You Don't Need a Title

Mark Sanborn's book You Don't Need a Title to be a Leader is a great summary of timeless leadership ideas. The book is especially helpful in reinforcing self leadership, the idea that everyone, regardless of formal rank or title, can and should act as a leader. This is precisely the culture I wanted to build back in my former team, and this is what I would like my current team members to realize. They should never wait for the promotion before they act as leaders. They should instead seize opportunities to expand their scope and influence such that the promotion and the title just becomes a formality.

I should continue reading about leadership even if I am familiar with many of the concepts. I felt great reading this work as it reminded me of my mission and my belief in the idea of servant leadership. My superiors will rate me a great leader once I deliver the numbers, but I will only rate myself the way my own people will rate me: by the degree to which I have driven them to become better persons through positive influence.

The Hours

The Hours, the Pulitzer prize winning novel of Michael Cunningham, is depressing, but punctuated by snippets of euphoric celebration of life. And perhaps it mirrors life itself for I myself often feel I lead a life of quiet desperation only to be jolted sometimes by a moment that make it all worth it - the kiss of my child, a quiet moment with my wife, the gratitude of an inspired employee.

I am sad for Virginia, Laura and Clarissa. I feel I have gained some insight into how modern life drives women to insanity or to run away. I will never truly understand the dilemma of asserting the self while taking care of the home. I can only try and help my wife. I do not want us to count the hours and let them pass. I want us to celebrate and savor the hours that make a life.

One Minute Manager

Ken Blanchard's One Minute Manager offers a simple formula for management success: create one minute goals, give one minute praises, and give one minute reprimands. On paper, it does sound simple, but in reality, giving feedback is one of the hardest skills to master for it takes a certain level of self confidence combined with genuine compassion to be able to praise sincerely, and to reprimand without causing offense. It also takes discipline and courage to offer feedback right after the incident rather than wait for the next coaching or appraisal session.

The principles in the book are not exactly groundbreaking, but they remain true and effective. People with exposure to management literature will readily agree with them and recognize that, as in many cases, it is much easier to come up with a theory, and much harder to execute.

Three Minute Meditator

I used to scoff at the idea of reading The Three Minute Meditator by David Harp and all the rest of the spiritual and Eastern philosophy books that my wife owned. But when I felt a deep sense of spiritual emptiness last year, I finally gave it a try.

I have not attained enlightenment. That is too much to ask for. But I am happy I read the book for I feel I now have a tool to observe the mind and, little by little, control it. I never realized how powerful the mind works until I tried meditating. I still find myself surrendering to the emotion instead of observing the thought, but I find the awareness liberating.

Everything that causes mental pain begins with a thought. And if the thought can be observed, then mastered, then the pain itself can be avoided or, at least, mastered. If I can integrate meditation into my daily life, I will react better to setbacks. I will overcome them faster. Not only will be a more effective person, I will also be a happier person because I will learn to live in the now.

On the Road

Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty are today's equivalent of people going through a quarter-life crisis. In their case, however, both having failed at their marriage, they seem to have never overcome the crisis. They are a bunch of beat men, hitchhiking and driving across the country several times just for kicks. Life is a series of adventures with no particular goal except to run out of land and reach the sea, the end of the road.

On the Road is a mad series of journeys across America, taking in the thrills of drinking and drugs and jazz music with little regard for the past or the future or the families left behind. It was great to be part of this journey knowing I myself cannot take it for then I would have to be mad or intoxicated as Dean was. Still, it has kindled a desire to be on the road, to see wide expanses of land, to drive up and down mountains, to reach the sea.

Nihilism and Emancipation

Gianni Vatimo's Nihilism and Emancipation is a work that surprisingly resonates with my own thoughts. A postmodern work that rejects foundations, it does not degenerate into a crass moral relativism nor does it resort to a leap of faith to satisfy the sense of grief after realizing there is no Being. Nihilism is simply the recognition that there is no metaphysics, no essential structure on which to found morality. There is only interpretation.

But I share Vatimo's attitude with Dewey in that they do not despair over the recognition that there is no ground beneath our feet. Paradoxically, he sees nihilism as a path to emancipation, which is the reduction of violence. Emancipation is achieved because most constraints to freedom are based on foundationalist claims of a prior Being, a natural law or a deity, used to silence dissent. But Vatimo argues that the alternative to the oblivion of Being is not necessarily a reversion to the state of nature. Rather, rules that respect and recognize history and context evolve through dialogue.

Thus, one arrives at a world where there is more room for love and kindness, and a recognition that we are all human, all too human, rather than one of rules and codes derived from a discovery of Being.

The Continuing Past

Renato Constantino's The Continuing Past is the sequel to his nationalist and revisionist history A Past Revisited. The book covers the end of the Commonwealth period, the Japanese Occupation, and the Third Republic up to the Macapagal Presidency. It is explicit in its nationalist orientation as a critique against standard texts taking a Western perspective. It is devastating and illuminating in its critique of the megalomania of McArthur and the intervention of the CIA to catapult Magsaysay to the presidency. It is not, however, blindly anti-American for while it criticizes American policy, it is even more unforgiving of what Recto labeled as our mendicant foreign policy. It is understandable that America protects its national interest; it is lunacy for Filipinos to think that our interests coincide with America's.

