The Holy Father’s leadership lessons

MANILA, Philippines - President Frank Evaristo, past president Rudy Bediones, president elect Tedjie Herbosa, officers and members of Manila Rotary, His Excellency Ambassador Urabe, Babes Romualdez – thank you for this opportunity to be with you this afternoon. July has been a hectic month – typhoons, brownouts, birthday, internet speeds, basketball nightmare – and it’s about to get even more frenetic. 

I was asked to talk today about our economy, touching on Asean integration.

Asean integration  

Let me plunge in, and offer my views:

1) Asean integration is a concept we must carefully consider, and noble goal we should pursue.

2) The Asean macro-economic numbers can be compellingly persuasive: Ten member nations aggregating a market of 620 million people – the 3rd most populous economic entity in the world; total GDP of $2.3 trillion – the 8th largest in the world; and total export/import trade of a similar amount.

3) These gross numbers are seductive indeed – but they can be misleading. Asean is as diverse as one can imagine. Its political variety is broad – there is one absolute monarchy, two military governments, two socialist states of different persuasion, and five democracies of different degrees of political participation.

4) Economically, Asean has some important similarities in natural resources as minerals and agriculture, but critical differences in economic structure, financial system, and legal and regulatory environment.  Further, the stages of economic maturity vary widely in the region.  In terms of per capita income, the wealthiest Asean country is 60x the poorest. And this wealthiest is 15x the Asean average. Whilst external trade is at $2.4 trillion, intra-Asean trade amounts to only $272 billion – about 11%.

5)  Let us all remember that Asean integration has three – not only one — pillars to it:  Asean economic integration or Asean political and security integration – a tough challenge given the influence of China on each member state; Asean cultural and social integration, perhaps the softest and easiest pillar to implement.

6) The road to integration has many land mines to it – economic, geographic, and political.  It took Europe no less than 50 years to achieve its economic union; and it is one large land mass. Asean is on its 47th year, and is disaggregated into islands or archipelagos.

7) Finally, we have to look at the experience of Europe itself. It is said that post-union unemployment rates are up compared with its pre-union days:  from 9% to 12%. Spain is at 27%; Greece at 24%. The piigs countries – Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Greece, Spain – have all suffered, albeit Ireland is showing signs of recovery.  Because of a single currency, the Euro, both Greece and Spain are caught in the extremely painful economic dilemma – how to cope with an economic crisis without currency devaluation available as a tool. Since neither country can devalue its currency, Spanish and Greek banks have suffered tremendously in asset quality and, more critically, broader assets countries have been materially marked down.

My conclusion is simply this – we should not be seduced by the conceptual elegance of integration – whose merchants sell the concept as if it were snake oil or a silver bullet – producing an economic miracle. It simply is neither. If anything, the reality is that Asean integration will take a long, long time to realize – certainly not in our lifetime.

Heavy stuff. Basketball na lang tayo!

Our basketball schedule

We are about to embark on a heavy schedule in sports, and to have this time with you is like an opportunity to come up for air.  With a deep breath, let me just rattle off what has transpired and what’s in store.

Last week we just came off an emotional, if not also lucky, 3rd place finish at the FIBA Asia Championship Cup in Wuhan.  Anytime we beat China in basketball, it’s a great measure of where and how far we’ve come.

Thank God for Paul Lee’s three free throws and Ranidel’s three pointers, and his last foul.  Not even the NBA has seen this phenomenon of a team winning with foul shots and no time left.

Last weekend, we hosted the 3x3 FIBA Asia Pacific Championship at SM Megamall – where the  athleticism and versatility of Filipino players were on display. So the future of the Philippine basketball is bright.  But how bright?

As bright as Ateneo’s brilliant win over La Salle last Sunday!

Sorry – I couldn’t resist that one!

The NBA/ Gilas event

But if there were bright days, there were also dark nights. I would be remiss if my remarks did not reference the NBA/Gilas event last Tuesday.

It was clear to us that public expectations were raised about an NBA vs Gilas game for two nights this week – a sequel to the successful staging in 2011 of the NBA All-Stars vs Gilas. It can be assumed – confirmed by the promoter of this event – that the NBA did not allow its players to play. On that basis, the right things to do were – to offer our apologies to the basketball community to whom we’re accountable, and to propose a refund – and do both quickly.

As expected, all hell broke loose in social media. PLDT was taken to mean – Puro Lay up Drills at Training. O kaya, Praktis Lang Daw Talaga. Last Home Stand became Lost Home Stand! Painful. We just had to face up to it, say we could have done better but, most of all, simply tell the truth. The maxim we follow in crises at First Pacific is – say the truth; no need to explain it.

Looking ahead – the big dance at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain – from August 30 to September 12. What can we hope for? Coach Chot says we have two chances: zero and slim.

Our ambitious goal is to make it to the 2nd round.  To get there, we need to win two of five games in the first.  Nonetheless, our supreme task is to raise our world ranking after Spain.  In 2006, we were ranked # 65; after FIBA Asia here in Manila, we improved to 34 – which is where we are today.

Sports and values

So you may ask, why my keen interest in sports – despite my size or age? Sports?  Why do we have a significant athletic agenda?

First, sports is an excellent bonding agent for us – allowing people with different backgrounds, attitudes, and style to experience together the thrill of victory and the depths of defeat.   Sports unifies – just watch our Gilas play, and see how an entire nation cheers them. And sports can be fun too.

Second, the pursuit of athletic success is analogous the pursuit of business excellence.  Like business, sports is a test – where athletes commit their minds and bodies to winning.  You Rotarians know that test all too well.

Sports:  A metaphor for ethical values

Competitive sport therefore is, at its core, a value activity.  Carried out properly, sports involve fair play, respect for opponents, good behavior in victory or defeat, and appreciation of the tradition and practices central to an institution.

My personal interest in sports is best expressed by Bill Bradley who wrote, “I play for the joy of it – there is no feeling comparable to feeling passionate about your sport. That moment of beautiful isolation, the result of the correct blending of human forces at the proper time and to the exact degree. With your team, before a roaring crowd, one inhabits a private world – where no one else but you – can sense the supreme delight of the moment.”

The World Cup gathered the whole of humanity unlike any other global event.

Pope Francis and Pope Benedict both ended up not watching the finals.  Between them daw, baka sumakit ang ulo ni Lord.

Pope Francis in fact said he wouldn’t pray for Argentina. May delicadeza, at walang influence peddling, walang pdaf.

Conclusion

And speaking of Pope Francis, let me close by referring to a recent book by Chris Lowney about the Holy Father – “Why He Leads the Way He Leads.”

The Pope’s leadership principles begin with an admonition that you cannot lead others unless you can lead yourself, unless you know yourself deeply and live to serve others. Only after profound introspection can leaders turn outward, and transcend themselves to serve others.  

That self-knowledge can be learned from sports – where values like discipline, focus, and passion are character formators.

At the end, the Holy Father’s leadership lessons boil down to four:

1)  You can’t lead if you don’t know reality.

2)  You will know reality only by walking amongst your people – smell your sheep.

3)   Don’t just stand there – Do something!

4)   Don’t withdraw – Decide!

Thank you and have a pleasant day!