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Addressing the poverty problem of the country takes addressing first the “poverty of the mindset.”

This was one of the opening statements of Dr. Francis Kong, CEO of FunWorks Inc. and one of the country’s renowned inspirational speakers and authors, explaining how the mindset of people contributes to the worsening problems of the country.

Dr. Kong said everything starts in the mind, and that “the people today are the products of the decisions they made yesterday.” He spoke of three gaps that stand as roadblocks to achieving success and addressing the problem of poverty.

The first is the “skills gap”. He said the challenge to academic institutions in the Philippines is to churn out graduates with the rights skills for the corporate world. The inability of institutions to develop relevant and emerging skills in their graduates passes on the burden of training to the employer. This, Dr. Kong, explained, costs the organization large sums of money.

The second is the “values gap”. He said a growing number of young people ruin their lives with how they have themselves influenced by culture and the things around them. To crystallize his point, he mentioned a businessman who shared with him statistics on items that are most salable in his relative’s convenience store located near a call center. It caught the attention of students, who guessed coffee was most salable, when Dr. Kong revealed that it was condoms.

The third is the “leadership gap”. While success is easy, he said succession is not. The present society now, he said, needs to breed a culture of leadership within the young people. The retirement of older, more experienced executives leave management responsibilities to the younger generation. But while there may be a mix of talent and creative minds under the top bracket of the organizational structure, there is a need for leadership to be enhanced to raise the standards. When those at top level management fail to innovate and raise the standards, the development at the bottom will be limited as top level management serves as the lid or ceiling of growth.

Dr. Kong advised the participants in the National MDG Summit for Young Filipino Leaders to continue learning even outside the school. He said learning is better when it becomes a commitment instead of a requirement for compliance to people.

He also stressed on the importance of attitude over skills, reminding students that as they strive to be successful, they should do so without comprising their integrity and values.

Dr. Kong gives an average of 300 talks every year.

source: su.edu.ph


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