The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) urged leaders to actively develop future stewards within their organizations, citing mentoring as a key driver of good governance, institutional strength, and improved public service.

SEC Commissioner Javey Paul D. Francisco said Friday that mentoring at the Commission is not treated as a separate initiative but as an essential mechanism that allows good governance to take root in daily operations.

Deliberate cultivation of a culture

He said the SEC’s reforms and service improvements were achieved 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.

To institutionalize leadership development, the SEC has implemented the SEC Leadership Empowerment and Development Program, or SEC LEAD, which equips supervisors with coaching and performance management skills to strengthen internal succession pipelines and sustain a culture grounded in integrity.

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

Governance-driven mentoring approach

He said this governance-driven mentoring approach has delivered tangible benefits to the public, including faster processing timelines for capital market applications and more than P80 million returned to market participants, with a significant portion benefiting micro, small, and medium enterprises.

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

The SEC likewise encouraged leaders to foster clarity of purpose, challenge complacency, instill accountability, and empower individuals to take ownership of their growth, saying mentoring remains one of the most powerful tools for building institutions that serve with competence, integrity and resilience.