downs. And which is why it’s best for him to leverage the bully pulpit: communicate the mechanics of how progress should be tracked – i.e., proactively command the nation’s agenda. For example, the economic managers know that the PPP-project initiatives won’t generate the desired investment levels overnight. But the administration must pull the Filipinos together – legislators and local officials as well as the public and private sectors and work for the greater good of the greater number. It is important for the economic managers to edify Juan de la Cruz; and for President Aquino to take the bully pulpit.
Even if specific administration initiatives take off as planned, the desired benefits would only come after the requisite timelines and learning experience are satisfied – probably not to the satisfaction of impatient critics. Thus the mantra for the economic managers is to be proactive: to keep ‘prioritizing and assessing progress and results as well as the mix and dynamics of initiatives and programs, and calibrating them accordingly’, akin to portfolio management – while staying focused on ‘who we are’. We are an underdeveloped economy and must aggressively push to satisfy the elements of a developed nation – with a quantum leap in investments for badly needed infrastructure and strategic industries; that will give us competitive advantage in technology, products and markets, and thus benefit from a globalized economy like the Asian tigers. “Unfortunately, ours is a culture where personal trumps principle”, says a friend. But like it or not, undermining our well being as a people means digging a deeper grave – to accommodate this generation and beyond!
The writer and the wife were discussing the imperative of being focused and its dynamics as it applies to leadership – and sharing parallel examples from MNCs marketing to 200 countries, thus not a cakewalk – after another round of socials cum ‘Philippine economy analytics’ with friends.
President Aquino also needs to address the political dimension of the administration’s challenge. If indeed he is committed to do the right thing, he must stay on top of the military – by embracing a transparent leadership style. For instance, he could meet with the leadership of the military and get them on board – and support his agenda and the fight against corruption. And he can get the media and Juan de la Cruz in the loop short of televising his meetings. And he can then move through the military hierarchy and across the different branches and down to the young, idealist cadets at the PMA.
If President Aquino is taking on the GOCCs to demonstrate resolve in his campaign against corruption, for example, he should similarly take on the leaderships of government agencies and subject them to transparency and the bully pulpit. But he has to prioritize. And if he is able to do that, then he can move on to the media and the judiciary – assuming Lee Kuan Yew is right, that corruption in the country is endemic and the media and the judiciary have roles to play. And as President Aquino says, the challenge is daunting because he is ‘stepping on their rice bowls’.
“The Philippines is worth dying for” ought not to be uttered in the same context again? What we need as a people is to grow up: crab mentality – by those who feel they’ve become pariahs – and domination – by those regarded as ‘Brahmins’ and perpetuated by our restrictive investment climate – have kept us an impoverished nation?
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