GROW: The Culture of Resilience

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Welcome Back, G-Tribe!

Issue #108, October 28, 2025

This week, as the NBA season gets into full swing and the World Series begins in baseball, we're shifting our focus from the court and field to culture to celebrate Filipino American History Month. Just as we discussed how sports build character, this issue explores how an entire culture can serve as a blueprint for integrity and resilience. The stories of Filipino American leaders, from the farmworker movement to modern politics, aren't just history; they're immediate lessons in what it means to lead with deep respect and to keep fighting, not just for yourself, but for your entire community. Get ready to dive into the principles of cross-cultural integrity that will change how you lead, mentor, and connect with the diverse world around you.

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 With over 200 financial professionals and 30+ team members, we focus on providing peace of mind to individuals, families, and businesses by addressing their financial needs and concerns. We help individuals retire with dignity, protect their families, and send their children to college. We help companies with employee benefits and programs that assist with executive (key person) retention.

Growth Spotlight: The Culture of Resilience: What Filipinos Teach Us About Integrity

The month of October is Filipino American History Month, and it's an opportunity to look past the headlines and dig into a rich culture that offers powerful, real-world lessons in integrity. We often talk about character in a vacuum, but the Filipino community shows us that integrity is a cultural practice, passed down through generations.

Filipino values are deeply rooted in three core concepts: respect, resilience, and roots. These aren't just abstract ideas; they are the bedrock of community and leadership.

• Respect: It's more than saying "please" and "thank you." It’s an ingrained deference to elders and authority, often expressed through the gesture of mano po (taking the elder's hand and touching it to one’s forehead). This value fosters harmony and a clear sense of hierarchy within the family and community. In leadership, this means recognizing and honoring experience, not just titles.

• Resilience: Situated in the path of natural disasters, Filipinos have developed an incredible, almost cheerful, resilience. The phrase $bahala na—often translated as "whatever happens, happens"—isn't a sign of apathy, but rather a deep-seated adaptability and faith in a higher power that allows them to move forward and make the best of a situation. For us, this is a lesson in adaptability —the ability to remain calm, collected, and resourceful when deadlines shift or an unexpected challenge arises.

• Roots (Family): The Filipino concept of family is expansive, often including extended relatives, and serves as the primary source of support and identity. The mindset is "all for one and one for all," where family members, even distant ones, help each other achieve a better life. This profound sense of belonging and support allows the individual's resilience to thrive. In mentorship, this teaches us the power of a strong, supportive network, our G-Tribe.

When your mentee sees these values in action, they learn that integrity is not a solitary struggle but a collective strength. It's about being part of something bigger than oneself, a concept basketball teaches us on the court and Filipino culture shows us in life.

To empower Black-owned businesses in Northern Virginia and promote the region's economic growth through education, advocacy, opportunities, and resources.

Professional Growth Gateway: CQ Over IQ: Building Trust with Cultural Intelligence

In today's interconnected world, leadership requires more than just knowing your own playbook; it demands cross-cultural integrity. This means navigating diverse values and communication styles while maintaining your core ethical compass.

What's considered ethical or appropriate in one culture can be seen as offensive in another, and leaders must develop a nuanced understanding to bridge these gaps.

• Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the New IQ: Effective cross-cultural leaders have high CQ, which is the ability to adapt their behavior and communication to different cultural contexts. For example, in a culture that values indirect communication, a straightforward, direct approach might be seen as aggressive or disrespectful. A leader with cross-cultural integrity adapts their style to ensure the message is received with respect and clarity.

• The Global Code of Ethics: Your organization’s core values like honesty and fairness should be universal, but how they are applied must be flexible. A leader must uphold consistent standards while respecting local norms. A practice like gift-giving is a perfect example: in some cultures, it’s a standard sign of respect; in others, it could be perceived as bribery. Cross-cultural integrity requires understanding the difference.

• Prioritize Collective Well-being: Many cultures, including Filipino culture with its deep focus on family and pakikísáma (social harmony), prioritize collective well-being over individual rights. Great cross-cultural leaders ensure their decision-making process is seen as fair and just by everyone, creating an inclusive, psychologically safe environment where all voices feel heard.

