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Finale
Today, is the very last day when I can meet my lecturer for both of my classes every Saturday, and the last day that I get to talk to some of my classmates. The emotion is mixed - sad and relieved. I am sad because it seems like the time just went so fast, and when I am finally enjoying the class after some adjustments with my new work it's now coming to an end. This is the first term that I got to take my masters and work at the same time even if it's almost a year that I am taking the program. I rested for few months due to fatigue from my previous work so I focused on reflecting, assessing my life, and letting myself feel how to be a student again. I took time before I pushed myself to look for work again. And, I am so glad that I did.
To anyone who will read this and is looking for meaning in life, I tell you that resting from work will not help you or guarantee you that you'll find the meaning you're looking for nor figure out what you want to do in your life if in case you feel lost. But I am not saying that you should not rest and quit work when you strongly feel you need it to. The whole time that I just did nothing, but do all the things I never gotten the chance to do such as baking, cooking, watching anime all day all week, painting, learning language, spending time with my dogs, reflecting, praying, and having a quality time with family - these made the resting all worth it. I am able to redirect my life and remind myself of my true goal. And my goals are not absolute. I have raised my plans to the Lord and follow His will by just going with the flow in my life. If before I didn't appreciate what He's given me, I was able to change my mindset when I started praying and reflecting during the time that I was resting. I have become firm with my values and why I do what I do - and it is not because of people around me, but because what I have now is what God has given me. Therefore, whatever challenges come along my way, I always pray to God to give me strength to endure it because I don't want to waste what He has blessed me. This has been my prayer and mindset all these times that I was struggling in time management for both work and school especially that I am new in the company. I need to step my best foot forward. But I am still happy, as I know God is with me and I have no regrets whatever will happen in the future may it be positive or negative. I am so glad that our class in Leadership didn’t only emphasize what it is to be a leader, but how to be a leader similar to how God has been during His time on earth as well as now that He’s guiding as from above. By taking this program, it strengthened my beliefs on what and how a leader of a team or an organization should be. As I have been mentioning in all of my reflection papers in my previous courses and here, I don’t want to be a manager and I don’t like working for a manager. I want to be a leader; hence, I want to work for a leader so that he or she can influence me with the right values that will strengthen and widen my beliefs. And I am very thankful to this course because I have something to look back on when I feel lost or going astray in terms of my leadership. It was very informative time with Ms. Pia, and reflective while we do the activities in this subject. She has become one of the people I look up to because despite her many achievements she remained humble, but generous in terms of sharing her life lessons where we can learn a lot from. I thank God that I took this subject under her and I know I am meant to meet a lecturer like her. Thank you, Ms. Pia!
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Considerate
The past few days have been about the presentation for our eSL requirement to the instructional managers of our chosen partner community, MLALAF. We have been preparing here and there with sir Niku on what’s the best way to teach our modules to them. I am excited and at the same time worried as I hope our intent, why our group specifically the Business Selection section, created that module - to help anyone who will read and take that module be self-aware and know themselves so that they can properly choose their own business, if not their career or vocation.
Last Saturday, we had our dry run with sir Niku and talked about how the modules will go through. We have received great feedback from him. Unfortunately, the module one (1) members have only presented what were the changes they made and wasn’t really able to perform their dry run. Anyway, from the meeting we have mentioned that we will try to run the modules in two (2) hours and have modules one (1) and two (2) be presented on Monday, which was yesterday. As mentioned in my last blog, I was so excited on this because it‘s very seldom that I get to have an opportunity to reach out to underprivileged community; however during the first presentation day itself, our group has become unprofessional and our members for part two (2) was only able to present our module in 30 minutes. We extended an hour considering that our presentation was scheduled in the evening. The first module was presented two and a half hours. We started at 8:15 pm and did the usual ingress for DLSU’s webinar, then the module one (1) members started their presentation. What I was disappointed about during the entire time that they were presenting, they were not checking if the training participants were listening or were already bored with the words they’re flashing on the screen. Their discussion was not engaging. The two presenters assigned in module one (1) were not empathizing with the answers of the participants whenever they share their answers. They were so focused on reading their modules instead of actually teaching the instructional managers how they should run and teach these to their community. And from hearing the stories of these instructional managers, I realized how struggling their and their partner communities’ lives are especially on the availability of technology for them. However, the activities suggested in module one (1) were done everything online. They did not suggest how the instructional managers can run their modules even without the presence of gadgets or internet. Then if that is so, what is the point of creating this stand alone module. I mean, shouldn’t we be putting the partner community first in our minds while we were building the module in the first place; how are they going to use it, how they are going to understand the module easily, and do the activities smoothly. But, unfortunately, the first part of the training lacks all of that. Therefore, during the second part we tried to make it lively as possible as we know the participants were already tired. We got this feeling during the sharing sessions in the first part where some of the participants mentioned that they’re always working over time, tired, and sometimes, shelling out money from their own pocket just to reach those partner communities. We also ran our module, which was Business Selection, very quickly and interactively. To ensure that participants were still listening we played a short game with prizes at the earlier part, and then asked them questions during the presentation itself. Luckily, some of the attendees were still participating, but unfortunately, most were not. But we understand since it’s already 11 in the evening and they’re all tired.
