It took two years to finally get an interview with Al Panlilio.
For one reason or another, I could not get a schedule to interview Mr. Panlilio. However, according to Julie Carceller, PLDT’s first vice president for strategic program management and Al’s chief revenue officer, it was probably because I wasn’t in the proper mindset then....and perhaps she was right, because when the stars finally aligned, our STAR columnist Joe Zaldariaga was there to make it happen with just one very quick and efficient phone call.
A short one week later, I was finally having a working lunch with Al at his office, with both Julie and Joe joining us and sharing insights about Al’s work ethic.
“He’s the first to arrive, and the last to leave,” Julie reveals and “does not like the spotlight.” Furthermore, “he does not like to be addressed ‘Sir’.”
Lucky for me, I get to call him Al.
And for all those asking, yes, he is one of the most handsome and good looking president and CEO in the Philippines, but he has a truly talented and beautiful photographer wife, Angela, who has held an exhibit of her photographs that almost look like composites, but are actually skillfully taken from angles that make the photographs layered and nuanced. A collection of her photographs adorns one wall of his office, along with a stark and beautiful photograph taken by his son of a lone leopard perched on a tree while on a safari in the African continent.
However, Al points out, the true artist in his family is his 23-year-old daughter, who paints and is coming home next month.
He has three grown-up children — two boys and one girl — who have all completed their studies abroad, and just like their dad have chosen to come home to the Philippines and make their own contribution to the country instead of opting to stay abroad.
Al relates that his father worked his way up in Philippine Airlines, spanning a 35-year career that started from a porter position and eventually getting promoted as airport services head and postings abroad in Hawaii and in San Francisco, allowing Al and his younger brother the chance to live and study abroad, and effectively changing their lives. His father continued to be promoted, eventually becoming vice president for airport services and operations, in Manila.
Al’s early education, however, was in Ateneo, even though his father studied in and played basketball for Letran. When he asked his father why he did not enroll him in Letran, he was told that Ateneo was simply much closer to their then house in Blue Ridge.
Because of his father’s work with PAL, Al reveals that he initially wanted to become a pilot. Unfortunately, that aspiration did not materialize as Al had some difficulty with colors...pilots have to have perfect eyesight and must not be color-blind. It is still Al’s dream though to perhaps take up flying if he still can.
Al credits his father for instilling a strong work ethic and commitment in him, but Al admits that upon his return to the Philippines, he did not have an immediate plan for his career after he completed a business administration and computer information system degree in 1984 in San Francisco State.
Teamwork and collaboration
Having played varsity basketball in high school and college, he decided to initially explore a basketball career, but quickly realized that his ball skills would not likely get him the paycheck he wanted. He also felt that even though he was physically engaged, his brain was not getting the stimulation that he was seeking.
However, Al points out that his experience in professional basketball is the basis of his management approach, which is teamwork and collaboration, with all team members working and collaborating to achieve their goal, “rather than silo thinking.” This also involves each individual elevating their skills for each role they play. In a corporate setting, he cites, these would include strategy, finance, management and operations...”different sets of skills coming together.”
At the same time, Al expounds on his belief that humility is necessary for any leader, one who is willing to listen, learn, perhaps “argue, you can discuss a point...but always respect the other person.”
Leadership, Al continues, involves empathy, mentorship, humility and being firm with certain objectives. He describes himself as a patient man, who takes times before he gets mad, but according to Julie, “you know it when he is mad.”
Back to CIS
After turning his back on a basketball career, Al got an opportunity to work for the then Lopez controlled Meralco-owned subsidiary that would make use of his skills in CIS as a software programmer, but soon enough he again realized that, that was not what he wanted. He then moved on to become an analyst where he became an assistant manager. But another opportunity came to join another Lopez unit, which again turned to be short-lived.
It was then that Al briefly dabbled in entrepreneurship, a partnership with his brother and even a popcorn machine business that made some money - which almost convinced him that he could indeed be successful as a businessman. In between he also returned to basketball, but this time on the technical side.
But after those choices, another interesting offer came around in 1992, this time to join IBM where he learned more and expanded his knowledge in other industry sectors, such as banking, transportation. By 1997, the chance to work again with the Lopez Group came around , this time in the management of the convergence of ABS, Bayantel and SkyCable and emerging technology. Long story short it was just another chapter in his varied career.
‘What feeds my soul’
Al describes himself as a firm, patient man who is slow to anger. He also believes in simply doing his work and admits that he hates “awards that you have to pay for.” For Al, “simply do your work, if someone acknowledges it then that is your best reward.”
He also avoids rumors and “noise, that if it does not get in the way of what I need to do, I’d rather not listen to it. I would rather listen to what feeds my soul.”
What he is focused now is building relationships because beyond PLDT, beyond his career, “what people remember is how you made them feel, how you treated them.”
In his role as a leader, Al also stressed the need to remove biases, “because it’s not you that should prevail, it’s what the company needs.”
For Al what is truly important is “doing the right thing, and doing it always and things will fall into place.”