FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Institute of Accounts, Business, and Finance
Thought Leadership Presentation Report
In Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements in
MGT1101 - Leadership and Decision Making
Selected Organization:
En Route Travel and Tours Services Inc.
Successful leader interviewed:
Mrs. Julibelle Marie Magpantay-Alsaheel
Sec5-MN Green and Gold Leaders Members:
Gemeniano, Glydel Gwyneth D.
Zamora, Zem Andrei Z.
Sto. Domingo, Elejah Jen A.
Timbol, Avril Querubin C.
Domingo, Maria Jonalyn C.
Prof. Leonardo F. Cada, Jr.
November 29, 2021
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
2
Overview/Name of the Business
3
Company Address and Company Details
3
Date of Virtual or Online Interview
4
Resume of Person Interviewed
4
Questionnaire Template
7
Transcript of the Interview
8
A. Transcript
8
B. Summary
16
C. Evaluation
17
D. Conclusion
18
Photo Documentation
19
Individual Reflection Paper/Personal Plan
19
A. Domingo, Maria Jonalyn Cortez
19
B. Gemeniano, Glydel Gwyneth de Lima
20
C. Sto. Domingo, Elejah Jen Amistad
21
D. Timbol, Avril Querubin Cabasal
22
E. Zamora, Zem Andrei Zita
23
Acknowledgement
25
References
26
Appendix/Appendices
28
2
Overview/Name of the Business
En Route Travel and Tours Services, Inc. is the business name of our interviewed leader. It is a
travel agency based in Manila, Philippines engaged in ticketing, in-bound tours, hotel reservations,
sightseeing, and other activities for groups or even individuals both domestic and abroad. They
also accommodate visa and passport assistants, travel insurance and consultations, and local and
international transfers. This business of Mrs. Magpantay-Alsaheel is an incorporation. En Route
Travel and Tours Services Inc. is her first business which has been running and operating for about
eight (8) years and counting. She is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and at the same time
operating manager of her travel agency.
Company Address and Company Details
The following includes the businesses of Mrs. Magpantay-Alsaheel. The main focus for this report,
however, is A. En Route Travels and Tours Services Inc. because, as stated by her, it was her
first business.
A. En Route Travel and Tours Services Inc.
a. Company Address:
Celmark Bldg., 808 Remedios St, Malate, Manila, 1004 Metro Manila
b. Contact Details:
0917 509 6835
c. Company official Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/enroute.ph/.
B. Almaidan Recruitment Agency (Saudi)
a. Company Address:
Malaz Dist., P.O.Box: 25690, Postal Code: 11476, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
b. Contact Details:
01-4743664
C. Touch of Elegance Beauty Salon and Spa (Manila and QC Branch)
a. Company Address:
i.
2030 Dapitan St, Sampaloc, Manila, 1008 Metro Manila (Manila Branch)
ii.
101 Visual Color Bldg. Kalayaan ave. Quezon City, Philippines (QC
Branch)
b. Contact Details:
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i.
0917 509 6835 (Manila Branch)
ii.
0927 915 5577 (QC Branch)
D. Elegance Skin Ph
E. Mama Cusina Cafe (Manila and QC)
Date of Virtual or Online Interview
● November 8, 2021, at 5:00 PM
The virtual interview happened last November 8, 2021, Monday at 5:00 PM through a Zoom
Meeting. The interviewers are the members of the Green and Gold Leaders: Domingo, Maria
Jonalyn C., Gemeniano, Glydel Gwyneth D., Sto. Domingo, Elejah Jen A., Timbol, Avril Querubin
C., & Zamora, Zem Andrei Z. The interviewee is the CEO of En Route Travel and Tours Services
Inc, Mrs. Julibelle Marie Magpantay-Alsaheel.
Resume of Person Interviewed
Mrs. Julibelle Marie M. Magpantay-Alsaheel (Mrs. Belle), the founder and owner of En Route
Travel and Tours Services, Incorporation, is a motivational businesswoman with a strong
background in her field. She has the ability to be an effective leader with many years of hands-on
experience supervising her team of employees while simultaneously managing her other
businesses. Aside from her ability to teach and mentor her employees, she stands out for her
selflessness and perseverance in her work, as well as her decisiveness. Also, her ability to create
an inspiring team environment fosters open communication with her team.
Mrs. Magpantay-Alsaheel is engaged with different businesses relating tourism, skin care,
and food industries. When she started her first business, she was enrolled in her master's degree,
hoping to find someone who can teach and guide her in managing. At the time, she found the
perfect mentor who would later become her husband. Additionally, she also attended several and
various business seminars and gained certifications through them. She sees managing a business
as continuously learning along with coursing through adversities. Now she is pursuing a doctorate
in industrial psychology while managing her many businesses.
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Figure 4.1: Resume of Mrs. Magpantay-Alsaheel
5
Figure 4.2: Resume of Mrs. Magpantay-Alsaheel (Continuation)
6
Questionnaire Template
1.
Please briefly describe the nature of your business.
2.
What is your role/position in the business and what are the necessary competencies or skills
that are required to fulfill your role?
3.
Entrepreneurship requires a variety of tasks in operating a business such as marketing,
accounting, customer care and others. What preparations have you earned in starting your
business?
4.
3.1.
College degree in business or entrepreneurship
3.2.
Attending business trainings and seminars
3.3.
Prior experiences in a business/managing a business
3.4.
Others
As a leader, you would usually engage with followers in your business/es. For you, what
is the most important value a follower should have/acquire? Note: You may choose 1 or
you may rank the choices according to your preference.
4.1.
intelligence
4.2.
respect
4.3.
commitment
4.4.
pace/tempo/speed
5.