Nevertheless, this opportunity inspired me how to be of help to my community. I really hope that we have imparted the importance of self-awareness to these people because that is something really, really important in a person. I was also inspired how these instructional managers are not blinded with prestigious corporate titles and high salaries, they are inspired because of the fullness of their heart that they feel everytime they reached these underprivileged communities. What they have is a vocation, and thru these exercise under Lasallian Business Leadership course, I am able to witness what is like to be working as such.
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Initiative
Today, Ms. Pia has shared the international declaration of human rights and what caught my eyes were articles four (4) and 23 in which in talk about slavery, and employment protections and just pay, respectively.
Article four mentions that, “no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms”. It is clearly stated here “in all their forms”; however, I can still see slavery even to this date. A new form of slavery. To be honest I am not in favor of house helpers having uniforms that distinct themselves from their employers – such as maid clothes. Though I understand that some opt to have their helpers wore these clothes for comfortability reasons; however, to let them wear clothes so that they can be distinguished from them is a different matter. I have even some friends who, up to this day, don’t dine with their house helpers during meals. They would even ask these helpers to do things for them even just a very simple task that they themselves can do without even ordering the person. This slavery is not just present to house helpers, but to office workers as well. In my past years of work experience, you are obliged to work over time. It is not in the policy of the company, but a culture of extended work hours has been practiced by the employees, most especially the senior management. The usual result if you do not adhere to this culture is that you will be viewed as someone who is incompetent, who doesn’t know how to adjust in certain situations, not suitable for the job, not agile, doesn’t aim for challenges, or whatever positive reason they could think just to make the working of longer hours look or sound good or beautiful. I remember I had a panel interview with the role I was applying for. The role was for promotion and I prepared so hard to let them know that I have the skills they needed. They asked me why I would like to leave my previous company, and I honestly shared the reason. I shared that my boss was obliging me to work longer hours and that even if I raised my concerns about the inferior quality of my work because of too much load within the limited number of hours in a day, he didn’t sympathize with me. The interviewers took this as something negative. For them, I didn’t handle the situation well and I opted to leave instead of managing my boss’ expectations. I was so furious that time, but of course I did not let it show during the interview and defended myself why I chose that decision. I did not get the role and I didn’t feel it was a lost. I am not willing to work with those kinds of people, anyway. They would turn me into slave as well.
The other international human rights article that I would like to talk about is the rights on proper employment with enough protection and just pay. We all know that many companies just pay based on what is mandated by law. They keep the same wage level despite their awareness of the currently outdated laws. How ironic that despite the humane values and characters one must hold that are taught to us since we’re kids do not grow with us as we get older, and that a law must be passed before we practice what is truly suitable. It is as if we need guidance from the law before we learn and can actually decide what is just and humane and provide these rights of just pay and protection to the employees. Why must a policy, guideline, or law be submitted, imposed, and implemented before one can actually act from what his or her wrong doing? We claim that we are the best, competitive, intelligent, and powerful, among others, and yet we need these humane standards be strongly promoted, imposed, and controlled before we act one ourselves.
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Generousity
We don’t have class today! But I continued writing the module for our eService Learning requirement. I am not sure if I have previously mentioned that business selection was the module assigned to our sub group. I really had fun doing that module with my groupmates. I even took the tests my self and it was so fun having the opportunity of learning about myself, if something has changed over the past few years. This corporate social responsibility of the course and of De Lasalle is one of the opportunities that I am so privileged to have. Although, the intent is to help less fortunate people, the course and the initiative are also helping me as well: I am becoming self-aware and I appreciate life even more. This is in a sense that I get to know that someone will be using the efforts, thoughts, and time we have put into. It adds more meaning to what I was doing.
