Gift of Presence

There are people that come in and out of our lives at work, in school and at play. To some, I too come in and out of their influence and circle.

In my personal vision I declared decades ago, I stated "I can get in and out of adventure for as long as I have a place to come home to and move up and around again."

For now, it is retreating back home to prepare for the next possibilities. Personally, I express my thanks for the enriching moments and the gifts of your presence.

Some people enter our lives like deer, slipping in and out of the woods.

They touch our earth and as we step to look at them they disappear as quietly as they came.
But you feel blessed for having experienced their gentle presence.
 "Presence" by Joan Metzner

Conversations

At a hidden coffee shop in Marikina

Over the weekend, with colleagues after field work, we had an interesting conversation in an outlet that initially could not be located but eventually found. After settling down tucked on a corner that rainy evening, even the strong rains could not hamper the insights I gathered that night.

Two important insights I picked up in dealing with a group are: One is communication is important. Not just communicating but connecting. Secondly, leadership to what drives us to reach a valuable goal faster.

My personal learning from the conversation are "it is unlocking that one critical hurdle to drive associates to be motivated" and to be the lead, "pivoting success on the current No. 1." There is a reality of getting discouraged derailing us. What puts up back on track is the clarity of our end state to be successful.

It validated to me that each of us have our ways to be successful. But what is important is the way to our own dreams, a destination that is personally meaningful and valuable to us. I believe all of us are capable of attaining them.

Happy Saturday! Salamat sa salad, inumin, sakay at paanyaya. Saan ang susunod?

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What I use when relating with challenging persons-the art of tiempo 1st then the art of kambyo (heard
over DZUP 1602am).

Tiempo is the equivalence of Consideration in 7 Habits and Connect in Collaboration for Value. Kambyo is courage in 7H and the Create/Align in C4V. As tiempo and kambyo is an art, the balancing part is up to the person.

Play it well and it will drive you to the dream state of your life.

Thoughts in Mind

• Seeing through freshly recruited sales associates and team leads transform to a performing unit
• Experiencing change myself
• After having discovered what I accomplished, designing the dream of the immediate tomorrow
• Checkpoint against the originally stated 7 Habits' Personal Mission
• Advocacy work of unlocking a person with a roadmap to realize their full potential
• Value of connecting not just communication and leading not just for a result but for an important task
• Friendship and expressions as currencies other than power, wealth, knowledge, acceptance
• The balance of the year

Gratefully Happy

Gratefully happy this Easter Week
Sharing on coping with challenges and letdowns

The last 8 months have been trying times both personally and professionally. It is not business as usual in our work place. Our company has been going through a transition where new owners with their version of business model to apply to the organization will result in structural change. Drastic changes have been put in place starting January 2013.

Related to work but for the family, I am working on a project initiated by my parents as early as year 2006 involving the government and farmers which has been forever under process for less than a decade. I am targeting to complete it by 1st quarter of 2013.

On a level very close to me, my parents are in their mid 80’s. I want them to live their lives to the fullest. At their age, health issues are perennially a concern.

I’ve been coping so far with these letdowns through my spirituality and personal leadership.

In every opportunity where I can pray or hear mass, I pray for my intentions following a simple formula of prayer; give praise, give thanks, ask for forgiveness and ask for favor and guidance (Pagpuri, Pasasalamat, Patawad, Paghingi). The favors and guidance I consistently ask for are good health for my parents and me, processing the family project, providing me and my family with the resources to coast through the day-to-day needs comfortably and lastly to bless and protect the members of my family, close relatives and friends.

Consciously, I apply a personal leadership concept which I have embraced as a guiding principle. I am sharing it as it has worked well for me mainly for the technical and professional tasks.

“Leaders have an important task guided by a plan with not enough time to complete. They are fact-based measured by a handful of controlling objectives. When faced with a quasi crisis, reserves show up to complete the task. Leaders look to the future with optimism.

Learning is an added knowledge manifested in a behavior.  Behavior repeatedly done becomes a habit. Habit extended over time is embedded as a personal value.”

The crises I am faced with are quasi.

•          There is still work to do. I am involved in the pilot projects of the new owners.

•          Parents are coping with their ailment and are gaining strength for full recovery.

•          Slowly still slowly, the project is moving bringing to closure concretely closer to the targeted deadline.

•          Resources are coming in. Relatives and friends are around. And indeed reserves show up making me hurdle life’s setbacks both on and personal and professional level. Medical experts are there generously and compassionately applying their expertise with dedication to heal ably supported by capable and gentle medical support staff. Each one of them is an angel coming to rescue during trying moments.

•          A great deal of the reserves comes from various sources to which I and our family are grateful for.

