marginally subversive

At this juncture...

It's quite interesting how things have been in the past few weeks.  The past few weeks have perhaps been the most relaxed that I have been - and most driven.  With my imaginings and thoughts running wild, I had the time to look at things that are working and things that were not.

And I guess, I am ready to get on with the world.

Hopefully, wiser.  Though only time can tell. 

For now, I can only hope. 

(And as opposed to my AsiaWorks Advanced and Leadership Program Trainers - "There is hope...  There will always be hope.  Without hope, we are nothing but mere flesh and bones.  But with hope, there is humanity in us.  Without hope, we are mere automatons - it is hope that drives us, it is hope that makes us dreams and that moves us.)

Picked this up from David Cook on imeem.com.

On Networking, Schmoozing, and Building "Street Creds"

I am perhaps the worst "networker" around.  An introvert - bordering on being a hermit, I have been one who has had to make an effort to socialize.  I am - what you may call - a "learned, really-trying-hard extrovert".

Through the course of my career, I have learned the value of networking - not just schmoozing part, but perhaps more importantly, building a network of people who trust, believe, and are confident in me and my capabilities.

My ex-boss, KT, calls this - in one of our recent conversations - "spreading seeds of goodwill and excellence".  I couldn't have defined it better.  Across time, you'd see these seeds blooming into plants.

I am heeding the advice of Jeremiah Owyang and cutting/pasting *shamelessly* what he has to say about the art and the science (I think it is a science - there is a structure, there needs to be a structure...) to networking.

Thanks, Mr. Owyang.

=================

Here’s a few things I’ve learned, and hope you intake, invest, and pass on:

1) You’re always looking for the next opportunity, simply shutting down what else is in the market is fool hearted. It doesn’t mean you need to jump ship before 1 month, or 1 year, but it means you should be talking to recruiters, companies, and hiring managers to see what next skills are needed now, and in the future. This will actually help your current employer, as you continue to skill up, take on new projects, as they invest in you. Remember, even if you work for someone else, you are a company of one.

2) Those who ignore the party/conversation/network when they are content and decide to drop in when they need the network may not succeed. It’s pretty easy to spot those that are just joining the network purely to take –not to give. Therefore, be part of the party/conversation/network before you need anything from anyone. Start now, and continue to build relationships by giving now: share knowledge, help others, and become a trusted node and connector, not just an outlying ‘dot’ of a comet that swings in every 4 years or so.

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Tags: Career, Jeremiah Owyang, Networking, Networking Strategies, Career-building, Growing, Personal Growth

And supposedly, the war for talent continues

In an earlier post, I wrote about talents, potentials, and Ferraris that are encumbered by speed limits that are imposed on them.  I have not really gotten to the point of accepting that an HR Manager - somebody high up the HR chain - would say something like "You may be a Ferrari outside - but here, inside this company, we have speed limits".

Oh well.  That is done.  The deed has been done - and I have stopped the hypocrisy.  Talent management is very prone to lip-service.  I wouldn't go as far as saying it is in the same league as "shareholders are our first priority".  But I guess, they're pretty near in the cliches that I have heard in the past.

Lest I be seen as a anit-corporate man, let it be known that I do like the corporate world.  We just need to be honest - and stop the pretensions that "people come first, then profits".  Companies train people so people can become more effective and efficient - and ultimately benefit the company.  Let's stop the charade about "we believe that our greatest assets are our people" - nope, it's the things that these people produce that companies tie in as "corporate properties unless these can be proven to have been done beyond and outside company hours and without any use of company resources".

OK.

Enough of that.

As I have said, I have ended the charades and the hypocrisy.

I am no longer that naive - though my naivete have indeed hurt me.  I guess, I was idealistic - and I had to learn the lesson.

- - - - - -

In Jack and Suzy Welch's latest BusinessWeek column, they were asked this question:

When you have a capable person to promote in your company but that person does not have appropriate tenure, is it better to hire from outside? — Natalia Salistean, Bucharest, Romania

The answer of the Welches: No.  And they continued to explain why tenure need not be a major, critical consideration.

To quote:

... why would any company put a high-performer through unnecessary paces just to satisfy a bureaucratic requirement? That uncompetitive practice is a throwback to the days when an employee's time served could, and often did, trump his value added.

- - - - - -

Well said.

Oh well.

"I told you so!"

I am going to cut and paste this blog in its entirety - because I couldn't have written it any better.  All I can say is "This explains a lot!".

A New Power Principle?

Posted by: Jena McGregor on May 20

You may think it’s your boss who’s always the one messing things up. But according to new research in the journal Pyschological Science, people with lower-ranking titles are more likely to make errors than those with higher-ranking roles. That’s because, says Adam Galinsky, a study co-author and professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, the “executive functions” of the brain, or the gray-matter processes that override automatic responses, can be impaired when people are put in jobs with little power. In Galinsky’s study, which was co-authored by Pamela K. Smith, Nils B. Jostmann, and Wilco W. van Dijk, subjects who were randomly assigned to be subordinates had a harder time staying focused on goals than those who, by chance, were named to be managers.