I mentioned that it is a privilege because I honestly do not have a more frequent opportunity to directly help – such as building these modules – to less fortunate community. My usual means is through donation. Though there is nothing wrong with that, it just that it is still different when it involves actions such as this one that we did for Lasallian Business Leadership course. To be fair, my previous companies that I worked with have conducted events such as house painting, social entrepreneurship, and tree planting; however, the frequency of these activities was very seldom – like once a year. But then again, this is not bad. I was content enough that I have these opportunities from the eight years of work experience. However, there is still this longing for me to at least have this opportunity for me more regularly – like quarterly if not monthly. Before the pandemic, I was planning to hold a tree planting program on my birthday. I have asked my friends on the rates and the available partner communities. But pandemic happened. So in lieu of having planted the trees myself, I just donated a tree via Gcash. It is unfortunate that during this pandemic we have no choice, but to limit ourselves with interactions especially with these people who, even when COVID-19 hasn’t yet existed, need assistance from more fortunate citizens such as ourselves. A sadder thing is that regardless of there is a pandemic or not they need to survive. And this is also true with the animal welfare organizations. I remember when the pandemic started and no body was going to the zoo, one zoo park has expressed its need of donation to give food to its animals. I actually donated, but my donation was not enough to feed those innocent beings and since they are domesticated, they have no means to feed themselves, but only to rely on human’s care. Imagine how many corporate social responsibility programs that have been put on halt because of the current situation. You cannot definitely force people to continue helping as they too have their own concerns with the pandemic itself and the negative effect it has brought into their lives. From what I have seen from the news, the population who needs more assistance has drastically increased during this period. And what is more infuriating is that, though developed countries have stayed committed in providing assistance to the needy, this is being taken advantage of many people. I really don’t understand how can they still do these things and where are there conscience.
But for me, it makes no sense to dwell on these unfortunate situations. I would rather not pay attention to them and instead, give more care to what can I do to help improve the lives of these needy people and educate them more. And we hope through our module, they could know their selves more and help them become self-aware so that they can properly choose their business or career.
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Fairness
Our topic for today was about workplace diversity and discrimination. I, personally, don’t have any experience discrimination in terms of my gender being female in the companies I have worked with. Fortunately, all companies I have worked with value diversity and equality.
However, I was once judged, and maybe was not considered, in one of the positions I was applying for when I was still a fresh graduate based on my gender and my family composition. When they asked tell me something about yourself and I shared about something personal, I mentioned that I was the youngest and the only girl in the family. The post I was applying for contract manager where it required site visits which I didn't have issues with. However, during the interview, comments like “Oh maybe, you’re not used to heat because site visit involve being on the site that doesn’t have shed or air conditioners”. Another comments was, “Oh maybe you don’t know how to commute since you only went to school and home when you were a student”. Haha! That’s the first and the last time that I was judged not based on my skills, but the prejudice of me being the youngest and only girl in the family. Or maybe that time that wasn’t their intention, but it had me that impression because of the comments they were throwing at me.
Nevertheless, I haven‘t encountered any problems because of my gender. The companies that I have worked with highly promote gender equality and discourage discrimination. A culture of speaking up is also being practiced so anyone can raise when they are experiencing issues concerning their gender or even race. The company also follows a quota in which there should be a high percentage of women in the senior management positions as well as job applicants. If the hiring managers don’t meet the quota, they are required to only interview women in the open positions until it is achieved. However, we are limiting the pool of talents to women in these cases, isn’t it? So we are losing the opportunity of hiring the best instead of based on their gender. We are forgetting the reason why we are providing equal opportunities. Anyway, it’s just my thought. I am for equal opportunities regardless of gender. I love all genders! Male, female, and our LGBTQ. They are all created by God and I accept how they are created. :) As long as they don’t do harm to other people and also maintain the same respect to other people’s beliefs and cultures. I guess as long as there is respect, we all can live together harmoniously.
Today as well, I answered a career test because I was writing our paper for e-service learning. I remember taking this when I was in highschool so I suggested this to be part of our module in Business Selection. To me, it is important that one has self-awareness when pursuing something, and selecting a business is no exemption. I laughed at how my career was consistent all these years - I am for a career that involves analysis and logical thinking. Haha! Maybe that’s the reason I am still working in a bank and doing data interpretation and financial analysis. I enjoy analyzing! Our group has also input strengths and weaknesses assessment. For us, it is important to know these for yourself so you know where to improve on and how you can compensate for your weaknesses with your strength. So I guess these two tests would help the partner community in knowing themselves. We don’t know if they could find a job after taking those tests if creating their own business is something that is not in their interest. I truly hope that these tests will help them.