How are you able to delegate tasks efficiently among your followers?
6.
How do you strengthen your relationships with your followers?
6.1.
In relation to the question above, how do you handle disagreements with your
followers?
7.
What is your driving force to become a successful entrepreneur? What inspires you to put
up your business/es?
8.
What are the challenges and pitfalls have you experienced as an entrepreneur and how do
you overcome them?
9.
10.
How do you balance your personal life with your life as a successful business leader?
Lastly, in your own words, how would you define a successful business
leader/entrepreneur?
7
Transcript of the Interview
A. Transcript
Domingo: Good Afternoon po, Mrs. Belle. I am Maria Jonalyn C. Domingo po, and you can call
me Jonalyn. So for the first question po, please briefly describe the nature of your business.
Magpantay-Alsaheel: I am engaged with different businesses. The first business that I had
is related to the tourism industry which is the En Route Travel and Tours Services Incorporated. It
is almost 8 years operating now. Then, the next business that I had is related to the beauty industry.
We have two branches of Touch of Elegance Beauty Salon and Spa which is situated in Manila
and the second branch is situated in Quezon City. The next business that I established recently is
Mama Cusina which is a food business and the Elegance Skin Ph which is related to skin care
business industry.
Domingo: Thank you po. For the second question, what are your roles or positions in the
businesses, and what are the necessary skills that are required to fulfill your roles?
Magpantay-Alsaheel: En Route Travel and Tours Services Incorporated kasi ang una
kong company so I am the CEO or chief executive officer of En Route. Also, at the same time, I
am the operations manager. With other businesses that I mentioned a while ago, which is the salon
and spa, the food businesses and skincare business, I am the sole owner. To be the CEO of the
small businesses, it requires a lot of positive outlook, a lot of patience. You should also have the
charisma of being the CEO and sole owner of such businesses regardless if it's big or small. At the
same time, you should be knowledgeable about your businesses. Also, the most important thing is
to find the right people for you that would stay not only on your ups but also to your downs.
Domingo: Thank you po for the wonderful answers. And I think po yung mga advice niyo
regarding po on how to handle your business and how to fulfill your roles is magagamit po namin
if someday plan din namin magkaroon ng sarili naming business. Thank you po.
Magpantay-Alsaheel: Thank you, darling.
Domingo: And for the second person to ask questions may I call on Glydel Gwyneth.
Gemeniano: Hi po! My name is Glydel Gwyneth D. Gemeniano, but you can also call me
Glydel. So for the third question, entrepreneurship requires a variety of tasks in operating a
business such as marketing, accounting, customer care and others. What preparations have you
earned in starting your business? Is it a college degree in business or entrepreneurship? Attending
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business trainings and seminars? Prior experiences in business or managing a business? Or if there
are others?
Magpantay-Alsaheel: Okay darling I’ll make it in an easier way para to explain about it.
During the time when I entered this kind of business, I was currently enrolled in my master’s
degree, but it doesn’t mean that I had already the full knowledge when I started the business. So
when I wanted to start my business with the travel agency I was really clueless. Wala akong alam
at all. To be honest, even when I was in my master’s degree program back then. I was hoping
during that time that I could find someone who can teach me or guide me with everything that I
should learn before putting up a business. Kasi it’s not about investing money, it’s not all about
money kasi. You should really be knowledgeable of what business yung pinapasukan mo. So low
and behold, I find the perfect mentor for me during that time. So it was my husband who guided
me with everything kasi he’d been in different kinds of businesses. He’d been in recruitment
agency, he also have his own company in Saudi Arabia, so it was easier for me to learn everything
through him. Kaya nga true about yung saying that “You really have to find the right person to
help you grow.” So ako I grow because of the help of my husband. So a part of that, apart from all
that I learned from him, I also took a lot of business seminars back then. Kasi it’s not really easy
na like in travel agency, if you search it sa Google, “How to put up a travel agency?” sasabihin
lang sa’yo ni Google, “O you just need a desktop.”, “You just need a wifi.”. No it’s not like that.
When you put up a business, marami talagang factors na kailangan mong i-consider and kailangan
mong pag-aralan. You have to enroll in different kinds of seminars para mapag-aralan mo yung
mga Abacus and everything, sobrang dami, and hindi lang siya like it is considered as continuous
learning. So you don’t stop learning. Every year you learn something new. So ganoon kami sa
travel agency. Aside from that, also yung mga different platforms natin na ready na online like
Youtube, yun nga yung sinasabi ko na it’s a continuous learning. Kailangan maka-adapt ka sa mga
bago, yung mga bagong trends sa travel industry. So you cannot just i-aano mo yung sarili mo
kung ano lang yung mga natutunan mo before. No, hindi ganoon sa tourism. So through different
platforms online, Like Youtube ganoon you’ll find a lot of topics na pwede niyang i-help ka with
the business. Then of course yun, attending seminars for you to get certified and to give certificates
as well. So those are the things that I took in the past when I took up the travel industry business.
Gemeniano: Okay so for the fourth question po, as a leader you would usually engage
with followers in your business. For you what is the most important value a follower should have
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or acquire? You may choose one or you may rank the choices according to your preference.
Intelligence, respect, commitment, or pace, tempo, or speed.
Magpantay-Alsaheel: Actually everything is important naman, but if I will rank it for me
lang ha, The most important for me is the commitment. The commitment in everything that they
do. Kasi without commitment you cannot have that deep understanding with anything. Whether it
is in a relationship or business. You should always put the commitment and the passion to
everything that you do regardless if it’s in business, studies, lahat, even in personal life. For me
that’s the most important thing then to follow na lang siguro yung intelligence, respect, and the
pace.