The research isn’t the first Galinsky has done on the effects of power on performance. In another study, he had students sit down very close to electric fans blowing in their faces. Sixty-nine percent of those randomly assigned to be managers moved the fans, while just 42% of those named subordinates did. Galinsky believes such research helps confirm why employee “empowerment”—especially in health care, or high-risk factory jobs—should be much more than just lip service. Says Galinksy: “Lacking power impairs those parts of the brain that allow people to stay focused.”

I wouldn't really call it "power" though - it's "control" or the perception of the ability to make a difference and to control one's environment.  Once that is lost - all is gone.

Underutilizing the Young...

In a blog by Bronwyn Fryer, a question was posed: 

Do you overlook young people, or do you go out of your way to listen to them? If the latter, what are you learning from them, and how are you helping them?

A very interesting question - but frankly, I am more interested in how the "elders" respond. 

A few years ago - when I was 25 - I became one of the youngest country managers for a large network of communications planning companies in the world.  True - the operations that I handled were not as massive as my "peers" (I dared to call them peers back then) - I had a team of 10 with a business that is perhaps 15% the size of the biggest average-sized operations in the Asia Pacific network.

Whenever I took the stage to report on the status of the business of the office I was managing, everybody looked encouraging.  They had questions - and I had answers.  There was - I felt - mutual respect, in spite of my age.

But when I moved offices and countries, age became an issue.  In spite of the fact that I had 8 years of working experience in a field that I was truly passionate about, age always became an issue.  The first question that clients - and potential employers - would ask me was "How old are you?"  And I would answer, 27 - because that was the truth.

The second question - which I supposed was to placate them that I was not some inexperienced guy trying to tell them what to do - was one that somehow also irked me: "So how long have you been doing this job?"  And I would tell them "8 years". 

And the seemingly surprised response would be "You started working when you were 19?", as if that were an impossibility.

And I would go on and explain that "Yes, I did - I was accelerated twice, I was a merit scholar in my university - with advanced credits in most of my sciences and math courses, and in English and communications - and filled my university summer breaks with full-loads of electives so I can graduate early and well, learn more than I can and be prepared to face you and answer mundane questions that you are asking now."

(OK, I didn't verbalize the last couple of statements.)

But seriously, why can't older people trust younger people?  We may not have the experience - and we know that experience is a good teacher.  But history - as we all know - is not the best of teachers.  Sometimes, history repeats itself - but only because we let it repeat itself.

Young people - young managers like myself - can offer something - an untainted view of the world which to the untrained elder would mean "inexperience, unrealistic, too idealistic".

I am now 33 - and still, I am nowhere near the age of my direct sups.  I have been blessed to have worked with the best of bosses who listened to my advice and my counsel - and have formed partnerships that resulted to new business ventures that resulted to better margins, better profits, better processes, better workplaces.

I am still young - and I still have a lot to offer.

Just ask me.

Because if you don't ask me, I won't offer it. 

There's only so much resistance - a resistance that is borne out of the perception that I am "too young to understand" - that I can take.

Ask me for advice - for my thoughts - for what I think the world will be ten, twenty, thirty years from now.

I just might give you something to inspire you - if you'd only ask.

Why Gen-X'ers are not feeling the love...

I am a 30something gen-x'er.  I entered the workplace when the world was so excited about the internet - and computers and Windows.  Then the tech-boom  - and the subsequent bubble - came.  Suddenly, things were not so good as they were supposed to be.

Gen-X'ers I believe are far more controlling - far more independent and far more of a gamesman and a gameswoman than the "corporate, yes men and women" that the boomers were.  We challenged the status quo - asked questions - and never really got answers.

Some of us had given up - and were assimilated by the big companies and borgs.  Some of us are still struggling with the challenges of being independent.  Some of us are still straddling between being our own person - and a corporate executive Monday to Friday - that sometimes we are scared of change - and yet clamor for change.

And the balance - that darn balance between work and personal life - is still out there somewhere.

Argh.

In this article from Tammy Erickson, there are ten reasons why Gen-X'ers are not entirely feeling the love - in spite of companies needing our expertise.

One thing that Erickson does not mention - that I think should be there in the list of reasons why Gen-X'ers are not feeling the love - is because we're too fed up with hypocrisy.  It's no fault of the companies - it is perhaps the result of the system that we are in.

We hear of companies that are saying "our number one resource is our people - and our employees are our talent" - to the point that they set up talent management divisions, team-building and skill-enhancing projects, and on-job/classroom style training.

Only to be discarded and disregarded at the lower levels of the management rung.

Let's be honest: Gen-X'ers wanted to change the world.  We wanted the world to be a different place from our parents.  When Gen-X'ers came to be, we were on the verge of a technological and sociological mindshift - that suddenly stopped and we all stumbled.