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RESPECT
Today's discussion was about ethics on marketing. Each of us shared some of the digital advertisements we saw and if they were ethical. I was very surprised with the group who shared about RC Cola commercials. The soda company releases commercial that are supposed to be humorous, at least in their eyes, but are very sensitive and are promoting immoral behaviors such as polygamy. There was also this one commercial where the son was asking if he was adopted and has four glasses on his back, while his mother's head got chopped off and a bottle of RC cola appeared. These are nonsense, if not unethical, digital marketing or advertising. You do not think of the implication of your advertisement to people who can watch or see it. They are not introducing the benefits of the product to the customers. Their main purpose is just to sell.
To boost sales has now become the common and sole reason of many companies when they release programs or new products in the market. I have even shared during the breakroom discussion how celebrities use their influence to help boost sales of the products they endorse which, we all know, they are not using on a daily basis. This is also, to me, contributes to unethical activities in marketing. They don’t care if the product that they endorse is high quality and what their followers need, but as long as they persuade these people to buy. They no longer value the respect and trust which their followers have placed in them. They are even taking advantage of it. This is the reason why I carefully select who to follow on social media. I don’t just idolize people just because they are the current in demand celebrity. I don’t join the bandwagon. I look at how a person takes a few steps away from the norm and maintain the respect, sincerity, and integrity when they try to release or support a brand or a cause, among other things. I mean, this people earn millions of pesos from those endorsements; thus, I demand high quality recommendations from them. That is the least respect they could give to me. :)
Speaking of respect, this is a trait that I value the most! So regardless of digital marketing, privacy, or even just respect of time, I need this to be present. It is my pet peeve when some people will push their selves to you because they need something from you even if when you are also doing something else. I remember when I was still working in my previous company when my boss asked me to have an impromptu meeting with him because what we would talk about was something he needed to take off from his to do list. Imagine that! That is why, in every group discussion, I try my best to give respect to the time of my team members especially that we are all working graduate students. However, in the past weeks that we were building our proposal for our eService Learning, there were sudden meetings here or discussion in the chat group during work hours. Sometimes, even after 12 midnight. Though, I understand that some of my groupmates are enthusiastic about the project, they should consider each and everyone work load as well. There is also a flexible way to proceed with the whole project without us needing to meet every week especially that we are at the stage where we are building the paper. Though I would love and prefer that route, I still respect what my groupmate wants. And that is to meet every week. This is so we can properly and harmoniously work together and complete this project.
Is respect a trait that you value too? Where do you think you should find this value being applied aside from the situation I mentioned above?
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INTEGRITY
“Gatekeepers”. A role that is very pleasing to the ear, but has a very heavy responsibility attached to it. In my career, I have always taken a role that is related to gate keeping the company’s operation.
I have been a financial reporting analyst, data manager, financial controller, and a vendor manager where all these roles serve as a gatekeeper to the company’s financial statement, system infrastructure, and supply chain operations. Working in a bank, our important role in the whole business operation has always been emphasized by our managers and all senior management through reiterating its importance during meetings, and mandating compliance and roles and responsibilities training. We are always reminded to act with honesty, integrity, due diligence, and shall exhibit excellence to build and keep the trust given to us by our clients. Banking business is a very complicated, but others-centered business. Most of the revenue of banks are sourced from deposits and investments which are trusted to them by an individual or by a group of people or corporation. These people trust you with their money. They are literally giving you their money for safekeeping and of course with the hopes of earning even just a little. Therefore, banks have different initiatives to ensure integrity and credibility of their financials to build trust to new clients and strengthen relationships with loyal customers. We live by these responsibilities, every day.
However, there are still other people who would go astray. As mentioned, as we do our daily tasks, we are to act with honesty and integrity. However, there are some situations where people forget these values just to meet company's expectations, such as meeting deadlines. A former colleague who worked in one department in our company once shared to me that there was an instance when his team was undergoing an audit from a third party. That department was known for red tapes and under the table behaviors, such as manipulating the numbers in their substantiation submissions, using details that were not confirmed or verified, and not performing the maker-checker controls or four eye check before submitting the reports or journals to the bank’s system, among others. This has been the culture as the department had capacity issues and would still want to meet their deadlines. Unfortunately, this norm in that department was never made known to higher senior managers due to some people getting afraid to speak up as they might lose their jobs or they couldn’t find evidence of this. The head of that department kept everything within their team and initiated efforts to keep these behaviors within them. This was the same when they were having the audit exercise and one of the processes that was sampled was problematic and was full of red flags. What the department head did was, she would ask the employee to take leave on the date when the auditor will talk personally to him or her to conduct an interview as part of the procedure. And yes, the department head was successful enough to hide their unethical doings.
