THE MOUNTAINEER

On leadership
EDISON L. BADDAL

(Speech delivered by this author on Nov. 20 at Tadian municipal ground on occasion of the mass oath-taking of barangay and sanggunaing kabataan officials. The mass oath-taking was administered by Mayor Constito Masweng. Though written in English, it was generally delivered in mixed Kankana-ey and Iluko.)

Congratulations on your victory during the just concluded synchronized SK and Barangay Elections last Oct. 29. There is no substitute for victory and winning is everything, as they say, as all attendant privileges and benefits that accompany such victory always go to the winner. I’m sure that from the hour of your proclamation up to this time that you took your oath, you are still feeling euphoric and exhilarated of your victory.

But, as we all know, the sweet savor of victory is always accompanied by the heavy burden of responsibilities as well as rigors of leadership which will manifest themselves when you start dispensing your functions and duties this coming November 30, 2007.

On this occasion, it is proper and fitting to talk about leadership or plainly about being a leader itself. Good and effective leadership, that is. On leadership, many definitions have been crafted but the most encompassing one which I like the most as it virtually integrated, one way or the other, the basic concepts on leadership given by others:

“A leader is someone who sets direction in an effort and influences people to follow that direction while leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate toward some goal which they find desirable.” This definition was given by Ordway Treade.

Perhaps before your election to your respective positions, you might have been looked up in some ways or regarded with respect in your community. For, notwithstanding other factors behind your victory, a good deed, an initiated act, a model quality or trait or a vast experience or wisdom on your part may have registered in the perception of your constituents.

Or perhaps, you may have behaved honorably and interacted well with the people around you in the community and never showed any bias to anybody because of closeness, relations or other factors which eventually paved the way for your election. Whichever, such favorable perceptions of your electors was rewarded with the position for which you took your oath now.

And also such leadership traits that people noticed in you concomitantly earned their full trust in you. They deemed such meritorious traits to be of better use for public service, mush less to the good of the majority and not only to a few individuals.

Nevertheless, with your election, such glorious traits should be complimented by other traits even as they should be matched by corresponding, worthy actions as well. It should be borne in mind that not only are leaders should be the epitome of good traits but should be able to inspire or influence others to get things done. By all means, a leader should have the inherent quality to inspire or to command others to get things done for the community. Which brings us to the qualities of a good and effective leader.

First and foremost, a good and effective leader should be armed with a vision and a mission.

A vision is an ideal state that the organization or, in our case, your barangay aims to achieve. It is a dream or a picture of what you would like your barangay to be in the future. It serves as a guide for officials and people to take action but which has the support of the people in the first place.

Example of a Vision is this: “By the year 2010, Poblacion, Tadian shall be an economically stable community with morally upright, healthy and happy families living in a peaceful, orderly and ecologically-balanced environment.

A mission, on the other hand, identifies the big objectives that will lead to the realization of the vision. It determines the steps you must take today that will move you closer to your ideal tomorrow. It spells out the plans, programs and activities that your barangay will undertake and which residents will likewise support to attain the vision.

Example of a mission is this: “Barangay Poblacion, Tadian shall implement all programs, projects and activities that will redound to the greatest number of its people, promote multi-sectoral partnerships, and mobilize resources through a strong political will and oneness of purpose.”

In the formulation of a vision and mission, there is a need for the punong barangay and the barangay kagawads to fuse their own individual vision and mission into a clear, concrete and broad statement. Same case with the SK chairman and the SK kagawads.

Practically and in effect, the vision and mission of the barangay officials and the SK Officials will eventually become their constituents’ own as they are literally geared to their distinctive constituencies which are the barangay residents and the youth, respectively.

By and large, it is my firm belief that you took the risk to run for the position you have been elected to because you have your own personal vision and mission for your Barangay. This could have stimulated your burning desire and eagerness to serve your barangay. Simply put, you aspired for an official position in your barangay because you want to contribute to its development by having your own design or personal vision integrated in its future development.

Secondly, an effective leader should have the following qualities in which you may have one or two among them that paved the way to your election. These qualities are lumped together in the acronym called IMPACT wherein I stands for Integrity, M for Maturity, P for Pro-Activeness, A for Accountability, C for Competence and T for Trustworthiness.

Integrity is the quality of having self-value and self-commitment. It is making a promise and being honorable enough to do all things possible to bring to fruition what one promised. It is walking the talk. So that the things you vowed to do when you just took your oath awhile ago, you must try your level best to do them as warranted. Precisely, your individual oath was not uttered to be heard only but to be seen as well through concrete and tangible actions.

Maturity is the quality of being firm, steadfast and precise in making decisions. A mature leader does not rush into making a decision. He does not make a decision at the spur of the moment. By all means, he should have the prudence and sobriety to consider both sides of an issue at hand before he makes a decision. But once he arrives at a decision he should stand by it having thoroughly considered the pros and cons of the issue thereof.

Pro-Activeness is the quality in which a leader initiates an effort or action and anticipates possible problems for which he has ready and reserved solutions thereto. For instance, a leader may allow the establishment up of videoke bars in his area but imposes strictly an early curfew which should not be beyond the regular sleeping hours of the people in the neighborhood as he is aware and anticipates a backlash if done otherwise.

Accountability on the other hand is the quality which refers to the sense of responsibility of a leader. Such responsibility is manifested in seeing to it that he attends to all his responsibilities, tasks and duties as religiously as he could. His responsibilities should have primordial significance over his personal comfort and convenience. He should be cognizant of the huge sacrifices that he must incur in the performance of his task and duties.

Competence is the quality by which a leader should possess the basic skills which he will utilize to make the performance of his duties more effective. These skills are basically called for especially in the case of the punong barangay or else he will be deceived by the barangay Secretary or the barangay treasurer.

This has been shown in previous instances wherein punong barangays were placed in compromising situations due to having affixed their signature in counterfeit documents.

Hence, barangay officials, especially the punong barangay, should be equipped with basic knowledge on barangay budgeting, resolution-making and ordinance-making.

Trustworthiness is a trait of a leader which refers to honesty. This is being honest enough in small things as well as in big things.

Other things required of you aside from those mention are nothing less than the focus, dedication and commitment which you should also invest in your job. Needless to say, much is expected of you notably in the light of the many national services, functions and facilities devolved to the barangays by the Local Government Code.

On the other hand, while these concerns occupy most of your time and efforts, being an official in the barangay is not financially rewarding. This is one of the downsides thereof as the honoraria you will be receiving will not be tantamount to the heavy responsibilities you will be burdened with on a 24/7 period. In fact, barangay officials are even busier than the municipal officials, including the Mayor, even if he will disagree with me on this (This caused a guffaw of laughter from the crowd.)

Before closing, may I share with you the story of a barangay tanod who won the Lingkod Bayan Award in 2002. He is the only barangay tanod to receive the award. He received the award for having converted an idle park into a manmade fishpond which paved the way for a viable livelihood for fisher folks in his own purok. He trailblazed this unique livelihood opportunity not only for himself but also for his purokmates. He is Joaquin Morga of Barangay Telbang, Alaminos, Pangasinan.

Finally, allow me to share with you the kind of a leader that an average citizen expects in a statement synthesized by a writer: “The average citizen expects a leader to have the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of David, the strength of Samson, the patience of Job, the leadership of Moses, the faith of Daniel, the diplomacy of Lincoln, the tolerance of the Carpenter of Nazareth and the kindness of the good Samaritan.”

Godspeed then to your governance of your barangay for which I hope you will provide mature, competent and pro-active leadership.