I disagree with Constantino's advocacy for industrialization and criticism of agriculture. Perhaps his views were viable forty years ago, but in today's globalizing world, it would be suicidal to compete against Chinese manufacturing, and Brazil's successful development of agriculture for export is probably worth emulating.

We continued to act like a lapdog when we supported the US invasion of Iraq and we looked even more foolish when we withdrew our contingent of noncombat troops when a Filipino was held hostage by Iraqi fighters. We obviously did not learn our lessons from the extraterritoriality of American bases when we agreed to a VFA that allowed a serviceman accused of rape to be detained in the US embassy. The removal of US bases did not end the special relationship with the US. In foreign policy, at least, the past truly is continuing.

God of Small Things

Arundhati Roy's novel is breathtakingly beautiful. It is poetry masquerading as prose. Its evocation of the hot and brooding atmosphere of Ayemenem overlaid with the complex cultural and political conflicts of the time rivals the Heart of Darkness to which the book refers several times. The innocent worldviews of the twin children are simply devastating when viewed against the backdrop of an inevitably tragic destiny. Inevitable because love is not always enough to overcome centuries of prejudice.

This magnificent work of art is also an expression of Indian culture and language. One is able to peer into the best and the worst of millennia of Indian history. The language is so full of sound, rhythm, and imagery that one can almost hear it in Mayalayam. Roy is truly a gifted writer. I hope I can read a Filipino novel that similarly impresses on so many levels.

Experience and Nature

John Dewey's Experience and Nature is the first pragmatic work I have read. Although at times difficult because of my scant background in the philosophy of knowledge, I found it illuminating and stimulating. The book is an extended critique against the artificial dualities that so extensively pervade the way we think such as the distinctions between mind and body, and experience and nature. It is an argument for understanding the relationship as one of continuity and context.

Indeed, I find it easier to believe that experience is not distinct from nature, but is a part of nature. In the course of evolution, an organism called man developed a mind and a consciousness capable of apprehending nature through the senses and then accumulating such perceptions that then constituted experience, which then influenced how he subsequently perceived nature. To claim special powers for man by saying he has a mind separate from and observing nature from the outside is more difficult to accept from a scientific and empirical perspective, but that is, of course, the Christian viewpoint.

Democracy in America

De Tocqueville, in his incisive political treatise Democracy in America, attributed many of the features of the American polity to the general equality of conditions pervading in society. Because most of the citizens were neither extremely rich nor destitute, they easily formed associations, believed strongly in majority rule, and had relatively uniform views on politics. America may be prone to the dangers of the tyranny of the majority, and the lack of refined aristocratic taste, but the spontaneous formation of groups and the individualistic focus on economic welfare prevented politics from becoming the winner take all, life and death struggle that characterized class-ridden European polities. America just suffered the worst recession since the Great Depression, but it remains the single most powerful and most important nation on earth despite the imminent rise of China.

Through the obverse logic, much of Tocqueville’s analysis may be relevant to Philippine politics and similar countries characterized by high inequality of conditions. A small group of wealthy families continue to dominate politics and economics. Patron-client ties remain the typical relationship between the elites and the masses although the mass media now mediates this as attested by the rise of celebrities in politics. All of this makes the spontaneous formation of associations unlikely, much less the creation of stable political parties, which almost guarantees that elections are won by those with money and fame instead of those with the best party programs. Such is the state of Oligarchy in the Philippines in the 21st century.

Things Fall Apart

Okwonko, like many heads of the family, worked hard and paid his due. He respected his elders and ancestors, followed tradition, and fought valiantly for his village. But he was swimming against the tide of history, the remorseless, ruthless, and relentless tide that uprooted centuries of culture and tradition, and replaced it with the religion and government of the white man.

In 1571, there was someone like Okwonko in Manila who was about to take his place in society, but was suddenly subjugated by the conquistadors of Spain. He lost his status and was baptized a Catholic. Centuries later, we, his descendants, hardly understand him. It is hard to imagine what were his hopes and dreams, what gods he worshiped, what values he held.

Such is how things fall apart. Now, however, the destructive power of colonialism has been replaced by the centrifugal forces of globalization. More than ever, we must understand who we are and where we came from so we can learn to adapt to our time without losing our sense of self.

The Prophet

I read Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet to nourish my spirit. I was not disappointed.

On marriage, he says:
Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.

On love he says:
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.

These thoughts are now a cliche, but they are true. There was a time when my wife and drank from each other's cup, but there really was nothing to sate the thirst. We were both empty and thirsty. Only when we overcame our existential angst with the fortuitous arrival of the fruit of our union did we begin filling our own cups; only then did we live life instead of wallowing in despair. Only then did love become sufficient unto love.

Trust

Francis Fukuyama's Trust, an excellent synthesis of economics, political science and sociology, makes a brilliant case about how the level of trust in a society - social capital - influences the scale of economic organizations. Familistic societies like China and India tend to have small family businesses while high trust societies such as Germany and Japan are likely to develop huge corporations. The lack of trust for non-kin serves as a limit to the expansion of business as the family runs out of competent members to act as managers.

The Philippines falls more closely at the familistic end of the spectrum. We do not have large, global brands like Samsung and Sony and our biggest companies are controlled by families such as the Sys, Tans, and Ayalas. While we have a noisy media, a vocal church, and vibrant NGOs, it is hard to characterize our society as having high spontaneous sociability - the capacity to associate with others. It is no surprise then that in the political arena, there are no cohesive political parties that articulate and aggregate interests. Rather, personalities and money still dominate.

