Who’s most competent to be President?

PMAP, the People Management Association of the Philippines, a national organization of human resource managers and practitioners, has come up with a practical guide for Filipino voters in choosing their next President. Partnering with Development Dimensions International, a well-known talent management consulting firm, PMAP developed a table of roles of the President, a definition of the roles, and possible predictors of future performance.

The starting point was DDI’s nine roles of strategic leaders. A series of interviews were conducted with with competent resource persons that included, among others: former Presidents Ramos and Estrada, former Senate President and Executive Secretary Franklin Drilon, former Chief Justice Hilario Davide and a good number of former Cabinet members; senior reporters covering the Malacanang beat; heads of the political science departments of Ateneo and UAP; and several Muslim and labor leaders.

Focused group discussions with business and civil society leaders were used as a final filter to validate the roles and specific manifestations of the roles. This template was completed in late 2003 by a research group headed by Grace Abella Zata who has just finished serving as PMAP President (2009). It was first issued as a voters’ guide in the 2004 presidential elections.

The PMAP study identified five roles for the President: navigator-strategist, mobilizer, servant-leader, captivator, and guardian of the national wealth, patrimony and the rule of law.

As navigator-strategist, the President “steers the ship of state to arrive at the destination: a just and humane society.” The President “provides a clear and detailed plan to address poverty and our major problems (budget deficit, jobs and livelihood, agriculture, infrastructure gap, education and health, peace and order, and so forth).” The candidate must have “demonstrated the ability to work through difficult political, economic, and social issues.” Finally, there is a showing of “past success in dealing with crisis situations.”

As mobilizer, the President “leads the executive department, proactively builds alliances with concerned sectors to achieve complex objectives and build consensus.” Possible predictors of future performance in this role are past success in: a) “the management of an organization (preferably similar in complexity to that of the executive branch of government); and b) building good relationships with and influence over groups to achieve goals.”

As servant leader, the President “serves the people with a genuinely caring heart, rather than being beholden to personal, familial, or other vested interests; is a good example for all to follow.” To evince and manifest competence in this role, the President’s “actions show motivation to serve the people, rather than self or familial or other vested interests.” Moreover, the President must “display humility and reaches out to all sectors” and “has developed good habits of study and work.”

As captivator, the President “inspires unity, trust and optimism among the people, moves people away from cynicism, builds trust in the presidency and the government.” In demonstrating competence in this role, the President “effxtively partners with media to inform the public and build support for his/her advocacies or programs.”

Finally, as guardian of national wealth, patrimony and the rule of law, the President “ensures the long-term health, security, and prosperity of the nation and the people through principled action and the rule of law”. It is in this role that the PMAP template has indicated the most number of possible predictors of performance, to wit: a) “has shown integrity in private and public life; b) displays sincerity and transparency when talking about matters that may affect the integrity of (the) government (campaign contributions, advisers, etc.); c) takes a clear and unequivocal stand on current controversial issues (population growth, taxes, etc.); d) has a clear and detailed plan to address graft and corruption in the bureaucracy; and e) respects the rule of law.”

For candidates with public service experience, the PMAP template specifies the following additional criteria: ) demonstrated will to make politically unpopular but sound decisions; b) appointed honest and competent people to government; and c) has a good track record in establishing peace and order.”

Before evaluating the leading presidential contenders vis-à-vis each criterion in the PMAP template, it is well to assess the template itself and ascertain its relevance and appropriateness for use as a meaningful guide for voters in making the crucial choice on who will lead our country for the next six years.

The first two, navigator-strategist and mobilizer, are factors that emphasize straight-up, down-pat managerial competencies. The next two, servant leader and captivator, are evidently leadership capabilities. The final role of guardian is an outcome of the first four. It is like a wrap-around or synthesizing role. The person who can substantially and effectively perform the first four roles ends up being able to safeguard our country and people’s long-term well-being.

In our next column, we will evaluate the leading contenders vis-à-vis the PMAP template.

Vector 1/15/2010 - Business tycoons as national leaders

How effective are business tycoons as national leaders? This question has become relevant because of the emergence of Senator Manny Villar as one of the two leading candidates in the 2010 presidential lections. Here is a slightly modified version of BBC News online profiles on two national leaders:

On Silvio Berlusconi: “For some Italians, Mr. Berlusconi’s success as a business tycoon is evidence of his abilities - a reason for him to run the country. For others, his businesses have done better out of the relationship than Italy has.”

On Thaksin Srinawatra: “Big business also liked him for his CEO style of government and his ‘Thaksinomics’ policies which created a new boom in the country where the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s began.”

