A study of bridging leadership in the Phillippines produced in cooperation with the Asian Institute of Management. It examines bridging leadership among business, civil society, NGOs, and government sectors.
In the early 1980's the Lihok-Pilipina Foundation was essentially a local credit program, operating in the city of Cebu. Just over a decade later, the foundation had become a catalyst in mobilizing diverse stakeholders around the issue of domestic violence and other gender issues throughout the Philippines. This case tells the story of Tessie Fernandez and her fight to end domestic violence. It outlines the struggles she and her colleagues faced and the strategies they employed to improve the quality of life for thousands of Filipino families. Most of all, the case illustrates what can happen when individuals exercise creative, "outside-the-box" leadership and are willing to explore collaboration with the most unlikely of potential partners.
Bridging leadership is a style of leadership that focuses on creating and sustaining effective working relationships among key partners and stakeholders. By "bridging" different perspectives and opinions often found across the breadth of different stakeholders, a common agenda can begin to be developed and shared in order to solve social and economic problems.