Career Tips

When a high tech CEO first joined a company in the summer of 1980, he had no idea he will stay for 40 years! Here are five pieces of advice he gave them:

Make an impact. “If you establish yourself as somebody who gets things done, you’ll be amazed at your popularity inside the company. You’ll be somebody that people want on their team.”

Be curious. “One of the great attributes that successful people have is that they’re curious. They’re interested in why things work and how they can be made better. Curiosity takes you to a lot of different approaches and solutions.”

Hate to lose. “Successful people are competitive. The definition of ‘competitive’ is not whether someone likes to win. Most people say they want to win. Being competitive comes down to whether you hate to lose. When you hate to lose, it will drive you to do the preparation and the hard work to make sure that you and your team are successful.”

Learn from your mistakes. “Not repeating mistakes is far more powerful than never making a mistake. Your body of knowledge grows if you learn every time you do something. Learn from those around you. If you’re learning and adjusting all the time, you’ll get better and better.”

Build a solid foundation. “If you don’t have a solid foundation of ethics and values, you’re going to have a hard time. You won’t fit in at TI. It’s the foundation you build on.”

LIFE IS SHORT

Today I heard a sad news about a sports afficionado, co worker, co leader in the Alumni space on his untimely death. Sad. He is just 45. They say too young to die.

Cause? Lung cancer. Habit-smoking. Question in my mind - was that smoking addiction of his eased up the stress on his life/work? Yes.

So if one habit (smoking) temporarily becomes a relief or outlet for a bigger problem (stress at work), and it is the cause of ones death, how then can one wrestle with that thought? Any alternative?

DAM if you do, DAM if you don't!

I am appalled at the way media portrays national development as a wanton disregard for marginalizing indigenous people.

Fact of the matter is, which interest is the government protecting anyway? The minority tribes or the millions who will suffer if such projects do not come to fruition!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x9udr5a7qQ

APOLITICAL

The race for the speakership is between a political neophyte and a seasoned legislator. Gone are the days when the speakership is supposedly earmarked for an accomplished legislator (Seasoned does not mean accomplished!)

Melancholic State

melancholy: 

1. 1.

   a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause.

   
   

   synonyms:

   desolation, sadness, pensiveness, woe, sorrow, melancholia;  unhappiness, dejection, depression, gloom, gloominess, misery, low spirits, moroseness, doldrums, defeatism, pessimism, dejectedness, dispiritedness, despondency;  informalthe dumps, the blues "a feeling of melancholy descended on him"

There's something about July and how my brain is wired that brings me to be in this state. On hindsight, came to realize that normally it is at this stage in my young life when people in the barrios have pretty much completed the rice planting task. Hence, what's left is all but waiting game. Waiting for the rains, storms to come. Waiting for the fertilizers to be spread. Generally people are left sitting, waiting and for people like me who likes to soak in action, adventure, its such a boring existence. 

Thus...the melancholia. 

What true men are made of

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. ² Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ³ not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. ⁴ He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full^[a] respect. ⁵ (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) ⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. ⁷ He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

⁸ In the same way, deacons^[b] are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. ⁹ They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. ¹⁰ They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

Reminded of this act of selflessness from an army captain who kissed his soldier while undergoing medivac.

AESOP FABLE for CHILDREN

LESSON #1

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Aesop shows us again and again that persistence pays off.

• The Hare and the Tortoise. Hare mocks tortoise's short legs. Tortoise vows to beat the hare in a race. Tortoise plods along while overconfident hare takes a snooze. Hare wakes up to see that tortoise has won. This one never gets old.
• The Crow and the Pitcher. A desperately thirsty crow finds a pitcher with water in the bottom, but his beak is too short to reach it. The clever crow patiently drops pebbles into the pitcher until the water level rises and he can reach it: a testament to both hard work and ingenuity. 
• The Farmer and His Sons. A dying farmer wants to be sure his sons will tend the land after he's gone, so he tells them there is a treasure in the fields. Looking for literal treasure, they dig extensively, tilling the soil, which results in an abundant crop. Treasure, indeed.

LESSON #2 No Shirking

Aesop's characters may think they're too clever to work, but they never get away with it for long.