In a forum last week, Mr. Villar called attention to his managerial expertise and his track record as someone who can get things done, citing the fact that he has been Senate President and House Speaker. “What have you done?”, he asked his leading rival, Sen. Benigno Aquino III.

More than managerial expertise, Manny Villar has business acumen. Here’s how Forbes magazine reported on his dramatic rise to being number five in the lich of the 40 richest Filipinos in 2007:

“The year's biggest gainer is Manuel Villar, the Philippine senate president, who is worth $940 million, up from $110 last year. He got a big boost from the public offering of Vista Land & Lifescapes. Villar, who de-listed his C&P Homes and took public a new company, Vista Land & Lifescapes, which included previously private assets as well as those from C&P. The maneuver helped boost Villar's net worth by $830 million. ‘If you want to know the past, talk to an economist. If you want to know the future, follow the tycoons,’ says Manuel Villar.”

But, as the late historian Renato Constantino once wrote, “To know the present as past is already to know the future.” Indeed, how have Messrs. Berlusconi and Srinawatra --- both leading business tycoons in Italy and Thailand, respectively --- fared as politicians and national leaders?

As reported by BBC News, Mr. Berlusconi founded his own political party, Forza Italia - Go Italy - named after a chant used by fans of AC Milan, a champion football team that he also owns. A year later, in 1994, he became prime minister, forming a coalition with the right wing National Alliance and Northern League. His government collapsed after only seven months, following his indictment for alleged tax fraud. He lost the 1996 election to the left-wing Romano Prodi but regained the prime minister’s seat by 2001.

Throughout his political career, he has been dogged by accusations and law suits for alleged embezzlement, tax fraud and false accounting, and attempting to bribe a judge. BBC News reports that he has been acquitted in some cases and convicted in others but the verdict was overturned on appeal. He claims that these charges were politically motivated but he still lost narrowly to his perennial rival, Romano Prodi, in 2006 after heading the longest-serving Italian government since World War II. He was elected anew in 2008 but “despite appearing politically stronger than ever in the early part of his third term, Mr Berlusconi has recently been embroiled in a series of allegations about his personal life.”

On Thailand’s controversial former prime minister, here’s a capsule from BBC News:

“Thaksin Shinawatra is one of the most influential - and polarising - characters in Thai politics. But for a while, at least, it seems he will not be going home. A telecommunications billionaire, he was the first prime minister in Thailand's history to lead an elected government through a full term in office. He was enormously popular, especially among the rural poor, but also proved a divisive figure and was deeply unpopular among many of Bangkok's rich elite.”

After more than five years in power, he was ousted in a military coup in September 2006, accused of corruption and abuse of power. He has been in self-imposed exile since - mostly in London or Dubai. He faces a two-year jail sentence if he returns to Thailand, after being convicted in absentia on a conflict of interest charge. But even though he is out of the country, he still has a pivotal influence. His latest visit to Cambodia to advise the government there has stoked considerable tensions.”

Just like Mr. Berlusconi, Mr. Thaksin also bought a football club, Manchester City, when he went into self-exile following his ouster. Just like Mr. Villar, his political strength was built upon assiduous cultivation of support from the poor.

According to BBC News, “Poorer voters liked his offers of cheap medical care and debt relief, his nationalist platform and his contempt for the ‘Bangkok elite’. It was his family's decision to sell its shares in one of Thailand's biggest telecom groups, Shin Corp, that led to Mr. Thaksin's downfall. The early 2006 sale, which netted his family and friends $1.9 billion, angered many urban Thais, who complained that the Mr. Thaksin family had avoided paying tax and passed control of an important national asset to Singaporean investors.”

Interestingly, Mr. Berlusconi was also a real estate developer, just like Mr. Villar. With Edilnord, a construction company, Mr. Berlusconi established himself as a residential housing developer around his native Milan. Milano 2, comprising nearly 4,000 tasteful flats in a garden setting, was built on the city's eastern outskirts in the late 1960s.Not content with providing the residents solely with housing, 10 years later he launched a local cable-television outfit - Telemilano - a project which would grow into Italy's biggest media empire, Mediaset. While he accumulated TV stations, Italy's largest publishing house Mondadori, and the daily newspaper Il Giornale, Mr. Berlusconi's company Fininvest also took nearly 150 other companies under its umbrella.”

From the experience of both Italy and Thailand, it is apparent that conflict of interest and abuse of power that spawns corruption are the two main disadvantages of placing business tycoons in positions of high power. The fusion of political and economic power can, indeed, be a toxic combination. Business savvy and managerial skills may be used to amass, enlarge and consolidate political power and personal gain for the business tycoon cum national leader.