Gemeniano: Thank you so much po for the wonderful insights. Actually, naalala ko nga
po yung lesson nung teacher namin na sabi niya leadership is not study alone and not experiences
alone, parang combination siya ng both. Tyaka yung importance ng pagkakaroon ng mentor yun
po.
Magpantay-Alsaheel: In the future maiintindihan niyo rin yan. Actually, you can be
entrepreneurs na rin even at an early age eh. You know in everything it’s a combination. Hindi
lang kasi pwedeng matalino ka lang, no. Dapat you put your heart into, your mind also at the same
time. And you are sure in what you are doing. It’s the most important thing when you put up a
business.
Gemeniano: Okay so for the next question po here is Ms. Amistad.
Sto. Domingo: How are you able to delegate tasks efficiently among your followers?
Magpantay-Alsaheel: As an employer, how I delegate the task? Ako kasi may point of
delegating the task, as an employer. He should be aware, he should know the skills, the potential
skills of your employee. You cannot delegate a task if you are not aware kung ano yung kakayahan
ng employees mo or subordinates mo. So that’s a very important factor, you should know their
strength, their weaknesses because how would they be able to accomplish a certain task if they are
not taking to that or if they are not knowledgeable into that task.
For example, kasi since I am in industrial psychology, I’m taking up my doctorate in
industrial psychology, so most likely we are connected in human resource management. So, it is
very important for us to know whenever we hire people, the skills what the employee has, that’s
one of the job requirements. So ako the way I delegate task to my employees, from the very
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beginning that I hired them, I should know na kung ano yung mga skills na meron sila. Once alam
ko na yung skills, I know exactly to whom I will delegate the task.
Second is you provide them enough resources, hindi lang yung utos ka nang utos, o gawin
mo ‘to, o gawin mo ‘yan. No, it’s not like that. You should provide them the resource for them to
be able to accomplish a certain task na ide-delegate mo sa kanila. So for me, that’s the most
important.
And another thing is to have an open communication with your team or with your employee
kasi I'm not saying all once. Once na nakahanap na kayo ng work, maiintindihan niyo rin yung
ibig kong sabihin. There are employers [who] just love delegating the task; they just love giving
you orders ganon, and they are not open to anything basta’t inutos ko sa ‘yo, gawin mo, parang
ganon. Sa akin in my way, no. I always prefer na magkaroon ng open communication with my
employees. At least, I would understand if nahihirapan ba sila, if they need guidance and ayon any
help that you could offer them during the time na ginagawa nila yung mga task na inassign mo
sakanila. So for me those are the important things na you should consider when delegating task.
That’s what I'm doing with my employees, in the office, and in the salon, so ‘yon.
Sto. Domingo: How do you strengthen your relationships with your followers? In relation
to the question above, how do you handle disagreements with your followers?
Magpantay-Alsaheel: With my employees kasi, you should understand na, pa’no ko ba eexplain? From now palang, dapat open-minded na kayo na, us people, we have different
personalities, so we cannot please everyone. As an employer kasi, if may mga disagreements
within the company or within the team, you should know how to handle them in a professional
manner.
So my ways of handling them is if I found out that may disagreements or there are conflict
between my employees, hindi ko siya pinapatagal or ini-ignore. Right away, I put into action; I
mean tinatawag ko sila, you should-- There is always two sides of the story, so hindi ka pwedeng
you’re just listening to one side and kakampihan mo na siya. Hindi gano’n ‘yon. Dapat pakinggan
mo both and then tsaka ka magkaro’n ng ano sakanila. Most of the time kino-confront ko talaga
sila and pinaghaharap ko sila kasi, as much as possible, ayoko ng tumatagal yung conflict and I try
to explain to them if I find someone na may mali. I’m very honest and very straight forward;
sinasabi ko diretso kung ano mali niya and ‘di niya dapat gawin ‘yon do’n sa co-worker niya kasi
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as much as possible the way I managed with my people, the way I treat them, hindi kagaya ng
small companies.
Mukha lang akong masungit or mukha lang strikta. Yes, I am very strict when it comes to
work, but the way I treat my employees, I treat them, same like my family. ‘Yon yung gusto ko;
gusto ko yung parang may pagka-family-oriented pa yung company ko or yung team ko kasi mas
comfortable ako in that way, in that kind of management. So the way I handle them ganon, ikoconfront ko, pakikinggan ko, both side, and if I find na merong mali, kakausapin ko in a nice way
and in private kasi that’s the professional way of leaving things. We don’t need to humiliate
someone who made a mistake. You don’t need to humiliate them in front of the other employee;
that’s never been my way. Most of the time, I talk to them in private as much as possible kasi
nakakababa ng moral ‘pag pinagalitan mo ang employee mo in front of other employee[s], and
that is something that I will not tolerate in my company.
Zamora: Before that, may I call on Ms. Avril for the next questions?
Timbol: I am Avril Timbol po. You may call me po, bril. For the next two questions po is:
What is your driving force to become a successful entrepreneur? And What inspire you po to put
up your business?
Magpantay-Alsaheel: Is this the last two question ba?
Timbol: No po. Pang-7th po.
Magpantay-Alsaheel: What is my driving force?
Timbol: Opo.
Magpantay-Alsaheel: ...to? Puwedeng paano?
Timbol: Ano po ang nag-inspire po sa inyo para i-put ‘yong business niyo o maging isa
po kung nasaan po kayo ngayon?
