San Diego, CA. Our Lady of Peñafrancia or “Ina” as Bicolanos passionately call her, is the Patroness of Bikolandia. Her feast, the Peñafrancia Fiesta is celebrated on the third Saturday of September here in San Diego. The Peñafrancia Fiesta is an annual event that Bicolanos take great pride in celebrating. It is a huge event in terms of planning and execution with an annual budget close to $20,000. Without grant money, raising the needed funds is indeed a daunting task for organizers.

For decades, the Bicol Club of San Diego County was the sole sponsor of the event. But with growing devotion to the Lady, the inevitable logistical difficulty holding the event with the whole community in tow was self-evident. In particular, many of the devotees belonged to different town organizations. With multiple celebrations being the Sword of Damocles threatening to dismember an otherwise quiet community, the challenge of the time was how to forge an alliance acceptable to the members. It was a difficult challenge but was not an impossible one. Leaders recognized that there was a common thread that binds them all – the Lady of Peñafrancia. Thus in full throttle, Bicolano leaders of differing suasions forged ahead and embarked on a journey that stoked great controversy. Pag-Iribang Bikolnon (United Bicol) was born amidst great trepidation. To say that the early years of the Pag-Iribang Bikolnon was controversial is perhaps an understatement. Indeed, we went through some real tempestuous times.

Today, the coalition is stronger and enjoys universal acceptance. Pag-Iribang Bikolnon (PB) is a coalition of nine to eleven Bicol organizations in the county formed specifically for the planning and execution of the annual Peñafrancia Fiesta. Within the coalition is a network of local leaders committed to the concept of collaborative leadership as the only model that is workable in our contemporary community.

Ten years ago I had the privilege of working with and being one of the so-called signatories to the memorandum of agreement that brought this model to the table. We had to advance its use as we were faced with the humongous task of uniting a fractured community within this coalition. I want to talk about the concepts that PB invokes in pursuit of collaborative leadership and encourage the Filipinos in general, colleagues in leadership positions in particular, to seriously consider these concepts in solving the ills that bedevil the community.
Why collaborative leadership? Well, in the past, leaders were special people who did special things. The rest were followers who simply went along with what the leader said, and did. The approach seemed to work despite the hierarchical organizations with leaders who were on top of the pyramid and everyone else was down below. But today, we share a planet that is shrinking. The rules of engagement that applied for the most part of the 20th century, no longer work. Today, new ways of thinking about leadership will be required, spurred by technology and diversity. Organizations will have to be flattened. Leaders and followers are linked and must be involved in the leadership process.

Teamwork and collaboration will work better than command and control. The new model of leadership is collaborative, requiring widespread participation and collective decision-making. It accepts the inevitability of conflict, but encourages consensus. It searches for win-win solutions. This is not to say that the new model diminishes the contribution of individuals. Rather it argues that any individual, located at any place in the system, can play a leadership role. The new model of leadership insists on the participation that is at the heart of the democratic enterprise.

The fundamental difference between old-style hierarchical leadership and this collaborative model is the choice that the true leader makes to serve. Too often in the past, people have attained positions of leadership because of their technical skills, political savvy, or their desire for power. I believe that the leaders of the future need to attain leadership positions because of their choice to serve.

As I attend functions around the Filipino community here in San Diego, were we have over a hundred organizations, I have observed similar phenomena common among FilAm organizations: traditional hierarchies of leaders and those led are weakening and disappearing, and are being replaced by informal, cross-functional networks and self-managed teams.

One of the defining characteristics of this collaborative model is networking of diverse individuals, across boundaries. We are shifting away from a centralized, vertically integrated model of organizations that was dominant in the past decades, toward a more horizontal and networked model. Most civic organizations are highly vertically integrated. One of the greatest challenges every president faces is to motivate people to work collaboratively across reporting lines.

In the past we have tended to search for people with leadership potential and assume that this potential should be nourished. We need to augment this way of thinking with a focus on developing the leadership potential in everyone. Successful organizations of the future will be fundamentally collective, in contrast to the successful organizations of the past century, which were fundamentally individualistic. When I use the term “collective,” I am talking about a group of individuals who not only work well together; going beyond working well together, this group is in what is called alignment.