We still want to change the world - but we've been stymied and and we've seen through the facade and the hyprocrisy of companies that say "we value you" - words that do not get translated to real actions and policies that affect us personally.

We've dreamt so much of a better world - and we've been disillusioned once.  We've tried to straddle several aspects of our lives - hoping that one of these - or ALL of these - will coalesce into one big whole that will be different from the lives that our parents and older siblings have led.

But still, we're not being heard.

Come on.  Give us some credit.

And to my fellow Gen-X'ers... it still is not over.  There is still an opportunity to change the world - and make it all different for us and our families.  We may not be the most tech-savvy and most digitally-savvy generation there is (hey, boomers don't even know how to program their VCRs and have given up; at least we tried - and we kept on trying until we got it right).  But we surely have the guts to get through this again.

We've gone through a lot.  And we can go through more.  A lot more.

Persistence

Seth Godin's entry today is very timely - at least for me.  Mr. Godin never fails to amaze me in ensnaring things that are floating in my mind.  (No, I will not even equate myself with Mr. Godin - there's just a sense of "vibrational compatibility" - a resonance, I guess.)

In his latest entry

Remarkable visions and genuine insight are always met with resistance. And when you start to make progress, your efforts are met with even more resistance. Products, services, career paths... whatever it is, the forces for mediocrity will align to stop you, forgiving no errors and never backing down until it's over.

If it were any other way, it would be easy. And if it were any other way, everyone would do it and your work would ultimately be devalued. The yin and yang are clear: without people pushing against your quest to do something worth talking about, it's unlikely it would be worth the journey. Persist.

I like the last word he wrote.  Persist.

Against mediocrity.  Against "it's good enough".  Against "no one will know and notice".  Against "where's the shortcut".  Against the dark forces that cut squares.

My personal guiding principle - borrowed from my former university - is Arete.  Excellence. Virtue.

And that is what's driving me.

Mass x Acceleration x Distance = Potentials

Withdrawal symptoms...

A challenge, I would say, is emerging. 

I am used to seeing lots of zeros in planning, learning, and project engagement briefs (unfortunately, those zeros don't get filtered down into my pocket.)

I am also used to being able to work independently and sign or initial invoices for endorsements.  Or give advice on pressing business issues about the strategic direction of the office.  Or be heard about what my thoughts are with regard to where the company should be headed in the next 3-5 years - and what the risks are.  Or be consulted by the staff. Or approve forms. ("Approve now, inform later..." was my mantra; "it's easier to rationalize and apologize than seek permission" was my other mantra.  Of course, within reasonable bounds.)

Or stay up late to finish one report or presentation needed by the client for a very crucial meeting that could make or break the business.  Or stare at the screen in search for stories amidst a plethora of numbers - and scratching my head every time a hypothesis bombs.

Suddenly, I have to scale down.

Significantly.

And my body - and my mind - is suddenly undergoing "withdrawing symptoms" with all the changes that are happening in my new environment.

I know - I should be thankful.  And be careful of what I ask for - as I just might get it.

Well, that gives me more time to do more of my academic and charity work, and more time to spend with my significant other [albeit electronically].

But I wonder how other agency-execs feel and cope when they move to the client side?  Did they feel the same as I do now?  Or is mine a spurious case - an outlier?

Boredom

I have been trying to deal with boredom in the past couple of weeks.  I guess it's a remnant of the holidays, when things slowed down significantly.  If there is something more behind it, I am not sure.  Things are not what they seem to be these days.  (And I am always on my guard; it's tiring, believe me, but it comes with the territory.)

I guess I am blessed (or cursed?) with an active mind.  I can't count how many ideas and thoughts for work questions and problems whilst showering in the morning, whilst doing my laps on the pool or simply watching cartoons on TV.

Yesterday, I told my smoking cessation therapist (yeah, there is such a thing - and I am pretty successful so far) that I always hated it when I was bored that's why I can't seem to relax.

And his response struck me:  "It's understandable.  An idle mind is the devil's playground.  Boredom is the devil's best friend, you see."

I agreed.

The worst decisions I have made were made out of boredom - and the resulting impatience.

Well.

There is something about boredom marketeers should consider.  Ogilvy summed it all up elegantly (as always):  "You can't bore your consumers to buying your product". (Or something like that).

One can only excite them.

And if your message is boring, nothing new, not visionary enough, not relevant enough, then they won't move - they won't shift.

It is the same with employees and employers:  Look at the most productive people, the most innovative people, the most involved people in your company.  They are the ones who are not bored - they are excited about things that they are doing.  They are not just doing it for the sake of doing it.

The challenge is to get them excited and engaged and involved.

With regard to my boredom, I will not succumb to it.  I will always find a question to fill in my boredom - whether it is a C++ program to analyze or an algorithm to scrutinize or a calculus theorem to solve or a sudoku table to fill in.

Or a PowerPoint(R) document to create.

