Manila, Philippines — Asia Select, Inc. has partnered with the People Management Association of the Philippines and the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines to gather professionals for an executive learning session on “Tech-Proof Leaders: Reframing Your Leadership Strategy.”

Asia Select, Inc. would also like to thank its venue partners for the morning session, the PMAP Center, as well as for the afternoon session, Quisumbing Torres, a member firm of Baker McKenzie International.

The resource speakers were industry experts in branding and advocacy, Amor Maclang and Brad Geiser of GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications Inc, and global human resource executive, Robert Garcia of ADEN Education Group in Miami, Florida.

How can leaders identify and build a brand with an impact?

The first resource speaker was Amor Maclang, a globally awarded brand architect, movement maker, marketing innovator, risk and reputation strategist of GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications, Inc.

Amor spoke about how growing a personal brand is important to get the right partners and network, which is a crucial skill in leadership. To build a top-notch brand, she shared the formula for success, as developed by GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications Inc:

• Region: The product must be specific to a geographical area
• Mass Production: The product must be available for mass production to cater to demands
• Unique Practice: The art of producing the product must be culturally authentic
• Superstar Brand: Category champions and influential experts who will help validate the worthiness of the products
• Honor the Product: The people who are making the product must see the value of what they are making
  

Despite the fact that the Philippines has a great mix of culture and character, Amor highlighted that we are not a homogenous nation. Filipino products and services do not have a common denominator that makes us a distinct country brand, similar as to how all Japan-made products are perceived to of excellent quality, or how all French-made products are perceived to be premium.

There are numerous Philippine-based SMEs to large conglomerates with great branded products and services, however, it is the mindset of Filipino consumers that need to change.

Apart from continuously supporting local brands, Filipinos should wholeheartedly embrace valorized brands and act as ambassadors to collectively strengthen the country’s global commercial identity. She pointed out that when a country has no global brands for economic reputation, then a country has no economic reputation.

How can leaders leverage advocacy strategies to achieve multiple effects to the country?

The second resource speaker was Brad Geiser, the Creative Director & Innovations Head of GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications, Inc. His main focus includes Marketing Futurism, Social Science and Communications Strategy.

In relation to Amor Maclang’s talk, Brad talked about how the Philippines is deeply influenced by globalism. Results from Future Brand Survey (2017) indicated that there are 20 countries that have strong national branding initiatives. These were measured through products, tourism, heritage, and culture. Despite countries having better branding scores in the four categories mentioned, there are still perceived preferences towards countries that have lower branding scores when it came to talent acquisition because of stereotyping.

Brad emphasized the need for a strong commercial country branding, as it empowers people and in return, companies can command a premium. However, to be able to come up with a commercial country branding, he posed the question: “What does Made in the Philippines mean to Filipinos, and what does it mean to the rest of the world?”

One of the most inherent Filipino values is malasakit, as it proudly separates Filipino service from the rest. He expounded how malasakit is a term that encompasses compassion, empathy, selflessness –all of which is in the DNA of Filipinos. It is because of malasakit that Filipinos go beyond the extra mile.

Brad proposed that the virtue of malasakit is the secret sauce for Filipino brand of service to the rest of the world, which is a key to driving positive business outcomes:

• Malasakit drives efficiency
• Malasakit drives harmony
• Malasakit drives growth
• Malasakit drives compassion
• Malasakit drives ownership
  

At the end of his session, Brad encouraged the organization leaders to participate and be a key stakeholder for the Experience Malasakit Movement, and Lead with Malasakit.

How can leaders continuously upskill and create an agile learning culture?

The last resource speaker for the session was Robert Garcia, the Vice President for Global Business Development with ADEN Education Group. He was also formerly the Vice President for the Society of Human Resource Management, along with an extensive experience in the human resource field.

While leaders should be able to develop a strong brand and take initiatives in advocacies that have an impact on the nation, leaders should also develop the agility to learn to thrive in the future of work.

Robert’s topic was on “Century Future-Proof Your Career through Agile Learning.” Robots taking over is a constant message that has been ongoing, but this can be combatted by adapting. Strong competition will force new ways to do things. Leaders must be able to think and act quickly.

He mentioned that “61% of organizations experience three or major changes every year” and the ability to learn about changes and implement solutions as swift as possible is a necessary skill a professional should have.

Robert mentioned key steps to create an agile learning culture:

• Create a vision that incorporates learning, growth, challenge, agility, and risk-taking
• Support peer learning, leveraging employees with specialized skills who can train other employees
• Make space for teams, as team projects help form stronger working relationships
• Learning continuously to support agile, in-the-moment learning styles
• Shrinking the amount of learning by chunks of information being learned and then put into practice
• Develop new skills by on-demand learning to gain skills only when needed
• Personalize learning environment where professionals can get exactly the right kind of learning
• Take learning everywhere for convenience
• Relaxing into learning, without being overwhelmed
  

While technology is generating significant opportunities for people and companies alike, encouraging agility can be the remedy to uncertainty and unpredictability.

Robert has been travelling around Asia to promote ADEN University.  For the Philippines, ADEN University has entrusted Asia Select Inc. to be its educational partner for its Global MBA Program – a degree that boosts your professional career with the latest e-Learning technology.

ADEN University’s Global MBA allows participants the possibility to access tools, skills and current management knowledge with an innovative approach to do business in an interconnected world. The program aims to improve job positioning through the incorporation of managerial skills beneficial to working in environments impacted by diversity and virtuality.