As I survive these crises, I also learned in the past an effective way to deal with with greater challenges: extend kindness and goodness to others. These secrets I intend to continue as I still look to the future with optimism.

Overcoming these letdowns and quoting from the Easter Message said at the Gesu by Fr. Jett Villarin, “Let us therefore be gratefully happy.”

“How shall our happiness be grown from gratefulness? Simply by acknowledging that everything, all that we see around us, all this is gift. Life is gift. We did not ask for life. It was just given us. Even this terrifying freedom that allows us to mean our choices, some of which hurt us, this freedom is gift. That is what gifts are all about: they are not bought or even deserved. They are just given gratis (i.e. freely) ex abundantia cordis, out of the abundance of the heart of the giver.”

Happy Easter!

My comment to Bam Alegre Wholly Week blog article. Bam is a GMA TV news reporter who speaks and writes in English and Pilipino. He is an active Twitter. Bam is product of the UP CMC.

My view on Holy Week is a reverse of penitence. As an urban worker, time spent at work is in a way my sacrifice looking forward to  Holy Week as my redemption. During my active extreme adventure days, extended weekends were spent travelling, communing with nature, escaping but not forgetting at the end of the Lenten season to be gratefully happy for work and the play.

For you as a broadcast journalist, it seems work and play are one.  

Happy Easter!

Visita Iglesia via Mass Transport

 Gesu along Katipunan st.

If only MRT and LRT 1 and 2 operate normally during the Holy Week, I can design a novel Visita Iglesia that combines riding and walking without the hassle of parking and the possibility of covering the most populated and historical churches. Imagine a Visita Iglesia using LRT2 to cover Quiapo Church, San Sebastian Church, San Beda Benedictine Abbey Church, Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of Victories (Cannon Rd. via B. G. Belmonte), Sta Clara Monastery (Katipunan), Gesu among others.

Route to Our Lady of Victories and
Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Image of Blessed Pedro Calungsod

Via MRT, I can think of Our Lady of Perpetual Chuch (Baclaran Church), Don Bosco along Pasong Tamo, Sto. Nino de la Paz Greenbelt Chapel, Sanctuario de San Antonio (Fobres Park), Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mary Queen of Peace EDSA Shrine along Ortigas Ave. and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church along Scout Ybardolaza in Kamuning.

The Holy Week allows us to reflect on sufferings we all go through with the promise of redemption. Visita Iglesia in Manila opens us to the many churches giving support that God is accessible and truly does not turn us away.

Here is to a meaningful Holy Week.

Adaptable Versatile Flexible

Adaptable : capable of being or becoming adapted. 

adapt verb \ə-ˈdapt, a-\transitive verb : to make fit (as for a new use) often by modification

— adapt·abil·i·ty \-ˌdap-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē\noun

1.     an adaptable tool that combines a screwdriver, a corkscrew, and pliers

2.     <an activities director who's adaptable to any kind of situation>

Versatile: ver·sa·tile

adjective \ˈvər-sə-t^əl, especially British -ˌtī(-ə)l\

1

: changing or fluctuating readily : variable <a versatile disposition>

2

: embracing a variety of subjects, fields, or skills; also: turning with ease from one thing to another

3

a (1): capable of turning forward or backward : reversible <a versatile toe of a bird> (2): capable of moving laterally and up and down <versatile antennae>

bof an anther: having the filaments attached at or near the middle so as to swing freely

4

: having many uses or applications <versatile building material>

 A pocket knife is a versatile tool.

Flexible: flex·i·ble

adjective \ˈflek-sə-bəl\

1

: capable of being flexed : pliant

2

: yielding to influence : tractable

3

: characterized by a ready capability to adapt to new, different, or changing requirements <a flexible foreign policy> <a flexible schedule>

— flex·i·bil·i·ty \ˌflek-sə-ˈbi-lə-tē\noun

— flex·i·bly \ˈflek-sə-blē\adverb

1.     flexible branches swaying in the breeze

2.     a material that is both strong and flexible

3.     She's been doing exercises to become stronger and more flexible.

4.     Our schedule for the weekend is very flexible.

5.     This computer program has to be flexible to meet all our needs.

6.     Whatever you want to do is fine with me. I'm flexible.

The Wind Drift: Change and Adjustment

From the Change Management Notes

The Wind Drift-the average direction of the wind over a period of time.

Bonifacio Global City BGC is a walking business district. Pedestrian lanes are in place in the squared blocks without any obstacles. On each block, there is a pedestrian traffic sign and a series of white strips painted on the street to mark a crossing lane. From the Net Lima Building at the 4^th and 26^th St, walk to Market Market towards the East is a leisurely 12 minute walk. To the St. Luke's Medical Center Global at the 32th St. towards North, it is a short 5-minute walk with interruptions at the blocks if the traffic lights flash red.

