Of Meritocracy and Choosing the Right Man for the Job

Based on the volume of readership that has been spawned by my Dutdutan entries I'm sure that they are still awaiting the next installment of my picture blogs (which I must say that there are still a lot to be posted) but after going out for coffee with my wife this afternoon, I chanced upon the Lifestyle Asia Magazine which featured an article about four of the country's top entrepreneurs, namely:  Tony Tan Caktiong (Jollibee), Jaime Zobel de Ayala (Ayala Corporation), Lance Gokongwei (Cebu Pacific), and Martin Lorenzo (Pancake House).   Both Tony Tan Caktiong and Jaime Zobel de Ayala mentioned about MERITOCRACY.  And as I shifted to reading the day's Philippine Star this word again came to my attention as the topic of Carmen Pedrosa's column in "From a Distance".  Is this by happenstance or is there something about this word that I need to write about?  So I start thinking and scribbling my thoughts and here's what I have to say about the matter.

By definition, meritocracy  "is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or examinations."  Both Tan Caktiong and Zobel de Ayala subscribe to getting talent when there is nothing to be found in the organization.  This reflects the value of humility in both leaders to realize that much that keeping their companies within the family enterprise, certain expertise needs to be outsourced if they intend to move forward.  

I do not intend to contest this for a fact.  Both have their business portfolios (and bank accounts) to give credence to this.  However, the key to making this as a true instrument for business continuity and growth, the selection process should be attuned to the corporate values and the experience aligned to the company industry.  This is especially true for key positions.  The intelligence factor maybe off the charts, the accomplishments and the prestige of coming from a multi-national company  adorning the curriculum vitae but these do not guarantee an automatic job fit.  Intelligent people do not automatically have the people skills to lead.  Unfortunately, many intelligent people are too intelligent to admit to this fact.  If you give the reigns of leadership to a general who does not know how to lead and influence his troops to action do not expect to win any battles.  

I believe that in order for big companies to repeat the folly of the Roman Empire, all battle fronts should be led by loyal, charismatic and battle hardened generals to keep the ranks on their toes and the enemy at bay.  

Outsourcing key management positions is critical.  The hiring process should be able to spot leaders who have both the wisdom and charisma to move the company forward.  Unfortunately, this is not an exact science and there will be instances that actual performance does not back up the colorful CV.  The next challenge is how to weed out these false leaders and continue the quest for the one who can lead and provide the stability in terms of business continuity.

A leader who do not have the power of influence within his command cannot be expected to hold the fort from the enemy.  

Rainy Season is Here

According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) the rainy season starts by end of May when the southwest monsoon becomes dominant.  Well, it is already making us feel its presence with our daily dose of rainfall in the afternoon and early evening.

I was on my way home when I missed my regular stop and upon alighting at SM Fairview I was met with a heavy rainfall that forced me to take shelter in a nearby Jollibee store.  I have been here for more than 30 minutes already and the rain has yet to show any signs of letting up.  I guess God got fed up with all the complaint about the hot summer that He decided to douse us with water.  It is cooler alright but it would be a real pain to travel especially that it is now the beginning of the school year.   Other than this---it is going to be a bitch drying the laundry!

Early Morning Rambling

Jollibee's Chickenjoy and Spaghetti Meal is the best!

 After having a spaghetti and fried chicken to celebrate my youngest son's 4th birthday---I was tanked!  Oh, did I say that spaghetti and fried chicken are two of my favorite food combo?  Well, it is so I guess the end result is quite obvious!  I rationalized the binge by lifting weights for 30 minutes; unfortunately, it seemed to have negated my evening date with the crapper and made me sleep on a full stomach.  Actually, I slept late last night (11pm) and since I already have last night's left overs ready for breakfast with enough to spare for the kids' lunch, I had the leeway to wake up a little late (4am).  Unfortunately, my bowels begged to disagree and woke me up at 2am.  Still early right?  Wrong!  Since I'm also having an asthma episode, waking up triggered a coughing bonanza that has now kept me awake since!  Oh well...who said life was perfect?

Anyway, at least time did not go to waste with another blog entry (while forcing myself to enjoy a mug-full of classic English breakfast tea to soothe the sore throat that I now have and  cleansing my system of last night's  hedonistic food binge).

Good morning y'all!

The Sorry State of Philippine Politics

I don't know Mar Roxas personally but based on what media has presented him to me, he seems to be a good person. I had the chance to meet him 3 years ago during Jollibee's annual convention when no other than our company president stood by him from table to table. Even then he was down to earth. Accomodating questions and shaking hands. If he had pursued his presidential bid, would I have voted for him? I don't think so (my apologies Errol).

