This is Chapter 7 of "The Pearl Principle" book.
Last August 2004, my friends and I were talking about grim news in the broadsheets, radio and television. We felt that there had been too many talks and debates of “why” these awful things continue to happen to our country and “who” are causing these events to occur.
Many of us keep looking back and digging dirt while creating other mounds as we dig. These mounds will eventually have to be cleared and dug again. The endless transferring of dirt from left to right, front and back, continues… Are we digging ditches everywhere to bury ourselves in?
“Does anybody have a solution?”
One of my friends, who had seen efforts from the farthest left to the farthest right, had been battle-scarred, so to speak, in quest of an answer. According to him, everyone has advice to give, but not many are acting on their proposed solutions. Too difficult, they say. But I guess, it is because they themselves are part of the problem.
My small group comprises of “Don Quixotes”. These are Filipinos who dare to dream the impossible, who dare to fight the unbeatable… and challenge the culture of passivity and apathy.
However, we do not wish to fight windmills. We are dreamers, yes -- not of a new Philippines but of the TRUE Philippines -- which has always been called “The Pearl of the Orient.”
Perlas ng Silanganan.
The truth of the matter is that, solving the problems of our country is possible.
It is not a Herculean task. This process of transformation will take some time.
Yes. But, by accepting this fact, we would have already won half the battle.
Yes. It will take sometime. But, we can make use of this time to our advantage, by planning our actions very well. History should have taught us enough. Haven’t we learned our lessons?
We have been used to “band-aid” solutions here and there. But “band-aid” solutions have never taken us anywhere.
What it takes are small but sustained, purposive actions guided by the People’s Vision as presented earlier in page 30 (Chapter 4 - The Way to Become).
This fact leads us back to the Pearl Principle.
To be able to solve the problems of our country, we need to individually take it upon ourselves to change for the better.
The ability to change ourselves is the foundation of authentic leadership. Each one has this capacity. Each one is a potential leader.
Change can be willed by anyone.
But let it begin with me.
And, as we evolve and reach out to people within our spheres of influence, something will eventually spark!
As an old song goes, “It only takes a spark to get the fire burning. And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing.”
It will only take one ordinary person who dares to be a leader to start that SPARK, and spread the flame until it becomes big enough to warm others and move them towards the same direction.
This FLAME is NOT the destructive fire, but the PASSION intense enough to smelt passive individuals to become leaders themselves.
This is only possible if you are an inspirational leader who can infect others with a vision. The leader leads himself. The leader inspires others. The leader draws others towards a vision.
The leader engages people into action.
This is the leader we need right now. This is the kind of leader the Pearl Principle calls us to become.
The Pearl Principle cultures GENERATIVE LEADERS.
Generative Leaders bring hope so that people can “LIVE” again. He Leads, Inspires, Visualizes, and Engages people to CREATE new solutions, generate new ideas, and think out of the box.
CREATE also stands for creation, reinvention, enrichment, adaptation - assimilation, transformation and enlightenment.These thinking processes are activated in one’s consciousness only if that person is in a state of optimism. Pragmatic idealists, we call them, who are true disciples of the Pearl Principle, possess this mindset.
A person who is in a state of optimism, has the capacity to see what others do not see. Has that intuitive power to recognize opportunities from adversities. Sees possibilities rather than impossibilities.
Generative leaders inspire others with the way they live their lives inspired by The Tenets of the Pearl Principle. They are also guided by a noble aspiration -- living lives in communion with God, possessing integrity in thought, word and deed, empathizing with commitment, and being accountable for their actions.
They are governed by a purpose greater than their own to make a difference in the lives of others and contribute to creating a better world.
Genuine Generative Leaders see themselves at the center of a unified field of diverse energies that can fuel change. They can show how dreams can be fulfilled and that dreams can still be fulfilled. They can be the bridge to our future as a people.
This is the mission of the Pearl Principle: To awaken the Generative Leader in every Filipino who has the resolve to make our Motherland live up to its historical destiny as THE PEARL OF THE ORIENT.
Coming up is Chapter 8 "It's Time!"
