CHANGE IN the country doesn’t depend on the president and his cabinet members alone—various groups can also be leaders in order to help bring about change.

This was the purpose of the Leadership Development for Social Change Conference held on July 27 to 28 at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Makati.

Entitled “Building a Community of Practice”, the conference gathered different sectors—corporations, non-government organizations (NGOs) and the youth—to plan leadership development initiatives in the country.

Aside from AIM, the event was also organized by the Ateneo Development Studies Program, Ateneo School of Government, Ayala Foundation Inc., La Salle Institute of Governance, Galing Pook Foundation, and the University of the Philippines National College for Public Administration.

Improving leadership programs

Ayala Foundation Representative Joseph Quesada said that the Leadership Development for Social Change Conference was the first of its kind. “[There] has never been an occasion like this that a conference is held for those who train and develop leaders,” he added.

Quesada added that the conference is for social change. “With the changes in time, new ideas, new hope and new concepts are very much welcome to help improve the leadership program given.”

During the conference, participants from the different sectors gathered for small group discussions, where they discussed several issues and possible solutions.

Several plenary speakers also shared their leadership experiences in the sector they belonged to.

Leadership with an impact

Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo was the keynote speaker. According to Robredo, “Leadership is about developing outcomes.” He added that the final test of leadership is whether the Filipino citizens have felt its impact, through programs and projects that work for and benefit them.

Robredo focused on local governance, saying that Local Government Units must be models of good governance. “They should operationalize transparency and accountability,” he added.

Starting it young

As a facilitator from the youth sector conference, Quesada said, “There were many issues that came up from the way we do our leadership programs, the methods used, the different techniques in implementing leadership and others.”

The three main concerns pointed out in the youth sector were identity and Filipino culture, organization, and sustainability.

Senior Louise Ariane Tan said that “I realized that more or less the issues on youth leadership are the same even if we come from different groups.”

Meanwhile, senior Jedd Lim was pleased to know that a lot of people are concerned with leadership. “It was also interesting to know that there really are initiatives from the government to strengthen leadership of the youth… I realized that a lot of resources can be tapped [to create] more leaders from our generation,” he added.

‘Much is expected’

Quesada said that Ateneans should be leaders. “The fact that you studied in Ateneo and have a privileged background in terms of education [means that] leadership is expected in some form, like a positive impact in the people around you, your immediate sector, and even the country.”

Lim said that leadership can start in schoolwork and organizations. “We must commit ourselves to what we are doing, get the values and give back to the next generation.”

Tan added that “There really is [a lot of] potential if we work together — there will be positive results to it.”

Continuation

The final insight raised during the conference was about continuing dialogue and cooperation—to open channels of communication and allow sharing and learning from one another.

“We are not competitors. We are partners,” said AIM Professor Jacinto Gavino during the plenary.

Quesada, meanwhile, said that he hoped there would be a follow-through to the conference.