 

 

Technorati Tags: Communications Planning,Office Life,Employee,Marketing Planning,Strategic Planning,Managing Life,Lifehacks

Christmas Rage

I had to do some errands today at one of the biggest and most popular department stores in Singapore.

It just so happened too that whilst waiting in line at the cashier's, there was this woman who simply was rude to the cashier. She kept on saying, "Do you know who I am? Do you know how much I spent in your store?"

She did make sure that everybody heard every word she said as the cashier kept her cool.

It sure was funny - at least to me.

When I got to the cashier's, I asked what the commotion was.

The response: "Sir, Christmas rage. It happens every year."

As she handed me my bag of goodies, she said "Merry Christmas!"

The Search for the Great GTD App...

This article form Lifehack.Org talks about the search for that great GTD app - which I would say is becoming more and more important in these harried days (and particularly in my new job).

I’ve yet to find the system that works best for me, although there are plenty of slick apps that look promising until I actually get down to working with them. After a few days of excitement, I find myself coming up against barriers to productivity — some of them because of poor design, some because of differences in philosophy between myself and the programmers, most because I’m simply not the target client — and find myself spending time looking for workarounds to make the system work rather than actually getting stuff done.

I can commiserate with the author's experience.  I once downloaded PlanPlus for Outlook (it was supposedly created by experts from Franklin Covey of the Stephen Covey fame; see www.franklincovey.com for more information).  And for awhile I found it to be a great tool.  However, it's got problems syncing with my Windows Mobile powered phone.

I gave up on it after one year of lugging my heavy laptop around.

I would say, however, that the new Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 comes close.  I am rather new to Office 2007 and coming from Office 2003, the leap to Office 2007 for Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint was rather disconcerting at first.  But on day-1 of my personal migration to Outlook 2007, it was rather easy.  And each day, I find more and more tools to make my life a little easier.

I specially like the "drag-and-drop" feature of Outlook 2007.  Say, someone sent me an email that I would like to follow-up on three days after.  I'd just highlight it and drag it to my to-do list or to my calendar - and voila!  Three days after, I would remember and in fact follow it up.

I also like the idea of creating calendars in Outlook 2007.  (OK, I am not entirely sure if this is a new feature and if this feature was available in Outlook 2003.)  But that was exactly what I did today - I now have two calendars on my Outlook:  One for my day to day stuff, and the other one for my professional milestones.  I am sure that this will come in hand as I venture into more and more projects.

It's not perfect - but I really think that it is getting there.

(And Google Calendars?  It's screwing up my schedules - for some reason, it keeps on moving my recurring appointments one hour later!  I think I'll stick to my Outlook for now.)

One wish though:  I would love to be able to sync my Outlook Calendar (at least one of them) with my Live.Com calendar.  That way I don't have to log in to check my Monday appointments every Sunday evening.

A Word of Advice...

I guess this was meant for people like me.  I stumbled upon this page a few weeks ago and tagged it Del.Icio.Us.  It's only now that I have had the time to actually go through and review my tags.

I hope it comes out clear - but it simply says "Everything will be okay in the end.  If it's not okay, it's not the end".

How apt.

How simple.

Yet appropriate.

Now if I could just live it. 

Firing Clients From Hell? Thank God, I am lucky...

When I was younger and starting in the business of advertising and advising clients of what to do with their media investments, I was taught that "clients are God" - in the same way that for them "consumers were kings and queens" and "customers are always right". 

I didn't have any objections then.  I was 19.  I was on my first account.  And the first major account I handled was McDonald's in Manila - who I would say were one of the best clients in the world. 

It was baptism by fire - and I stayed (willingly, I should add) at the office till midnight or 2am to finish presentations and reports in an office that was yet to link their ad monitoring service with their ratings services.  I had to develop 5 media plan options for them.

And I did gladly do so - because I loved McDonald's - as a client, as a brand.

In my senior year, whilst I was doing my thesis and my overnight cases for Abnormal Psychology, they would allow us to buy only one cup of coffee, have refills, and stay for hours in their store right across the university and a few blocks away from my apartment. 

I loved them.

Then my agency resigned McDonald's - in my viewpoint, it was "wrongful termination", if there was such a thing.

I would admit I cried when we resigned McDonald's and even considered moving to the company that took over the business then.

I had another client that I loved so much because of their honesty - PepsiCo Philippines.  The client was fierce, demanding, and demanded nothing but perfection - from spellings to grammars to the strategic approach.  But the lead client - the Country Marketing Director, MSNarciso - knew how to appreciate people.  She would treat us out for dinners, drinks, and impromptu parties.  It made it all worth it.  They didn't have delusions of grandeur that they were better than Coke - they knew they were number 2 and they were struggling.  Yet they yearned to be the best - to be the number one - to be profitable - to be seen not as the underdog, but as the fighter that they truly were and that they truly lived.