These people are examples of those who do not do their responsibilities as employees and as gatekeepers of financial institutions and the economy. They thought of themselves first - by not letting themselves look bad because their work and process are problematic - and ensure that what other people can only see is their good side. When I was faced with a similar situation, I opposed my supervisor's decision. This was when we had an unexplained amount in our financials and I escalated it to my supervisor. She told me that it was fine as long as no one was asking or escalating. During that time, I know my role as a financial controller. What I did was, I dug deeper and tried to understand where our financials were coming from. It took me almost a year to discover where that balance was coming from. It was simply due to misrepresentation. Although my problem was as simple as that, how my supervisor acted on the situation was against the ethical way of reasoning. She did not try to understand, and just accepted the situation. She did not do her role as gatekeeper of the bank’s finances. She forgot his responsibility as an employee. We were lucky that time, but if it was something serious, the bank could have lossed millions.
Are you also a gatekeeper? What efforts do you do to keep that role?
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SERVICE
I loved today’s topic! How I wish my previous bosses could read these two chapters and reflect on their behaviors towards their people. This subject has made me remember a lot about my previous managers as they were the opposite of what’s being discussed about moral rights in the workplace and being ethical in the business. Business, in this chapter and lesson, doesn’t only pertain to selling goods and services, but also applies to roles that manage the back operations of the company.
Do you remember my story about how my previous manager didn’t empathize with my concern about capacity issues resulting from overtime work, but rather asked me to still do it for the sake of the company? My previous manager opted to do what was being asked of the senior managers in the company without even trying to address the situation so that both his people and his bosses could live in a good working environment. This is the culture that has been set up in the team. The team will deliver whatever that is being asked from them by the senior managers even if that requires additional time and effort from the whole group who are already swamped with work. They don’t care if you’re loaded with work as long as they get what they need from you so that they can complete their tasks. I remember one time, I was completing one task and was able to finish it at around five (5) in the afternoon when one of my bosses asked me for a meeting. I asked her what time so that I could get back right away after I eat my first meal for that day. However, she told me to wait for her and that it’s fine that I haven’t eaten my meal because she also hasn’t yet. I waited for more than an hour for her. These behaviours cause people to get stressed, pressured, and tired which sometimes make them forget to apply virtues when collaborating with their colleagues to deliver whatever it is that the senior management asks of them. And you know what is more depressing? My previous manager prioritized pleasing the senior management as he was eyeing for promotion. True enough that after all our mental and emotional stresses, and fatigue from work, my previous manager got promoted. He even further encouraged this kind of culture to the team that caused mental health problems to some of the members. His actions checked all the red flags on being unethical at the workplace. He failed to create a healthy work environment which is one of the employee’s rights. As mental health problems have been a growing concern over the years, little actions are given especially on how to prevent this in the workplace. Although mental health issues are a subjective matter, one cannot deny the fact that a person is susceptible to this if he or she is overworked or has a lot of pressure from his or her job. Employees also deserve a healthy workplace free from mental stresses. From my observation, yes, companies promote awareness on mental health issues. This is more prevalent during the pandemic to the point that there are now mandatory training to spread information about it. However, there is little, if none at all, initiative that monitors or evaluates the actions and decisions of people at the workplace that may potentially result in mental health problems. This all boils down to the little attention which most managers give to ethical business. They prioritize the triple bottom line and the higher management when they make decisions, paying too little concern to their people especially on its impact. They put value on money and position instead of service and empathy to their people. As long as they do not go against the law and the company’s policies, or physically hurt someone, they believe they are doing the right thing. However, ethics is more than that. You go beyond what is required by the law or initiated by the company. You make an effort to compromise these existing guidelines with your and other people’s values to achieve a holistic approach in making a decision and choices. It is difficult to achieve, yes, but it is worth it as you get to keep your talent and provide favorable results in the company’s financials by preventing attrition and retaining subject matter experts that will help in the progress of the business.
How is ethics in your company? Do you have an experience in your work when you feel that your colleagues or boss are being unethical?
