Final Integrative Paper by Rony Cabuyadao

Final Integrative Paper on Leadership Course

by Rony Cabuyadao

 Introduction

The idea of going back to school after 15 years of absence since I last attended a class in college had given me mixed emotions.  I was excited with the prospect of meeting my new classmates and professors, but at the same time I was anxious with what lies ahead on my pursuit to higher learning, specifically on my first-ever course or class in the Ateneo-Regis MBA Program.  When I received and scanned through the syllabus of the Leadership Effectiveness course, I thought it was manageable.  It might not be as easy as walking in the park, but I thought I would be fine.

I also thought that the course was a good starter for me because I have been yearning to develop my leadership skills.  Due to the nature of my profession and job roles in the past, I've been used to managing tasks and people, but not so much on the leading part.  I sometimes interchanged the concepts of managing and leading.  This course could be the best opportunity to learn and understand more about the concepts leadership and an effective leader.

Leadership Concepts Introduced, Real-Life Experiences Shared & Learned,

Classroom Discussions, Reflection Papers among others

Session 1 kicked-off with the usual introduction one's self, as expected in every first day of class.  I thought it would just be a simple self introduction, but then it made me realized that my classmates are now very successful professionals, entrepreneurs and individuals in their own respective chosen fields and probably have been seasoned leaders as well.  At some point, I felt so little in the midst of this big group of highly successful people.  In the end, after listening from my classmates and fellow leaders, I was inspired by their real-life success stories and I have made a personal commitment to become a better me, starting that night.

The second part of the night's session was a group debate whether leaders are born, made or situational.  I was part of the judges' group and we had to come up quickly with the criteria for judging, set time limits among others.  Our group was objective in our judging based on the criteria set, but more so for me because I don't know personally the other leaders yet since that was the first time I've met them all.  But, at the end of the debate, my personal view is that there are leaders that are born – that their leadership skills are innate in nature.  There are also leaders that are made – that their leadership skills were developed through time with their education, personal &work experiences; formal & informal trainings among other factors.  I also believe that some leaders are situational - that they arise to the occasion, when required or necessary.  And, I may also put a fourth category where some leaders have the combination of two or three of the categories, but the mix or ratio of each category varies from one leader to another.

Session 2 showcased the five groups' presentation of a planned crime.  Our group did plan a crime and prepared something to be presented.  However, we were overwhelmed with how the other four groups had really prepared for their presentations.  There were two of us newbie in our group, so our group dynamics were not that outstanding yet.  Luckily, our group was the last one to present, so we were able to make some changes in our presentation.  Although our group's presentation was not that great as the other groups, it was still a great learning experience for us.  The lesson that I could take from the group presentations is that there are possibilities that leaders can be tempted to turn bad, given the mix of difficult situations or motives, opportunities to execute the crime and other complimenting factors.  It would then be up to the leader which way to choose – whether the right or the wrong way.

During the night's session, we've also discussed our "defining moments", which was defined as those life-changing events, decisions, or actions that took place or made that have changed the course of our lives.  In my reflection paper, I did cite the situation where I rose to the occasion to act as the manager for one audit engagement, and that we're able to complete the task despite the challenges we've encountered.  This particular defining moment gave me boost in my confidence and lead me to other opportunities.  Later on, I did realize that there other events in my life that are worthy of the defining moments category and have in some away influenced or shaped me to who I am today.

Session 3 started with one of my favorite songs - Man in the Mirror.  This song is close to my heart as I always relate this to my passion and advocacy.  That, when we clamor for something - a needed change for the betterment of the world, mankind, environment or anything, that change could start from myself, and hope that my act be followed and duplicated by other people to have a bigger impact.  Later on during the course though, I did realize that doing it myself or alone is not enough.  The act (passion or advocacy) has to be shared with other people and hope to inspire them to do the same in order to have a bigger impact.

During the session, the results of our Enneagram tests were shared.  The results of my Enneagram personality tests were not surprising to me.  It just confirmed my personality being a "helper".  This trait was partly developed and influenced by external factors in our community where bayanihan was widely-practiced even until today.  However, it was mainly influenced by the circumstances when I have to act as the breadwinner and provider for my family and extended families since I have started working.

Further, the Archetypes of Joseph Campbell's "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" was discussed.  I was a bit concerned because I don't see a lot of movies.  It's just me being impatient watching a long movie.  But, when I do watch a movie, I would go for the light ones with the purpose to be entertained or relaxed from stress, and more often than not it's an animation or cartoon movie.  So, I had difficulty recalling a movie that could relate to my life's journey, and in the end the closest one that I could relate to is 'Despicable Me'.  It's not that I was despicable at some point in my live, but my life's journey somewhat follow the archetypes depicted in the movie.