The lessons learned from managing a diverse team, whether on the court or in the corporate world, are invaluable for long-term success. It’s about building trust by showing up with consistency, adapting your plan, and never letting ego kill the team.

As an award-winning motivational speaker and innovator, Mark will bring career experiences and life lessons that will excite, inspire, and motivate you.

Success Spotlight: Filipino-American Leaders Shaping Communities

Filipino Americans have been quietly shaping the US landscape for decades, often in the face of significant challenges, modeling the very definition of character and integrity.

• Larry Itliong: The Catalyst of the Farmworker Movement: While Cesar Chavez is often the face of the farmworker movement, it was Filipino-American labor leader Larry Itliong who led the walkout that started the Delano Grape Strikes in 1965. Itliong and his organization of mostly Filipino farmworkers demanded better wages and working conditions, eventually merging with Chavez's group to form the United Farm Workers. Itliong's actions highlighted the commonality of labor struggles across ethnic lines, leading to critical legislation that gave farmworkers the right to unionize.

• Dawn Bohulano Mabalon: Preserving History and Identity: A groundbreaking Filipino American historian, writer, and educator, Dawn Bohulano Mabalon used her work to explore Filipino American identity and raise awareness of the community’s often-overlooked contributions to the US. Her work is a testament to the power of using your platform to ensure that the roots of your community are remembered and celebrated.

• A New Generation of Leaders: Today's Filipino American leaders continue this legacy. Figures like Judge Bryan Ramos, Georgia's first Filipino male judge, and Delegate Kris Valderrama, who continues a family legacy in the Maryland House of Delegates, show that Filipino Americans are breaking barriers in public service and beyond. They are proof that legacy is built through passion, grit, and vision.

These are the real MVPs: individuals who used their character and resilience to create systemic change, not just for themselves, but for their entire community.

Our mentors are designed to meet the needs of young men aged 8-21 in the northern Virginia area and beyond through one-on-one mentoring.

Community Corner: Voices of Our Heritage: G-Tribe Shares Cultural Pride

• The Power of $Pakikipagkapwa-Tao: A brief reflection on the Filipino value of "shared identity" and how this spirit of humanity and togetherness fosters empathy, even for those outside your immediate circle.

Video Highlight

You may enjoy this video highlighting some of the trailblazers shaping the Filipino American experience today.

Michael’s Hot Take: The Humility to Learn: Your Most Powerful Leadership Tool

Leading with integrity isn't just about knowing yourself; it’s about having the courage to understand what you don't know.

The warning I often share with leaders is that we tend to rely too much on our own knowledge and wisdom. We’re so eager to project confidence or jump in with advice that we overlook the most critical part of leadership: curiosity. We assume we understand the context, the culture, or the challenge of the person in front of us. This arrogance—the opposite of true humility—is a failure of integrity.

You cannot effectively lead what you do not genuinely seek to understand.

Think about it in a cross-cultural context. If a mentor from a highly individualistic background tries to lead a young man from a strong, collectivistic culture (like Filipino culture), and they only preach "self-reliance" and "individual achievement," they'll fail. They’ve imposed their values without understanding the mentee’s roots. They’ve confused their own cultural lens with a universal truth.

Genuine leadership requires a commitment to dig past the first answer and ask, "What needs to be said that hasn't been?". It requires the humility to say, "I don't know, but let's figure it out together," which is one of the most powerful things a mentor can ever say. That admission of not having all the answers creates a space for the "impossible to become possible," because you are opening yourself to a new, fresh process of thinking.

When you lead with curiosity, you create a space where people feel valued, where their unique cultural strengths are welcomed, and where they will work harder for the mission, not just to inflate your ego.

This week’s challenge: Seek out a perspective, a culture, or an experience you don't fully understand. Ask genuine, open questions. Unleash your curiosity instead of trying to develop a "better version" of yourself. That willingness to learn is the real power move that builds trust, and it’s how you earn the right to lead.

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Real men don't just chase trophies. They build character, one choice at a time, one mentee at a time, one example at a time.

Here's to playing the game the right way.