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PURPOSE
Today, Ms. Pia further explained how we should write our 25 Year Life Plan. I was nervous at first because I had already started it even before today’s session. Luckily, I understood the same as how we should write it. To be honest, I have never tried writing down my goals three (3) to five (5) years or even 10 to 25 years from now. I have a habit of using planner to write down my schedules and plans for the year, but I never jotted them down for next year nor in the coming years. So this exercise has really made me feel excited and got me the chance to finally write down my plans which I just had thought that I dream of having someday.
In the video of Pat Gelsinger, he shared how important it is that a person should have a plan and one of the reasons I liked which he mentioned is that it gives you a purpose. Finding your purpose is very common especially to millenials. We equate this “purpose” with happiness. Many in my generation search for happiness. This has also been a common discussion with my friends - why do we work, what do we work for, who am I, or why am I here. We ask these questions because we don’t feel any happiness, fulfillment, or satisfaction from what we do. It is because we are just looking at what's in front of us and not what’s ahead of us. I remember in one of the interviews of Vice President Leny Robredo, she was asked by one youth on how to find happiness. I loved how she answered that you don’t look for happiness, you create it. And I believe that’s true. As I build my 25 year life plan, I somehow have a sense of direction on where I want my life to be. Yes, I do have dreams, but I never wrote them down. They are there in some corners in my mind. So whenever something bad happens or I encounter failure, I tend to feel down, hopeless, and lost. I dwell on what went wrong as if this is the end, instead of me looking for answers why it went wrong and think of alternatives that will keep me back to my direction and reach my destination.
By building my life plan, I am creating my own happiness and realizing my purpose. This plan is an agreement with myself on where I want to be 10 to 25 years from now. This will also serve as my daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly reminder on my purpose in life and the happiness I plan to create. I took off from work for a few months and tried to reassess where I want to go from there. I remember asking myself, what do I want to do? Why do I work? What do I want to get once I get back from work? Due to difficult situations and issues from work, I have failed to look ahead and was focused on what’s in front of me back then - always working over time, rude colleagues, demanding and inconsiderate bosses, and conflicting values with people around me. It made me question if this was a path that would help me bring me to my destination. I wanted to be a project manager, a consultant, and be able to work abroad ever since which I have also included in my 25 life year plan. I want to attend classes in painting, drawing, Japanese language, dancing, aero yoga, cooking, and baking but I never had the time nor strength to do them because I was already occupied with work. And so I stopped, rested, and reflected. I continued with my MBA and focused on it for a couple of months. And through those times that I didn’t have a job, I cooked, baked, continued learning Japanese, painted, drew, and danced. I was also able to spend quality time with my pets and family - where before I was always irritated and didn’t have the time to bond with them. I also found time to reflect about my life and strengthened my faith in God by reading bible verse every morning and praying the rosary at night. I am glad that I decided to stop and take a rest for a while. I was able to remember my purpose and was able to do what makes me happy. And now that I am back to work again, I am more energized and motivated to walk in this new path and direction. Because I know this will help me achieve my purpose.
What is your purpose? Are you happy? How are you in the current stage of your life?
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SUCCESS
We had an interesting break room discussion today! We were asked if our work is a career, a job, or a calling (or vocation). And if during leisure time, do we do something productive or it just serves as an escape. I was envious when one of my groupmate said that he is living a career. He is happy with what he does. I never had that feeling. I forced myself to feel that way before. You know, the saying that you need to think that way so that you can be that way. However, no matter how I tried to force myself that I was happy with my work, I was not. BUT, I am not losing hope. I believe career and calling are a continuous journey. Each of us has our own pace - may it be when you reach 30, 35, 40 or 50. Age and time don’t matter. It’s the life experience and the journey towards your career or calling that matter most.
Before we further dwell on my opinions about this, I just want to put on record here the differences of job, career, and vocation. As per Desjardins, work refers to activities being performed in exchange for compensation. It could be a job, or a role that one person can get into or out for the sole purpose of earning money. It could also be a career where self and activities performed are strongly related. There is an intent of continuous advancement and mastering different stages, then proceeding to new levels. There is a sense of development. Lastly, a work could be in a form of vocation or a calling. This is a type of work where who you are is defined with what you do. Your identity and what you do are morally inseparable.
