Final Integrative Paper by Leader Zel Catungal

FINAL INTEGRATIVE PAPER

LEADER ZEL CATUNGAL

LIFE'S LESSONS I'VE LEARNED FROM AGSB LEADERSHIP CLASS

           Before I summarise the new leadership learnings I've acquired in this class, let me share my list of most cherished moments (in no particular order of importance) for the last 7 weeks:

1.     Biggest class of my MBA journey. We were 27 and I met new friends and rekindled friendship with the old classmates.

2.     First impression lasts, and this is true with our Professor, Jorge Saguinsin. I initially thought I would learn a lot from him, the first words I remembered he uttered was that he was wearing a P300 watch that serves him right since he was on time. Very simple gentleman and yet, very deep. His life's story, which I read from the blog, is truly inspiring. I was not wrong. Indeed, the learnings were many, impact was huge, and the experience was life changing.

3.     Starting the class with "hugot" songs of leadership. Singing with the heart (even though most of us are not gifted with a nice voice). Singing praises for the Lord and singing songs of gratitude, love and purpose for one another.

4.     First day, everyone introduced himself or herself. I was remembered well as the "Superwoman" (well one of the supermen and superwomen of the class). It brought back memories of my journey to become "super" despite the struggles and lack of resources in the past. It had a kick- I even dressed up with a superman logo during one session.

5.     First time I was reading and at the same time, contributing in a BLOG. Initially, I thought, it was just a venue for updates; slides etc., just like the one we had with a previous class. But, somehow I found myself reading the Ateneo Leadership blog more than I would with Facebook, Flipboard, email or other Internet sites. I was learning a lot, it complemented the 4 hours class we had (which were the best 4 hours of learnings since Med school), it toured me to different avenues (YouTube, slide share etc.) and the comments were dynamic. Everyday, I find myself reading not only Leadership lessons but inspiring stories of my classmates. It was a humbling experience for me. It was the first time I let the world know about myself and my family, at the same time, I knowing more about myself (Self awareness), my genogram, my personality trait, my passion and actually, I realized I could write. Yes, for the past several years, the longest writing I've done daily is 3-4 pages of prescription for my patients. Now, doing my reflection papers, I don't sometimes mind how time flies and I have written a 3-paged manuscript. Wow!

6.     Awesome group mates! On our first day, some of us already were eyeing who their group mates were, but I waited for the moment. When Janelle and Kay approached me to join the group, I readily agreed. Our new classmate, Rhea (Rcee) also joined us. We were 4 girls and we lacked one more, then Allan joined us. We instantly clicked. We definitely had teamwork. Everyone contributed to all our output as a group. From the crime scene (which was a blockbuster "bed scene hit"), to the videoke- Greatest Love of all-  "impromptu" activity. Everyday we communicated via our Messenger chat room and we were actually very thoughtful.

7.     Dancing the "Nae Nae", cheerleading competition and "Girl on Fire" breaking the ice. Many leaders are born dancers, some are accidental dancers, and very few are awkward dancers. The activity may be unconventional but definitely fun and refreshing.

8.     Team building. Lead by the Clash masters Dr Suzette, Dr Daisy, Anne, Rcee, Belle and Tristan. First time I had a "true" team building after several years. Although our team didn't win, I had the experience of "losing" excitingly and amazed at the creativity and resourcefulness of my classmates. Who would forget the "UUUbebe team"?

9.     Reflection papers. It took me hours and days to formulate. A lot of personal reflections (that is why probably it is called) regarding the assigned topic. Trip to memory lane and family research and renewed communication with parents and relatives. Many of us even went to their province/hometown to interview old peers and relatives. Everyday I look forward to reading the papers of my classmates. These did not only provide information to know them better, but also became my inspiration and model to emulate from good children, responsible parents and great leaders of their company and community.

10.  Call to Arms speech. Mine was simple. I was just too proud to have made one; someday I will deliver the speech in front of my colleagues. The speeches of most of my classmates were amazing, powerful, full of passion, and indeed they served as a mirror of what the speaker's aspirations were. Many called for environmental care and protection, child health care and rights to have a family, farming, power of love through positivism, etc. I was thinking If we were all be given a chance to speak with these advocacies on national TV, we would probably have a better Philippines in due time.