It seems that for the Philippines to achieve economic and political modernity, Filipinos will have to get better at the art of association. Dirty public spaces and dangerous driving habits both attest to our disregard for others' welfare. Yet we were all taught as schoolchildren about the traditional idea of bayanihan. I can only hope that the virtual social networks of the 21st century will allow us to rediscover and recreate that lost social capital.

Lovely Bones

Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, is the story of girl who was raped, murdered, then dismembered by a neighbor and who then observes how her family copes with the shock and grief of her loss as she lingers in the In-between. It was a sad, painful, and, at times, scary, read. As a father of two kids myself, the loss of a child to violent death is something I cannot imagine recovering from. The decision of Susie's mom to run away and commit adultery should have driven her husband Jack Salmon mad, but he was only happy to see her back home when she finally returned.

But life goes on as sister Lindsey finishes college and decides to get married to childhood sweetheart Samuel. Life begins anew as the family is reunited by Jack's heart attack and Susie finally lets go and moves on to heaven.

I know intimately a place where violent death happened. Just today, I read about a couple shot and killed at their own home. The violence Susie experienced is real. I can only hope that the acceptance she and her family finally felt will be just as real for those who suffer violence.

L'age de raison

L'homme est libre. D'apres Sartre, nous sommes condamnes d'etre libres. Apres j'ai fini mes etudes, je me suis senti aussi l'angoisse existantialiste. Mais une fois ma femme est devenue enceinte, j'ai oublie mon angoisse. Je me suis arrete de penser toujours de moi-meme car c'etait plus important de travailler pour le futur de ma nouvelle famille.

Mathieu, en revanche, a l'age de 35 ans, est toujour en quete de la vie libre. Il avoue qu'il est bon pour rien. Il est desengage. Il fait semblant qu'il est libre. En realite, il est coince, lui aussi, dans son mode de vie. La liberte est devenue une excuse pour echapper la responsabilite, une raison pour eviter les consequences de ses actes. Il est bourgeois comme son frere Jacques mais il refuse d'accepter la verite.

Je suis bourgeois. Je travaille pour une grande societe. Je crois en capitalisme. Je ne suis pas embarrasse par mon argent. C'est ce qui me donne la liberte de faire ce que je veux. Je suis engage avec une vie que je choisis. Je suis libre!

Face of Empire

Face of Empire, by Frank Hindman Golay, exposed the many faces, rather than a singular face of American colonial policy in the Philippines. In an epic work of history, Golay described how American policy moved from taking up white man's burden, to a strategic choice to project power across the Pacific, to ostensibly benevolent projects to educate the masses and build public works, to a heroic struggle by brothers-in-arms against Japanese invasion, to a final, shameful separation that made the country's recovery dependent on parity rights with Americans. The degree of autonomy Philippine leaders enjoyed was rare in the annals of imperialism, but there was no question who the master was in this relationship.

Observers from the left argue that Uncle Sam never really left, and his influence remains pervasive. That is probably true, but I would say it was also the case for many other countries allied to the US, especially during the Cold War. We finally stood up to the US in 1990 by ejecting their military bases from Philippine soil. Even so, the Philippines has failed to pursue an independent foreign policy befitting a middle income nation of 90 million with a strategic location. Just a few days ago, President Arroyo basked in the glory of being the first head of state from the region to meet Obama, and the Philippines being named as "coordinator" for US policy in the region. How glorious is it really to be asked to serve another country's interests?

Yet the relationship with the US remains complex. The Philippines must not rely too much on an ally that, like any other country, naturally holds its own interests above any other's. But the election of Obama and the continuing infatuation of Filipinos with living the American dream remind us there is much to learn from the most powerful democracy on earth.

The Last Time I Saw Mother

I have never heard of Arlene Chai before. The only reason I read The Last Time I Saw Mother was because my wife had a copy and it was on our shelf. After reading it, however, I realized what a gem it was. It is the story of Caridad, a Filipino immigrant in search of her past, but it also tells the story of the Filipino people in the past half century, from the horrors of the Japanese occupation to the euphoria of the EDSA Revolution.

The central plot of a woman learning late in life of her true identity is no longer new for Filipinos used to the melodramatic twists and turns of telenovelas. The real appeal of the novel is how Filipino it was. It is impossible for any Filipino not to be able to relate to Chai's depiction of the sufferings during the war, the cultural practices surrounding courtship, marriage, and childbirth, and the changes that happen as Filipinos live in other countries - as one in ten of us have decided to do. She describes our stories, and the stories we hear at the dinner table from our parents and grandparents. She gave me a more profound understanding of Anderson's "imagined community." Filipinos reading this book and recognizing himself and his family will understand how it is to be part of the imagined community that is the Filipino nation.

Caridad's story is similar to the story of a woman close to me. I can only hope she, too, will learn about the secrets of her past, and the women in her life will also find redemption.

Purpose Driven Life

As a skeptical and agnostic college debater, I would not have been caught dead reading Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life. But as a young father and manager with more maturity and experience, and a profound sense of spiritual emptiness - something I would have derided as sheer nonsense - I finally gave it a chance.

It is not yet one of the books I consider life-changing. There is a lot in it that the scientist and intellectual in me cannot accept without wincing, especially the simplistic explanations of God's relationship to man as being like a family or like friends. I would like to think, however, that this is Warren's way of making the Word of God accessible to a mass audience, not a literal interpretation of the Bible. I see them as a human analogy to a divine - therefore, hard to describe in human terms - relationship.