Being president of a country not only entail good intentions but most importantly---doing what needs to be done. Mr. Roxas may have good intentions but I don't think he is capable of steering the country towards economic reform and stability. Again, my view is colored by my perception. I say, blame it to his lame ad campaign (Errol, if you're any part of that---my apologies!). For me it was too much drama bordering on the absurd! Question is: Why does it have to be this way? Whatever happened to simply telling the voting population what he did or accomplished as a public servant? And so I did my research and found out that Mr. Roxas actually has a stellar carreer as a public servant---authoring bills that benefit education and consumer protection.

The other day, Mar relinquished his bid for the presidency in lieu of Noynoy Aquino. What prompted him to step down? Is Noynoy a better candidate? In terms of track record, I don't think so(try researching on Noynoy's political accomplishments and tell me if you'll vote for him). I tend to agree with Dick Gordon when he said that "leadership is earned and not inherited". Unfortunately, Philippine politics is a game of perception. He who has the most POGI points wins! Plain and simple popularity contest!

Now why does this kind of political climate prevail in our country? It's not that we're easily cajoled but given the majority of the voting population belongs to the C-D-E class media plays a big role in molding a candidate's "attractiveness".

My former perception of Mar Roxas was biased by his commercial. If I had not validated by doing research, that perception would have stuck! Many of the Filipinos from the lower rung of society don't have access to the internet and rely heavily on media for information. Hence, come election time, media mileage is critical. Half of the battle is won there. How else do you think Erap won the 1998 elections? Definitely NOT with his brains! Poging-pogi kasi sya sa media e!

In my opinion, we can negate this situation by holding mandatory debates among candidates---broadcasted in both tv and radio. Do away with on-site campaigning---para wala ng bayaran! Let the candidates joust on existing socio-economic issues and how they plan to address them. This way, the people will know who's talking bullshit!

For me, a president should be righteous, has a genuine love for servitude, knows how is it to be poor, has a clear vision on how to steer the country towards economic recovery and has the cajones to stand up for the betterment of the nation.

How I wish Ramon Magsaysay was still alive!

A Magical Night of Music!

My professors in the Humanities Department at UP Diliman will surely have second thoughts as to why they let me graduate after they read this blog! Unforgivable for me not to know!

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When I first glanced at our department's workshop schedule, I ranted about who the hell was Coke Bonipata who was scheduled to give us a talk from 6-8pm. Actually, that blow-out was more from the fact that the session would be beyond our normal office hours! At 8pm I should already be home! The session actually lasted less than 2 hours and what I initially thought would be a waste of time---turned out to be a magical night of music!

Alfonso "Coke" Bolipata, as my boss, S'Paul, described him, is God's gift to Philippine music! He is a premier violinist, who, at age 8 years old studied under the wings of Oscar Yatco. At age 14, he won 1st Prize at the National Musical Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA). He furthered his studies abroad at the New School of Music in Philadelphia under Jascha Brodsky, Indiana University under James Buswell, in New York under Felix Galimir, and at the Julliard School under Dorothy Delay. He was concertmaster of the Indiana University Orchestra. He received acclaim for his performances, including that of his performing the solo passages in Strauss’ Le Petit Bourgeois Gentl Homme. He is the only Filipino who has ever participated in the premier season of the Miami-based New World Symphony in 1988 and was the soloist of the symphony’s performance of Berstein’s Serenade for Solo Violin, Chamber Orchestra and Percussion in 1991. During the previous year, he was also the soloist of Beijing’s Central Philharmonic Orchestra in their performance of Chausson’s Poeme which incidentally was also conducted by another Filipino Francisco Feliciano. He is also a composer and an actor(he played Ariel in the independent film "Boses" released in 2008).

When we arrived at the GCF Auditorium, Coke was already playing a tune which I recognized but can't seem to remember the title. Truth be known, I don't know him by face either(forgive me oh great teachers!). I was thinking that he was just some GCF musician practicing. Being into classical music, I even requested him to play Mozart's "Eine Klein Nachmusik" which he gladly obliged to. I was about to request for Vivaldi's "Spring" next if he was not approached by S'Paul. It was only that time that poor me realized that he was the speaker!

Coke shared with us the sacrifices that he needed to go through to become the great artist that he is; his love for the violin and how music allowed him to influence the poor children of San Migues, Zambales, by putting up the music school, Casa San Miguel, in his family's mango orchard when he returned home from his studies at Julliard School of Music. In between his sharing he serenaded us with classical numbers which included "Hating Gabi", "Sana'y Wala ng Wakas", and "Sa Kabukiran".

