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Interview conducted through Zoom Meeting (Hannah Sicat is unable to attend due to positive response in COVID-19)

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Hannah and Kirsten's Interview with Mr. Rico Viguilla, Chief Audit Executive of Federal Land, Inc.

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Hannah and Kirsten's Interview with Mr. Rico Viguilla, Chief Audit Executive of Federal Land, Inc.

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Mr. Roderic A. Viguilla, is a 48-year-old Certified Public Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor. He attained a degree of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy at Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Also, Mr. Viguilla obtained his Master's in Business Administration at San Sebastian College Recolectos, Philippines.

Tell us something about the company/organization.

Currently, Mr. Rico is part of Federal Land, Inc. which is a subsidiary of GT Capital. GT Capital is a distinct district company here in the Philippines, and it is within the group of Metrobank. They are known to be one of the local leading companies in the real estate industry that is known for their vertical and horizontal constructions. Moreover, they are the owner of the Grand Hyatt Hotel located in BGC and Marco Polo Plaza located in Cebu.

What is your position in the company/organization?
What are the roles/duties that you have to fulfill in this leadership position?

Mr. Rico Viguilla is currently working as the Chief Audit Executive or the Internal Audit Head of Federal Land, Inc.

Mr. Rico’s roles and duties as the Chief Audit Executive or Internal Audit Head consist of performing the auditing and checking the effectiveness and efficiency of the controls within the company. He is handling two departments which are the operations audit and the technical audit. The operations audit is in charge of checking the effectiveness and efficiency of the operational processes in the company, while the technical audit is the department that checks if the construction activity of the company is within the codes of being implemented in the Philippines and the FCDs or the Field Change Document.

What was one mistake that you made as a leader that you can never forget?
What did you learn from this mistake?

He shares during the interview that his mistakes usually happened due to lack of expertise in the field of delegation. Moreover, he expressed his struggles when he was working in BDO Singapore and in PWC Australia that he personally found it difficult to delegate work — especially critical work.

From this mistake, he learned how to improve on delegating his own work and delegating the work that is intended from the staff through the advice of his previous bosses. He eventually became an expert in effectively assigning the tasks to respective staff members which resulted in minimal to zero delays in work.

Who inspired you to be a good leader?

The person who inspired and is inspiring him to be a good leader is his very own partner in life. His wife, Mrs. Ruth Blasco-Viguilla, is a partner in PWC or PricewaterhouseCoopers. She was his former boss when he formerly worked there as the Director of Audit. He witnessed firsthand her work performance and how she delivered all her outputs. He expressed his admiration for his wife as she never fails to ensure that she will deliver quality and timely work to all of her clients. In conclusion, he is greatly influenced by his wife’s passion in her career and this inspiration is what fuels his determination to always be a good leader.

What are your tips for aspiring leaders?

His first tip for aspiring leaders and individuals is to have patience. He believes that their time to become the boss or the head of their company will turn into reality, slowly and surely, if they work hard for it. He also added that aspiring leaders should not be afraid to take risks and explore work opportunities that will come in their way. By taking those opportunities, he emphasized that we will be able to learn and use those learnings to become better people and good bosses in the future. Another tip he shared is to always be confident, especially in dealing with bosses and clients, whether it may be internal or external. Also, another piece of advice given by Mr. Rico is to always be happy and content with your work and the people you are working with. Lastly, he deems that the most important thing is to always pray to God for guidance in every job and decision to be made.

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The similarities and differences between our interviews (The Results and the Conclusion)

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The similarities and differences between our interviews (The Results and the Conclusion)

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There are several ways to define leadership. According to Kruise (2013), "Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal." The four essential elements of leadership are process, influence, occurs in a group setting, and goal achievement.

Both interviewees vary differently in their positions - one is a manager and the other is an Internal Audit Head. Engr. Zuluaga, the manager of a Colombian government company, returned to his career at the expense of his own business and in trying to be an advisor for other companies. On the other hand, Mr. Viguilla, the Internal Audit Head of Federal Land, Inc., doesn't have much contact with people because his role is to check the effectiveness and efficiency in the company.

The leaders both similarly had a difficult path in fulfilling their duties. Mistakes were also made, at first. However, both of them succeeded in moving past those regrets and lack of expertise. Engr. Zuluaga mentioned that he had regrets for not having acted in time in the companies he worked for, because he was not aware of what was happening. At the time of pandemic, he learned that the people are the most important thing in the company and so, he returned to the company to take good care for the wellness of the people. While, Mr. Viguilla had a lack of expertise in the field of delegation. He personally found it difficult to delegate work, especially critical work. On the bright side, through the guidance of his past supervisors, he learned how to enhance both his own job and the work that is meant to be delegated from the employees.

