THE DIFFERENCE

by Dr. Arsenio Martin of Fort Arthur , Texas ...


The difference between the poor countries and the rich ones is not the age of the country:

This can be shown by countries like India & Egypt , that are more than 2000 years old, but are poor.

On the other hand, Canada , Australia & New Zealand , that 150 years ago were inexpressive, today are developed countries, and are rich.

The difference between poor & rich countries does not reside in the available natural resources.

Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for agriculture & cattle raising, but it is the second world economy. The country is like an immense floating factory, importing raw materials from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.

Another example is Switzerland, which does not plant cocoa but has the best chocolate in the world.In its little territory they raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year.. Not enough, they produce dairy products of the best quality! It is a small country that transmits an image of security,order & labor, which made it the world's strongest, safest place.Or Finland a small country with small population who is known the world overas the maker of the cellphone brand NOKIA
Executives from rich countries who communicate with their counterparts in poor countries show that there is no significant intellectual difference.
Raceor skin color are also not important: immigrants labeled lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich European countries.
What is the difference then? The difference is the attitude of the people, framed along the years by the education & the culture & flawed tradition.

On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich & developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:
1. Honesty, as a basic principle.
2. Integrity.
3. Responsibility.
4. Respect to the laws & rules.
5. Respect for the rights of others
6. Creativity & Work ethics.
7. Strive for savings & investment.
8. Will ofsuper action.
9. Punctuality.
10. and of course...Discipline

In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles in their daily life.

The Philippines is not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel to us. In fact, we are supposedly rich in natural resources.

We are poor because we lack the correct attitude. Welack the will to comply with and teach these functional principles ofrich & developed societies.

If you do not forward thismessage nothing will happen to you. Your pet will not die, you will not be fired, you will not have bad luck for seven years, and also, you will not get sick or go hungry.
But those may happen because of your lack of discipline & laziness,
your love for intrigue and politics, your indifference to saving for the future, your stubborn attitude.
If you love your country, let this message circulate so that many Filipinos could reflect about this, & CHANGE, ACT!

visibility

First Published

28 August 2009

The Manila Standard Today

In the column

INTEGRATIONS

by maya baltazar herrera

Visibility

Power illumines character

It is almost a truism of management that leaders show the way. Effective leaders paint a vision of the future. Much like the headlights of a car, which cut through darkness or rainfall, leaders make the path to the desired future visible.

Conversely, because of this role of leader as illuminator, a leader is always under some level of scrutiny.

Under a microscope

When anyone accepts a position of leadership, his every action becomes an invitation for comment and analysis by his followers. In certain cases, such as when the organization is a publicly listed company, the leader gains additional publics, such as shareholders and the media.

In fact, the more powerful the position of leadership, the more intense and sustained the level of scrutiny the leader is subjected to. This explains why the true character of a person is often exposed once he attains a position of power. A position of power invites a more focused, brighter spotlight to shine on the leader.

However, not infrequently, some other mechanism is also at work. A position of power brings with it requirements for making decisions that have significant consequences for many people and organizations. Some of these involved individuals or stakeholders may not be averse to offering inducements for decisions that favor them. Hence, a position of power is often replete with temptation. These first moments of temptation become almost a test of character, a test taken under the microscope of stakeholder scrutiny. And even when no inducements are offered, the pattern of decisions a leader makes is often a better exposition of his personal and professional values than any speech he can make. They show his pattern of preferences and relative values.

Power illumines character, showing the highlights as well as the cracks.

Visibility

Leaders set the tone not only through shaping the policies, structures and standard processes of organizations but also through modeling. A leader’s decisions and actions send a message, often one that resonates louder and longer than the words he utters.

This is why those of us who work in the area of governance often discuss the role of leadership in setting the tone for the organization.

When a leader consistently places his ego on the table and makes it a deciding factor in management, he sends the message that the position and even the organization is subordinate to his own personal preferences and objectives. When this happens, he encourages those below him not only to pander to his personal whims, but also opens the doors for those below him to behave in the same manner, suborning organization resources for personal gain, even if not necessarily financial.

When a leader resolves difficult decisions with convenience or ease as the primary decision-making factor, he sends the message that certain values are not worth fighting for. When a leader pursues a policy of appeasement as opposed to true resolution (one that can be fraught with conflict and the danger of making potentially powerful enemies), he sends the message that might makes right and that the threat of visible conflict is an effective method for attaining goals.

