Why Core Values are Essential at Work

One of the most meaningful conversations I've had happened last week while discussing Core Values with a mentee. He had always wondered if the Core Values of a company are simply just rules to put people in a box and avoid any unruly behavior.

Contrary to that notion, I shared my thoughts on Core Values- these are more than a set of rules, these are the building blocks of what each of us believe in. Moving away from the set of corporate guidelines, Core Values to me translate to a sequence of actions that we do everyday: Principles we grew up with and believe in, which helps us discern the right things to do, and then eventually lead us to the action we decide to take. I believe we unconsciously go through these steps every day, be it within and outside work.

My mentee was sort of disgruntled about his role as a middle manager, as he has always found different values amongst his peers and direct or indirect reports. I listened to all his rantings to further understand where the angst is coming from.

Being managers of teams will never be an easy task because you will really deal with different characters, mindsets due to the different upbringing all of us have experienced. This is where the litmus test of your leadership skills can now be seen-- are you doing it right or what are the things you need to focus and improve on.

After having the emotional conversation, I decided to put into 3 buckets how I perceive Core Values in my own managerial style and shared this to my mentee. I've always been guided by these 3 C's, be it at work or outside work. It wasn't built in a day...but years of experience that molded me into a stronger person. I'm not claiming it's a perfect solution but I believe it has always resulted to a win win situation where objectivity plays a primary role in my judgement. No matter how difficult the decision may be.

Without further ado, here are the 3 C's I've always followed over the years:

1. CHARACTER - this translates to many aspects as this actually refers to a set of qualities a person may have.  You see the real character of a person when he/she is faced with adversities or difficulties and how they struggle to get out of the situation. For me, this involves Integrity and Honesty-- the former explicitly states "Doing the right thing", while the latter, "facing and accepting Truth no matter how hard it will be." By experience, in situations where I felt the first hint of doubt in taking an action, I usually take a step back to decipher why I doubted in the first place.  Defining whether an action is Right or Wrong depends on the judgement we have in mind based on how we were taught upon growing up; or maybe in the first few experiences at work that caused us to learn it the hard way.  And if we do make the wrong choice, we should be ready for the consequences. This is where Honesty comes hand in hand with Integrity- the ability to admit that we indeed made a mistake and ready to be accountable for it; or to change it for the better.   Character defines a leader and how he/she will be perceived by the people around him-- that is why consistency is also important where character is involved. 
2. COMPASSION - the first C I shared focused on Self-awareness; the next
   C is now being aware of how we impact or affect people around us. The importance of being considerate as well is to strike the right balance of being objective and being attuned to how others feel. Since becoming too attached to emotions will lead to subjectivity and this will compromise your decision to do the right thing. I have experienced a situation wherein I had to decide what was best for the company vs how the individual would feel. I sought to further explain and be honest as to how decisions are made. As leaders, it is very important we know if the message comes across clearly. Reaching out should be natural as you are leading people. Another aspect of Compassion is being helpful to the people around us. If you feel that there will be times you cannot help them, at least do not hurt them. Being sensitive to how others would feel is a good factor in leadership--there is the need to collaborate and be able to understand how the different characters in the workplace receive the message that you want to convey.
3. COMMITMENT - With the 2 C's I have expounded on, Commitment glues all these values together. The ability to say you would always Do the Right Thing, Be Honest not only with yourself, but also with everyone around you, this spells out the commitment to be the good leader that everyone aspires for. The strong conviction that you are always open to changing for the better, and being open to learning from the adversities and difficulties you may face. Again, commitment is a strong enough word that we must all take extra effort on to be able to uphold the values we believe in - no matter how hard making decisions and taking actions may be. 

Quoting Roy Disney- It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are - Indeed, knowing what you believe in will guide you towards the actions you are to take. I encourage you to sit down and take note of what are the core values you have inside you--what guides you and what drives you towards your goals in life? What is important for you to achieve? 

The Principle of the Golden Egg Paradigm

As I read through Stephen Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", I particularly liked the story pertaining to the Goose that laid the golden eggs. To give a summary of the story- the poor farmer who owned the goose and discovered that it laid a golden egg each day became very wealthy; and with wealth, came Impatience and Greed to have more wealth. So impatient that he killed the goose to get all the eggs inside it - but found none and lost his opportunity to gain more.

In this example, Covey wanted us to strike the right balance between taking care of the "goose" and the  "golden eggs"; or what he calls the Product/Production Capability (P/PC) Balance. The product or the golden eggs are the desired results and to continue to have the desired results, you want to enhance the Production Capability- in this case, the goose. Many of us tend to have the mindset of rushing through to get spectacular results, but without regards to taking care of ourselves, our employees or even our family. We can always push for greater results and focus on what we can get afterwards, but the focus to ensure that we can still sustain the rigor, the passion, not only from ourselves, is slowly diminishing. 

The paradigm of the Golden Egg shows us that there is indeed a path to effectiveness- we should always think bigger than the results. We need to see beyond the picture of success in achieving our goals- we have to think about how efficient and effective our means towards reaching these goals would be. 