Lastly, when it was announced that a graded recitation would take place in session 4, I was in panic mode.  I must admit, that I don't have the luxury of time to go through all the reading and reference materials.  During the week leading to session 4, I was contemplating to drop the course.  I didn't see myself going to the class unprepared and could be potentially humiliated in front of the whole class for not being able to answer the question that could be thrown to me.  Then, I had a flashback of potentially similar situation that happened about 15 years ago.  Back in 2000, I have enrolled at UST – College of Law.  I was able to complete the first semester, but I had to drop all my subjects in the middle of the second semester.  Going to law school while doing audit in public accounting was just a bad combination to do simultaneously.  Due to my heavy workload and the enormous time required to read and digest cases, it took a toll on my body and mind and I just can't do it any longer.  Eventually, I decided to stop my law aspirations and just focused on my work.  Going back to my dilemma in this Leadership Course, after getting some pieces of advice from friends and colleague/fellow leader, Cezar Cortez, I decided to push through with the Course, and I'm glad I did the right decision.

Session 4 was supposed to be the most dreaded session for me due to the scheduled graded recitation.  Then, I probably had the biggest sigh of relief when it was announced that the oral recitation was postponed.  That worked in my favor as I could buy more time to prepare for the said activity.

My Genogram.  All of my four grandparents and half of my uncles and aunts from both sides of the family have long passed away even before I was born.  Hence, I don't much have information about them beforehand.  Their personal profiles were never discussed before.  With this requirement, I had the opportunity to learn more about them from my parents.  Unfortunately, due to my parents' old age, partly hearing impairment and partly memory losses, they were not able to provide specifics as to age, dates and other personal details.  Nevertheless, it was a meaningful exercise and I felt great having to know more about my unmet or unknown family members.  However, the biggest realization was the fact that I was somewhat able to break a "chain".  Based on my families' lineage, both my grandparents were farmers and my grandmothers were plain housewives and all of them never went to school.  In the following generation, most of my uncles were farmers and my aunts were/are housekeepers and most of them never went to school while some of them just managed to attend up to 5^th grade or lower.  Among my siblings, two of my older brothers never went to college, while the third one took vocational course and the youngest completed a four-year technical course.  To-date though, all my brothers are into farming.

The unstructured group presentations were also worth mentioning.  All the groups really showcased their admirable leadership qualities being able exemplified teamwork, creativity, ingenuity among others.  In the case of our group, we had demonstrated the ability to adapt to the given situation.  With consensus of the group members, the initially prepared group presentation had to be scrapped totally, and came up with an activity that was in line with the unwritten theme of the night's proceedings.  The ability to adapt was further proven by the other leaders when previously competing groups had to work together to achieve a common goal, and that goal was achieved cohesively.  Overall, it was a night full of fun, learning and revelations.

Session 5 took place outside the four corners of the classroom.  It was time to have some fun and learning medium through the team-building activities.  I've joined and attended team-building activities with my former employers before, but I still enjoyed the activities we had.  The objectives to learn something from each activity were still relevant and achieved accordingly.  It was also a good time to bond and get to know more about of our fellow leaders.

Session 6 happened to be the most nerve-wracking night and session for me, as I have to face my fellow leaders and deliver my call to arms speech – my personal call to reduce carbon footprint.  I did rehearse a little bit for one of the most anticipated events in the whole leadership course, but my nerves got the better of me at the early part of my speech.  I was disappointed of myself, and I felt like I haven't delivered my message to the audience well.

During the week leading to session 7, I was still dejected with how my speech went in the previous week.  I told to myself, I have to make up for the mess that I've made and do something to redeem myself, and that my message or call to reach a wider audience.  So, why not tap social media (Facebook) and share & post my speech?  As I have discussed in my reflection paper 3, I was hesitant to do it because I might be judged for being self-righteous or something.  But, after some moments of contemplation, I finally decided to click the "Post" button, with high hopes that some of my close and social media friends would read the speech and would actually do the practical and doable ways to reduce one's carbon footprint.

Session 7 was the movie block screening session, where our Audio Visual Presentations (AVPs) were premiered to the class, before they are shared to the world and could go viral in their own rights.  It was an exhilarating moment for all as we've seen our fellow leaders' life's stories and their journeys.