But there is a lot of Warren's message I agree with: It is not about me; it is about living well for the glory of God; it is about serving others; it is about making good use of God's gifts to us so we can honor Him. Unfortunately, I cannot say yet that I made my leap of faith, but Warren has certainly kept me in the right path.

Shaping of the Modern Mind

Writing in the 1950s, Crane Brinton argues in The Shaping of the Modern Mind that it is the Enlightenment that has most influenced the 20th century mindset. Democracy, individual liberty, the natural goodness of man, and a belief in progress are the key elements of this mindset. A half century later, I wonder if the Cold War, globalization, and post-modernist discourse have done much to alter that mindset.

9/11 and the Crash of 2008 remind us that history did not end with the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Not only is the triumph of democracy and free markets seen as no longer inevitable, some even argue that China's combination of one party rule and state intervention in the economy is a viable alternative model. Genocide in Rwanda and Serbia, and terrorism in the past few years also cast doubts to the belief that man is naturally good and that progress is certain. Post-modern disdain for grand narratives have led many to distrust institutions such as the church and the nation, leaving many individual identities without cultural moorings.

Yet I suspect that the desire for democracy remains fervent as recent protests in Iran suggest; individual liberties are still an ideal for many, but it is by no means a universal goal; man wishes to be good, but is still capable of unspeakable evil; progress continues, but it can just as easily be stopped or reversed. The modern mind remains optimistic, but it has been tempered by the reality of evil, and the precariousness of progress.

Revolt of the Masses

Mahihinuha sa pamagat ng akda ni Teodoro Agoncillo ang kanyang pagtatangka na ipakitang ang himagsikan ng 1896 bilang pag-aalsa ng mga masa sa halip ng mga ilustradong nanguna sa kilusang Propaganda. Sa kanyang pagtalakay ng buhay ni Andres Bonifacio at ng kasaysayan ng Katipunan, malinaw na ang himagsikan ay nagsimula bunga ng pagkilos ng mahihirap na pawang nakiisa sa Katipunan sa kanilang pagnanais na makatamasa ng liwanag at ginhawa makalipas ang ilang daang taon ng dilim at pagdurusa sa kamay ng mga prayle.

Subalit sa pagsiklab ng rebolusyon, unti-unti na ring nakianib ang mga nabibilang sa principalia. May ilang napilitan dahil isinangkot sila ni Bonifacio ngunit mayroon ding kusang lumaban para sa bayan gaya ni Emilio Aguinaldo na capitan municipal ng Kawit. Mahalaga man ang naging papel ng masa sa Katipunan, mahirap ilarawan ang mismong himagsikan bilang pag-aalsa lamang ng masa. Anuman ang nagbunsod sa matataas na uri na makilahok, kapwa sila naging bahagi ng rebolusyon gaya ng masa.

Sa bandang huli, ang pagkakaiba ng pananaw ng masa at ng mayayaman ay naging sanhi ng pagkasawi ni Bonifacio at ng pagkakahati ng mga Pilipino. Ang kawalan ng pagkakaisa, ang alitan sa pagitan ng mga uri ay mga suliraning patuloy nating hinaharap. Mahigit isang daang taon na ang lumipas mula ng sumigaw si Bonifacio sa Balintawak at natamo na ng Pilipinas ang soberanya subalit patuloy ang paghahangad ng bayan sa ganap na kalayaan.

Through a Glass, Darkly

Death is what allows Cecilia, a terminally ill girl to move from seeing the world through a glass, darkly, to seeing it in the absolute clarity of God's light. In her last few weeks on earth, Ariel, the angel of death watches over her, tells her what is on the other side of the mirror, and eases her acceptance of her passage into the next life.

I wonder whether my wife's grandmother had an angel to guide her in her last months of existence. She certainly suffered a lot more that Cecilia did and really longed to take her final rest. She had visions of little angels like her grandchildren running around and playing with her as she rested, smiling and contented.

I did not have the chance to know her more. I certainly did not see the fiery side that caused her entire family to fear her and her son to call her a lioness. I only remember a sweet, old lady telling me how happy she was that her first granddaughter was successful and happily married with two kids. Her life, full of drama and heartache, is now over, but she lives on in the courage and stubbornness of my wife and son.

Inventing Right and Wrong

JL Mackie argues in Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong that there are no objective values because of metaphysical queerness and cultural relativity. Since I do not have specialized training in philosophy, I cannot rebut this argument in a sophisticated manner, but I am unconvinced that there are no moral facts just because they do not behave as physical objects, which is an observation that applies to so many other abstract ideas like numbers. Neither does cultural relativity carry much weight. Different cultures may have different moral codes, but I think there are basic expectations of human decency that are common across most, if not all, cultures such as telling the truth.

I cannot advance a meta-ethical theory that will prove the existence of objective values. I subscribe, however, to Stephen Covey's assertion that principles govern whether we follow them or not. Some consequences follow certain behaviors with nearly the same regularity as natural physical laws. If we lie, cheat or steal, we lose trust. If we tell the truth, return a favor, and remain faithful to others, we normally earn it.

Values may be queer or relative, and they may be nothing but a human invention, but they are as real as a rock.

