DAP President and CEO Elba Cruz (seated, center) is shown with foreign participants in the Workshop on Public-Sector Leadership as well as the sponsoring Asian Productivity Organization’s program officer Arsyoni Buana (second row, third from right), and other DAP officials led by Senior Vice President Magdalena Mendoza (seated, second from left). (Photo by Ped Garcia)
“Everything rises and falls on leadership.” With that quote from famed management guru John Maxwell as starting point, Development Academy of the Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Elba S. Cruz told participants in the Workshop on Public-Sector Leadership that just as Maxwell believed, leadership plays a “crucial role in everything” that everybody wants to do.
“As leaders, we not only steer the ship but we can also chart the course that we want to take,” Dr. Cruz said as she urged the participants, who are managers in their respective government agencies in their own countries, to use the power and responsibility they have to “take our government and our people to where we want them to go.”
The DAP president also thanked the participants for sharing their respective countries’ experiences in strengthening public-sector leadership and the initiatives being undertaken by their governments to promote productivity in the public sector.
‘A defining moment’
“We now hope that this workshop will truly be a defining moment for all of us, even as we aim to take our concept of public servant leadership to the next level by bringing genuine service to the people, aiming for greater efficiency for the people, and in so doing creating real impact felt by the people,” she said.
Dr. Cruz thanked the Asian Productivity Organization for having entrusted to the DAP the implementation of the workshop, which is a continuation of the series of interventions the APO is undertaking to promote higher performance in the public sector in its member countries through enhanced leadership. The 20-member APO was represented in the five-day workshop by its program manager, Arsyoni Buana.
Leadership in lever aging productivity
The workshop, which was participated in by 24 public-sector managers from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Republic of China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and the host country, reviewed the concept of leadership in leveraging productivity for public-sector organizations, taking particular consideration of the fast-changing external environment as one factor shaping public bodies. It also aimed to develop an organizational-level leadership development plan serving as guideline for the participants and their government organizations to move toward a productive public-sector organization.
An international team made up of Modarage Thilakasiri, Dr. Noore Alam Siddiquee, Dr. John Anthony Xavier, former Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin Abalos Jr. and Budget Undersecretary Lilia Guillermo served as resource group in the workshop. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also shared its best practices on productivity initiatives in the course of the activity.