"Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? ... We've got a gang of bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, ... the President is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, ...we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind ....But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course.' .. ... Stay the course? You've got to be kidding... This is a country, not the damned Titanic" - Lee Iacoca
Lee Iacoca's book "Where have all the leaders gone" was written for the Americans in 2007 challenging them to choose their leaders wisely in the 2008 US elections. But the book is very much relevant to the Philippines especially now that we are going to elect our new leaders in May 2010. As a matter of fact by just replacing the names/words like "George Bush" to "Gloria Arroyo", "USA" to "Philippines, etc. it would appear that Iacoca wrote this book for the Filipinos.
One of the highlights of the book is Iacoca's nine C's of leadership. He shares his ideas being a successful CEO about leadership and listed nine points or qualities that every true leader should have. Here is a slide presentation of his nine C's:
Iacoca concludes that the ninc C's are ideals, and there are very few people - even leaders- who have all of them. But if you look back in history, you'll notice that different times require a different emphasis. Examples : Jimmy Carter was elected because people care more about CHARACTER than Charisma. With Ronald Reagan and Barrack Obama, it was all about CHARISMA and COMMUNICATION. In the Philippines, Cory Aquino was elected because of her CHARACTER and CONVICTION, Erap, on the otherhand, had CHARISMA but he got ousted because he has poor character. Unfortunately, Gloria was elected using COMMUNICATION inappropriately (remember, Hello Garci!).
Iacoca concludes that the ninc C's are ideals, and there are very few people - even leaders- who have all of them. But if you look back in history, you'll notice that different times require a different emphasis. Examples : Jimmy Carter was elected because people care more about CHARACTER than Charisma. With Ronald Reagan and Barrack Obama, it was all about CHARISMA and COMMUNICATION. In the Philippines, Cory Aquino was elected because of her CHARACTER and CONVICTION, Erap, on the otherhand, had CHARISMA but he got ousted because he has poor character. Unfortunately, Gloria was elected using COMMUNICATION inappropriately (remember, Hello Garci!).
In the May 2010 Philippine elections, I believe the three most important C's to consider are CHARACTER (he knows what's right and wrong), COMPETENCE (he has a good team) and COURAGE (he takes a position even if it will lose votes or friends).
I just hope that our voters will not select our leaders because of another C which means CUTE! I noticed students during the Presidential forum at DLSU-Manila recently who were so "kilig" upon seeing the young and "cute" presidential candidate [who can not even answer a straight yes or no :-( ].
What about you, what C's would you consider in choosing our next president?
Note: I bought Iacoca's Where have all the leaders gone? at FullyBooked (Trinoma) at 80% OFF. What a bargain!
Street foods have gone a long way. Before, they used to be the food of the poor masses. Now, you will find street food carts inside air-conditioned malls with fancy brand names. The rich and famous are now eating fishballs, betamax(grilled chicken intestines), quek-quek (quail eggs), etc. But when can the poor eat the expensive caviar? :-(
One thing that we as a family really enjoy is spending lazy afternoons at the UP (University of the Philippines-Diliman) Oval. Every Sunday, the UP-Oval is closed to traffic. Here, you will see joggers, bikers and children playing. At the grassy area surrounding the oval, you will find families on picnic, sleeping on mats, playing frisbee, and during summer, flying kites (