Pride and Prejudice II

I have entitled this post Pride and Prejudice to disguise the fact that I just read a piece of chick lit by Helen Fielding. The book, which is a 20th century retelling of Jane Austen's classic work, deals with the travails of a single woman in her thirties struggling to find love and career success. Timeless classic it was not, but it was absolutely hilarious and it was hard not to like Bridget.

As a young married man with two kids, I find it comforting that I will not be waking up in my mid thirties like her: still unsure what she wants to do with her life, still wondering whether there will be someone she can settle down with. By marrying early, I have skipped ten years of bachelorhood and all its attendant pleasures. Yet ironically, the very lack of choices is what makes me happy and keeps me focused on my career and my family. I do not have to play the game for the next ten years or so because I know who I will be spending the rest of my life with. Without the need to impress women, I focus on accumulating wealth, building a career, and taking care of my family. Instead of counting alcohol units drank, calories consumed, and weight gained as Bridget does, I can focus instead on counting minds provoked, hearts touched, and lives changed.

Pasyon and Revolution

I first became familiar with Reynaldo Ileto's Pasyon and Revolution as a freshman UP student taking up Kasaysayan I under Atoy Navarro, a brilliant young professor who smoked in front of class, spewed provocative thoughts with every puff, and was apparently denied tenure because his view of history was outside the mainstream. Ileto's book, as with many other readings in that class, gave me a much richer understanding of history, one that went beyond the stories of the elite, powerful, ilustrados of Manila.

Ileto succeeds brilliantly in his attempt to write a "history from below." Hermanong Pule hardly merits a paragraph in conventional history books, but Ileto makes him a central figure in Philippine history, demonstrating how his mastery of the Pasyon form allowed him to speak the language of the masses and lead them in a struggle that was both religious and political since no such artifical distinction existed in their minds. The Confradia de San Jose was only the first of a succession of movements that allowed the masses to shape Philippine history, the Katipunan being one of them. I used to think of Banahaw and Cristobal as the sanctuary of cults; I now realize they are holy places of Philippine history, consecrated by the prayers and the blood of heroes.

Virtue of Selfishness

I began reading Ayn Rand's Virtue of Selfishness skeptically yet I finished it thinking how many of my values were consistent with Rand's. I thought the book was going to be a defense of narcissistic moral relativism; it turned out to be one of the clearest articulation of the best of American values: respect for the individual, self-responsibility, the free market, and rewards based on merit.

Rand argues that rational self-interest should be the aim of ethics. She claims this to be an objective truth, based on the premise that acts that affirm life are good, and those that destroy life are bad, and the way to discern this distinction is through the use of reason. Her radical claim is that this form of ethics is to be contrasted against altruism, which is the more commonly held ideal of morality. It is good to be selfish; it is bad to be selfless.

A lot of this philosophy was written to condemn the totalitarian system of the former Soviet Union, where the self was not an end in itself, but a means subordinate to the ends of the state. This emphasis on the individual would appear excessive in the 21st century where individual freedoms are more taken for granted. And while I cannot argue against the virtues of fairness, responsibility, and reason, one cannot help but feel a sense of emptiness where family, community, tradition, and spirituality would normally be.

Socrates for Kids

We received Socrates for Kids by Sage Essman as a Christmas gift for my son two years ago. It is a collection of stories designed to teach a lesson in philosophy. I did not find it remarkable. It certainly was no Sophie's World, which is still what I would recommend for anyone who wants to begin learning about philosophy.

I leave it to my wife to teach my kids philosophy. She is, after all, a philosophy major. As a political science major, however, I did read a lot about political philosophy and continue to be fascinated by that subject.

Plato and Machiavelli remain by favorite philosophers. The idealism of the former and the realism of the latter describe most of what happens in the world. History is an ongoing struggle between the fight for ideals and the pursuit of raw power.

Everyone should read more philosophy. It is a useful antidote to the monotony, even inanity, of business writing.

Eleven Minutes

I once dismissed Paolo Coelho's writing as self-help exhortations thinly disguised as literature. The Alchemist was too much like The Little Prince, but longer and less endearing. But Veronika Decides to Die, at the time I read it as a college student, was a good corrective to the self-centered depression and vitriol that sets in at that time of life. Last month, I read Eleven Minutes, ostensibly an exploration of sex, but really more about love.

Coelho writes about Maria, a prostitute who finds love in an occupation where people go through the motions of, but almost never succeed at making love. She learns that love is about giving unselfishly. Coelho reminds readers true love is given by one whose cup is overflowing, not one whose personal shortcomings need to be compensated by someone else. He writes about the reunion of two beings that were once together as one body as Plato described it in the Symposium - as people talk today of soul mates.

So if Coelho manages to convey eternal truths garbed in feel good novels millions have already bought, what good is there in being a literary snob about it?

Great Speeches

My favorite personal success story is how I overcame shyness to become a champion debater and public speaker. I was reminded of this while I read Great Speeches for the Young Orator, one of the books my wife brought from their house when she moved in, which I again read just because it was on my bookshelf.

I recall back in high school when Mrs Cervantes, my social studies teacher who never hid from the class that I was her favorite, once told me that even though I was intelligent, I was never going to be successful unless I learned to express myself confidently - "makapal ang mukha" was how she put it. I never spoke unless it was to offer an answer to questions no one else could answer. I had read a history of the world in 3rd grade and even encylopedias, but what good was all of that knowledge if I did not know how communicate well?

