Management is a practical discipline measured by financial returns and competitive position. But it is easy to forget that success in business ultimately comes from a commitment to personal values. When you look at Metrobank today, the tendency is to focus on its results, its size and its position. It is easy to overlook the elements that shaped its character.

When I was 19 years old, my father asked me to set up a flour mill. And over the next three years, I started the mill and worked my way up, learning about running a business along the way. I became the general manager of Wellington flour mills after a while, watching over equipment and raw materials worth $6 million, a lot of money at the time. As the company grew, we needed cash to expand and we had to borrow money. This was the first time I realized the importance of a bank. Helping businesses grow seemed like a good way to make a living. I resolved to get into the banking industry, and I have been in that business ever since.

It was not easy. In fact, it was very hard. I can still remember being a 25-year-old man, with no banking experience and very little English, waiting endlessly in the central bank offices to follow up our banking license. After over three years of trying, the central bank finally relented and, in 1962, Metrobank opened its doors as a small bank in Binondo.

In the business of banking, making money is not the only goal; it is even more important to earn the trust of clients and to help them succeed, whether in their investments or their businesses. Banking is not merely the business of money; it is the business of trust. A proper banker may love the business, but he can never forget that he also protects the interests of his clients and serves his community.

Even today, I wake up every day aware that not only am I responsible for the thousands of my employees and their families, but also for the thousands of clients of the Metrobank Group and the confidence of millions of the banking public. Such a responsibility cannot be borne lightly.

Growing the business

I have devoted my entire career to making Metrobank worthy of such a responsibility. Every workday for more than 40 years now, I start work at eight in the morning. Some days I feel lazy or sick, but I go to work because I have to set an example. It’s impossible to ask people to do something if you are not willing to do it yourself. There are times when I would prefer to spend time with my family, but I spend that time at work instead because I know that my family’s well-being also depends on my work.

These days, it is convenient to ignore a simple truth, that the surest way to succeed is simply to work harder and try harder. People often look for that one lucky break, that right opportunity, that they think will magically guarantee success. They would be better served by simply working harder, day in and day out, month by month, year by year. I started doing this over 40 years ago and I continue to do this today.

At Metrobank, achievements are not made by grand decisions overnight but by doing hundreds of important little tasks during the day. This commitment to hard work and perseverance is the true secret of our success.

Today, Metrobank is beyond any one man. Among the most important lessons I learned over the decades is knowing how to choose good people and putting them into situations where they can succeed.

I am particularly proud of having fine people like Placido Mapa Jr., James Go and Tony Abacan among our senior executives who reflect the values we hold dear. I also take great pride in many other excellent executives who first emerged at Metrobank and moved on to positions of leadership in other banks and in government. We regard former Metrobankers who go on to greater success as the world’s gain rather than our loss.

The personal cost of building a business is not cheap. Hardship and sacrifice are the companions of achievement and success. I may have missed out on many of my family’s special moments. And I may have been considered harsh and overdemanding by many people whose opinions I value and respect. But I willingly bore these costs because I know, and I wanted others around me to learn, that hard work and sacrifice are necessary for anything worth having. Easy success can just as easily be gone.

I am also pleased that my children have paid their dues and earned their right to become part of the business. In the same way that my father raised me, my philosophy has been to give my children their education and opportunities but, ultimately, to have them work for their own future. A rich man’s children can easily amount to nothing.  I have provided my children enough—actually, more than enough—for them to be comfortable. If they want more, and I would hope they do, they will have to get it from their own hard work.

Looking beyond

At some point, having worked so hard and sacrificed so much, we may find ourselves asking how to put more meaning into our achievements. When that question came to my mind many years ago, the answer, to me, was very simple: it was to give back and share the fruits of my success with the society that made my success possible in the first place.

From this thinking came the Metrobank Foundation, which represents the company’s—and my concern—for the community and the Filipino people. The foundation’s works are a reflection of my gratitude to this country, an expression of appreciation and thanks for all the opportunities opened to me by the Filipino people. The charities and public services are also a reminder that our hard work, thriftiness and discipline is not only for the sake of profits but also to share with others and the whole community.

Every time I travel, I am reminded about how fortunate I am to have started out in the Philippines, whose society and people took me in, made my business possible and enabled it to succeed. I consider the Philippines to be the best country for someone like me and for a business like Metrobank, and I am privileged to give back the blessings this country has showered on me.

We can certainly try to do a lot more to make the Philippines a better place for everyone else.

Throughout my career, starting out as a would-be banker to growing the business to where it is today, I have been fortunate to have people who have been constant sources of strength. First, I wish to thank my family for their steadfast understanding and support these many years. Second, I wish to thank my partners and colleagues in the Metrobank group for their loyalty and excellence on behalf of our common enterprise. And finally, I would like to thank the Filipino people for taking me in and giving me a chance to succeed.

In retrospect, this has been my simple guide: I had to learn self-discipline so I could have a successful business. Through this business, I could then take care of my family and employees.

And finally, the fruits of this successful business could then be shared with the rest of the community. I hope my story can be the story of every businessman in this country. Opportunities for success and for making social contributions still abound. If this management award can help make my example accessible to others, then perhaps the human lessons of Metrobank may become an asset even more valuable than its business.

Dr. George S. K. Ty is the chairman of the Metrobank Group. This article is based on his speech given to the Management Association of the Philippines, which recently named Dr. Ty as its Man of the Year.

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