11.  The making of AVPs. My AVP. First, I got to reminisce my childhood. Researched for old pictures. Review the events of the past. Showcased my journey, my passion. With the added bonus of learning how to use the iMovie of my Mac. Next time, I can easily make AVPs of my children, my parents, anniversary, any events etc. It's good for my part that I volunteered to show my AVP first. I got the initial "wow". The subsequent AVPs of the other leaders were like done by professional production staff. Each presentation is unique, personal and exciting. This exercise is one of the "defining moments" of the class. Bravo Prof!

12.  Best last day ever! I almost missed my flight. I mentioned I asked the travel agent to change my flight from Manila to Clark. I told myself I couldn't miss the FINALE of my classmates- the AVPs! It was arranged smoothly, but my group's flight is 30 min later, we were still having our lunch at 1230, the airport is 30 min from the lunch venue. I have to run fast to catch my gate. I asked to have web check in, I passed thru the check in counter but I was at the immigration at 120, my boarding time was 130, It took me another 10 min more since there was a delay with one of the passengers being questioned by the officer. Finally I got through and I have to RUN since my gate was around 8 min walk. Whew! I boarded the plane at 145, photo finish! I made it, although I missed the AVP of Jack and saw last few minutes of Rony's, anyway, I'll watch theirs in the blog. Tapos me awarding pa! So much fun and surprises! Another BRAVO!

SUMMARY OF LEARNINGS:

Let me give short summary of each learning from my personal point of view and how these learnings changed and influenced my renewed journey towards purpose-driven Legacy to be a healer servant.  These may not be complete but these are the life lessons I will always remember through my journey as a servant leader.

1. Ignatian Leadership-

            This class showed me the importance of Self-awareness. Knowing one self's strengths and weaknesses to be a better person and be an authentic leader. Being Ingenious, constantly innovating and embracing the changes of the world. This is one of the reasons why I enrolled in AGSB MBA Regis. Leading with love, showing care, compassion for others. And being a hero to my family, friends, and colleagues and to the rest of the world. Personally, being a hero for my patients and medical staff. Today, I am now constantly aware of myself and how I see myself affect people around me especially my children. Even before this Leadership class, one of my favorite song is the Greatest Love of all by Whitney Houston. It is one of a few songs that I know the lyrics by heart:

            " I believe the children are our future, teach them well and........because the greatest love of  all, is happening to me, I found the greatest love of all inside of me, the greatest love of all is easy to achieve, learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all".

            I always tell my children to take care of themselves, be careful of what they speak, respect their body, be healthy since to do good to other people starts from being good to oneself.

2.     To be Magi

            Magis is an Ignatian term, which means "more" and is equated with generosity, magnanimity and selflessness. To be more, to do more, to reach for more, to help more and to aspire for more. No limits to do more. To be great and to leave an impact. Simply put, the only limit is what the mind sets, so keep doing more, be limitless.

3.     Triad of Leadership

            Character- traits, values and virtues. Learned from childhood with very big influence of family, school, and environment. The exercise on genogram and passion have shown how others leaders journeyed through life. These made me understand the formation/character development as influenced by these factors.

            Competence- development of the person's intellect. Competencies on KNOWLEDGE- learned from facts, figures, concepts basically learnings from school, workshops etc; UNDERSTANDING- relationships, context, significance, etc; SKILLS- analysing, decision-making, communicating, getting things done, teaming, etc AND JUDGEMENT- using intuition, timing, methods to use, who to involve, how to do it, etc

            Purpose/commitment- aspiration, engagement, sacrifice. Advocacy, passion to do more. Being an authentic leader is not complete without a purpose. 

