Leadership and Governance
Leadership and Governance
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D.
May 1, 2022
This topic was discussed online in a roundtable discussion with laypeople, seminarians, nuns, government officials, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and priests after the Holy Rosary. We are all linked by a fabric of unseen connections” that makes us one interconnected system or unit in a concentric fashion, which we call the Cosmos. Let this be the anchor of leadership and governance in whatever we are doing.
Let me illustrate this in the area of politics through the
Parable of the Visible and Invisible Cobweb
(1) Invisible Physical Cobweb.
- Where does the cobweb begin and end?
- A disturbance coming from the center of the cobweb creates a vibration throughout the entire web that triggers others to react and respond to the disturbance.
- The reaction can be positive or negative. It can be constructive or destructive to the entire web.
(2) Unseen Spiritual Cobweb. I term this the Cosmic Web.
- We are floating in the fabric of space in this vast Cosmos, held on together by the laws of Nature and the Cosmos.
- This Cosmic Web is directly influenced by our behavior and by our understanding.
- It records all our thoughts, feelings, and actions from the beginning of creation to its end.
- It is the depository of all that happened in the past, all that is happening now, and all that will happen in the future.
- It’s the Book of Life or the Akashi Record as the mystics and medium would term it.
- It can be accessed anytime, just as the medium Edgar Cauvery did.
- It is the depository of all the solutions to our problems.
Lenten Reflections
(1) If we’re all linked and interconnected, this means that we depend on each other for our survival and spiritual growth.
(2) Destroying each other, as in the case of acquiring political, ideological, and religious dominance over the other, is killing ourselves and the entire humanity.
(3) Destroy the physical and spiritual web, and we destroy the entire world and universe.
(4) Not all of our 4-D problems can be solved within. We have to get out of our box and access the 5-D world and even beyond.
(5) Let’s use our judgment wisely and judiciously.
Whoever wins in the coming May 9 national elections, may the day mark the beginning of the reconstruction of a new Philippines and a new Filipino people.
Leadership is a double-edged sword
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. - April 19, 2022
Leadership is inborn but it has to be learned, exercised, and nurtured. A little twist of its meaning can be disastrous to humanity. Indeed, our history books are filled with leaders who are more loathsome, psychopaths, violent, and lunatics than benevolent.
In our ancient past, Caligula has become a quintessential insane ruler, who was absolutely undeserving of holding political power. He was completely unpredictable, ruthless, dangerous, horrific, and deranged. Admittedly, he was also skillful and brilliant.
Another equally prominent politician was Julius Cesar who defied the Senate that led to the demise of the Roman Republic. Senate comes from the Latin word "senex" meaning "old age". Among the elderlies, the senators are the only ones that get all the benefits and perks, supposedly also due to all senior citizens.
Who can forget that infamous leader Adolf Hitler who even wanted to create a new human race, a chosen race at the expense of millions of human lives?
Who can ignore Napoleon Bonaparte, a French statesman and military leader who won lots of wars? Like Hitler, he was fearless in the battlefield and had enough charisma to draw people in with his eloquence.
Caligula, Julius Caesar, Adolf Hitler, and Napoleon Bonaparte are still alive today. Their voices are everywhere uttered by our politicians that send shock waves around the world.
While our ancient political leaders have introduced and implemented many progressive reforms in government, the citizenry, especially the children, women, disabled, senior citizens, homeless, and jobless remain ever more oppressed and manipulated.
The concept of common good is not in the forefront of their advocacy and program of good government. They are into the business of maximizing and amassing for themselves profits as well as tax breaks.
This can't be tolerated any longer. Let's not be trapped into their insane world this time. We need to raise the people's level of awareness on what is really happening around them.
Gandhi, Mandela, Mujica as well as the numerous people-power revolutions across the globe had done it. We can do it too.
Let's continue to follow the lion's instinct in us and roar a thunderous voice, even if the external demands are only an apparent existential threat. If it requires more drastic response, then, let’s do it so we can net an entire school of unschooled politicians this coming May 9 elections.
Three Modes of Leadership and Governance in the Animal Kingdom
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. - April 18, 2022
A. First: Leadership in a Pack of Wolves. This night not be true, but lessons can be learned for our leaders and politicians today.