It was not easy, but as I recounted in the post prior to this, I began this journey of self-mastery by enrolling in a Dale Carnegie course. Then when I entered UP, I signed up for the UP Debate Society even though I had never seen a debate before. I went through the application process and I passed. The first year was frustrating because those with high school debate experience did better during the tryouts to represent UP in debate tournaments, but I learned quickly and soon began topping the tryouts. I broke into the semifinals and finals of national and international tournaments. Finally, I became national champion in my third year. Then I made it to the top 16 teams of the world championship. I ended my fourth year with another national championship.

I am proud of my debate achievements, but I still see myself as a beginner in the lifelong study of rhetoric and oratory. I will continue to study Lincoln and Churchill, and observe Obama. More importantly, I will live my life and learn from it to earn the right to speak about it.

Maxwell's Laws

If I pursued my dream of becoming an astrophysicist, I would now be writing about James Maxwell and his equations. But life really is, as Forrest Gump said, like a box of chocolates, and I never thought I would end up a leader in a technology services company, rather than a theorist in a university. That is why I read the works of John, not James, Maxwell, and his 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

I never saw myself as a leader. I wanted to be, as I told other people, a sexy, public intellectual. I dreamed of becoming a scholar writing papers, teaching classes, and expressing views on the issues of the day. But when the opportunity for a promotion presented itself, I simply grabbed it because my gut told me it was my moment. That was when I decided I would learn about leadership because I was going to get paid to be one.

Having been a leader for more than two years and of one hundred people, I now realize that leading is part of my life mission. Maxwell's Law of Process tells me that, even so, I am still a beginner, and there is a lifetime of learning ahead of me. I used to think only natural science had universal laws, but Covey and Maxwell have convinced me that life and leadership, too, have irrefutable laws.

Principle Centered Leadership or How Self-Help Helped Me

I first learned about the Seven Habits when I won a book of daily reflections by Sean Covey, Stephen's son, as a prize for one of the sessions of the Dale Carnegie course I was attending.

Back in high school, my close friend Hans invited me to go to Cebu for free. We went to SM Cebu and I browsed books at the National Bookstore. I had been looking at Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People on prior visits to bookstores because I was painfully aware of how shy I was, and that I needed to improve in the area of interpersonal relations. I only had a thousand pesos as pocket money for the trip, but I felt particularly rich that day because we were staying at Shangri-la Mactan so I decided to buy the book.

It was a real eye-opener. It was one of the few books that really got me excited because it addressed a pain point with specific action steps rather than vague exhortations to think positively or to pray for divine intervention. I did not become an extrovert overnight, and I remain introspective by nature, but it put me on the path of continuously challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone.

The summer before college, I convinced my dad to shell out six thousand pesos so I can enroll in a Dale Carnegie course. I went all the way to Makati twice a week for five days to attend a course that forced me to speak, think on my feet, and even make a complete fool out of myself. It made me realize there was a lot more I could do if only I had the confidence to express myself and reach out to people. I felt a sense of possibility and power. It helped me conquer myself.

I have not really discussed Principle Center Leadership, but there will be more opportunities to write about the Seven Habits and how Covey profoundly affected me as a person, and as a leader.

Philippine Independence Missions

I received a copy of Bernardita Reyes Churchill's book Philippine Independence Missions as a prize for winning the National History Quiz in 1998 as a high school junior. I won one hundred thousand pesos as prize money, the first time I ever held a six digit sum in my hands. Not only was I proud of winning a national competition, I was also happy to help my parents financially as we were in danger of losing our home. That still remains one of my proudest moments.

I finally got to read the book eleven years after. It was a surprisingly interesting read. The key personalities of the independence struggle became living and breathing human beings in my mind, not just names to memorize and recite for quiz shows. There was Quezon the master politician, cunning, passionate, and impulsive; Osmena, ambitious, but ultimately a loyal gentleman; Roxas, nationalistic, demagogic, and impatient to reach the top; and Aguinaldo, perennial critic and pain in the ass, struggling to reclaim his former glory.

I have renewed admiration for these leaders. They were flawed as all humans are, but by demonstrating brilliant leadership, they belied claims that Filipinos were unfit for independence. They won for us our freedom.

Ultimate Investor

Two weeks ago, while I was on vacation, I read Kiyosaki’s Guide to Investing, which is the third book in his Rich Dad, Poor Dad series. While it focused more on the mental preparation rather than the specifics of starting a business and investing in real estate or financial instruments, it spurred me even further to work on my financial plan. I am now convinced, more than ever, that I need to educate myself about business, finance, and accounting. Also, I would like to start a business sooner, rather than later. Starting small by buying a food franchise or purchasing rental property would allow us to learn about aspects of business we cannot read from books.

I will continue studying about fundamental and technical analysis, and begin trading within the year so I can become a qualified investor. I need to study more about finance, accounting, corporate and tax law in order to become what Kiyosaki calls a sophisticated investor. The final goal, according to Kiyosaki, would be to be an ultimate investor, that is, one of the investors who invest even before an IPO.

I have come a long way since I first read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. At that time, I was working for a call center and I was barely able to make ends meet with my salary. Things became worse after that as I unexpectedly became a young husband and father and began accumulating credit card debt. It took me nearly half a year to pay down that debt. My wife and I had the good sense to realize we were falling into the middle class trap so we were able pull back from the precipice. Now we are more than halfway on our road to becoming millionaires. One million pesos does not count much these days, but it will definitely give us the confidence to aim for financial freedom.