Now, the question is - is my work a career, a job, or a calling? Though I have already shared my answer with my group, I will still share it here. As of the moment, I consider my work as a job because of the reason that I am doing it just to get compensated. The reason remains the same even if I just transferred to a new company. However, I am not closing my doors that this new role of mine cannot be developed into a calling or a career. As earlier mentioned, a career or vocation is a journey. I believe that you shouldn’t already know as early as you’re little what career or vocation you want to have. To be honest, I am not a fan of asking kids what do you want to be when you grow up and follow it up with, “Oh, you should be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a businessman, a professor, or a soldier”. As I grow older, I learned the value of happiness and having strong virtues. I know a lot of people who have prestigious careers, but are not honest, respectful, humble, empathic, do not value community, or are not fair. BUT, they have a career and a job! It is fine, though. If professional advancement and financial wealth are the things they value the most. It’s their choice. However, it is also not wrong if someone else values happiness, simplicity, and contentment. I think the pressure which the world imposes on people is the one that’s causing mental health problems in the society. Seldom do I hear that people will tell you that you should aim to be happy or when you grow up just be virtuous and as long as you are not wasting God’s given talent or resources nor your solely relying on someone else’s hard work. I always hear equating success with wealth, title, power, and credentials. Maybe that’s why our world is chaotic. How ironic we hear, read and study the words of God, we are taught values and virtues at school from primary up to tertiary level, and yet most people define you with your status, money, and credentials. We equate success with these factors. Maybe, this is the reason why very few people have vocations and most settle with jobs. We normally forget our identity and just consider what we do because this is the norm in our society. I, too, was used to being trapped in this norm. I defined success with my title, so I worked so hard even to the point of missing important family occasions, and not having time for God and for myself just to be a manager and earn my target income at a young age. And after achieving those, I felt empty. But now, I strive to search for my calling. It doesn’t matter to me when or where, as long as I will meet my vocation that God has called me to do. A work where I could keep my identity, do what I love doing, and in line with God’s will.
How do you define and equate success? Do you feel you are successful now?
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ZEAL
“It is God who has called you, who has destined you for this work, and who has sent you to work in his vineyard. Do this, then, with all the affection of your heart, working entirely for him.”(MTR 201.1; see also MDF 87.2, 99.2)
Have you ever asked yourself, “what do I want to do in my life”?
This question has been ringing my ears for years even after being promoted every two years, salary increases, and other recognitions. It was as if I was working just for the sake of working. I was setting up goals for myself and achieving them just for the sake of having something to aim for and hoped to feel fulfilled. I remember I even asked God “why did you give me this kind of job?”. Then I would remember the verse, “But you be strong! Don’t let your hands be slack, for your work will be rewarded,” (2 Chronicles 15:7), and “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Matthew 6:34). These two are similar to the statement above that for every job I had and will have, God has destined those works for me. I may not see the benefits of it for now, but I know someday I will be able to say, “Ahh, this is the reason why God gave me this because I will have this.”
Although I always apply the virtue of faith in every situation of my life, there are a couple of things that I value and where my decisions are based on. These values have helped with my decisions most especially at work. For someone who studied in catholic institutions and has taken leadership training from there since secondary school, I have been idealistic especially on the virtues and values I expect from the people who managed me. As mentioned in my previous journal, I want to be a leader - someone who leads, influences, and builds relationships. Hence, I always look for managers, supervisors, or leaders who can influence me this way. This also leads me to value ingenuity, honesty, empathy, zeal, fairness, respect, professionalism, and service, among others. Therefore, when faced in a situation that challenges my values in a contradicting way, most of the time I move away especially when compromise between mine and my managers’ values are not possible. I remember I was faced in a situation when I and the person I was managing that time were always working overtime. I raised this to our manager and told him that our situation was not stable and we needed to do something to improve it like saying no to additional work to upper management for now until problem on capacity is resolved, or if this was something that we really needed to do, he should ask for incremental support through FTE (full time employee) request. I won’t forget his answer that time. He appeared to me as a manager and not as a leader. He said that we should understand that the company was facing financial challenges since the 2008 financial crisis and was then further hit by the pandemic. He told me that I should bear with the situation and take on these challenges for the company. My two previous companies have a corporate culture of stretched work: you don’t fit in the company when you say you look for work-life balance that is why you are exploring for opportunities. They expect you to always work overtime and would take it against you if you raise that you are working beyond your shift. They equate overtime work with competitiveness and will consider people as high-value employees. They expect you to prioritize work over your personal life. And because people are all tired and stressed from work, they tend to become disrespectful, inconsiderate, and unprofessional. They have even become proud that they argue during meetings - argue and not discuss. It is as if it’s boosting their egos when they argue with each other. This is despite the core values which the company has created for its employees to serve as guiding principles in every action they take and what kind of behaviour to display in different situations. This has caused the company high attrition rate. Unfortunately, my previous managers do not see the financial impact of their being unethical at the workplace. This is the reason why I left the company and rested for eight months before searching for a new opportunity. The situation I was in was against my values and I didn’t see any possibilities of compromise. They’re not zealous enough to do something about the situation. They did not continuously improve and challenge the norm or the condition. They chose to be my manager, instead of being my leader. These experiences have made me realize the importance of my values to me. My past situations with them have also helped me realize the qualities of a leader I value most and what type of a person I don’t want and want to be.