(1) Leadership is collective, acting as a team, and the leaders are ever ready to attack any external aggressors and even give their lives to protect their pack.
(2) The ones in front are the lead pack comprising of children, women, elderly, sick, and disabled. They set the tempo and pace of the journey.
(3) Behind them are the strongest foot soldiers that protect the lead pack from any danger ahead. Another group of warriors sandwich the pack, always on the lookout for any ambush and surprise attacks.
(4) The leader is the strongest, fastest, and fiercest of them all, stationed at the tail end of the pack. It follows the pack ensuring that no one is left behind.
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B. Second: Flock of Migrating Birds Flying in V Formation (photos below).
(1) The leader is at the front of the flock. It looks farther ahead with almost 360 degrees vision.
(2) It sets the momentum and direction of the flock.
(3) It knows where to bring its flock when it’s time to rest and indulge themselves in food and water.
(4) When the leader gets tired, anybody from behind takes over as the leader of the group, suggesting that everyone in the flock is a leader. No votations, no debates, no bicameral bodies, no third reading, no veto power.
C. Third: School of Fish (photos below).
(1) There is no leader choreographing the movements, pace, and direction of the school of fish. Yet they don’t bump into each other, just like a crowd of people crisscrossing a busy city street.
(2) Yes, where is the leader? Help me please, my eyes are blurred. I can’t pinpoint exactly where the leader is. The school of fish moves almost at light speed, yet they exhibit a beautiful pattern that only makes us humans wonder.
(3) I’m just reminded of the packets of subatomic particles that emerged out of nothing after the Planck time scale, feverishly and furiously swarming in the vast ocean of the expanding space and time at the speed of light.
(4) Yet, they exhibit order, harmony, pattern, and synchronicity of movements out of which we appeared, even as others vanish into nothingness as suddenly as the appeared out-of-nowhere.
(5) Is there a principle, law, or force that regulate their time and motion in a synchronized and orderly fashion? What or who is this Cosmic Force?
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In a society of humans, we likewise organize ourselves into various forms and types of government. We call it democracy, authoritarianism, totalitarianism, laissez-faire capitalism, socialism, etc. each of which is headed by a President, King, Emperor, Queen, or Prince.
Yet, in spite of our ingenious talents, expertise, and resources, our way of living, as a collective species, is very much chaotic, disordered, and violent. We still have much to learn from the animal kingdom.
Or do we—citizens and public servants —simply not just want to learn, preferring instead to stubbornly stick to our own private agendas and need.
I wonder if we will ever learn at all from the animal kingdom and quantum physics. We will never learn, not in my lifetime. Unlike the animals, we still don’t have a concept of common good.
There’s a fast way to learning, namely, our leaders should study quantum physics.
Or maybe what we need is not to learn but to unlearn.
Here comes the New Lady President!
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. – July 20, 2021
I’m beginning to entertain the idea of having another Lady President who can get us out safe of this pandemic mess, just like Mama Mary who through her fiat opened the way to our salvation. But who will it be?
The most famous female-led countries in the past two years are:
1. Angela Merkel of Germany,
2. Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand,
3. Mette Frederiksen of Denmark,
4. Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, and
5. Sanna Marin of Finland.
They attracted many headlines but getting little academic attention to this day. Why? Maybe because they are precisely that, according to the researchers, …WOMEN…
Other women leaders include:
1. Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein of Austria,
2. Prime Minister Mai Sandhu of Moldova,
3. President Zuzana Caputova of Slovakia,
4. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Belgium,
5. Prime Minister Sophie Wilmés of Belgium,
6. President Jeanine Añez of Bolivia,
7. Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland,
8. President Katerina Sakellaropoulou of Greece,
9. Prime Minister Rose Christian Raponda of Gabon,
10. Prime Minster Victoire Tomegah Dogbé of Togo,
11. Acting President Vjosa Osmani of Kosovo,
12. Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte of Lithuania,
13. President Maia Sandhu of Moldova, and
14. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas of Estonia.
What made women famous nowadays?