Since we have a long time horizon, I am using dollar cost averaging as a strategy, and I am investing about 60% of our monthly income in a mutual fund composed mainly of equities. It has been a scary ride because of the global financial crisis, with my portfolio losing as much as 25% of its value, but now I am almost breaking even.I feel confident, however, that I will be making a lot of gains in the medium to long term.

My journey to financial freedom has just started. I am sad to see how many more people can benefit from the concepts explained by Kiyosaki. People my age think nothing of buying doodads such as new cars, cellphones, and even condominium units. Many run out of cash the week before payday. I fear they will wake up at 50 with a home mortgage restructured several times and a lot of debt on several credit cards with no provision for their retirement, which is what happened to people I love dearly. Money is a sensitive and emotional topic and it won't be easy to convince people to change the way they spend, but I think it would be irresponsible for me not to try and influence the people that are close to me. I will escape the rat race and I will bring along as many people as I can.

What Is To Be Done

The communists I have met at the university were often dogmatic and narrow-minded. I read a book on the bloody purges committed by the NPA against its own cadres suspected of being military agents and they blithely dismiss it as propaganda. They rally against what they label as commercialization of the university even if the sale or rental of idle assets would help fund salary increases for professors, and improvement of facilities. They would rather ask for more money from government, probably to be funded by more taxes from the poor people they claim to defend.

Reading Lenin's What Is To Be Done, which is a polemic against party members who seek reform rather than revolution, I begin to understand where the dogmatism is coming from. Lenin values ideological purity and sees it as critical to the formation of a vanguard party that will raise the level of consciousness of the masses. History momentarily validated his strategy when he took power in 1917, but finally consigned communism to its proverbial dustbin when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

It is no accident that an exclusive approach to politics ultimately failed. Radicals, by exalting a particular set of revealed truths, alienate the majority that are more receptive to reason and debate. They are thus left at the margins, watching history unfold rather than making it.

The Wedding

Nicholas Spark's The Wedding is the first romance novel I have read and I would not have read it had I not been forced by my wife. I have to admit, however, that the romantic in me actually relished reading it.

It was warm, sweet, exciting, and joyful, as love should be. It is the story of how an old couple fell out of love, and then fell in love again after the workaholic husband courted his much neglected housewife. It ended with a typical, but still endearing, romantic gesture. I would like to do the same for my wife, but I would rather not let our marriage reach the breaking point.

Indeed, I began seriously thinking about our own wedding after reading this book. We are yet to have a church wedding although we now have two kids. No matter how my wife claims that it would be impractical, I know that one of the best ways to honor her as a woman would be to let her walk down the aisle.

Our civil marriage was a farce. We had to rush it because she was already pregnant with our first child, and we feared the event might be disrupted since news of our sudden decision to marry was not well-received. It was held at the Manila City Hall because my uncle works there and he had a few connections. My parents and a few relatives were there, but there was none on her side except a close friend. An old, nearly infirm, pastor led the ceremony. We then had a lunch at Max's Restaurant at SM City Manila. In the afternoon, we watched a documentary about penguins with the narration done by Sharon Cuneta.

And so that is how we became husband and wife. I hope I can make it up with a real, romantic, and, hopefully regal, church wedding.

Traditions and Encounters

I love history. If I were not a manager, working as a historian is something I would like to do. In fact, I still think it would be a great second career. One of my pipe dreams is to write a definitive history of the Philippines or a period that has not been studied much by historians.

I read Bentley and Ziegler's Traditions and Encounters not only because I remain obsessive compulsive about reading even my wife's books just because we already have them at home, but also because I wanted to rekindle my love for history. This textbook was not exceptional, but it still reminded me of the epic scale of human achievement and folly since written records were made. When one reads of the first encounters between conquistadors and the Aztecs, of the noble and bloody French Revolution, of the rise and fall of Napoleon, of the millions who died in the two world wars, one realizes that a client escalation or a people management issue are really insignificant in the grand scheme of human history.

A sense of perspective is the best antidote to excessive worrying about issues. That is why I love history. It fuels my ambition to be great because I want to be part of history, but it also teaches me to be humble when I realize that my life is but one link in the long chain of the human story.

Fairy Tales

Hillary Rollins' The Empress' New Lingerie was a gift from Patricia, and is the only piece of erotica in our library. It is a book of fairy tales that have a sexual twist. As a guy more likely to be excited by something more visual or explicit, I found the book as arousing as watching paint dry on a wall.

I really don't have much to say about this book or this subject so let me talk about fairy tales. I remember that I really liked them as a child. I used to collect the fairy tale booklets that came with Nido milk cans as a promotion. I also watched a television series that showed a different fairy tale every week, but I no longer remember the show's title. While I know a few Filipino folk tales, it's a shame I probably know more about those written by Andersen and the Grimm brothers. Now that I have two little boys, I need to remember how excited I was by fairy tales and how they were real to me as a child. I want them to experience the same sense of magic and wonderment. At the same time, I would like them to learn more about their own culture and heritage.

Rollins' erotic work sits a few inches away from my son's children's books.

My Debate Philosophy

Instead of reviewing Africa's Art of Argumentation and Debate, an old book that did not teach anything new, let me post excerpts of an email I wrote to the my college debate society.