Magpantay-Alsaheel: Okay. With travel agency - with under travel agency, sabi nila
‘yong mga nagpu-put up ng travel agency business is because they love travelling kaya sila nagput up ng travel agency but most of the time natatawa ako whenever nakakarinig ako ng ganun,
okay? I put up the travel agency-.yees! I’ve been travelling before. As in konti na lang ang address
ko sa airplane na parang I’m staying at home lang like 2 to 3 days then aalis nanaman ako. That
was my life before the pandemic, why? It is because part of my job; I need to travel to different
places, take photos kasi kailangan namin sa marketing namin—collaborate to different tour
agencies in provinces, local and abroad—so Asian countries ganun. Nakikipag-meeting ako para
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makakuha kami ng contracted rates. But the reason why I put up my travel agency is at first is not
because I love travelling. I put up the travel agency it’s because I saw the income from travel
agency, why? Because I am connected with recruitment agency. So, recruitment agency is
different from travel agency. Recruitment agency meaning deployed OFW abroad, okay? So,
paano ko siya na-connect sa travel agency? ‘Pag nagapapaalis kami ng applicants namin papuntang
abroad, kailangan naming i-book ‘yong ticket ng applicants namin through travel agency. So, from
that nakita ko na—oh, wait, kesa sila ang kumikita bakit hindi na lang ako? bakit hindi ako magput ng travel agency ko? So, ‘yon ang naging driving force ko to put up the travel agency. It’s not
because I love travelling partly after I open the travel agency but before I open the travel agency,
I saw the potential of earning something from travel agency through recruitment agency. Tapos with ano naman - with salon, kasi ang recruitment agency sobra sobrang nakaka-stress, as in super
stressful ‘yong job but for me kasi nacha-challenge ako ako kapag ganun kaya kahit stressful siya
so naisip ko—okay ‘yong stress ko most of the time pumupunta ako ng salon para mag-pamper,
mag-relax. So, that’s naman naging reason ko to open up a salon until sumunod-sunod na. So,
‘yon.
Timbol: For my next question po. What are the challenges and pitfalls have you
experienced as an entrepreneur and how do you overcome them po?
Magpantay-Alsaheel: Challenges? Siguro before the pandemic, it was the different
personalities of my employee, kasi you need a lot of people to meet different employees. Every
now and then, may aalis [at] may mag-is-stay. So, siguro ‘yon ang maco-consider ko na challenge
ko before and you have to really extend your patience and you really have to live with it. Good
thing na lang na psychology ako - in a way—easy for me to handle those things. The recent talaga
na challenges that really hits me is this pandemic. So, hindi lang naman ako but everyone in the
industry really had the most. Ito na talaga ‘yong pinakamahirap na naging—na-encounter namin
throughout the years na nasa industry kami. So, it really hits us. How do I overcome it? Actually,
it really made us - to the point that I felt—malapit na ako ma-depress because of the situation.
Because palabas nang palabas ‘yong pera, alam mo ‘yon? ‘Yong mga sinave mo from the past
years, that you earn, nawala—nailabas mo na during this pandemic kasi sarado lagi - lagi ‘di ba?
Laging lockdown ganyan, so wala - walang income and your bills are running every day. Siguro
na-handle ko siya in a way that - since the travel agency was close for the longest time. Na-handle
ko siya in a way na parang nag-isip ako ng other alternatives na para maka-cope up ako sa situation
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because if I will just wait until mag-open uli ang mundo para sa tourism industry, lubog na talaga
ako sa utang which I don’t want myself to see na ganun ako kabagsak. So, nakaisip ako ng
alternative to open a food business kasi nakita ko during that time nung lockdown, ang mga food
business ang nagbo-boom then sumunod ‘yung mga skincare line. From that naka-cope up ako
kahit papano habang inaantay ko na totally mag-open and mag-function na ang tourism industry—
so, ganun lang. Wala, faith lang talaga—dasal-dasal then basa-basa ganun.
Timbol: Thank you po. Pinapangarap ko rin po in the near future na magkaroon ng isang
travel agency at nakakuha po ako ng mga lessons and ‘yon po naka-relate rin po ako sa talaga pong
naapektuhan ‘yong sa tourism industry po kasi po we have a business na aligned sa tourism
industry which is resort po. Ang hirap din po talaga, nakikita ko po ‘yong hirap ng parents ko.
Magpantay-Alsaheel: Yes, we are not allowed to operate, ‘di ba?
Timbol: Opo. Lalo na po ‘yong mga bata, matatanda, ‘yon po ang madalas na pumupunta
sa mga resort. Thank you po. For the last two questions po, here’s Mr. Zamora.
Zamora: Good afternoon po, Mrs. Belle. I am Zem Zamora, and you may call me Zem.
For the second to the last question: how do you balance your personal life with your life as a
successful business leader?
Magpantay-Alsaheel: To be honest, imagine niyo how many businesses I am managing.
Lahat ng business ko talagang hands-on ako with everything. Plus, I am studying every weekend
kasi nagdo-doctorate ako—doctor of philosophy in industrial psychology. So super-duper-duperduper hectic ng schedule ko. The good thing is wala pa akong baby now, so wala pa akong
responsibility when it comes to it. My husband is abroad; currently na-lockdown siya doon abroad
kaya ang time ko lang talaga is for my time alone and for my studies and those businesses, but still
kulang ‘yong time.
How do I manage? Siguro napaka-importante ng time management. You have to consider
din iyong mga important things; you have to manage your time accordingly doon sa mga priorities
mo. For me, I don't have time for going out or travelling somewhere. For now, I don't have those
time. Priority ko is more on with my business, with my studies. Those are the top two (2) priorities
ko as of now. I manage my time accordingly: I have schedule for checking my salon business; I
have schedule for recruitment agency; I have also working schedule for my travel agency kasi even
closed ang travel agency doesn't mean that we are not functioning when it comes to tourism
agency. But we are still functioning when it comes to ticketing kasi nga with the recruitment
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agency, continuous ang deployment ng OFW namin so nagbu-book pa rin kami ng ticket. I also
have schedule for meetings pagdating sa skin care line ko since bago iyon.
