Thursday, October 28, 2010

When I'm alone

Monday, October 25, 2010

Three years later and still not quite there yet.

Was browsing through old blog posts and this one caught my eye.  Three years after this was written, I still don't think it has happened yet. I say that because there is no product. The author is still clueless as to how exactly do you help 'make' people.

Love-driven leadership


A few months ago, a friend sent this quote to me about leadership just when I was beginning to learn to be one. And I agree with everything the author said. When you become a leader, what you do is not as important as who you are.

A person can grow two ways: horizontally and vertically. Horizontal growth is when you broaden your horizons, meet new people, learn new things and widen your network. Vertical growth is when you advance spiritually and this is where happiness and contentment play a big part. When you learn to appreciate the good things in life, the blessings you have, you tend to move to a higher level of existence. And this vertical growth is further amplified in leaders because when you become a leader, you are exposed to the opportunity to allow others to advance through you. And when they do, you'll feel a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that transcends all rewards and recognition.

What distinguishes love-driven leaders from tyrants? Great affection coupled with the passion to see others run at full speed towards perfection. Love-driven leadership is not urging others forward without concern for their aspirations, well-being, or personal needs. Nor is it being the nice guy manager who overlooks underperformance that could damage a subordinate's long-term prospects.


Instead, love-driven leaders hunger to see latent potential blossom and to help it happen. In more prosaic terms, how do children, students, athletes, or employees achieve their full potential? When they're parented, taught, coached or managed by those who engender trust, provide support and encouragement, uncover potential, and set high standards.

-Chris Lowney

HEROIC LEADERSHIP
(Best practices from a 450-year old company that changed the world: The Society of Jesus)

And I'm still learning to be one.

"When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change 'cause you're amazing just the way you are."

    
Kalokohan!



               

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

As in most offices, we also have a halloween gimmick. Our group was assigned a theme based on the movie, 'tiyanak' which none of us have seen. Normally, we are capable of working on things we aren't familiar with but it appears that the group is having a hard time interpreting it (haha). I've noticed that other groups in the office who do not belong to our department were easily able to put up decor and I realized that they're fast because they work as their ideas come in. When one member of the group has an idea, he tells his team and immediately goes to work. They don't really care about the coherence in design, their immediate goal was to do something and put it up. And that's really how things like this are done, right? Because the point is to have fun.

Whereas... Because of the natural order of the PR Department, we had to go through the process of scheduling a conf call (I was in the hospital), brainstorming session 1, coming up with an initial idea, evaluating the resources (and upon discovering that we can't afford the materials that we needed), brainstorming session 2 was necessary, and then we began to implement but there was a stall. We weren't sure what to do. All the brainstorming was all talk. Chopsuey ideas. And then today, we realized that we couldn't move without a concrete plan. Yun daw yon! So someone had to draw diagram, complete with details. We had to sit down and brief everyone again. True enough, I think we're on track.

It's either we really had to rely on a 'plan' to implement or maybe our brains are still sabaw coming at the heels of major major draining projects.

Wala lang. I just find it funny that there's so much prep for Halloween Decor! The game is on!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Silence is golden.

To say that last week was a hell week is an understatement. This week isn't any better, to say the least. I would rather go through physical torture than endure an emotional and spiritual rollercoaster like this.

People always say that things happen for a reason, but I wish I could also fully understand why.

Let me just say that I know I'll be okay. We may or may not get the ending that we are hoping for, but I am prepared to accept whatever it is. The only way to get rid of pain - physical or emotional - is to go through it.

Monday, October 04, 2010

Ate naman.

Huwag kang ganyan!

I thank you. Bow.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Thursday

At the start of the season, everybody knew that the Ateneo Blue Eagles as a team wasn't as strong as it was the year before. In fact, none of them made the Mythical Five this year. There really wasn't a superstar in the team; there was not a staple go-to guy, and yet, they achieved what they set out to do. It looked like a tall order with the rival (FEU, not La Salle) tallying a near-perfect win-loss record and was highly favored by everyone else outside of the teams playing in the finals.

The 2010 Championship has demonstrated how extremely capable Norman Black is of building a strong, motivated, and winning team even in the absence of superstars.  When the Blue Eagles first came out to the court during Game 1 of the Finals where they trashed FEU so badly, even the crowd felt how motivated these boys were and we knew it was going to be a good day. They started pulling off fastbreak after fastbreak and we could see in their eyes how fired up they were and that they were having fun. By the third fastbreak, they were smiling at each other while running towards the opposite side of the court. Waking up on Thursday morning, it felt like Game 2 was in the bag. And it was!

I only saw the last few minutes of Game 2 for the first time tonight on Youtube and I rejoiced when the buzzer went off as if it just happened, but sad at the same time that I wasn't able to see the game live even on TV. I'm such a big fan of the Blue Eagles but last Thursday, unfortunately, I did not have time to give a damn that I wasn't able to follow it even on Twitter. 

There were a lot of instances before when I'd weigh between two things and the litmus test that my friends and I use has always been, "Will I remember this 10 years from now?" Surely, I won't remember what the heck I was doing on my computer or where I was even at that time in 10 years, but I will remember that Ateneo did a historic three-peat in 2010, which I did not see and did not even celebrate. It's just sad but it's not like the death of me. I can live with it.

NBD.