• The Salt Merchant and His Ass. An ass carrying a load of salt accidentally falls in a stream and realizes that his load has melted away. So the next time he crosses the steam, he purposely falls down. Then his owner loads him with sponges, so when he falls down a third time, the weight of his load doubles instead of disappearing.
• The Ants and the Grasshopper. Another classic: grasshopper sings all summer while ants work to harvest grain. Winter comes, grasshopper begs ants for food, but ants say no. The ants might seem a bit uncharitable in this one, but hey, the grasshopper had his chance

LESSON #3 Actions Speak Louder Than Words

As anyone who has ever sat through a meeting knows, actual work is usually more effective than talk about work.

• Belling the Cat. The mice meet to decide what to do about their enemy, the cat. A young mouse says they should put a bell on the cat so they can hear it coming. Everyone thinks it's a brilliant idea until an older mouse asks who's going to put the bell on.
• The Boy Bathing. A boy drowning in a river asks a passerby for help but instead gets a lecture. Unfortunately, advice doesn't float.
• The Wasps, the Partridges, and the Farmer. Some thirsty wasps and partridges ask a farmer for some water, promising to repay him with useful services. The farmer observes that he has two oxen who already perform all those services without making any promises, so he'd rather give the water to them.

LESSON #4: Help Yourself

Don't ask for help until you've tried to help yourself. You'll probably do a better job than other people, anyway. 

• Hercules and the Wagoner. When his wagon gets stuck in the mud, the driver—without lifting a finger—cries out to Hercules for help. Hercules says he isn't going to help until the driver has made an effort himself.
• The Lark and Her Young Ones. A young lark overhears a farmer announcing that the crop is ripe and it's time to ask his friends to come help with the harvest. The lark asks its mother whether they need to move elsewhere for safety. She responds that if the farmer is only asking his friends, he isn't serious about getting the work done. They won't have to move until the farmer decides to harvest the crop himself.

LESSON #5: Choose Your Business Partners Carefully

 Even hard work won't pay off if you ally yourself with liars and criminals.

• The Lion's Share. A jackal, a fox, and a wolf go hunting with a lion. They kill a stag and divide it into four parts—each of which the lion justifies assigning to himself.
• The Wild Ass and the Lion. Very similar to "The Lion's Share." The lion distributes the three shares to himself, explaining that "the third share (believe me) will be a source of great evil to you, unless you willingly resign it to me, and set off as fast as you can."
• The Wolf and the Crane. A wolf gets a bone stuck in his throat and offers a crane a large sum if she removes it for him. When she asks for payment, he explains that being permitted to remove your head from the jaws of a wolf ought to be compensation enough.

LESSON #6: Nothing in Life Is Free

In Aesop's world, no one gets away with avoiding work, except maybe lions and wolves. But the good news is that Aesop's hard workers always prosper, even if they don't get to spend their summers singing.

v

Small droplets could fill in a bucket - the power of timing!

We've all seen it before - the seemingly harmless trickle of a single droplet of water left overnight on a pail would overflow a bucket the next day!

I call this the power of small efforts producing gigantic results over time.

In our life, this is similar to making small but consistent effort to improve oneself everyday.

1. If you want to lose weight, start by leaving maybe 1 spoonful of food on your plate. In one day, that's 3 spoonful. In 365 days, that's  1095 spoonful. If one plate is approximately 12 spoonful, this translates to not eating 90 plates of meal in one year!!

2. If you want to make earn money, then start by saving 1 dollar per day. That would translate to 365 dollars in a year. May not be significant but if you increase to 10 dollars, the number becomes 3650. that's 10X more!

3. If you want to improve yourself, then start by enrolling in small classes that enrich your knowledge. One subject or one course in a year. Baby steps leading to greater strides over time.

Like the tortoise and the hare stories, small steady strides could win the day!

100% Human

I am lost for words when I saw another celebrity fell big. The proverbial 'be careful where you stand, lest you fall', is so very true yet again. And Im reminded of this encounter by the Lord with the mob..

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.Now what do you say?” 6They were using this question as a trap,in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Now what

Ok, so I enrolled in a public mgmt course.

What does this mean? A career in government service or public sector? Maybe an NGO? Who knows.

My 20 plus years in the pvt sector has taught me a thing or two about running a department.

Funding is crucial including fiscal discipline.

The ability to tighten belt when needed, lavish or rare occassions and not deviating from the vision!