Pero imagine-in niyo na lang, I am sleeping for 4-5 hours a day [laughter]. Pero whenever
I feel like burnout ako, I try to squeeze my time para makapagpahinga kasi siyempre tao ka lang,
'di ba? Sa akin, importante iyong time management. Alamin mo muna iyong priorities mo, then
set and schedule kasi hindi puwedeng halo-halo. Before, halo-halo, so parang maiiyak na ako,
parang pagod na pagod na ako. Pero you really need to be very organized and very keen doon sa
mga priorities mo. Once naayos mo iyong schedule mo, everything will run smoothly naman, so
that's how I manage my personal life-- wala yata ako masyadong sa personal life ko dahil iyong
husband ko nasa abroad. We talk every day. Alam niya naman iyong time na puwede kaming magusap and iyong time pagka we're both busy in the work. Puro work-work lang ako.
Zamora: We understand po na importante talaga iyong setting schedule and priority
management lalo na po involved po kayo sa at least five (5) businesses?
Magpantay-Alsaheel: Oo, tapos nagwo-work pa ako sa recruitment agency, 'di ba?
Zamora: Lastly po, in your own words, how would you define a successful business
leader/entrepreneur?
Magpantay-Alsaheel: For me a successful business leader is not just about getting six (6)
digits of savings. You get my point? It's not only about earning a lot. Isang factor is earning a lot
of money, pero you cannot consider yourself successful if iyon lang iyong goal mo. No, for me
personally, a successful leader is someone who is very passionate with what she's doing, [someone]
who is passionate with her people, and someone who can inspire other people na maging kagaya
mo rin—ma-push mo sila na sundin din ang footstep mo [at] ma-guide sila in a way. For me, iyon
iyong kino-consider ko na maging-- iyon iyong alam ko na successful leader. Para sa akin iyan;
it's my own opinion that it's not all about money. Yes partly, it's about money. Di ka naman nagbibusiness para ganoon lang, thank you lang. Partly yes, money, but still it is about being passionate
and inspiring other people and even iyong mga new generation like iyong mga age niyo.
To put into a lot of hard work, and [to] put your heart into your job, kung anumang job
iyan, kung anumang business iyan na gusto niyong ma-achieve in the future, for me, iyon iyong
successful leader—iyong kaya mong i-guide, and kaya ka [ng mga subordinates na] sundan sa
magandang path. Same like my employees, not all your employees will stay with you forever.
Open na ako that one of these days, one of them will resign kasi magpapaalam. Even those past
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employees ko magre-resign because “Ma'am, I received a good opportunity from other company”
or “‘’ for abroad.” I always tell them “okay, go ahead.” I never stop them, why? Kasi if you see
them grow, [then] in-adapt nila iyong natutunan nila from me when they were working with me,
[tapos] nagamit nila iyon from other company, [next] you see them grow, and you see them very
successful, iyon na iyong siguro pinaka-ano mo sa sarili mo na naging successful leader ka to your
subordinates kasi they learned something from you, they used it, and they become successful.
For me, iyon, it's not really about money [dahil] hindi lahat money. Pero hindi ako
magpapakaplastik. Sinabi ko nga, 'di ba? Partly yes, money, pero for me, important pa rin iyong
mga ganitong factors i-consider: passionate, hardworking, talagang kung mahal mo iyong work
mo, mamahalin ka rin pabalik ng job mo or ng business mo. 'Tsaka mahalin niyo rin iyong mga
subordinates niyo in the future. Treat them same like a family, but with limitations din naman para
ma-maintain ang respect nila towards niyo.
Zamora: Napaka-heart warming pong isipin na iyong mga employees niyo, magagamit
nila iyong mga natutunan under your leadership to grow as a person.
Magpantay-Alsaheel: Yes! Nakaka-pride. To be honest, I have employees na they are not
working with me anymore, but they keep on messaging me, “Hi, Ma'am! Kumusta, Ma'am”,
“Ma'am, alam mo iyong tinuro mo sa aking ng ganito…” ganito, ganyan, and “Okay na, iyong
salary ko po…” ganito, ganyan. Nakakatuwa kasi in a way, naging part ka ng success nila. Masarap
sa pakiramdam bilang leader or bilang boss na natulungan mo silang maging successful in your
own small way.
Zamora: Thank you po for spending your time with us in answering our interview.
B. Summary
To summarize, the interviewee Mrs. Julibelle Marie Magpantay-Alsaheel is a successful business
leader who is currently participating in five (5) different businesses related to tourism, beauty,
food, and recruitment industry. As a business owner with multiple roles in the field, she believes
that it takes a positive outlook, patience, charisma, wisdom, and finding the right people as the
values and skills necessary to execute her role. Furthermore, Mrs. Magpantay-Alsaheel explained
the importance of having a mentor, attending seminars, and watching readily available online
platforms such as Youtube as the vital actions to take before starting a business. She further stated
the importance of both knowledge and skill by stating that learning is a continuous process for
understanding the trends that keeps a business going. In addition to this, Mrs. Magpantay-Alsaheel
16
highlighted “commitment” as the most important value she finds in her followers. Moreover, as
she is currently studying her doctorate degree under Industrial Psychology, Mrs. MagpantayAlsaheel mentioned understanding her subordinates’ skills, providing resources, and initiating
communication as a way to delegate tasks efficiently. On top of this, the business leader gave value
to open-mindedness and handling conflicts professionally when asked about handling
disagreements among subordinates. She expounded by telling that honesty, frankness and
confronting conflicts immediately while still maintaining morale and familial relationship is her
way to handle disagreements. To add, the business leader revealed that seeing the opportunity
between building a travel agency and her connection to a recruitment agency is the main reason
for putting up her business. Despite the many successes of Mrs. Magpantay-Alsaheel’s business,
she specified the challenges she had to experience such as the different personalities of her
subordinates pre-pandemic and the challenges of pandemic which affected many businesses inside
and outside of the country. She overcame this challenge by thinking of the alternatives which was
when she started her food business then followed by the beauty businesses afterwards.
