Sy-Coson shows how to survive and thrive in a tough, man’s world

The most powerful woman in this part of the world has had her fair share of experience in gender discrimination that drove her to “think like a man,” oftentimes, to navigate the male-dominated business community.

Teresita Sy-Coson—honored Tuesday as the “MAP Management Man of the Year 2016”—fared well in doing so, having been raised and prepared by a “demanding” father who taught her and her siblings to aspire to be the best in any endeavor.

In her acceptance speech—the vice chair of the country’s largest conglomerate, SM Investments Corp., and chair of largest lender BDO Unibank—said people had asked her a few times: “Why is it ‘management man of the year’ and not ‘management person of the year’?”

“Let me tell you—It is still a man’s world in my working years, and many times in my career, I’ve had to think like a ‘man’ in order to work in this business community. Of course, I also draw on my being a woman to perceive situations from a different angle in order to gain leverage in many decisions,” said Sy-Coson.

The daughter of tycoon Henry Sy Sr.—the wealthiest man in the country who founded the SM group—said she was constantly told by her dad that if she lacked core competence in any area, she should work extra hours and work harder to speed up and catch up with our colleagues in the business world.

“I learned how to keep up the pace when doing business with men who have wider business exposure,” she said, adding that she was guided constantly by her dad, her late husband (lumber tycoon Louis Coson) and her four brothers (Henry Jr., Hans, Herbert and Harley).
‘Run by the big boys’
“Many times in the past, I was dismissed because of my gender and my small stature. In the past, the top slots in the banking industry were run by the big boys,” Sy-Coson said.

“It is only after the merger of EPCI (Equitable PCI) and BDO that the business world saw me differently. Though I still think it was luck that brought us into the merger,” she said.

Once a marginal player in the banking system, BDO gobbled up one bank after another almost every year since the turn of the millennium. It became a major player starting 2006 when it realized a two-year aspiration to acquire EPCI.

“After the merger, I was nervous. I did not know where to get more income to meet the large operating expenditure which tripled after the merger. We had to change. We couldn’t rely on the traditional banking strategy. We had to find ways,” she said.

One of things the bank did was to work with clients affected by the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and also looked to servicing many clients beyond Metro Manila where the credit was tight and where banks had shied away, she said, allowing the bank to gain a better foothold among clients. As competition heated up, the group accelerated businesses outside Metro Manila after 2008.

Veering back to the topic of gender, she said it was not an issue to her. “It does not matter if you call me management man or management person. I still appreciate the honor,” she said.

Sy-Coson said her father had the vision not only of where to take the business in a 20-year horizon but also of how to achieve so. “He also knew what my siblings and I should be working on. It was a mandate we had to follow. We had no choice, unlike the millennials of today. They have many choices and many options on how to live life,” she said.

“We were trained to work in the business very early. It started as a family business where everyone in the family is expected to chip in. We all started working when we were teenagers. We were expected to work on Saturdays when most of our classmates were often out having fun. We had fun too, working, because we did not know any other kind of fun.”

After graduating from college, all Sy siblings were expected to continue working in the family business on a full-time basis.
“During those days, my dad, who was demanding, was always driving us to work hard, and to do our best,” she said. “While we were not expected to do our best in school, once out of school and into the real world, we were taught to aspire to be the best in any endeavor we are actively involved in.”

Sy-Coson said she and her siblings were trained to think creatively, stay disciplined and be productive.

“It took us a long time to understand my dad’s drives and his teachings. We learned a lot though, amidst all the arguments, hard feelings and complaints. We could not understand then why our lives and our discussion are all about business. When we think we did something right and expected his congratulations, he would just say ‘not bad,’ but thought that we could do better. But we now see the wisdom of his demanding character. My siblings and I continue to grow and enhance the business based on his guidance and principles of business leadership,” she said.

The SM group is the country’s leading player in all of its three core businesses: retailing, property development and banking. Across the SM organization, Sy-Coson said businesses were geared toward good customer and good community relationships.

“Our group believes the Philippine market is still growing and we will go where the market wants us to be, brick and mortar, virtual or online or omni-channel. We will continue to give our customers the wide array of choices, and many options of services. We will continue to improve our customer service every year,” she said.