On faith & Leadership
Distinct leadership style of Davao's district head
Dr. Maria Ines Casona Asuncion’s name always rings a bell among educators in Davao Region. Why would it not be? She is not Davao City’s schools division superintendent (SDS) for nothing.
Ma’am Ines, as teachers call her, is known for her leadership traits. A distinctive style that earned her respect and admiration.
Her so-called shared leadership style is something that is never left unnoticed by her colleagues.
Manuel Esperanza, a school principal of Southern Davao National High School in Panabo City where Ma’am Ines served as SDS before she was assigned again in Davao City, confirmed this by saying she involves people in making important decisions especially those related to the school’s organization and operation.
“She consults when it comes to planning and she considers others’ opinions before she decides,” he added.
Aside from that, Esperanza said she has the heart to understand people and the courage to decide.
This is true as Ma’am Ines said she has always applied spirituality in the workplace. But her being strict in terms of policy making and compliance is evident to teachers and Deped personnel.
“I would be very strict for public service and for the greater good of the general public. But in terms of human resource management, I apply my spiritual learning from the convent. I understand people more in different perspectives,” she said.
She also has her share of frustrations in work when outputs are delivered with mediocrity but she believes that when people work together, they will learn together and improve their work.
In terms of managing and leading, Ma’am Ines said a superintendent must have both managerial and leadership skills.
“One can be a manager but not a good leader. And one could be a good leader but not a good manager,” she said.
She elaborated that one should have a good grasp of the organization’s mission, key result areas, performance indicators, and deliverables as a manager. Moreover, one should have passion and the vision to influence the organization and the community as a leader.
Ma’am Ines also emphasized these traits to her learner-teachers from different regions in Mindanao. She is a Flexible Learning Tutor of SeameoInnotech, an international organization offering online flexible courses particularly to teachers.
She guides teachers to become effective leaders and classroom managers at the same time. Ma’am Ines makes sure that teachers and school heads will not only prioritize learning the expected competencies in school, but a kind of learning entrenched in one’s being.
And one thing that is rooted in her is her faith in God. Not many people know it, but she was a nun for eight years before she became a classroom teacher.
At 20, she involved herself in a congregation and became a nun. Inside the convent, Ma’am Ines allowed her faith to grow more. She experienced miracles and answered prayers. For her, the healing of her family from serious illnesses were works of God.
“My intimacy with God transformed my life which helped in my professional life as well,” Ma’am Ines said.
She got sick at one point in her life and she did not want to become a burden in the congregation. It was the reason why she decided to leave although the congregation followed her up for the next five years with the hope that she will return.
But even when she was young, she had always imagined herself to become a nun serving God through His people. She said she grew up in a simple, dedicated, religious, and well-principled family. They worked, played, prayed, and ate together almost all the time. Her family’s guidance led her to her heart’s deepest yearning.
“Deep in my heart, I was determined to finish my studies and be a nun someday to be closer to God,” she said.
She was also influenced by the Sisters of the Presentations of Mary who administered the school where she came from. In Holy Cross of Mintal, Ma’am Ines appreciated more her being a Catholic.
Her English teacher in high school remembered her as a value-laden girl.
“She was so interested to join religious activities. Probably she got it from her mother,” Jose Neri D. Alminaza, now the station manager of DXJR radio in Midsayap, North Cotabato, said.
Alminaza also said both their mothers were close because they were catechists and they loved to teach and share the Words of God.
But like other girls, the former DXGN radio manager said Ma’am Ines mingled with friends too but she was reserved from the start.
“She has this lukewarm personality. She will not go around and really have fun, but she did well in school,” Alminaza recalled as he mentioned Ma’am Ines belonged to those with honors.
Esperanza, on the other hand, said she is a trusting friend. “She will trust you and motivate you when you become her friend,” he said.
After leaving the convent, the former nun-turned-educator stayed idle for three years. She was adjusting to her new environment and her family was all there supporting her. At first, she wanted to engage in business but her alma mater invited her to teach.
She started her teaching career in 1995. She spent one year in a private school and transferred to a public school as an elementary teacher. And the ladder on the way up was clear in front of her.
She could not understand at first why the ladder was offering its stair one by one to her. But she knew it was the work of God.
“Many people helped me in my way. My superiors were so supportive and they even facilitated almost everything,” she recalled.
In 2002, she became a Master Teacher 1 at Imelda Elementary School (ES) and two years after she became a School-In-Charge at Bartolome ES. Her fate walked with her as she rose from one position to another. She became a school principal for a year and was promoted as education supervisor in 2006.
Later, she was designated as Assistant Schools Division Superintendent (ASDS) of Davao City Di- vision and was transferred at Panabo City Division as SDS. She returned to Davao City as full-fledged SDS.
But it wasn’t all about work in her life. Along the way in her teaching career, love bloomed between her and Loued who later became her husband. For her, he was another answered prayer.
“He is God’s greatest gift to me,”she said.
For her, she met a good provider and a supportive husband. And they were blessed with another greatest gift – their son, Lloyd Andrei.
Ma’am Ines considers success in work and family as her fate anchored in her strong faith in God.
Work-life integration, she said, needs to be developed. It will be wholesome if we could integrate our life with our work and work with our life.
“We work in order to live not that we live in order to work. We maintain a healthy and sane lifestyle if we maintain spirituality in the workplace and this work-life integration,” she furthered.
People in the workplace see her as a strong woman and hands-on performer; others consider her as firm but flexible, strict yet acquiescent.
Neil Michael de Asis, an education supervisor in Panabo City, has the same observation about her when she was his superior.
“She is firm. She looks strict and she comes strong but she has a heart for people,” he said.
All of these qualities are indications of good leadership. And when one applies what is known to be spiritual intelligence, a term used by some philosophers and developmental theorists to indicate spiritual parallels with IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient), one can never go wrong. And that’s Ma’am Ines.
With the preparation of the long-week Davraa (Davao Region Athletic Association) Meet here in Davao City, Ma’am Ines is showing her strong leadership again by leading, meeting, and involving people to work together to meet their goal.