Training Under Ateneo School of Government Blog 7

Our Last week at the Ateneo school of Government. The shell project was assigned to me. I was so pressured because I will be the documenter for this project. Here are some of my output.



Session 1: Leadership in Public Service: Understanding and Cultivating Effective Barangay Leadership
Resource Person: Mr. Hector Villegas, Faculty, Executive Education Program, ASoG

Mr Villegas started the session by asking the participants to arrange their chairs and tables to a specified position in 20 seconds. The activity was carried out to explain that leaders should have a common understanding in order to achieve a common goal. In 20 seconds all the participants have their chairs and tables arranged. The activity gave measure how the participants perceive and understand their goal, even with simply arranging their seats and tables.

He then discussed that there are different aspects of leadership. He said that leadership is a personal power to influence life. Being a leader, you must also learn self-mastery and personal maturity. The view that a leader must be willing to work with other people has also been pointed out. Mr. Villegas emphasized that one of the practice leaders should execute is finding a higher common purpose.
Mr. Villegas elaborated that leadership competencies cannot be acquired in a few training sessions or in a single training course, but only as a result of a long range development process over a number of years. He also added that leadership is an effort to influence change.

Having a background in Psychology, Mr. Villegas continued the session with explaining that no single trait has been found which separate leaders from non-leaders; nonetheless, leaders usually have more drive and determination and probably a greater concentration of positive qualities than non-leaders.
In order to help the participants have a better understanding of what a leader is, he explained collective public interest. He pointed out that public servants have a special duty to protect and promote the collective interest that has been subjected to sustained attack. The collective public interest remains in the form of four values that public servants are required to promote: accountability, legality, integrity and responsiveness.

To further strengthen the foundation of the participants on leadership, Mr. Villegas gave a background on leadership by reviewing the history of the Philippines and its past government structure. He explained that past leadership structure in the country has formed the type of leadership that we have now