During the AVP presentations, there were intermission sessions where the topics on 'Personal Mastery' and 'CAT/Decision Making' were shared and discussed by our Prof. Jorge Saguinsin.

At the end of the class sessions, below are just some of the key leadership concepts that were introduced and discussed:

"Leadership" was defined as 'enlisting the efforts of others to achieve a common goal'.  It involves three factors:  1) influencing, 2) other people, 3) goal.

The three (3) components of leadership are:

i)        Character - Character defines who they are, what they stand for, and what they will and will not do.  The demands of leadership put leaders in positions that test their values and principles.

ii)      Purpose – A good leader must know its purpose, its meaning in life.  If we know our purpose, it helps us create meaningful experiences that bring out the best in others.

iii)    Competence – It relates to the effectiveness of working with people to get the job or something done.

The traits of an authentic leader are:

i)        Has passion for purpose – lead with purpose and vision

ii)      Practice values consistently - stick to their principles; consistent behavior; not easily swayed

iii)    Lead with hearts and head – lead with a a courage and empathy that comes from listening to heart

iv)    Self-disciplined to achieve results – don't worry on temprorary setbacks; stay focus to achieve results

v)      Has meaningful relationship – personal and professional relationship

Authentic leaders have understanding of their life.  Their life is not their life; it is their story.

The dangers of leadership are:

i)        Technical challenges – where there are known solutions and processes to address an issue and where people's routines and behaviours need to change.

ii)      Adaptive challenges – where there are no 'known' ways to resolve complex issues, and when change in in hearts and minds are needed.

What are the dangerous mask of leadership?

i)        Marginalisation - Leaders should orchestrate a conflict rather than embodying it.

ii)      Diversion - Unexpected promotion diverts you from addressing the main issue.

iii)    Attack - The rewards or messages are rejected.

iv)    Seduce - Your guards are let down by your base or adversary and you lose your sense of purpose.

These masks are intended to neuter the disturbance created by change leaders, maintain what is familiar, and protect people from the pain of change.

Leadership requires the ability to recognize the manifestations of danger, and also the skills to respond effectively to them.

Ignatian leadership says, that:

1.  All of us are leaders by default.  Everyday, our lives, our actions, affect, unwittingly and unknowingly others

2.  All that we do, again even if we work singly in a research adventure or journey is a kind of leadership.  New discoveries, innovation, new adventure to be shared to be sought by others is a form of leadership.

3.  We are leaders despite our failures.  Leadership involves taking risks, it is dangerous and the 50% possibility of failure is always present.  Failures in leadership inevitability lead us to the right path.

Whatever we do has values for others, thus we have to be always conscientiously aware that we mind everyday acts and behavior.  Hence, the need for authentic leadership and personal awareness as well spring of leadership.  Ordinary people in ordinary times and ordinary situation can be leaders.

The four (4) components of Heroic Leadership are:

1)      Self-awareness - understanding their strengths, weaknesses, values, and worldview

2)      Ingenuity - confidently innovating and adapting to embrace a changing world

3)      Love - engaging others with a positive, loving attitude

4)      Heroism - energizing themselves and others through heroic ambitions

Conclusion

Before I took the course, I had limited knowledge about leadership and would interchange them with the concepts of management.  Also, I thought that managing is somewhat synonymous to leading.  After completing this Leadership course, I've been able to differentiate the differences between leadership and management.  Most of the leadership concepts that were introduced to me were almost new to me and I still have to apply them in the real world – at workplace, community among others.  I know I still have a long way to go before I could reach my full leadership potential.  But, at least I have already started my leadership journey to becoming an authentic leader.  At my work, I will still do the managing as required by my job role, but now I'm committed to do more of the leading part going forward.

On my passion and advocacy, I will continue to do what I've been doing and what I have started.  I will strive to be more pro-active in my advocacies and will consider various ways and media to broaden the reach of my advocacies.

Lastly, I would to take this opportunity to sincerely extend my sincerest gratitude to our Lecturer/Professor/Leader/Facilitator Jorge Saguinsin for facilitating the Leadership course.  The learning we have gained in your Class are worthy of the countless hours we have spent – during actual class sessions and off-class sessions.  Also, to my fellow leaders who have unselfishly shared their vast knowledge, experiences and real-life success stories to the whole class, a humongous thank you to All!

You did well for a new MBA student;  for having developed more self confidence in the second half.  Carry on Rony.  You are a multinational, international leader.  Go go go...)