When I moved to Vietnam, I worked with Nestle's Portfolio - and again, I met a set of clients who were really demanding.  But again, I was willing to take over the most menial of tasks (e.g., photocopying reports, typing broadcast orders in Vietnamese - ensuring I got them letters right in spite of not knowing what they meant, faxing broadcast orders and memos) just to get things right and on time.  Why?  Because they acknowledged my team's efforts - that we were undermanned and lean yet in their eyes, we were one mean team that was ready to protect their interests.  Again, appreciation notes, emails, and impromptu parties - and even training programs to teach us what they believed in as a company and expand my team and my own knowledge of marketing and supply chain management.

MasterCard Southeast Asia was again another client that I really loved working with.  Again, very demanding, perfectionist, with tight deadlines and with briefs that are not perfect.  But again, they share their successes - and failures - with us.  Drinks post-campaign, nice short emails acknowledging what we have done, recommendations to their partner-banks, "positive word of mouth".  I just love them to bits.

And MSN - 24hour reverts on requests?  No problem.  Within the same day data-mining and chart collation?  No worries.  I have mastered Excel(R) and PowerPoint(R) enough to deliver the fastest time possible.  And the short notes saying "Thanks; you're an angel!" makes all the difference.  Again, I believe in their brands and their vision of their future.  In fact, I share their vision of the future - of Software as a Service - and their realistic view that "search is a problem area; help us fix it".

I have been blessed to be honest.  Working with clients that have pushed me to the limits (and to the verge of tears, sometimes) has been a blessing.  Of course, it's not always rosy - like when I get grilled for not doing my due-diligence and for looking for escapes and quickies and cut-corners.  And I take responsibility for that.

I have only fired one client in my entire career:  And it was a decision that I got an earful from my boss - but an action for which I took a stand for.

There was this client that refused to believe any research that was conducted by third party research, that continually challenged the recommendations we've made after having gone through 15 revisions of a measly 500'000USD budget (which don't mean anything in the market).  And they even demanded that both Client Services Director and me, the Media Head, to be present in the meetings.

In the final meeting, we had a cordial argument (if there's such a thing) on revision number 16 of the media flowchart (yes, not the strategy - the frigging flowchart!).  Whilst she - the client was babbling - I was calculating the revenues that we were going to lose if I walked away from this client now.  We were on a 1% commission for some strange reason - a compensation scheme that I inherited from my predecessor's predecessor.  The revenues:  5'000USD - for one whole year

After double-checking this figure with the Finance Director who was just in the adjacent room, I told the client that "we can't seem to find any solution for you; I suggest that you look for another agency who can meet your needs.  Obviously, we are not getting what you really want to achieve for the brand - and that we cannot deliver.  My best professional advice for you is to just call for a pitch now - and rest assured, we will help you craft the pitch brief.  It's just that, we won't participate in the pitch anymore."

The client was taken aback. 

The Client Services Director was surprised - but I slipped her a note that said "lost revenues: 5'00USD - not even enough to cover your and my time".  So she also changed her tone.

She tried explaining what she wanted again - which didn't really help because she really couldn't pinpoint why this media plan is wrong and why the creative executions which were merely adaptations from a global material was wrong.

But we stood firm.

We ended the meeting cordially.  I started briefing my team to prepare the handover and do it in 2weeks' time.  I started working on a pitch brief - a full brief that she never knew how to prepare, as well as a list of agencies who could take on her business.  I called all my contacts - my competitors - and advised them to expect a call from her and to please treat her business well; she's just confused.  Finance started to close her accounts and chase for unpaid bills that we had to foot in her behalf.

We sent her our resignation letter together with the brief, the handover plan and the timelines, and her decision-points, together with the invoices for more the payments to media vendors.

We never heard from her again.

I got the beating from my Managing Director and the Regional Managing Director - on why resign a client when we were in the red?  Well, honesty"  If by revision 10 we can't deliver what she wants and she can't tell us why it is still wrong, we will never get it right.  I would rather that I used my time and my team's time on something else - perhaps, focusing on my bigger clients and be a better team for them.

I offered to pay half of the lost revenues of 5'000USD if they feel I was in the wrong.  Honestly, I was going to make not just a principled stand on my decision - but also stake my money on my decision.

I have always believed that agency people or suppliers - whoever they may be, whatever service they may be providing to the company or to any firm - should be treated as partners.  Even cleaning companies should be treated as partners.  Even construction firms and construction workers should be treated as partners.

With respect.  As humans.  With civility.  With honesty.

Money, profitability, revenues are important and all good.  But once they start treating me or my team or my other partners in the firm as crap and less than human, they don't deserve us.

I wonder - how many agencies and companies feel the same way?

This post was inspired by this entry from INSIDECRM.Com:  Here's the link for those of you who have the guts and the balls to stand up for the human in you and your team, to stand up for people who cannot stand up for themselves, to make a stand for decisions that may be controversial and could cost the firm some money.  If indeed people and talent come first, then yes: Firing clients from hell should be an option - it should always be an option.

