Leadership that elevates the human spirit

The term “leadership” has been used most of the time in connection with our political and business leaders. I remember so well a line spoken in connection with leaders... that they have to “speak to people’s hearts and listen to their heartbeats.” Without the awareness and the ability to do so, it is bound to be a failed leadership.

“Leaders find the common thread that weaves the fabric of human needs into a colorful tapestry. They develop a deep understanding of the collective yearnings.” And leadership is a tricky matter. It must have the ability to inspire and empower. It will be an ineffective one if the leadership fails to listen to the ground the constituents walk on and look towards the sky where their yearnings have been raised.

From some notes taken about three years ago at a lecture I attended, the words of a powerful leadership guru become very relevant in today’s world: “There is a deep human yearning to make a difference. We want to know that we’ve done something. We want to know that there’s a purpose to our existence. Work can provide that purpose, and increasingly, work is where men and women seek it. Work has become a place where we pursue meaning and identity. The best organizational leaders are able to bring out and make use of the human longing for meaning and fulfillment, by communicating the meaning and significance of the organization’s work so that the individual understands his or her own important role in creating it. When leaders clearly communicate a shared vision of an organization, they ennoble those who work on their behalf. They elevate the human spirit.”

Leaders must be able to give voice to their constituents’ feelings: They have to lead in such a manner that everyone on the journey helps shape its course.

Such is the case of the “medical leader” in the person of Dr. Manuel B. Agulto. Yes, there are medical leaders who probably never took a management course at all, but have been gifted by the Almighty with the heart and the soul to realize a vision, employing God-given management skills.

He is a true medical leader in the highest sense of the word, who has created a gigantic impact on the endeavor to provide the best care and treatment in our country for the eyes — for me, one of the most important organs of man. Pursuing his lifetime goals with a dedicated ruggedness not too many can equal, his name has become synonymous with the excellent practice of opthalmology, with emphasis on the treatment of glaucoma, a medical condition that causes blindness. Unless you are lucky enough to have surrendered your glaucoma problems to someone with the brilliance and expertise of Manny Agulto, that is.

Barring no one, he is the foremost glaucoma specialist in the country today. Thanks to his unmatched dedication and passion, his name has become a byword in the field of opthalmology, but he projects a humble bearing that cannot hide the expertise of his hands as he examines and works on your eyes. His humility is not a put-on — the guy is simply like that. This medical leader indeed looks like and is a missionary at heart.

A doctor friend of mine told me last week, “Manny is no power- or social climber. He has earned his reputation because he works very hard.” I am in complete agreement with this person. He is a selfless medical leader with a complete mastery of his field. I know him as one who is not driven to seek awards of recognition and plaques of merit. He just does not care for them. He certainly does not seek them. Without even being aware of it, he has succeeded in “weaving the fabric of human needs into a colorful tapestry.”

And this was not developed overnight. Agulto is a very young-looking 60-year-old practitioner who obtained his medical degree from the University of the Philippines and did his residency training at the UP-PGH Medical Center. He did his post-graduate specialization work and studies at Harvard Medical School. It was at the New England Glaucoma Center where he did his Glaucoma and Anterior Segment Disease fellowship. It was at the Institute of Clinical Opthalmology that he did his studies in Anterior Segment Surgery in 1987.

His medical leadership continues. It was difficult to get data on the achievements of Dr. Agulto because he did not want to give me any. What he gave me was a very short curriculum vitae. Everything else I had to get from a disk that somehow I was able to get, on the most recent outstanding and noteworthy accomplishment where Agulto was and still is a prime mover.

His medical leadership encompasses so many current positions where he is still the guiding light and brilliant force that keeps it together. He is the executive director of the Eye Referral Center and was, to my mind, the most important force in its founding. He is board chairman and president of the Glaucoma Research Foundation Inc., trustee of the Filipinas Eye Center, and president of the Southeast Asian Glaucoma Interest Group. As director of the Institute of Opthalmology of UP Manila and chief of the Glaucoma Service of the Department of Opthalmology and Visual Services of the College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines, as well as president of the Philippine Glaucoma Society, his medical leadership in this field is indeed difficult for any Filipino to surpass.

But in the creation of the Sentro Oftalmologico Jose Rizal (SOJR), Dr. Agulto had extensive participation. I myself have gone to this center for my eyes, and saw for myself the numbers that were there for consultation. What struck me was the social dimension of this institution which could be gleaned from the patients there, waiting their turn to be served. I was shown the excellent facilities that were available — the latest state-of-the-art ophthalmic equipment — and felt glad that Manny Agulto was one of its prime movers where “vision became reality” in 2000. That year saw the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between the University of the Philippines and Spain through its international cooperating agency, where the Spanish government gave a grant amounting to US$8 million to construct an eye center on a parcel of land committed by the Philippine government. This, together with what is now called the “incomparable workforce of the UP-PGH” that mans and operates the eye center, were what was committed by the Philippines.

It is now the most modern eye facility in the country, where the most modern and current medical equipment is available, and which has become the foremost training ground for Filipino ophthalmologists, without, however, the gloss and shine of some facilities that serve primarily the moneyed among us.

This kind of medical leadership indeed elevates the human spirit.

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Thanks for your e-mails sent to jtl@pldtdsl.net.