Second Handers

One of my all time favorite fiction novels is "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. I must have read this book four times! I even saw the movie starring Gary Cooper.

The story talks about an architect called Howard Roark. An architect who refused to follow what the crowd wanted. Choosing instead to make designs that fit the personality of his clients and the function of the structures being ordered from him. Although his clients loved his work and appreciated his genius, he incurred the ire of the general public ("who does he think he is? Better than the rest of us?").

In contrast, there was the publisher Gail Wynand. He was rich and famous. He provided what the crowd (what is also called the "mob") wanted: gossip and sex. He exploited the baser instincts of people to sell more newspapers. It was never about "truth" or making a contribution to humanity. Who wants to read that anyway? He gives the public what it wants.

Ayn Rand calls people like Gail Wynand "second handers"...because they were never the prime movers of mankind.

I'd like to relate this to the emerging candidates for presidency of the Philippines in 2010...who are the "prime movers" and the "second handers"? Is it the one who let's you hear what you want to hear? Or plays to the applause of the crowd?

...Or is it the one who has proven, time and again, that he will defy the "popular" will to do what is right?

Among all the candidates for 2010, it is only Bayani Fernando who has proven that he will not let himself be swayed by demonstrations of "false compassion". Beyond doing what is necessary to clear the streets and impose discipline in Metro Manila, he has created a transformation that was unthinkable ten years ago: that it was possible to impose the rule of law in Metro Manila to protect the rights of many.

A victory for Bayani Fernando in 2010 will show that the FIlipinos are ready to be governed the right way. Let's not wait for another 6 years...please.

Jay Araullo

Transformational Leadership

Link to Team Bayani homepage

Two days ago I had the fortune of being invited to a small breakfast meeting with MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) Chairman Bayani Fernando. I came into that breakfast meeting as a “sold man”. I went out determined to help spread the word about his leadership.

I grew up two towns away from Marikina and the difference is just startling.

How can this city change its image from the “rape and akyat bahay” capital of Metro Manila to what is now generally considered to be its model city in just 15 years?

My cousin had a store in Marikina that we used to visit 20 years ago. It was just messy. Mud everywhere. It was stinky. Garbage everywhere. Parking was a mess. Vendors selling where people needed to walk. Don’t even get me started on the toilets! No one really complained. It was pretty much the situation everywhere in the Philippines!

If you guys used to pass by Cloverleaf market (named for the interchange at Balintawak), you’ll know what I mean: 6 lane south bound at EDSA was effectively reduced to 2 because parked cars and illegal vendors took up all the space! No one seemed to care…people needed to make a living right?

Anyway, I had a Singaporean boss 8 years ago and his family used to drive around Metro Manila. Of all the cities, Marikina impressed him the most. It was clean and it was spacious. He liked what he saw and told me that it was indeed possible to change a city in that way. This was only a few years after Bayani Fernando’s first term as mayor started.

Marikina’s state then reflected the condition the rest of the nation: it was “sick”. But in a few short years, it became Metro Manila’s poster boy. The same people who resisted the changes are now the same people who are proud of what their city has become.

Many call the Philippines the “sick man of Asia”. We Filipinos are sick and tired of that nickname. We all know we deserve better than that. We want to be transformed into the “best country” in Asia.

With all these politicians parading in front of us (leading up to the elections 11 months from now), ask yourself: who among them can show transformational leadership? Who among them has actually transformed people the most?

…I ask you to examine all of them carefully. Let’s take the one who has PROVEN his capacity to lead people to change themselves.


Jay Araullo
Twitter ID: taytaybulls