Furthermore, the successful business leader emphasized the importance of time management when
balancing personal and professional life, and lastly, Mrs. Magpantay-Alsaheel gave a heartwarming insight about being passionate with job, life and inspiring people as she talks about her
own definition of a successful business leader/entrepreneur.
C. Evaluation
Being a business leader is not an easy role. Handling people, organizing schedules, and
maintaining quality output is not an easy task. Therefore, a person who aspires to be one is
expected to have the necessary competencies to fulfill the role. According to Martinuzzi (2016),
employees nowadays value a positive work environment just as much as they value salary and
career opportunities in choosing for companies to work in. Thus, creating a positive outlook at
work promotes loyalty and higher efficiency among the employees. In addition to this, it takes
more than just schooling alone to learn all about starting a business. As stated by Allen (2019),
having a mentor will make the learning process faster and easier for they already have the prior
knowledge in business and help avoid unnecessary mistakes. Also, finding the right people who
will help you achieve organizational goals is an important step when starting a business.
Committed employees tend to show better determination, productivity, and engagement towards
achieving business goals (Wainwright, 2019). Furthermore, as a business leader, one should know
17
how to delegate tasks effectively. As attested by Lloyd (2021), proper delegation of tasks is
beneficial for both the business and the employees for they encourage collaboration, monitoring
performance and contributes to employee development. Additionally, supporting openmindedness is a value every business leader should have whether it is in facilitating the business
or handling disagreements among followers. As per Landmark (2019), keeping open-mindedness
widens one’s knowledge and awareness in surroundings. Moreover, despite the knowledge and
shortcuts learned from mentorship, challenges will stay present in the business as long as it is
operable. Over the pandemic, company sales have been down to 67 percent from July to November
2020. A 21 percent decrease from data was collected in April to July of 2020 (FutureLearn, 2021).
This is a mirror of how businesses have struggled because of their limited operations as it follows
health and safety protocols during pandemic. In addition to this, the busy life of a business owner
could be a hindrance in managing different roles inside and outside of the business. Business
leaders who incorporate time management are more likely to achieve business goals and avoid
unsuspected issues (Business Trends, 2016). Lastly, “Most successful leaders don’t have a job –
they have a passion”, (Grieser, 2017). The message denotes the significance of passion as a
principle when starting a business. Not only is it in line with achieving business goals, but it also
inspires people to share the same passion and become successful people.
D. Conclusion
Building a strong leader-follower relationship is essential to the overall goal of a business.
According to O’ Brien (2014), building a strong employer and employee relationship enhances the
productivity, efficiency, bond and loyalty of the employees. This outlook was noticeable in Mrs.
Magpantay-Alsaheel’s leadership goal as she highlights the importance of building a familial
relationship with her subordinates. From the beginning, she already showed care and passion to
her people by learning about their skills before assigning a task. She would also make sure that the
employees would get enough resources in order to do a task accordingly. Most importantly, she
encourages having open communication to guide and avoid misinformation and other conflicts
among the team. When facing disagreements, she prefers to face it promptly and even if she can
be direct, she still values respect as she prefers to talk to her subordinates nicely and in a private
place to keep their morale. Having a leader who is able to connect with their subordinates while
still being able to keep the boundaries of a professional relationship to maintain respect is an
18
indicator that Mrs. Magpantay-Alsaheel exemplifies good leadership skills and therefore a true
business leader.
Photo Documentation
Figure 7.1: Screenshot of Mrs. Belle
Figure 2. Screenshot of Mrs. Belle further
answering a question
explaining her thoughts
Figure 3. Screenshot of Timbol asking a
Figure 4. Screenshot of photo opportunity
question
with Mrs. Belle
Individual Reflection Paper/Personal Plan
A. Domingo, Maria Jonalyn Cortez
Every person has the ability to become a leader. Leadership is also never easy as it requires hard
work. According to Davis (2021), leadership motivates a circle of persons to attain their similar
objectives. Leadership is also natural for some people while others take time to discover that they
have leadership skills and some become leaders because of the influence they got from other
leaders.
In the virtual interview that our group conducted with Mrs. Belle last Monday, November
8, 2021. I learned a lot of things on how to become a good leader. First is to have a positive outlook.
Which I totally agree with because having a positive outlook can help the leader uplift the team
members mood that can make them motivated. And our group relates to this since all of us have a
positive outlook which results in empowering one another to enjoy and be more efficient in
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accomplishing our tasks. Also, having patience and charisma. I also agree with this because the
expected outcome of the business can’t be attained overnight. That is why a business leader should
wait patiently. And in waiting, a business leader shouldn’t stop from working. They should still
consistently work. I can also relate having patience in my own experience since senior highschool,
I am often the group leader of the group works in our class. And I make my patience long by
setting the submission date of group mates on the agreed dates so that they can completely finish
their tasks. I also realized that if I do not make my patience long, the tasks would be rushed, and
it would have a negative result. That is why I give my groupmates enough time to finish their
output. Lastly, being charismatic is also great because a charismatic leader has the charm and
confidence in building stronger connections with his/her team members. I could also relate to this
because as a group leader when I was in senior highschool and in our research group today in
college I established a good relationship with my group mates that helps us to boost our teamwork
even more.