With regards to their inspirations, they have different responses. Engr. Zuluaga finds inspiration in God. As a citizen in Colombia, where it is a Catholic country, he told us that to be a good leader and a better person day by day is through God. Mr. Viguilla finds inspiration in his wife. His wife's enthusiasm for her career has a big impact on him, and this inspiration is what keeps him motivated to always be a good leader.

Both interviewees gave intuitive advices, these tips can help us in fulfilling our roles as leaders. Engr. Zuluaga advices that when we do business in the future, we should always prioritize our employees and pay attention to people around us. He also said that we must always feel passion for what we do. Mr. Viguilla emphazised on leaders having patience and being brave in taking risks. He also said that one must always be confident, especially in dealing with bosses and clients, whether it may be internal or external. Most importantly, one should be happy and content in their work.

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Ruxandra and Juanita's Interview with Engr. Alejandro Zuluaga, Manager from a Colombian government company

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Ruxandra and Juanita's Interview with Engr. Alejandro Zuluaga, Manager from a Colombian government company

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Tell us something about the company/organization.

Engineer Alejandro Zuluaga worked for several years as manager of a Colombian government company, transforming cassava into starch. In this company he helped many farmers and managed to lead a company that went from being in losses of two million dollars to being in profits of 5 million dollars.

There came a point in his life where he realised that this job was not making him totally happy and he decided to start a business with his two children two years ago.

He is currently working on his venture called PALANTE, which is a food and beverage marketplace that supports small and medium enterprises; but he is also a strategic advisor to companies, he is in charge of strategic planning.

What was one mistake that you made as a leader that you can never forget?  What did you learn from this mistake?

Alejandro told us that he has been working for more than forty years and recalls that at the beginning, companies prioritized results and numbers, people were not important, it was always first the doing and then the being. He considers it a mistake or regret not having acted in time in the companies he worked for because he was not so aware of what was happening, because for him at this time the most important thing in a company are the people without them there is no company.

He also tells us that with the pandemic he learned many lessons, the importance of having a coach in the company to be with the people who get sick both physically and mentally, but also how we all understood the importance of food and that without it we cannot live.

Who inspired you to be a good leader?

Alejandro tells us that his inspiration to be a good leader and a better person day by day is God, Colombia is a very catholic country, and he is a very spiritual person and finds in God a lot of inspiration.

What are your tips for aspiring leaders?

The engineer recommends us as young students with a future ahead of us to have our own companies and be great leaders, always prioritize our employees, pay attention to the people around us, do not let our ego go to our heads and always feel passion for what we do.

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Being a manager is an arduous task itself, and being an effective leader will undoubtedly make you garner respect among colleagues. Moreover, most efficient managers are driven by another force whether it may be external or internal. This fuel may also originate from another respectable figure which can vary from former presidents to your very own partner in life. In accordance with the interviews that took place with the Filipino and Colombian leaders respectively, we were able to reach a sudden realisation that what makes a leader great is not perfection but exerting effort on learning how to get back on your knees and in changing your past mistakes.

In other words, it is turning your weaknesses into strengths and further strengthening your set of strengths.

Another aspect that makes people deem an individual as a respectable leader is their ability to empower their subordinates or colleagues. A great leader and manager do not trample upon those who may be lower in position, but they uplift their spirits so that they may also flourish in their career. Everything that we have mentioned above are the qualities that our interviewees, Mr. Rico Viguilla and Engr. Engineer Alejandro Zuluaga, exudes based on the experiences and thoughts they have shared.

Every leader's life doesn't require one to be perfect and doesn't make any mistakes in life. Based on the interview we had with the Philippine manager and Columbian manager, I realized that the only important thing for us to be considered as one is an individual's ability and perseverance. The ability of an individual to become a leader isn't defined by their mistakes but by their experiences and determination that help them to become the best version of themselves. Mistakes happen and what we’ve learned from both leaders is that they have moved past it and done better the next chance they encountered the same problem.

Our greatest fear as leaders shouldn’t be in failing or simply making mistakes, but in refusing to learn and grow from it.

It was very interesting to be able to listen to different positions of such important leaders, but the most impressive thing for us is to listen to different cultures and see how they think. We draw the conclusion that people should always be the most important asset of a company and we have to learn to delegate and have patience to be great leaders.

What we were able to learn from these two leaders is that we must c ontinuously believe in yourself, keep the spiritual connection with God and embrace the people we work with in order to be as successful as possible in achieving the numbers. Motivation always comes from around us.