Many used the term “alignment” to describe the phenomenon apparent, for example, when individuals come together to form championship teams. Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and in the past few years, Kobe & Shaq formed the Los Angeles Lakers championship teams. These individuals were not just coordinated; they were connected. They shared not just a goal; they shared a vision of how to achieve the goal. They moved together in a manner that appeared to be choreographed, when, in fact, the choreography was the by-product of their shared vision.

One of my great challenges as Chairperson of the fiesta last year representing Bicol Club was to keep the Pagiriba in alignment. Because the Peñafrancia celebration is such a large operation and with so many smart people in positions of responsibility, it was possible to have a lot of good things going on that have little or no alignment with our core enterprise. Last year’s event at Camp Pendleton’s Lake O’Neil Park drew over two thousand devotees, guests and other visitors. It was a highly successful celebration and I can proudly say that I did my job to keep us in alignment.

Successful organizations of the future will also realize that diversity must be valued, sustained and anticipated as an indispensable element of the fundamental collective. We live in a highly diverse place and society. Within the Filipino community alone diversity abound with the regional identities: Bicolanos, Ilocanos, Kapampangans, Ilonggos, and the list goes on. Likewise, in the Bicol community we have Nagueños, Nabueños, Batoeños, Tinambaqueños and the list is just as long. Replicate the ethnicities and the mosaic becomes homogeneous. Consider also the young generations of Filipino Americans born and raised here who stake their lot in the pot.

Another thing is the role of the Internet. With the Internet, an informal discussion forum becomes part of that collaborative effort. Consensus in some issues is attained through email exchanges and decisions are then made without waiting for the next scheduled meeting.

Leaders need to engage in global thinking and understand how your organization fits into the larger community.

But some points to ponder: Primo, as leaders we must recognize that the table gets larger — and rounder. The decision-making model that dominated our communities during the 20th Century is quite recognizable: a group of a few got together and decided what needed to be done. In a lot of ways, this was an efficient model. However, in our community, this classic model no longer works. As democratic expectations arise, as our organizations become ever more diverse, leaders must bring the formerly disenfranchised or the just plain ignored into leadership circles. The trick will be to maintain the commitment of the old guard even while new voices are heard and power broadens. Social clubs or town associations are organized around the principle of shared governance: the consultation process is engrained in the fabric of these organizations. For this reason, in many ways, we are ahead of the curve in the PB when it comes to the round decision-making table.

Secundo, is that people and relationships are paramount. Leaders are made and not born. Building relationships and breaking through barriers are the essential leadership skills of this century. In most organizations — be it a social organization or a city council —relationship-building is the key to breaking gridlock. The real work of the leader is accomplished because of long-term investment in knowing people and understanding their needs. And there is no substitute for face-to-face encounters in relationship building. It takes a lot of time, but it is well worth the investment.

Tertio, collaboration is messy, frustrating and indispensable. Collaboration does not necessarily come naturally to people. In fact, collaboration has been defined as an unnatural act performed by unconsenting adults! What we need and what seems to be emerging in some of our communities is something new — networks of responsibility drawn from all segments coming together to create a wholeness that incorporates diversity.

Quattro, is that collaboration is never over. The universe around us is in continual motion and so must we be in a constant state of change. In fact, the one stable element in our world is the inevitability of change. Continual motion may sound like chaos; but it also sounds like opportunity. Perhaps instead of talking about continual motion, we should focus on “continual possibility.”

Lastly, I think it is fair to say (without sounding like John Kerry) that change is hard work, change inherently involves risk, and that change is exhilarating. As the Chairman, it would have been a lot easier for me to keep the coalition in our comfort zone – continue doing the same thing than it is to do the hard work of continuously changing and improving. But we all know that if we do not change we will lose ground in what is a highly competitive environment.

Filipinos need to look to the future optimistically and see it filled with opportunities that are immediate and possibilities that are limitless. As you and your organizations embark on the concepts of collaborative leadership, I am confident that as each of you exercises leadership, the outcome will be creative, inclusive and responsive.