On this day, I have learned the skills that I need to become a leader. But if I will not be the
leader of a certain group, I can still be a follower since I am motivated to do the tasks that will be
assigned to me. Also the things that I learned from the virtual interview regarding leadership
wouldn’t just be applied in the groupworks that we have in the university but also on the outside.
B. Gemeniano, Glydel Gwyneth de Lima
Leadership is a word that can be expounded into different meanings. Personally, I see leadership
as a skill to influence and bring out the best in people. “An act of leadership is not exclusive to a
role.” (Kua, 2020). Although leadership is a highly expected skill for the role of the leader,
anybody can develop such skill which will be helpful inside and outside of the organization.
However, what does it take to develop good leadership?
Passion is one of the things I learned as Mrs. Belle defines what a successful business
leader is. Now, I have been afraid to take on a leadership role because of how big the responsibility
is. This is different from when I was younger for I was once always the leader of our group tasks
and willingly accept the role despite knowing the challenges that I might face. During my past
experiences as a leader, I have realized that being the most responsible in the group is not beneficial
especially when I would not share the responsibility with others. My goal as a leader was different
from what the real goal is. I was too conscious of the output that I forgot that one of the main
essences of group tasks is to collaborate and share the same goal as a team. It is only now that I
20
realized why having my groupmates only relying on me is partly my fault. I understood this as I
saw Mrs. Belle passionately talk about her subordinates. In the interview she talked about
communicating, understanding her subordinates’ skills, sharing the same goals and treating them
as a family and so I took them as pointers to better understand leadership for my next role as a
leader.
To this day, I have been learning how to better communicate with others. I have also
learned about myself that I am a better follower than a leader. Although taking on another
leadership role still feels like a challenge to me, I am sure that I can improve myself as I learn from
this course and observe from others.
C. Sto. Domingo, Elejah Jen Amistad
As we lived in a society that provided us with numerous opportunities and challenges, challenges
that we could neither avoid nor overcome. In order to deal with these challenges, we spoke with a
businesswoman named Mrs. Belle, who is the CEO of a company called En Route Travel and
Tours Services Incorporation. As part of her other business endeavors, she is pursuing a doctorate
in industrial psychology, she stated. It takes a lot of courage for her to deal with them, and she
admits that it is not easy for her. However, she has been working for 8 years and has already
managed and started other businesses that she opened while studying.
In her business, while being a CEO of an incorporation and an owner of other businesses,
she said that she's also the operations manager. She explained that this requires a great deal of
patience and that she must always be manageable and knowledgeable about her own business. Her
husband was the one who guided her and mentored her through the various aspects of her various
types of businesses. "It's really important to find the right person," she explained. In her
experiences, it must've been very exhausting and hard but I find it very inspiring and starting to
plan a business in the future. Adding your employees who you manage and teach of how the
business needs to be handled. I agree that it really requires a lot of patience. With her, she's very
strict when it comes to work but she also treats her employees as a family and that's what I admire
her the most. According to Adams, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do
more and become more, you are a leader”. I feel that it is very important that you have good
communication with your subordinates especially when it comes to business, because I believe
success is not how the money comes out but the people who work and help you throughout your
journey.
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When starting a business, I've learned that there are a bunch of considerations and decisions
to make. Those skills are very important when it comes to hiring an employee and especially being
committed in the business you’ve worked for. Business is a way of learning ideas. We don't let
business get in the way of learning and that you'll learn something new every day. The process of
starting a business is not the same as it used to be; we must adapt to new trends and not become
stuck with our old ideas, our business must constantly be new and fresh to the public, and it
requires a great deal of creativity.
D. Timbol, Avril Querubin Cabasal
Having skills and values is very important to a leader of a group or team as it will allow them to
be a successful leader and be able to inspire and impart a meaningful takeaway and lessons to their
subordinates that they can use to grow as an individual. Being committed is one of those values
that play a vital role, and I think I have it, but still, I need to keep improving it.
When we found out who we were going to interview and its established businesses, I was
really amazed and impressed because our interviewee, Mrs. Belle, manages not only one or two
businesses but at least five. I cannot quite imagine how she managed and operated her at least five
businesses she had at the same time, considering she is currently pursuing her doctorate degree.
But as we continued our interview, she mentioned that having commitment is the most important
value a leader should possess. And that is the time that I was enlightened, and it became clear to
me that the main reason why a person can do things at the same time is because he/she is committed
to it, and he/she really likes and loves what he/she is doing. Having a commitment will allow you
to understand everything you are going through along the way, situations that you are currently in,
and keep you going despite the adversity and challenges. She justified and proved that he had this
kind of leadership skill from the very start, where she handled more than one business while
studying. She seems to say that there are no reasons or excuses for her not to do these things that
will allow her to grow and develop as a person and a successful entrepreneur. Another proof that
she really possesses this skill is when this pandemic hit and caused severe challenges to their
business and industry. She said that she has come to the point that she will soon be depressed
because those in the tourism industry are not allowed to operate where the travel agency is aligned
with it. But because of her commitment and passion for what she does, she overcame this pitfall
by taking up alternative business and adapting to the changes and trends during the lockdown. She
saw those food businesses were the emerging and popular ones at that time, followed by skincare
22
lines. Thus, she established both of them. And here I am even more impressed with her because I
thought that maybe sometimes the reason why I easily give up and lose appetite for something is
because I lack commitment, or from the beginning, I was not really committed at all. However, as
time goes by, I see that when I really want something and put it in my mind and heart. I exert effort
and am committed to it no matter what disappointment and sudden conflict may arise. That is why
when it deepened on our interview, my spirit of commitment lifted even more. Interacting and
negotiating with other people is also a factor to make me aware of the value and skill that I must
possess and acquire when it comes to leadership matters so that I know what can and will work
best for me that will allow me also to be an effective and efficient leader in the near future.
