SEC at PSTD Mentoring Summit: Governance, leadership dev’t key to institutional excellence

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) emphasized the critical connection between good governance, leadership development, and institutional excellence during the 4th Mentoring Summit of the Philippine Society for Talent Development (PSTD) held at Lanson Place, MOA Complex, Pasay City.

With the theme “Growing Leaders. Developing People. Multiplying Impact,” the PSTD Mentoring Summit convened leaders and practitioners from across industries for keynotes, dialogues, and learning sessions centered on elevating mentoring as a core leadership competency in the future of work.

In his keynote address, SEC Commissioner Javey Paul D. Francisco affirmed that within the SEC, mentoring is not treated as a separate initiative but as an essential mechanism that enables good governance to take root in daily operations.

He noted that the commission’s reforms and service improvements were made possible not only through policy innovation and digital transformation but also through the deliberate cultivation of a culture where leaders coach, guide, and develop their teams with clarity of purpose and accountability.

As part of its efforts to institutionalize leadership development, the SEC, through the SEC Leadership Empowerment and Development Program, or SEC LEAD, equips supervisors with the coaching and performance management skills necessary to strengthen internal succession pipelines and uphold a culture grounded in integrity.

Mr. Francisco also stressed that while technology and automation can streamline processes, the human dimensions of ethical judgment, stewardship, and principled leadership remain indispensable.

He noted that this governance-driven approach to mentoring has produced measurable benefits for the public, including faster processing timelines for capital market applications and more than PHP80 million returned to market participants, with a significant portion directly benefiting micro, small and medium enterprises.

These outcomes represent the “ripple effect” when leadership and governance are aligned with mission, execution, and service delivery, Mr. Francisco said.

In closing, he encouraged leaders to actively cultivate future stewards within their organizations by fostering clarity in purpose, challenging complacency, instilling accountability, and empowering individuals to take ownership of their growth.

He said that mentoring remains one of the most powerful instruments in building institutions capable of serving with competence, integrity, and resilience.