This is an example of “Ahhh this is the reason why God gave me this.” How about you? Do you have an “Ahhh” moment? What do you want to be? A manager or a leader?
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FAITH
It feels so surreal that I am now writing my own blog and formally publishing it to the public and letting someone read it. I have my own personal journal which only I can see and read, but I have always wanted to try this and experience interaction with readers I am not familiar with or just simply sharing it to the public.
I have attended leadership training so many times before when I was in secondary school and in college. Back then, we used to take a two day school trip where all the club’s executive officers and the Student Council officers would gather, learn, and perform group activities related to concepts about leadership. Having been enrolled in Catholic schools all my life, these training also involved the teaching of values and virtues that God and our patron saints have applied when they’re building their legacies.
I remember I always heard the topic of the difference between a “manager” and a “leader”. Some of the most common comparisons of these two are that leaders are visionary, while managers are goal-oriented, leaders are change agents, while managers are traditional, and leaders think long term, whereas managers consider short term. My favorites are; leaders lead, while managers manage, leaders build relationships, whereas managers build processes, and leaders influence, while managers control. These three are the comparisons between a leader and a manager that stood out to me the most: I want to be a leader. That is why it inspires me how our patron saint, St. John Baptist de lasalle, embodied how it is to be a servant-leader. According to Larry Spears, “Servant leadership emphasizes increased service to others, a holistic approach to work, promoting a sense of community, and the sharing of power in decision making.” (Spears, 2005, p. 2). St. John Baptist de lasalle abandoned all his wealth and chose a path of being a servant first through initiating a free school for poor boys in Reims, France. He also took in the struggling teachers to his home, and eventually used his own wealth to feed the poor during the period of famine. He then built his own school with the vision of teaching poor boys for free and sharing the words of God with them. St. John is a visionary. He leads people and sets an example by living with a vow of poverty and by doing the actions himself. He empathized, built a community, and had a commitment to its growth. His life has established the virtues of a Lasallian leader which all of us Lasallians should, or at least try, to embody. This has formed as guiding principles to the community he has built - faith, zeal, and communion.
After learning these, it made me ask myself, what are my guiding principles in life? Do I even have at least one? After a thorough reflection, “faith” has come into my mind. Similar to St. John the Baptist de lasalle, I have faith in God. I cannot say that it is unwavering, but I have to admit it has been tested so many times, especially when something unfortunate is going on in my life and I feel hopeless. Having faith and relying on Him make me feel even more hopeless. Sometimes I think, I should not rely on God when I feel down or if I am going through something. I should only go to Him when everything is fine. Weird, right? But I honestly feel that way, sometimes. However, God always finds His way back to me as I also find myself turning to Him, again. We are like positive and negative magnets. No matter how I try to repel, I always end up holding on to Him. I also apply the virtue of being “reserve” especially at the workplace. Tragic life in a corporate world requires one whole journal, but I know you know how it is. However, for instance that my patience and temperament is being tested, I always choose to keep my respect and be reserved in those situations; even if the person is not doing the same to me. You know the golden rule in the bible of “Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you?” (Matthew 7:12). It is truly a great commandment, but is hard to apply especially when even if you don’t do that to others, others are still doing those to you. In these scenarios, my faith and reserve virtues are always being tested. I thank God for helping me to keep these in check.
I wonder how St. John Baptist de lasalle kept his guiding principles? How do you keep your guiding principles?
Aruda, W. (2016, Nov. 15) Differences between a leader and a manager. Forbes.https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2016/11/15/9-differences-between-being-a-leader-and-a-manager/?sh=13c471f04609
La Salle Organization (n.d.) John Baptist de La Salle: His Life and Times. La Salle Organization. http://revista_roma.delasalle.edu.mx/numero_7/alphonse_leblanc7.pdf
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