Thank you S'Paul for inviting Coke to our session. It was truly a very magical night indeed! Oh, and the food was great as well!

Inserted is an excerp of Coke's up and personal performance for the Information Management Division of Jollibee. Enjoy!

Related link http://nonomaca.blogspot.com/2007/09/what-is-there-to-classical-music.html

Divine Providence

I have written about God's Divine Providence in my blog http://nonoy-1025.blog.friendster.com/2008/05/god-will-provide/ as a testament to my own personal experience. To further expound on God's presence in each of our lives, let me share with you a recent happening in the life of my friend Cora.

Last December 7 I received a text message from her asking for the cellphone number of our former Managing Director (whom we worked for when we were regular employees at Jollibee Novaliches). She said that it was important. After giving her the number, I asked what the urgency was about. According to her, her 3 year old son Angelo is in need of a special operation for HYPOSPADIAS, a birth defect of the urethra in the male that involves an abnormally placed urinary meatus(opening) and she needed to borrow money to cover the expenses---Php 23,000 for the operation alone. After hearing this, I was filled with empathy for Cora since I have also felt being at the end of the rope before.

Angelo was born out of wedlock and Cora doesn't have a stable income so to speak. She's into networking and is mostly under the auspices of her family. Since I am not a rich person I can only give her what my shallow pocket can afford, but I really felt for her and I had this nagging urge to give this woman and her son a MERRY Christmas. So I told her that I'll try to raise additional funds by calling out to our former colleagues in Jollibee. "Pray ka lang," I told her. After which I began my text and e-mail brigade for "Operation Angelo".

I did not envision to generate all of the money but our friend Art from Los Angeles seemed to have jumpstarted the whole thing by pledging half of the total amount and the rest just snowballed! By December 9, total pledges amounted to Php 27,000 not including 2 pledges from abroad with undeclared amounts.

I felt Cora's joy when I gave her the good news and what a wonderful feeling it was---the same feeling I had when I felt God by my side during my times of trouble!

Postscript:
As I've mentioned, Cora does not have a steady job and it would truly be a great help if any of you reading this blog can provide her one. I personally feel that what we have provided her was a temporary solution to her financial problem. As a Chinese proberb would say, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a life time."

She's in her early 40's and was formerly our administrative assistant during our Jollibee days. Unfortunately, she was not able to finish college. I know this isn't much of a criteria to get a job for but I need to try anyway. Who knows, God may again intervene. Can't win the lottery jackpot without placing a bet, right?

Dare to Dream!

"Mangahas kang mangarap!" That was what Dr. Onofre Pagsanghan was passionately preaching about during Jollibee's General Meeting last June 23, 2008. Dr. Pagsanghan or "Pagsi" as he is fondly called is an 81 year old Ateneo high school teacher whose teaching experience spans 57 years and counting!

I have had the privelege of hearing this man speak twice. The first one was during our department team building in Tagaytay. Although, he basically spoke of the same things, I was mesmerized a second time!

When I first saw him, I was wondered what this feable looking man has to say that will make me want to listen. He was close to balding and looked withered. There was, however, a certain spring to his stride as he went up the podium. To my surprise, he spoke with such energy, passion and the eloquence I couldn't help being capture by his every word! With his extra ordinary charisma he spoke of his life experience and transformed mundane moments into lessons that many of us can attribute to.

His message was simple, "Mangahas kang mangarap!"---"Dare to DREAM!"
Born from a poor family in Manila, Pagsi dreamt of studying in the Ateneo. A simingly impossible aspiration for someone whose family is barely able to make ends meet. But through the kindness of their parish priest coupled by persistence, perseverance, and an unwavering hope that there is life beyond the confines of poverty, he was able to prove that dreams can come true!

With S'Ato's declaration of the company's 2020 vision on international television, we find ourselves looking through the eyes of young Pagsi. Such a tall order for a small company to prance about in the land of giants!
The road towards this vision will definitely not be a walk in the park and considering that the international players are already entrenched and dug in, our path will be an uphill climb on rocky grounds.

"Mangahas kang mangarap!"---To open 4,000 stores world wide and be the best Asian food chain in the 2020 is definitely a long haul but with Pagsi's example he has taught us that YES, one can dream one's impossible dreams and try to reach for that unreachable star, only if one is ready to pay the price to make it a reality!