People could not be further from the truth when they accuse
me of not caring enough. My debate philosophy is not an
argument for irresponsibility or a carefree hakunah matatah
attitude. It might be surprising to some, but I
passionately care about debate. I consider debate a craft,
an art form. I am in genuine awe of the raw and spontaneous
intellectual clash, of the eloquent power of the spoken
word. I consider myself the unworthy but aspiring
descendant of the likes of Socrates, Lincoln and Churchill.
Debate is so much bigger than an individual debater, the
organization or the debate community. In debate, I hear the
echo of conflicting ideas ringing through the ages. I
debate because I consider it my art, my creative outlet. I
am not a writer, a musician, nor a painter, but I am a
proud debater.

It is true that some people perceive me as carefree because
I debate the least before tryouts; I do not bring matter at
all during tournaments; I do not react strongly to either
victory or defeat. But I will throw modesty out of the
window for it is nothing but the refuge of the fool. I top
the tryouts, I win championships and I get best speaker
citations. I have achieved as much or even more than those
who accuse my team of not caring about winning.

I do care about winning. It feels good to win. I care about
winning but it is always tempered by the realization that
winning is not everything. I will always do my best in a
debate. For seven minutes, I will exhaust all my
argumentative skills, all stored up knowledge, and all
flair and humor to deliver the best speech I can. But after
the debate, I will forget about it. I will forge
friendships with my opponents who, I never forget, are
thinking and feeling humans too. I will look at the sunset,
I will take a dip in the pool, I will have a drink or two.
I will watch the fireworks instead of ruminate on a bad
speech. I will listen to the crashing waves instead of
planning how to get back at a stupid adjudicator.

I address this especially to the new members because they
say that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. What is the
use of measuring your life on the basis of debate
achievements as some of the old people do? What is the use
of attaching so much importance to the subjective decisions
of fallible adjudicators who will always have biases and
prejudices despite their best efforts at objectivity?

The desire to win must always be tempered by the
realization that a decision is nothing but a consensus by
flawed humans that a team was the one that adhered the most
to the dominant but fleeting and changing standards of what
it means to be a good debater. That is putting it at its
best. At worst, a decision can be reduced to a question of
who offended the adjudicators’ sense of taste the least.
This is why I do not despair when I lose, because I know
that I am still smarter than someone who adheres to
the dominant paradigm better. This is why I do not praise
the high heavens when I win, because it says less about my
worth as a debater than it does about my ability to please
the adjudicators.

Some assume that there is one true road to debate success, as though the
only way to win is to debate in a particular way, to keep
on repeating the same thing over and over again, and to
have the decorum of one attending a funeral. I am not
against hard work. I respect people who achieve things
because of hard work. But that is no reason to discount
people who achieve things out of brilliance and know how to
have fun at the same time. Dogma is anathema to debate and it is
dogmatic to pontificate about the one true road to debate
glory.

Training is indispensable to the new debater who has to get
used to doing something he does not normally do. But
mindless and repetitive debating leads to diminishing
returns. It may even lead to calcified patterns of thought
and formulaic speaking styles. Assuming basic competence,
the key is no longer how many times you debate, but how
hard you think about how you debate. Based on my
experience, there is no direct relation between the number
of times you debate and your chances of winning a
tournament. Hearing trite adjudication (lacks
substantiation, lacks dynamism, weak responsiveness) helped
me less than reading and analyzing the thought of
provocative philosophers.

We always say that we want to have class. Acting like sore
losers out to avenge the past several years’ losses will
not breed class. Wanting that piece of shiny metal so badly
that we start debating like noisy fish vendors will not
breed class. Thinking that winning is everything will not
breed class. Behaving according to some presumptuous
standard of behavior will not breed class. One has class
not because of how one acts but by how one is treated. To
have class is to be treated with respect because of the
apparent lack of effort, the perception that there is
nothing more natural in the world than to debate. We will
never have class if we are too uptight and serious; if we
don’t have a sense of humor; if treat winning as all there
is to life. I sincerely believe that if we debated because
we genuinely enjoyed doing it, then we will have class and
start winning those trophies.

I have talked about how I view debate at length because I
disagree that the way to keep the new members debating is
by filling them with angst or issues. Younger debaters do
not need to be told they ought to be ashamed of their
performance after they lose. They already feel shame. They
do not need put-downs masquerading as pep talks. They need
to be inspired. They need to realize a new debate is a new
battle even as lessons ought to be learned from a prior
defeat. They need to be shown that they can enjoy debate.
The seven-minute rush can come from the fear of not
winning; but it can also come from the sheer pleasure of
arguing.

They cannot stop us from debating for we debate
out of passion. We shall debate with our future students,
with the taxi driver, with our friends or against each
other. Debate is our life, not in the petty sense of not
being able to let go of a lost championship, but in the
grand sense of devoting oneself to the life of the mind.
The same can be said of the true writer who writes because
it is his passion. It runs through his veins and suffuses
his spirit. To stop writing is to stop living. A writer
writes not because he wants the Nobel Prize, but because he
cannot do otherwise. A writer is not any less of a writer
if he fails to win the nod of the establishment critics. In
fact, I would dare say that a writer ceases to be a writer
if writes to get accolades. For then, he ceases to be an
artist and becomes no different from the beauty pageant or
pera o bayong contestant.

I will always think that debating is its own reward. I will
always think that debating is fun. I will always think of
myself as a debater, first and foremost, and only secondly
as a champion.