February when we moved in, walking back to Headquarters requires more effort because of the wind drift that blows harder as the day deepens creating a wind draft. Like going through change, adjusting requires effort and personal initiative to cope.

The Uniform. Here at BGC, front flat slacks, leather shoes, blazers, collared shirts, signature eyeglasses, slung IDs, laptop bag and highlighted streaks of hair are the distinguishing marks of the evolving artifacts.

You know these are artifacts because they are phenomena that one sees, hears and feels, visible products of the group, visible behavior of the group and organizational processes and easy to observe but difficult to decipher.

Welcome to change management.

New Faces. New laughter. Fresh Stories. Some familiar figures are gone. Habitual responses no longer show up. The group you coalesce with is either incomplete, with a new face or worst non-existent anymore. Whether elimination or elimination, what is certain is a new team lead has taken over understanding your operations and sliding in his reforms.

There is discomfort because it is an adjustment period. There is containment because the rules have changed. There is some sort of uncertainty because your area of influence is now an area of concern.

The feelings are normal. Acknowledge them.  Eventually driving forces will show up to transition you to the new norm.

New artifacts challenge your values. What new values prevail? What can you ride on? Which ones are challenges? Be aware. Tap on them. They are key in tiding you over.

In managing change, help let go of the past. Some proven steps: Prepare them. Acknowledge change openly. Compensate for the loss. Take a part of the old. Say info over and over.  Elaborate on the ending. Mark endings-show how it ensures continuity. Treat the past with respect.

27 Feb 2013

Philippines is Where Home is

The family is the center of the Filipino.

The Filipino worker is at the core of industrial operations overseas.

Home with members of the family is where the elderly stays.

There is joy preparing a meal for the family.

This is the Philippines. This is my home.

Hands may not always be full but the heart is.

Triggered by the letter of Dr.David Harwell.

Benjamin Pimentel building on the insights wrote a reply.

Blog. FB. Tweet

I am principally a blogger via online internet using a laptop. Blogging allows me to expound ideas in stanzas and paragraphs limitless. With minimal visuals, I am able to frame a point of view.  It did not matter if it was not read. For as long as the thought is captured and recorded and can be looked back to aid recall at the appropriate moment, I am pleased.

Blogging provides me the discipline to contain and organize my lucid thoughts in a structured format. It is worth publishing if it is "a compelling idea well expressed."

Half a decade ago, I was created a Facebook account, a venue for social networking in visuals, video and in words directed to a set of acquired friends online. The open list of contacts added with the linkages attached to acquired friends is enough to keep the lines burning and the account alive. At the peak of usage especially when hot items are discussed and a constant probe by the system on "what's in your mind" the stream of messages from anywhere and anytime regardless of location and zone never settles.

Facebook even has a provision to quick acknowledgement increasing the exchanges directly or openly to all. Fortunately, there is a control safeguard where you can select friends and views to receive. FB eventually expanded to accommodate larger files, high definition videos and fotos initially slowing the system down.

Smart Phone changed the mobility of interaction. Starting with PALM then moving to IPhone and Galaxy, the unit initially used for Short Message Sending and phone calls is capable of sending and receiving the contents of a computer from anywhere, anytime in any condition.

Thousands of SMS, videos and visuals are transmitted in this handy small hardware capable in reaching a wider base of recipients. Linked with Facebook and blog, I eventually created a Twitter account to belong to the new generation of social networkers.

Twitter when connected with live media coverage of TV, cable or radio shows its competitive edge over blog and FB. There is live, real time interaction with practically anyone on planet earth who can type in a message on the phone or in a computer keyboard. Limited to just 140 characters though, it is sufficient to cleverly present a point-of-view to thousands of readers both of high and low profile, known and unknown and being responded to quickly with a reply. This containment of number of characters makes possible the multiple sending of ideas in shorter gaps to a huge base of followed twitters.

This social network phenomenon digitalizes human interaction.  Good, better, best?  Blog, good. FB, better. Twitter, best. If you wish to expound an idea, blog. If you wish to expand to a wider base, FB. If you wish quick and short interaction, Twitter. The foundation of the networking is human interaction. But as I get more engaged in the digital exchanges, I realized eventually that interaction without the establishing face-to-face experience remains to be empty in spite of the traffic. Nothing matches a senseless talk over beer with friends in a beer garden.

Chito R.

New Thoughts

Expanding these ideas in a blog article:

1. Blog is an expounded expression. Facebook is directed to a controlled audience. Tweet is short thought blasted in the open
2. Iphone or Galaxy
3. Desktop is to blog as laptop is to facebook and Iphone/Galaxy is to Tweet

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