4.     Authentic Leadership

            Begins by self awareness. Our activity on videoke, singing the Greatest Love of All, depicts the essence of loving oneself so as to give more for others. Authentic leaders maintain true self, embody competence, commitment and compassion, lead by example, demonstrate expertise and credibility and conveys optimism. Leader Rcee spoke of the Power of Love in her journey towards authentic leadership, exuding positive vibes and ignoring negative energies. Communication is a powerful tool used by authentic leaders, as mentioned in the speech of Leader Anne. Reaching out and engaging to promote advocacies, like Leaders Charm, Leader Dra. Daisy, Dra. Suzette, Belle, Mark, Maui, Cora. These leaders spoke well on their advocacies on environment, maternal and child health, breastfeeding, vision, and religious catechism.

5.     Defining Moments

            I was immersed reading the reflection papers of the leaders and mine. My defining moments started from childhood, having sickness and believing that someday I will become a doctor. Tragedy somehow became defining moments, like the trials, hardships we experienced. One defining moment I remembered was the paper of Leader Rcee, wherein she didn't know she was capable of doing things extraordinarily, she saw herself average until her teacher told her she had a very high IQ exam. Wow. From then on, as shown on her AVP, from a shy average girl, she turned out to be a POWER girl and reaching out her full potentials. Leader Dra Suzette's defining moments to her journey being a Christian was also very exceptional and truly inspiring. Leader Cora's decision to end her long time marriage and being liberated was also a turning point especially if the decision will affect not only herself but her children. There are a lot of these defining moments and reading all of these from leaders I got to interact with made this class exciting, parang "MMK/telenovela" but true to life.

6.     Leaders are born, made, situational debate

            The activity showed us how to be a team under pressure. Formulating reasons for the debate, justifying assigned concept and at the same time, this thought us leaders may be born, some made and some became because of the situation.

7.     Genogram/AVP/Enneagram

These activities- Genogram and making of the AVPs are the most researched and most interacting, not with the class but with our own family. Many of us went back to our homes, looked back on old pictures, called our folks and for me, I got to visit my parents more often. The Enneagram was the easiest to do, but was amazing since, just answering seemingly simple questions translated to knowing one's personality to almost accurate detail. I got to understand the other leaders as well.

           

8.     Campbell's Monomyth Heroic Theory with Relation to our life journey

The movie analysis basing on Campbell's Heroic Journey theory was both time consuming (I have to watch again Jerry Maguire, and other movies, so as to choose what to present) and exciting to make. Campbell was right; most movies were actually based on these heroic moments and actually related to our own life. I also got to have a list of good movies from the presentations of my classmates.

9.     Lessons learned from leadership movies

From Lord of the Rings, Godfather and Enders game. The main characters of these movies exhibited characters of authentic leaders. I watched the Enders game and I saw Ender as the main character truly inspirational. He was a unique leader with a heart and a purpose and he journeyed through the training traversing dangers, difficult team leaders, and difficult tasks but at the end, he was able to lead his team to destroy the enemy. However, he was deceived by the government leader, he thought it was just an exercise, killing the enemy, but realized he vanished a whole planet. He tried to communicate with the creature, for him, communication is an important tool, at the end, he was able to "talk" with the remaining creature of what was thought was their enemy.

10.  Speeches of Great Leaders

Listening to their speeches like JFK gave us ideas on how to formulate our call to arms speech. After listening to all the speeches of my classmates, I realized that most of us crave for change, and probably, given a proper venue, such that people may listen to all the passions of the leaders, will surely make of nation a better Philippines.

11.  Lessons we can learn from Singapore

Prof Jorge shared Rappler's report on Singapore's 50^th anniversary, how a small nation emerged as a giant today. Incidentally, I visited Singapore during that time. I felt the report, the significance of nation building from the vision of their leader, Lee Kuan Yew.

I wish our beloved Philippines will have a truly significant head of state who is selfless, purpose driven, authentic and will strive to be Magi, so Filipinos will emulate from him.

There are a lot more lessons I've learned from the 7 weeks of leadership class. But the most of it will be learned onwards. I hope that all of us will continue to be authentic leaders, continue our passions/advocacies and aspire to be MAGI always.

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

                                                                                        Peter Drucker

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.

                                                                                        John F. Kennedy

If your actions inspire other to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.

                                                                                        John Quincy Adams  3