Personal governance and Dream Philippines 2046

by:  Mr. Rex Drilon, FICD

Teaching Faculty

Institute of Corporate Directors

In January 2022, former Finance Secretary Jesus Estanislao, together with a few colleagues, convened a group of almost 100 volunteers to share the idea of Dream Philippines. These included friends, colleagues, associates, senior citizens, retired senior government officials, young students and young professionals from different sectors of society. The convocation and subsequent working sessions were organized and led by the Center for Excellence in Governance (CEG) in cooperation with the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), which focuses on public governance advocacy, and the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), which focuses on corporate governance advocacy. They met at least once a month for five months.

By June of 2022, the first phase of Dream Philippines 2046 project (country road map) was finished. Work on crafting the Country Performance Scorecard is currently ongoing. The Balanced Scorecard Framework for Strategy Design and Execution, invented by Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton of Harvard—which ICD and ISA use extensively in their respective advocacies—was used in developing the country road map and its performance scorecard.

The core purpose of the Dream Philippines 2046 project as adopted in the convocation is the “transformation of the Philippines and the comprehensive development of the Filipino, by the Filipino and for the Filipino.” The hope is that, with effective execution of the road map, the country can achieve higher productivity and competitiveness (top 20 in the world), higher and sustainable economic growth (8 to 10 percent economic growth) and greater equity and inclusiveness (Gini coefficient of 0.3).

The whole of society will need to share in building Dream Philippines. ISA will do its share in the government sector while ICD will do the same in the business sector. Civil society also needs to step up to complete the lineup of the major sectors for nation-building: government, business and civil society. Common to these three major pillars or sectors is the Filipino, the individual citizens who make up this country.

Can we achieve our Dream Philippines even if the Filipino remains uninvolved in nation-building, continues the merry and undisciplined ways, and is callous and indifferent to the needs of the community and the environment? Definitely not!

If we want to transform this country and achieve our Dream Philippines, we need Filipinos who are prepared to invest and commit their time, talents and resources to help build the nation. And it starts with the Filipino governing himself better. Hence, the need for personal governance for nation-building.

Where should we start?

Transformation begins with each one of us crafting a personal plan of life.

The same balanced scorecard methodology for a transformation program, like Dream Philippines, can be applied as well to a transformation program of a government agency or a publicly-listed company. ISA and ICD have adopted this for their clients and partners in the last 25 years with resounding successes. The same framework can be used in developing the personal strategy map and balanced scorecard of the Filipino.

It begins with the Filipino adopting a personal governance charter composed of personal statements of values, mission and vision. Values are what a person truly and strongly believes in. Mission is the core purpose in life. Vision is what one seeks to be, with a deadline. An example of personal values may include: love of God, country and community; love of family and friends, integrity and excellence. It’s normally limited to five to seven values. An example of personal mission statement is … “To know, love and serve God, my fellow men and God’s other creations.” A vision statement that includes a deadline can be … “When I die, I will go to heaven and be united with my Father God, in the company of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary.”

The next step in crafting the personal road map is to ask the difficult but key questions in the various key aspects of life. We suggest these five: career, financial, physical/mental, family/social and spiritual aspects.

For career, the question can be: How do I conduct myself at work and what skills set should I continually develop and improve? For financial aspect: How do I ensure financial stability and provide for a safety net for family emergencies? For physical and mental, the question is: How do I ensure physical well-being and continuing intellectual development and mental health? For family and social aspect: How do I ensure that members of my family are developed to their full potential? How do I contribute to the betterment of my friends, relatives, community and country? And the spiritual questions can be: How should I practice my faith? How do I bring my family, relatives, friends and colleagues closer to God?

The answers become the key objectives and goals of the person doing the personal road map, as summarized in the following examples:

Career plan

I will deliver consistent results that are within or better than budgets and commitments.

I will establish a healthy working relationship with my team and other teams to ensure achievement of our goals and objectives.

Financial plan

I will establish a family savings plan and budgeting system that ensures financial stability of the family.

I will embark on a balanced investment plan covering real estate, stocks, bonds and other instruments that will provide my family adequate protection.

Physical/mental plan

I will adopt a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise, eating balanced diets, sports and hobbies and regular medical checkups.

I will form and maintain the habit of continually challenging the mind and equipping myself with tools, techniques and training for continuous improvement while regularly consulting my therapist regarding my mental and psychological health.

Family and social plan

I will create an environment where family members have fun and are developed to their full potential, including physical, mental and spiritual development.

I will establish and follow a schedule for regular and wholesome interaction with relatives, friends and colleagues with the goal of forging mutually supportive relations, while at the same time getting involved with local community and national issues as a good Filipino should be and do.

Spiritual plan

With the help of a spiritual director, I will adopt a system of practicing my faith with regular observance of norms of piety, such as the Holy Mass, Holy Rosary, confessions, communion, recollections, retreats, etc.

I will reach out to relatives, friends and colleagues and help them grow in their faith and encourage them to likewise observe and practice norms of piety regularly.

Such personal governance charter (vision, mission and values) and the set of key objectives and goals in five key aspects of one’s life make up the personal strategy map. It is, in reality, a plan of life that covers all the major aspects of existence as a human being. But this is only the first phase.

My next article will cover the crafting of the personal balanced scorecard, which will be the primary tool to execute a person’s plan of life.

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The author is governor of Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) and governor-in-charge of MAP ESG and Shared Prosperity Committee. He is vice chair of Center for Excellence in Governance. He is also FICD and Faculty of the Institute of Corporate Directors Philippines.