The analysis of 194 countries, published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the World Economic Forum suggests that women's style of leadership is in favor of women. According to them, gender difference is real and this “may be explained by the proactive and coordinated policy responses” adopted by female leaders.
Their study between female and male leaders in the U.S.A. proved conclusively that the case for the relative success of female leaders was only strengthened.
Here are some excerpts of other studies I found in my research:
“Our results clearly indicate that women leaders reacted more quickly and decisively in the face of potential fatalities,” said Supriya Garikipati, a developmental economist at Liverpool University, co-author with Reading University’s Uma Kambhampati.
“In almost all cases, they locked down earlier than male leaders in similar circumstances. While this may have longer-term economic implications, it has certainly helped these countries to save lives, as evidenced by the significantly lower number of deaths in these countries.”
So, are women leaders really doing better on coronavirus?
A study was made in August 2020 and the finding is that female leaders were seen to have handled the crisis remarkably well. Whether it has been New Zealand under Jacinda Ardern or Taiwan under the presidency of Tsai Ing-Wen or Angela Merkel of Germany. Female-led countries have been always cited as examples of how to manage a pandemic.
I would venture to say here that the gender-based model is not also a guarantee for success since we also found many women leaders in the past whose administration were not free at all of corruption and violence.
But we need some feminine energy in our leadership and governance nowadays. There’s too much masochism and patriarchalism for centuries now.
That’s why there’s so much violence, killings, building of nuclear armaments, power grabbing, and wars. Colonialization and colonization continue unabated. Everybody wants to be President, King, Emperor.
Let’s not underestimate the power of women! Madame Curie was the only woman to this day to receive two Nobel laureates in Physics, a physically demanding career.
Curie discovered polonium and radium, championed the use of radiation in medicine and fundamentally changed our understanding of radioactivity.
She knew the danger of her work. But she loved her work. Being exposed to X-rays, she knew she’ll eventually die of it.
Indeed, on 4 July 1934, at the Sancellemoz Sanatorium in Passy, France at the age of 66, Marie Curie died. The cause of her death was given as aplastic pernicious anaemia, a condition she developed after years of exposure to radiation through her work.
It was an ultimate sacrifice and love to offer her life as a service to humanity, comparable only to what Jesus did on the cross.
Leadership in the Animal Kingdom
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. – July 15, 2021
Overall, animals have a black and white understanding of what leadership means for their species. Leadership isn’t given, it is earned and remains until they leave and relegate it on to their trustees. The leader of the group dictates hierarchy and members of the pack accept without question. Through experience, the members never question authority. Let's try to learn from them.
Leadership is something we do and something we can learn to do
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. – July 14, 2021
It is expressed in all forms of government. Sadly, our history books are filled with leaders who are more loathsome, psychopaths, violent, and lunatics than benevolent. I'm not after of the form of government. As long as the common good of the entire citizenry are benefitted, then, any form is welcome. Call it by any name.
In our ancient past, Caligula has become a quintessential insane ruler, who was absolutely undeserving of holding political power. He was completely unpredictable, ruthless, dangerous, horrific, and deranged. Admittedly, he was also skillful and brilliant, saving Rome from financial collapse, when the economy was hemorrhaging.
Another equally prominent politician was Julius Cesar who defied the Senate that led to the demise of the Roman Republic. Senate comes from the Latin word "senex" meaning "old age". Among the elderlies, the senators are the only ones that get all the benefits and perks, supposedly also due to all senior citizens.
Who can forget that infamous leader Adolf Hitler who even wanted to create a new human race, a chosen race at the expense of millions of human lives?
Who can ignore Napoleon Bonaparte, a French statesman and military leader who won lots of wars and, like Hitler, he was fearless in the battlefield and had enough charisma to draw people in with his words?
Caligula, Julius Caesar, Adolf Hitler, and Napoleon Bonaparte are still alive today. Their voices are everywhere uttered by our politicians today, sending shock waves that continue to reverberate and terrify people around the world. They left a legacy that are now being pursued by our politicians even more relentlessly and openly. This legacy is, in fact, already in their DNA.
While our ancient political leaders have introduced and implemented many progressive reforms in government, the citizenry, especially the children, women, disabled, senior citizens, homeless, and jobless remain ever more oppressed and manipulated.