When a leader approaches questions of social responsibility with a response based purely on regulatory compliance, he sends the message that the organization places all of the burden of determining propriety and ethics with government. When this approach is combined with a strong commercial concentration, this approach can deteriorate into one of exploiting loopholes and implementing shortcuts, a slippery slide.

On the other hand, a leader who consistently takes the high road sets the standard for the organization. He says to the organization: we will do the right thing, not the easy thing. He says to the organization: our values are real, they are important; we will not only stand by them, we will fight for them. He says to the organization: some things are wrong and some things are right, some lines need to be drawn and held. Perhaps most importantly, he sends the message that this organization is one to be proud of, this organization will stand scrutiny.

A leader, whether through action or inaction, makes his own and the organization’s values visible. A leader illumines the way, throwing light over the preferred path, blocking off the path of danger.

Illumination

The role of leader as model also explains why transparency is a primary pillar in governance. Very often, one of the easiest tests of propriety is whether an action will stand up to scrutiny. An inordinate occupation with confidentiality is very often a sign of fear, either of the unearthing of corruption or of the discovery of incompetence. Hence, a leader’s policy concerning transparency is often a gauge of his comfort level with the propriety of his and his organization’s actions.

Since organization members work within the illumination of the leader’s actions, given enough time, the leader becomes the architect of the ethical foundation of his organization. His own personal character becomes the cornerstone for the organization’s mores.

The final irony, of course is that there is a widely held opinion that the ethical leader has become a rarity. Many people pull out that old adage about how “power corrupts” and “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The other theory is that (as the FBI apparently teaches) positions of power invariably attract those who will misuse it.

What I believe, though, is that the leader’s character is critical. And the challenge to those of us who must choose leaders, whether as voters in an election or as the board of directors of a corporation, is to ensure that the light of scrutiny is shined brightly on both prospects for leaders as well as on those we eventually choose to lead.

Readers can email Maya at integrations_ manila@yahoo. com. Or visit her site at http://www.mayaherr era.com.

Life's Rules...

( a forwarded message from yahoo group Boomers International)

Murphy's First Law for Wives: If you ask your husband to pick up five items at the store and then you add one more as an afterthought, he will forget two of the first five.

Law of the Search: The first place to look for anything is the last place you would expect to find it. Corollary: It will not be in the last place you expect to find it.

Kauffman's Paradox of the Corporation: The less important you are to the corporation, the more your tardiness or absence is noticed.

The Salary Axiom: The pay raise is just large enough to increase your taxes and just small enough to have no effect on your take-home pay.

Miller's Law of Insurance: Insurance covers everything except what happens.

First Law of Living: As soon as you start doing what you always wanted to be doing, you'll want to be doing something else.

Weiner's Law of Libraries: There are no answers, only cross-references.

Kenny's Law of Auto Repair: The part requiring the most consistent repair or replacement will be housed in the most inaccessible location.

Second Law of Business Meetings: If there are two possible ways to spell a person's name, you will pick the wrong one. Corollary - If there is only one way to spell a name, you will spell it wrong anyway.

The Grocery Bag Law: The candy bar you planned to eat on the way home from the market is hidden at the bottom of the grocery bag.

Yeager's Law: Washing machines break down only during the wash cycle. Corollary: All breakdowns occur on the plumber's day off.

Lampner's Law of Employment: When leaving work late, you will go unnoticed. When you leave work early, you will meet the boss in the parking lot.

Quile's Consultation Law: The job that pays the most will be offered when there is no time to deliver the services.

How to Acquire Power

1. Pray

2. Relax

3. Be patient.

4. Think cool. Act cool. Be cool.

5. Maintain a peaceful and joyous attitude.

6. Practice mental control, concentration, meditation and positive imaging.

7. Don’t make unnecessary movements whether alone or talking to another person. Practice control of your body and senses.

8. Dance your activities. Maintain a rhythmic way of doing things.

9. Dress as if you are important. . Feel good about yourself.

10. Try to see other people first and observe them. Be always attentive and alert. Cultivate a sense of awareness of the present moment.

11. Read. Be well informed.

12. Be slow to speak, slow to get angry, but quick to listen. Try to understand the meaning behind the words ot the person talking to you.