Here's the link: Top 10 Ways to Fire the Client From Hell - Inside CRM.

remembrance of things past... my past:

i still remember the days when i was in ateneo. those were simple, beautiful days. i'd wake up early to get into my english class at 7.30 at bellarmine hall - the farthest of the buildings - and then wait for abour 6 hours for my next class. i would kill time by going to the library and reading up on my major subjects - mostly math books and philosophy. i would fall asleep, of course, and then i'd wake up at 2.30 - in time for my 3pm class. then it was time to go home.
i still remember those days - those were simple days. i would go out with friends - ricel, george, jervs, karla, shera, marj, bev, and john david. we'd trek to greenhills, catch a concert, and then go to 7-11, buy some beer, and park somewhere near my boarding house, and drink, drink, drink.
life was simpler then.
george and jervs were my college buddies. they were the closest to "best friends" in college. we'd all argue about gabriel marcel, immanuel kant, and teilhard de chardin. we'd argue about the idealism of jose rizal, andres bonifacio and emilio aguinaldo. we'd have different views about religion, commitment, and theology. but we were friends.
in our last year, during our thesis days, george and i would have a falling out because of some weird reason. we did say goodbye to each other amicably before graduation - and before our thesis defense. but i guess our friendship never really got back to where it was supposed to be. we lost touch - immediately after we left the ateneo. (we did both get accepted into andersen consulting - but i turned it down and went into advertising instead.)
jervs and i - we were roommates, by the way, for about three years - did manage to say goodbye properly. he was the cool one - the "whatever" guy. so it was quite something to see him tear on our last day at school. i still recall him hugging me and patting me on the back the day before our graduation. (I decided not to show up in the ceremonies.) he said, thanks. and i asked for what? for the nights filled with philosophical discussions about life and immanuel kant, his favorite philosopher (and who i detested).
we did get together one time - at 5 J. Escaler Street Loyola Heights QC - Apple's place. it was probably about a year after graduation.
it was quite funny how we had changed in a matter of one year. Jem, who wanted to be a priest, was still considering to be a priest - but was flirting with the girls. George was still the good old kuya. Jervs was still the same old frustrated singer and pianist who never mastered the metronome (mixing up with 3/4 with 12/16 and 4/3 hihi.)
but we did notice the change.
beer was barely touched. everybody was rushing home because "there's work pa tomorrow". we all said hurried goodbyes - and promised each other we'd have lunch in Makati "one of these days".
one of these days never came to be in spite of most of us working in or around the Makati CBD.
i guess that;s the thing about friendship. if you stop nurturing it, it dies a natural death.
and because it dies a natural death, its demise is seen as "natural" - a natural part of growing up, of growing old, of maturity.
but there is some sense of incompleteness or - dare i say it - absence of closure in its wake.
it's as if we didn't close it properly. it's as if we didn't end it properly. it's as if something is hanging - and we never properly said goodbye to each other.
then again, how do you end friendships? unlike relationships, friendships simply start - and then before you know it, there it is: friendships are formed and are nurtured. and before you know it, it's gone. how do you end friendships?
i guess you don't.
you just let it die a natural death - with the hope that somehow, some closure happens when it finally ends.
sigh.

 

Technorati Tags: Ateneo, ADMU, University Life, Student Life, Angst, Memories, Reminiscences, Remembering, Ateneo de Manila

Generation-X: Trust no one?

Generation-X has somehow been overshadowed by the so-called Generation-M - the Millenials, the Mobile, the "content generators" - but heck, we are still alive and well.  (Yes, I will admit that I am one of those Gen-X people - though I wouldn't admit that I was that rebellious.  I am, after all, one who grew up in Catholic schools - from prep to Unviersity...  [Hmmm.  Is that right?])

This is from an article dated 1997:

A big hurdle, according to Hamilton, is that the age-old motivational carrots - loftier job tides and more pay - won't work magic with this group. "What gets these folks up in the morning is very different from why baby boomers woke up. They are not interested in climbing the conventional job ladder. Offer them an extra $10,000 per year, and they won't necessarily hop jobs," says Hamilton. "What's critical to Gen Xers is feeling they have an impact on what the business is doing. Titles don't matter to them, but job responsibilities do. They really want to feel as though they are contributing."

Sure, pay increases and wonderful titles are great - and they do matter.  But they are mere symbols of how a Gen-X'er has contributed to something bigger.  Gen-X'ers have always had this feeling to do something - to create something - of significance and of relevance to the bigger community.  In their search for this - not necessarily the meaning of life - Gen-X'ers are seen to be aloof, self-centric, individualistic, holier-than-thou, vindictive, and cannot-be-bothered.  They sometimes think the world owes them something - and the truth is, yes, the world does:  "The earlier generations screwed up big time - with Nixongate, Marcoses, Magsaysay, the World War II, the Cold War, Chernobyl, Martial Law.  And we're here to change the world."

The truth is, they are involved - and want to be involved - but they want to be involved in something bigger, something more meaningful than a 9-5 job that pays the luxuries of life.  When you deny them the chance to be a part of something big, you deny them a big part of their expectations.  Your denial of including a Gen-X into a major project is a denial of her importance.  And no, she doesn't want it for glory:  she wants it because she believes in it - you've made her believe it to be something big.

