Why EI Chose Matec Villanueva
From an
outsider’s perspective, one might thank that someone in the world of
Advertising and all that is Marketing Communications, is just subjected to
her/his clients. One might think that just because one works for an advertising
agency, s/he will always just be a mere follower of what her/his clients
demands. Perhaps it is more of a grey matter than a black and white when it
comes to Matec Villanueva.
Matec Villanueva is currently the Chairperson of Publicis-Manila being one of the most recognized agencies by different companies here in the Philippines. Everyday Idealists have decided to choose Mrs. Villanueva as she has recently been the speaker for this school year’s Leadership Convergence seminar hosted by the Leadership and Strategy Department of the School of Management
Truths About Leadership
Matec,
in her very easy-going personality and in much enthusiasm discusses how she
learned of leadership throughout the years. She said that she has learned
leadership from the people in her family, from the communities she belongs to,
from the people in the schools she has attended, from the people she was worked
with and continue to work with, from people in her life and, perhaps jokingly,
from doing the talk numerous times.
She
then goes on into discussing her Three Truths About Leadership. First, she said
that there should be an existing symbiotic relationship between leaders and
followers. What she meant is that there should be a good relationship between the
follower and the leader. A relationship like that means that no one is
suffering while the other is benefitting from the other’s misery. Second, in
order to have a strong organization, it’s not enough to have strong leaders, an
organization must also have strong followers. It really makes sense considering
what is a good leader if the followers are not motivated? And her third and
last truth states that “leaders and followers mirror each other”. Matec
mentions how followers would have the same ideals as that of their leaders, and
that leader and followers really don’t have much dissonance.
Secrets of Leadership
Matec
mentions that one must be a good follower first to be a good leader. She then
proceeds into discussing her “3 Secrets of Leadership”. She starts saying that
first of all, followers get things done. Great followers, for her are goal
driven. Great followers do not just blindly follow what their leaders tell
them. She mentions that followers contribute substance and not just presence.
An example would be not just being in a meeting and listen the whole time, but
also to contribute something into the discussion. Last, she said that followers
create their own jobs, they have initiative—they do not wait to be told [what
to do].
Second,
great followers are value-driven. Followers possess the right values, and they
know how to empathize. Great followers also know that trust is earned. Lastly,
great followers know that loyalty to the group and its cause is required. The
last point means that one knows how important it is to be committed to the
group he or she belongs to because that component would really drive the
follower to do his or her best in all that he or she does.
Last
secret is that great followers communicate. She said that, “strong groups
happen with a network of stable relationships among its members” and she also
mentioned, “stable relationships happen when clear and open
communications exist”.
She drove the point that communication is really needed but she pointed out it
is not just any type of communication, rather, a good communication. She mentioned
that good communication is not just the message sender properly relaying a
message, more importantly, the receiver must have a good understanding of the
message.