I realize that I still have a lot of things to enhance and eliminate in my life so I can still
improve my management of prioritizing things and be more focused on it for my personal growth
and development and even for the people I socialize with. This serves as an eye-opener to me that
in order to lead me towards success, I must be committed to everything I do throughout the journey.
E. Zamora, Zem Andrei Zita
Leaders do require to possess certain skills that one either innately has or needs to develop to be
successful in their leadership position. Charisma is one of those skills, but I don’t think I have that
skill yet.
Before we were assigned to conduct this group activity, I was already curious about the
experiences of owners and heads of companies on how they achieved success. During the
interview, our interviewee, Mrs. Belle, mentioned the charisma of being CEO as one of the
necessary characteristics as a leader of her travel agency. She proves to possess this skill when she
talks about how even her former employees still come to talk to her and to thank her for her
teachings which they were able to use in their current jobs. This supports the idea that charismatic
leaders, who score high in neuroticism from the Five Factor Theory (McCrae & Costa, 2003), are
passionate in their work and when they are stressed (Hughes et al., 2021). In fact, being passionate
about one’s work is one of her definitions of a successful business leader. However, I believe I
still struggle to possess this charisma skill because I lack the confidence to charm and inspire my
groupmates. Because of this, when under the stress of finding a business leader to interview, I felt
like I was moody and anxious for most of the day until my groupmate, Elejah, told the group that
she knows one. Only then was I able to calm down. When we got into the interview part, I was
pretty interested about her stories and practices on how she managed to be part of a recruitment
23
agency while managing a travel agency and some beauty-based business as well. (I‘ll talk about
preparing the presentation here). Working in groups allowed me to be immersed in leadership
situations so that I can be more familiar with the managerial role that I may be promoted in the
future.
I realize that I will have to work on my social skills to improve not only as a leader of my
groups but also as an individual member of society. This may serve as a start and reminder for me
that to be a successful leader partly means to step out of my comfort zone and take steps to become
more charismatic.
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Acknowledgement
The accomplishment and result of our virtual interview were attained by the direction and backing
from many individuals. It required a ton of exertion from every group member engaged with the
virtual interview and we would like to appreciate and express a gratitude towards Mrs. MagpantayAlsaheel for conceding us a chance and for letting us have her time to interview her for the virtual
interview that happened via Zoom Meetings. She contributes a huge, invaluable help with our
paper. We are truly grateful to her for introducing us to her businesses, for telling stories on how
her business started, for telling us how to balance personal and business time and for giving us
advices on how to become a successful business leader that our group can apply if ever we all plan
to have our very own business in the future.
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References
Allen, S. (2019, June 19). Why every entrepreneur needs a business mentor. The Balance Small
Business. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/the-value-of-a-business-mentor-1200818.
Business Trends. (2016). Importance of time management for business owners. Orbital Shift.
https://www.orbitalshift.com/blog/business-owners-time-management.
Davis,
B.
(2021,
May
1).
What
is
the
best
definition
of
leadership?.
https://www.mvorganizing.org/what-is-the-best-definition-of-leadership/.
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https://www.futurelearn.com/info/futurelearn-international/philippines-economy-covid19.
Grieser, R. (2017, February 13). Why passionate leadership matters. The Ordinary Leader by
Randy
Grieser.
from
https://theordinaryleader.com/blog/why-passionate-leadership-
matters/.
Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (2021). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of
experience (10th ed.) [E-book]. McGraw-Hill Education.
Kua,
P.
(2020,
October
17).
Anyone
can
be
a
to
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Patkua.
https://www.patkua.com/blog/anyone-can-be-a-leader/.
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(2019,
October
25).
Why
leaders
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open
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–.
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Lloyd, S. (2021, July 7). Managers must delegate effectively to develop employees. SHRM.
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/organizational-and-employeedevelopment/pages/delegateeffectively.aspx.
Martinuzzi, B. (2016, June 8). What a positive outlook can do for your leadership effectiveness.
Business
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McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T., Jr. (2003). Personality in adulthood: A Five-Factor Theory
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Appendix/Appendices
Leadership and Decision-Making Approval Form
Group Member Names:
Section: 5-
Domingo, Maria Jonalyn Cortez; Gemeniano,
MN
Date: November 5, 2021
Glydel Gwyneth de Lima; Sto. Domingo, Elejah
Jen Amistad; Timbol, Avril Querubin Cabasal;
Zamora, Zem Andrei Zita
Leader Name
1. Julibelle Marie Magpantay-Alsaheel
Position
Organization/Business
HR
Almaidan Recruitment Agency
Consultant
(Saudi)
CEO
En Route Travel and Tours
Services Inc.
Owner
Touch of Elegance Beauty
Salon and Spa (Manila and QC
Branch)
Elegance Skin PH
Mama Cusina Café (Manila
ang QC)
Submitted by:
Approved by:
(SGD) Green and Gold Leaders
(SGD) Prof. Leonardo F. Cada, Jr.
Appendix 1: Signed Leadership and Decision-Making Approval Form
28