How To Select Wisely Your President

MANILA: The collage of images show in alphabetical order the candidates for Philippine President (image from CNN Philippines, cnnphilippines.com): Jejomar Binay, Rodrigo Duterte, Grace Poe, Mar Roxas, and Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Binay is Vice President; Duterte is the Mayor of Davao City; Poe is a Senator; Roxas has been Secretary of Trade and Industry and Senator; Santiago is a Senator. Binay is accused of lying about his own corruption; Duterte is accused of being a bad mouth when confronted with facts; Grace Poe is accused of being not a natural-born citizen and being American in citizenship; Roxas has been accused of being unconcerned about others; and Santiago has been labeled as incapacitated by her cancer. Now then, how do we select which candidate to vote?

Zero is what I got today, Monday, 25 April 2016, when I searched using Google for ("how to select candidates" political position) including the quotation marks but excluding the parentheses. What that means is that, there are no helpful hints on how to decide on which presidential candidate to vote for, whether in the US or in the Philippines.

So, I shifted my search to "qualities of a good leader" that is appropriate because the President is the leader of his country, in this case more than 100 million Filipinos.

Tanya Prive has what she considers the "Top 10 Qualities That Make A Great Leader" (19 December 2012, Forbes, forbes.com). I present Ms Tanya's list here with a little editing:

(1) Honesty. "Whatever ethical plane you hold yourself to, when you are responsible for a team of people, it's important to raise the bar even higher... If you make honest and ethical behavior a key value, your team will follow suit." How does the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen & Professionals say it again? "Be honest / Even if others are not / Even if others will not / Even if others can not." If you don't want to bother with a list of 10 qualities, honesty is enough. This will determine or modify most if not all the other 9 qualities of a leader. For instance, being honest, a leader will know his strength and his weaknesses.

(2) Delegation. You must finesse your Vision. You must entrust your team to your vision, so delegating tasks is "one of the most important skills you can develop... The more you stretch yourself thin, the lower the quality of your work."

(3) Communication. "Being able to clearly and succinctly describe what you want done is extremely important... If you can't relate your Vision to your team, you won't all be working towards the same goal." If your team can relate to the Vision, consider it done.

(4) Confidence. "There may be days (when) the future ... is worrisome and things aren't going according to plan." So, don't forget that setbacks are natural; stay focused on the larger goal. The leader needs to stay calm and confident.

(5) Commitment. "If you expect your team to work hard and produce quality content, you're going to need to lead by example. There is no greater motivation than seeing the boss down in the trenches working alongside everyone else."

(6) Positive Attitude. "You want to keep your team motivated towards the continued success of the company, and keep the energy levels up. Whether this means providing snacks, coffee, relationship advice, or even just an occasional beer in the office, remember that everyone in your team is a person."

(7) Creativity. "Some decisions will not always be clear-cut. You may be forced at times to deviate from your set course and make an on-the-fly decision. This is where your creativity will prove to be vital... By utilizing all possible options before making a rash decision, you can typically reach the end conclusion you were aiming for."

(8) Intuition. "When leading a team through uncharted waters, there is no roadmap on what to do. Everything is uncertain, and the higher the risk, the higher the pressure... You will need to depend on your gut instincts."

(9) Inspiration. "Being able to inspire your team is great for focusing on the future goals, but it is also important for the current issues. When you are all mired deep in work, morale is low, and energy levels are fading; recognize that everyone needs a break now and then... It is your job to keep spirits up, and that begins with an appreciation for the hard work."

(10) Approach. Within the team, there are varying "cultural perspectives, language barriers, educational backgrounds, personality traits and value systems." You must be able "to customize your approach on a person-to-person basis."

Do the ten top qualities of a good leader in business apply to the President of a country that isn't all about making money? Yes. Who are the members of his team? His cabinet. He is the one who will choose his cabinet members, so he better be careful about his choices. He only has to motivate his department secretaries, not 100 million Filipinos, to motivate the entire government machinery.

So now, if you ask me, this is how I rate my own candidate for President, choosing from Jejomar Binay, Rodrigo Duterte, Grace Poe, Mar Roxas, and Miriam Defensor-Santiago,

Honesty. My impression is that Mar Roxas is the most honest, no questions asked.

Delegation. The other 4 candidates are not known to delegate. Mar Roxas has experience in being a leader in a government department; he knows how to delegate. 

Communication. Someone has a bad mouth; two don't know anything about communicating; someone will tell you pointblank what to do. My choice is Mar Roxas.

Confidence. Someone is too confident in himself he blusters. The others are perhaps confident, but I like the smiling confidence of Mar Roxas.

Commitment. Mar Roxas leads by example.

Positive attitude. One is quietly positive, another over-positive, another confidently positive, another legally positive; I like Mar Roxas being executively positive.

Creativity. Who can beat Mar Roxas' creativity in coming up with many laws for the BPO industry?

Intuition. Pass, no info on the candidates.

Inspiration. One inspires to corruption, one to violence, one to lying, one to legal thinking. I choose the one who inspires to great deeds: Mar Roxas.

Approach. Who gets the best work out of one's team? I go by the record: Mar Roxas.

Now it's your turn. Happy candidate-rating yourself!