AS SEEN ON TV
At Your Service
It’s hard to watch TV these days and not notice the protuberance of political advocacy plugs. Advocacy on poverty alleviation, nationalism, economic and social revolution are expressed in clear allusions to duck and pig-raising, pedicabs, abused overseas workers or even typhoons.
But whatever the point of reference, candidates send a clear message: that they can get dirty, and they’re one with the masses (or at least, trying very hard to be). Being with, among or from the masses is the best way to win votes, so aspirants portray themselves as rolled-up-sleeved managers ready to sweat it off like nation building is a menial job.
“Massociation” (if there is such a word), or associating with the masses and pretending to be one of them to harvest votes is as a time-tested campaign formula and leadership style in the Philippines but its foundation is not uniquely Filipino. Ancient schools of thought have identified this management approach ultimately christened “Servant Leadership” by contemporary organizational gurus.
Indian great thinker Chanakya talks about this kind of leader in his 4th century BC book Arthashastra, “The king shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his subjects. The king is a paid servant and enjoys the resources of the state together with the people”. This is also why costly presidential dinners at pricey New York and DC restaurants leave a bad taste in the mouths of Filipinos who did not partake in that super supper, perceived to be paid with state resources.
China’s Lao Te Ching document which dates back to 570 BC mentions a similar brand of leadership as preferred by the masses, “The highest type of ruler is one of whose existence the people are barely aware”. This worked for Cory. Her non intrusive/non abrasive leadership with humility is the best example set for Servant Leadership.
Jesus Christ in the books of Mark and Matthew said, , “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”
Servant Leadership is basically leading humbly, by serving. It is humility that endears a leader to his followers. Besides it’s really hard to love a proud leader.
And a Servant Leader is the kind of leader Filipinos dream to have.
Like Jews, Filipinos are in constant wait for their messiah, the iconic ruler who will lead by serving the masses and solving ALL of their problems (tall order but that’s the widespread expectation). Such a leader, almost mythical like the unicorn, must also be humble or of poor origins.
ABS CBN Research Head Vivian Tin brings up an interesting point when she said that the Filipinos’ hunger for the elusive servant leader stems from a nation’s oppressed mentality wrought by its feudal past. The people’s penchant for the underdog also warrants a leader who is an underdog and can defend other underdogs from oppressors. This is why people’s heroes Joseph Estrada and Fernando Poe Jr. stood out in the political arena. In them, the masses found a semblance of a “defender-servant” even though the perception is based purely on box office heroism.
Filipinos always distance themselves from leaders who possess the arrogant, “mata pobre”, and oppressive qualities of an affluent landlord, regardless if he is highly competent to be president. This is the reason why presidential aspirants born with a silver spoon try harder in disassociating from their oligarchic ways and backgrounds, even dredging the past to find links with the masses such as brief stints as market vendor or hog raising or homes in shantyville.
Establishing these humble links will make the people feel these candidates will stand up for them and take up their struggles, like a good servant leader does.
A word of caution.
Servant Leadership advocate Robert K. Greenleaf in his 1970 essay The Servant as Leader, said “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead”
Let me stress the word “natural”.
Servant Leadership must come from within. A prospective leader must first have the innate drive to serve others and his emergence as a leader is but a consequence of that drive. The result is an iconic Servant Leadership, similar to that of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and our very own Cory Aquino.
Conversely, there is no Servant Leadership 101. It’s either you have the makings of a servant leader or you don’t. And I’d like to believe that Filipinos, even with their insatiable hunger for an iconic leader have also become more discerning of fake and genuine public service.
2007 was a learning experience, an eye opener for many politicians and even for Filipinos in general, when the big ad spenders and celebrity candidates lost their bids. It only showed that neither money nor fame will deliver the votes.