The Gen-X'ers find it hard to ask for help - rightly or wrongly, they believe that they are sufficient and that they can make it on their own.  When they do ask for help, respond.  They don't need you to respond positively - they can take no for an answer.  Seriously.  They just need you to respond.  Asking for help is not entirely asking for help - it is merely a question that demands an answer and your inability to answer will be seen as an unwillingness to acknowledge their importnce to something bigger than they are.

When you think a Gen-X'er didn't deliver and have marked him a 6 out of 10 in your mind (with 10 being the perfect score), he would have marked himself significantly lower:  A Gen-X'er will mark himself a 0 for failure and a 10 for success.  There are little gray areas in between - perhaps a 5, but 5 is mediocrity and it is as good as a 0.  The point is, if you think a Gen-X'er has failed you, well, multiply that feeling of disappointment ten-fold:  that is how your Gen-X'er feels about himself.

What about the legendary short attention span of Gen Xers? The label isn't false, says Haddock - "this is the MTV Generation" - but is it all bad? Maybe in a slow-moving corporate behemoth it's a negative, but in a thinly staffed entrepreneurial business where workers wear many hats, this trait may be a plus. "Generation Xers thrive with multitasking and are happy doing three things at once," says Haddock. "A job with plenty of variety keeps them challenged."

Gen-X'ers are multi-taskers.  They talk on the phone, whilst doing calculations on a worksheet and finishing up a crucial presentation document with graphics and insights.  At the same time - somewhere at the back of their minds - is that apartment that needs to be cleaned, the flowers that need to be sent to the partner, the gift to mom and dad, the car that needs to be fixed, the mortgage, the credit card bills for that last getaway to the beach.

And they survive.  They don't succumb.  They derive from all these excitement and the feeling of being busy and "overworked - by choice".

Another knock against Xers is that they flit from job to job. "If they feel challenged and valued, they are satisfied employees," counters Fagan. "If they don't, they're out the door. This is a high-energy generation that bores easily. It's a challenge to keep them engaged." But keep heaping challenges on Gen Xers, and, more often than not, they'll rise to meet them. This is a very talented, highly capable group.

Stimulation - not necessarily.  Challenges - yes.  Create for them a role and an environnment where they can live their lives and challenge.

They hate imposed overtime work - but they wouldn't mind staying till midnight at work to ensure that they deliver something important.  Because they will deliver if they know it is important.

How do I know all these?

I am Generation-X.

I may not be as rebellious, self-centric, egoistic, proud, and strong as my western counterparts.  But I am an Asian Generation-X: 

born in the Martial Law period in the Philippines
raised at the time when the Philippines faltered under a dictator
transitioned towards adolescence as a president tried to grapple with power and somehow, missed the mark
transitioned towards adulthood surrounded by hypocrisy of the old and nouveau riche classmates
became a tool for capitalism in an industry that made people want things that they don't really need
and rose through the ranks through sheer determination, patience, and technical capabilities

And got bored.

"Year of Changes"

Gary, a good friend since I was a fledgling country manager for Universal McCann in Vietnam (managing less than 10Mln US$ worth of business, with 6 junior Vietnamese staff), told me that this is the year of changes for him and for me.  He's a Scorpio - he was born a day and nine years before me - and he believes that perhaps (and though he doesn't believe in horoscopes) this year 2007 is the year of change for Scorpions.

I can't say I really do believe in horoscopes - although once in a while, I would check out mine.  I usually do it at the end of the day to 'counter-check'.  And of course, my mind would somehow find a way to "validate" these things that I have experienced.  (I still believe that horoscopes are open to interpretation - and the mind, no matter how conscious we are, has its own workings and could find meaning where meaning doesn't exist [and alternatively, find ennui and meaninglessness where there is meaning].)

It does seem, however, that indeed the year 2007 is going to be a year of change for me.

On the personal front, there are so many changes that are happening -

• My romantic dilly-dallying's (if that's the right word) are all turning out to be more serious than I thought.  I am ready to make the big jump and make "the" commitment to make it work regardless of anything.  From someone who was supposed to be as ambitious as me and as driven as me - to finally take the back seat and let someone else be a part of the "steering wheel" of my life, it's a significant change.
  
• My immediate family has also undergone a lot of changes - some for the better, some for the worse.  Nay and Tay went to the US and relocated there, leaving Mamang behind in the province - who I am now responsible for.  My sisters' respective families are all - well - I wouldn't say disastrous - just a bit imperfect.  
  
• My career - after its ups, plateaus, downs, and cul-de-sacs - is finally shifting.  Let me reword that:  I have finally taken the courage to take back control over my career, after having realized what's important to me  and that this thing called career is just a mere means towards a bigger end, a bigger vision.
  