I am not interested in the form and types of government so long as the interests of the masses take precedence over that of the holders of powers. Call this type of government by any name you want.
Democracy, republic, totalitarian, monarchy, tyranny, authoritarian, anarchy, theocracy, oligarchic, communism, plutocracy, junta, dictatorship, fascism, federation, technocracy.
My only concern is that conflicts ought to be properly resolved in favor of the common good.
Sadly, in order to perpetuate their hold and deception over the citizenry, today's style of leadership even exhibit traits of cruelty, hurling invectives, intimidations, violence, bribery, corruption, all of which are common in all of the 16 types of government.
I'm not saying that this is only true among our political leaders. It's as much a part of each one of us (no exceptions) reflected in our way of thinking, feeling, and behaving, potentially ready to erupt anytime at the least provocation. We can be as ruthless and violent as our politicians. As it has been said, our greatest enemies are the dark forces pent up within each one of us.
But deep inside, there's also some good in the worst of us and this is one virtue we would like to discover if we want real social transformation. And when we discover this, we are less prone to label and hate others as our enemies, just because they belong to different races, political parties, and religious beliefs. They can be our friends and allies. We can work with them for the common good.
Unfortunately, our leaders have other priorities that are diametrically opposed to the interest of the people. The concept of common good is not in the forefront of their advocacy and program of good government. They are into the business of maximizing and amassing profits as well as tax breaks.
The common good can also be in error. They can also be manipulated by the media.
The words of a former Roman Emperor and the greatest philosopher still haunts us. I'm pragmatic. He knows what he was talking about. It's still a fact today, a reality we cannot just ignore.
This can't be tolerated any longer. Let's not be trapped this time into their insane world. To this day, we are still plagued with problems of unemployment, price instability, inflation, income inequality, deteriorating standard of living, and growing external debt, aggravated by the Coronavirus pandemic which will still with us for some time.
We need to raise the people's level of awareness on what is really happening around them. Gandhi, Mandela, Mujica as well as the numerous people-power revolutions across the globe had done it. We can do it too again.
Let's continue to follow the lion's instinct in us even if it's only an apparent existential threat and we can net an entire school of unschooled politicians this coming elections.
We need to rewrite our history books, a big challenge to history writers and enthusiasts as well as philanthropists who are willing to shoulder the expense of this big endeavor. We are starting it here in the social media, hoping that some generous souls will pick it up.
Learning From Our Heroes
Oct 2, 2015
I finally saw the movie, Hen. Luna. I've been eagerly wanting to see it since it premiered in UP a few weeks back. My friends Jun, Mabel, and Sylvia even secured me a ticket (my apology for not making it). I was trying very hard to insert this in my schedule the past few weeks given the rains, flood, and monstrous traffic we have been experiencing lately. What excited me, however, was not the prospect of seeing the movie at last, but the cashier's refusal to accept my payment because I am a senior citizen. Wow, at least the 33% deducted from my monthly salary is coming back in trickles. Anyway, I have mixed feelings about the movie -- anger, frustration, concern, even hopelessness knowing that what was happening more than 100 years ago is still happening today at a global and cosmic proportion. The whole cosmic drama is just too complicated! Shakespeare said "All the world's a stage and all men and women are merely players. They have their exits and their entrances." Sadly, in our case, people refuse to exit. If this remains, then, it's high time to rewrite the script to simplify the whole story and redefine our respective roles in the entire cosmic saga. I suppose this is what the "presidentiables" and we the voters are trying to do at least for our beloved country.
Politics and governance in the 19th century can be very instructive...
May 8, 2013
Politics and governance in the 19th century can be very instructive... This could still be the case today ...
"I believe in the division of labor. You send us to Congress; we pass laws under which you make money…and out of your profits, you further contribute to our campaign funds to send us back again to pass more laws to enable you to make more money." [Senator Boies Penrose (R-Pa), 1896].
"There are two things that are more important in politics. The first is money and I can’t remember what the second one is." [Senator Mark Hanna (R-Oh), Chairman of the Republican National Committee, 1896].