Choosing the right Cabinet

There is a lot of talk these days about a possible Cabinet revamp. At the time of the writing of this column, these are mere speculations. By the time this column comes out, these may already have turned to reality.

Choosing the right Cabinet members will be a make-or-break decision for this current President, whose approval ratings are at an all-time low.

The drastic and revolutionary change is almost impossible to accomplish by any one individual, no matter how charismatic or accomplished. According to the management expert John Kotter: “A strong guiding coalition is always needed – one with the right composition, level of trust and shared objectives.”

Building such a team is an essential task of a President who wants to eradicate corruption, restore integrity to the judicial process, reengineer the educational system to make it world-class, launch an agricultural revolution and give every Filipino the economic opportunity to live a life of human dignity.

In his book, “Leading Change,” Kotter said: “The first step in putting together the right kind of team that can direct a change effort is to find the right membership. Four key characteristics seem to be essential to effective guiding coalitions. They are:

• Credibility. Does the group have enough people with good reputations so that its pronouncements will be taken seriously by other people?

• Expertise. Are the various points of view in terms of work experience, knowledge, background – relevant to the task at hand, adequately represented so that informed intelligent decisions will be made?

• Position power. Are enough key players on board, especially the main line heads, so those that are left out cannot easily block progress?

• Leadership. Does the group include enough proven leaders to be able to drive the change process?”

The Cabinet members need to have both leadership and management skills and must learn to work in tandem. Management skills will keep the whole change process under control. Management and leadership are two different attributes that will be required by each top official.

Any team with great managers but poor leaders will not succeed. A managerial mindset can develop plans that a leadership mindset is needed to create a vision.

There are four types of individuals that should be avoided at all costs when putting together a Cabinet or a team. President BBM should ensure that these types will not have a place in his administration.  According to Kotter, “The first type have egos that fill up a room, leaving no space for anybody else. The second type is what I call Snakes, people who create enough mistrust to kill teamwork.”

To this list I will add a third type, those whose lifestyle and past record are evidences of corruption and the lack of integrity. Finally, there is the fourth type which I would advise should be rejected – the reluctant member.

People who have large egos do not have a realistic sense of their weaknesses and limitations. They cannot appreciate the complementary strengths in others and cannot subjugate their immediate interest to some greater goal. If such a person is a central player in the team, then you can forget any chance of teamwork.

“Snakes” are equally disastrous in a different way. They are experts in damaging trust and confidence among members of the team. Trust is always an essential ingredient in teamwork.

Reluctant team members are those who do not want to confront the problem because it seems too big or who are not convinced that the problem exists. Reluctant members are also those who are not willing to make the sacrifices of being a Cabinet member. Individuals who believe that corruption is a way of life and therefore cannot be eradicated can be classified as reluctant team members.

Beyond trust and competence, another element crucial to teamwork is a common goal. Only when all the members of the team deeply want to achieve the same objective does real teamwork become feasible.

Another important characteristic of a team must be shared values. The personal values of a person can be evidenced not by what he says but by his lifestyle throughout the years.

The combination of integrity, trust, common goal and shared values by people with the right characteristics will make for a powerful team.

Another challenge for the BBM presidency and a new Cabinet will be establishing a high enough sense of urgency among the Filipino people so that they will support the administration in their effort to transform Philippine society.

While it is important to generate short-term wins, people’s attention should not be focused just on narrow functional goals but on national goals like eradicating poverty. The measure of national performance should not be limited to the number of school buildings built or the number of bridges renovated. The true performance matrix should be poverty levels, employment index, judicial integrity, educational scores and the effect on the masses, even at the cost of reducing the wealth of the top one percent.

Economic and social change can only succeed if a high sense of urgency can be created in our society and a much higher sense of urgency among the Cabinet members that will lead in the struggle to make the vision for a more equitable society come true.

In the words of the late senator Jose W. Diokno, the ideal national goal should be: “Justice for all, jobs for all.”

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