• My spiritual life in and of itself has seen some shake-ups reminiscent of my days taking up Philosophy of Religion.  My faith in Someone/Something unfathomably more immense than me was shaken, whipped, stirred, eviscerated, crushed beyond recognition and definition.  I lost it - simply.  One day, all the thoughts of Ayn Rand came back to me - and suddenly, I was rationally faithless.  The questioning began.  And then with one big swoop, there was - dare I say it? - illumination.
  (I wouldn't call it enlightenment - that's too deep.  Illumination, for me, is "sourced from outside" - whilst enlightenment is more "inside-outwards".)
  And yes, yet again - change.

What I did realize though is that, 2007 indeed seems to be a real year of change for me.  And these are not tectonic, sudden changes.  Neither are they "calm before the storm" kinds of changes.  Rather, they are like small storms rising and falling, heaving and slightly surging - that suddenly gathered together into one big, mammoth of a storm that can no longer be denied - that I had no choice but to say, "Yeah, I surrender to the Change". 

So indeed, it seems that Gary is right.  This is a year of change - if it is not the year of change.

With change comes uncertainty - and for once, I am confident.

Frank Herbert and Paul Muad'dib of Dune somehow resonates with me: 

I must not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

I will face my fear.

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.

Only I - and those who matter to me and what matters to me - will remain.

 

Technorati tags: life, living, changes, change management, personal Growth, personal journeys, advertising life, agency Life, advertising Planning, strategic planning, personal strategic planning, career shifts, personal shifts, values, litany against fear, frank herbert, dune

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M|C Thought of the Day: Being a Truly Talent-Orientated Company...

it has become cliche for companies to say "our most important resources are our people". when i joined the working force in 1995 back in the Philippines, I can count with one hand the companies that have taken this dictum seriously - i.e., putting it really on the top of their list of things-to-do.

for a company to be truly talent-orientated, they will have to take on real investments into talent. for a company to do this, its leaders must realize that such a talent exists in their organization - and truly devote themselves into a real talent-management program.

a friend of mine, who works in the HR department, felt so frustrated with her company. their vision says "we value our people - we believe that our people are our most important resource and we invest in our people". why? because she applied for an MBA on her own, secured a place at one of the most prestigious universities in the US - and another one locally and still another one at the LSE (an MSc, I think, in Economics - or something).

what really drove her nuts were two things:

(1) she asked for financial assistance - in fact, the way she put it was "would you (the company) like to invest in me?"; that was more than 18 months ago - up to this, she has yet to receive word from the company. she's willing to let that go - considering that the real reason she's going for her Master's degree is to leave the industry - and financial support form her company would probably "bond" her for two years with them post her Master's.

(2) What's really worse though - which really irks her to this day (she's left the company and has joined another one) - was her company's refusal to give her an extended leave every last 2 weeks of the month for 20 months. No financial support (since she's given up earlier on it). Just support to manage her time, her workload, and the demands of grad school. The company said no, because "it won't be fair to the others".

This is a classic case of lip-service - a company saying that "our people are our most important resources" so much so that their vision and their strategic directions for the next five years declare these.

When employees do really take it seriously, the company cowers back and pretends such words didn't exist anywhere in the company's declarations as a company, as an employer, as a brand.

Well, what can I say?

(I didn't say much to my friend. I just kept quiet. She was from HR - I guess she should know more about these than me. But wasn't it ironic that the very people who were supposed to manage talent within the company were frustrated by the company's real behaviors and response towards the what they were supposed to be?)

why am i learning spanish?

I have been asked a million times "Why Spanish?"  Here is a simple reason:

Eres todo en mi
El sol que me ilumina y me hace tan feliz
La fuerza que conduce mi existir
Solo tu, mi amor

Si me abrazo a ti
Yo siento que tu esencia se dispersa en mi
No queda ni un espacio en mi sentir
Eres tu mi luz

Eres todo en mi
Y lluevo entre mis labios todo tu sabor
Cruzare mi bien oceanos mas profundos
Por saber de ti

Eres todo en mi
Por siempre y para siempre
Desde que te vi
Nunca mas tendré
Temor, pues con tu amor volvi a sentir
Y a renacer

Volare por ti
A un mundo donde beba solo de tu amor
Dejando la distancia tras de mí
Solos tu y yo

Eres todo en mi
Y lluevo entre mis labios todo tu sabor
Cruzare mi bien oceanos mas profundos
Por saber de ti

Eres todo en mi
Por siempre y para siempre
Desde que te vi
Nunca mas tendré
Temor, pues con tu amor volvi a sentir
Y a renacer

Bailaremos hoy
Sobre una nube blanca que en el cielo esta
Tus ojos como estrellas brillaran
Para mi, por mi

Jamas se ira la magia de sentir tu aliento
Sobre mi volcando mis sentidos para amar
Solo por tu amor, mi amor
Bailaremos hoy
Sobre una nube blanca que en el cielo esta
Tus ojos como estrellas brillaran
Para mi, por mi

a better man

Lord, I am doing all I can to be a better man.