13. Look straight at the person whom you are conversing and keep your gaze on the person longer than he does on you.

14. Keep an aura of mystery. Don’t volunteer information about yourself, your wife, your children and family.

15. Avoid publicity. Be careful to work behind the scene, set things up patiently and quietly –so that what they want is offered you.

16. Don’t laugh too loud but always keep a sense of humor. Tell jokes but don’t laugh at them loudly.

17. Don’t preach, lecture and try to change others to your way of thinking. Try to let other just be themselves.

18. Use everything you have - talents, looks, strengths, effort, time and treasure to improve yourself, your relationships with others and with God.

road to cadulawan

We used to gather and sit at the middle of this road when we, my friends and I , were a bit younger.
This used to be a lonely road where only a few vehicles pass through...
With a bottle of rum, a songbook and a guitar, our evenings were complete
Thats how simple our lives were...

flowering plant

I never expected this plant to flower,
but lo and behold, a yellow beauty
amid the thorns aplenty ! ...

The Whole Community as Guardians of the Youth

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By: Alan K. Caña

There is a problem creeping within our communities. And because people are taking it as an ordinary phenomenon happening everyday as a product of modern culture, no collective effort is being done to counter it. This problem has been here for years and is prevalent in all parts of the world.

Youth unruly behavior and disorderly conduct such as drug abuse, alcoholism, vandalism, vagrancy, and all forms of destructive actions are driving some parents crazy and disrupting lives of family members and even the whole neighborhood where they belong.

All Barangays in our towns is experiencing these problems. All one has to do to know what is going on is to hang around some street corner store or some corner “lantay”where local residents gather, and listen to what the people are talking about. Mostly one will overhear people talking about their children or gossip about what their neighbors’ children are doing.

Who among your neighbor’s children are “shabu” users? Who is going around with whom? Who is the new “sugar daddy” of the neighborhood’s “syota ng bayan”? Who came home so drunk last night? Who is being imprisoned for stealing? etc…

Look at the surrounding fences and walls of houses and buildings in your place and realize for yourself what gangs and so-called “frats” the young people are involved in. Some of our young nowadays have no qualms in advertising their membership in such groups - groups that promote vandalism, drug abuse, drunkenness, sexual promiscuity and violence.

Do you know of a son or daughter, your own or somebody else’s, who is giving their parents sleepless nights and is causing them endless worries and anxiety because of his/her disrespect for the family and society’s rules of conduct? Are the neighbors helping you cope with your problem? Or do you hear snide remarks from other people, un-educated and professionals alike, blaming you of your plight because you are “lousy parents”?

If so, you are not alone. Literally thousands of parents are trapped in this seemingly hopeless situation. You’ve done your best to change your child’s behavior. You prayed. You have asked for help and even tried countless ways to change yourself, believing what your neighbors, the so-called modern psychologists, the clergy and the educators alike are saying - that “the parents are to be blamed.”

Sounds familiar isn’t it? But will subscribing to this kind of reasoning solve your problem? Will looking for something wrong in yourself, in any way , stop your child from doing what he’s doing now, say, coming home drunk and hanging out with local thugs? The truth is, it won’t. Nothing can be solved by self blaming and finger-pointing.

The problem of some of the youth of today should be seen as a community problem having its roots in modern culture. Being cultural, this needs a communitarian solution .It is within this frame of mind that parents victimized by their kids unbecoming conduct should come together to unite and organize themselves and share experiences, console each other, find solutions, and take a stand against what their children are doing to them.

The principles of communitarianism and networking could apply to this. Parents need to be aware who their children’s friends are, what they are doing and where they usually hang out. Once organized, this Parents Group can help monitor each others children and foster links with the police and other concerned government agencies, the local PTA, NGOs and Church Organizations, to get involved and help their cause.

There is no reason for parents to feel alone in their struggle to maintain order in their families. After all, the whole community gets affected whenever any crime is committed by any of its members. Children who disobey and intimidate their families by rude behavior and of conduct unbecoming of a family member and a good citizen should learn to suffer the consequences of their actions.

Parents organizing themselves as a group, supported by the bigger community will be able to take a stand and say, “enough is enough, because the whole neighborhood does not condone what you young folks are doing. The whole community demands respect.”

This is what it means to live in a community - a community that guides its young to become cooperative members of society. Aptly put by an old saying, “It takes the whole tribe to raise a child”.

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