With being a manager or leader, there is pressure in going up the next level and there is a tendency to drive our teams to meeting or exceeding targets or metrics- but the big question is, do we consider if our production capability or team members, will have the sufficient development, motivation, and capacity to be on the journey with you?  Sometimes, we focus too much on delivery, and then find ourselves stuck before the finish line because in the process of working towards it, we drained ourselves and our teams. We forgot that we're dealing with humans; and like machines, they need to be "oiled", or developed, fed well with the right training or coaching. We are way past the age of scolding where people will move faster because the managers are angry or speaking in high tones or they are afraid to lose their jobs. I have  listed down key points of what we need to consider when we aim to strike the right balance of P/PC. 

1. Be Clear. Remove Assumptions

Managing teams is never easy- you have to be very clear on the expectations from the very start, there is no excuse for gray areas. Write it if you must, but have a regular check with your teams to ensure they are able to understand, able to voice out what they think or what they cannot understand. Especially within the cultures or communities where speaking up is not the norm; or there is fear of voicing out an opinion because it could be turned against you.  The common problem that managers do encounter is that they assume the goose knows everything and should just lay eggs as planned; but actually the goose is confused and not aligned with the targets. There are different learning techniques, backgrounds and levels of comprehension that could be factors at play when you're dealing with a team. Always be aware that not every member of the team will be as receptive or as passionate as the other. You have the responsibility to help them develop or keep motivated. 

2.  Listen and Understand. Keep An Open Mind.

Sometimes, you become so overwhelmed with emotions that your mind is clouded and closed to other people's ideas or perspectives. You convince yourself that you're being objective and that is the right thing because you believe it to be. But getting pride out of the way and genuinely listening to what your team members have to say gives that sense of comfort to them that they have a venue to raise their points which may actually turn out to be better. In cultures where speaking up is not the norm, or hierarchies are strictly adhered to, it makes it doubly difficult to encourage them to voice out what's on their minds. As a leader, it is your responsibility to hear them out, listen and be open.

3. Be Strong in Delivering Your Message.

We've been talking about dealing with a balance of Production and Production Capability - but there will be times that in doing so, you will need to show your stronger side in implementing guidelines and principles around this.  Your voice needs to come across as something respectable, meaning, you stick to what you have implemented. Walk the Talk. You cannot give excuses as to why you cannot follow the rules you have laid down with your team. You must not exercise favoritism as well across the members of your teams when it comes to being "exempted" from the guidelines. You are what you SPEAK-- and YOU are the leader that your team will look up to, follow and emulate.

4. Create a Good Back Up Plan.

Ok, so we know the Goose lays Golden Eggs- but do we have enough Geese to sustain our production capability? As a leader, firming up the right structure for back up should be your priority after stabilizing the process and the results you are garnering over a period of time. Remember that the goose will also reach a point when it has to be replaced- in a corporate setting, we are looking at people who will be ready to move on, go up the ladder or simply change career paths. Running an operations line does not guarantee a lifetime of good results, you will need to replace the screws from time to time, and oil the machines. You are not an exception- you will also need to identify a good successor to your role.

As a fitting end to this article, I would like to challenge each one of you to reflect back and assess- "Are we achieving the right balance of Product and Production Capability?" Take care of your geese and you'll be reaping baskets of golden eggs; for your team's success is a trademark or legacy that you can wear as feathers in your leadership hat.


 

Taking On the Challenge: Preservation of Our Culture vs Globalization

Having worked for multinational companies, I have always admired the value of appreciating diversity of cultures, respect for differences and most of all, the thrust of collaboration with the objective of meeting targets despite geographical challenges. For 14 years, I knew working with other cultures besides Chinese and Filipinos have brought out the strong personality in me in terms of being upfront, being able to challenge things that are different from what you believe in regardless of hierarchies, race, and gender. And I'm very proud of what I've become and always look back to the experiences that honed me to be this way.

Last week, I found myself asking a lot of questions that made me feel like I became a foreigner in my own country. I found it hard to go back to being timid, keeping a low profile and having to double check myself if I'm way out of the norm when it comes to the Filipino culture. 

They say Filipinos naturally are submissive because of 300 ++ years of colonization by the Spaniards, followed by the Americans, the Japanese and back to the Americans who gave us "democracy". Filipinos have a high regard for hierarchy, they have a tendency to please everyone as a sign of having done a good job. Another Asian trait that we Filipinos have is the incapability to separate personal feelings from being objective. We feel bad when we are told the things we normally do should be changed so that we can be efficient; we harbor ill feelings towards people who give us constructive feedback and we just cannot see ourselves sharing meals or drinking beer with the people who in fact just wanted to help. 

In my mind, I thought being globalized by the companies I've worked for is a privilege. Well, it still is. But, indeed, going back to the way you were was the hardest part. What made it difficult is when I restrict myself from being the way I was developed, each muscle in my body screamed in silence to be freed, to be let alone and move on to the next task. It actually took a lot of effort for me to blog it eventually. 

So, going to the main meat of my article, I wanted to gauge now how do we really solve the preservation of our culture vs the globalization that the corporate world is demanding? I believe the Filipinos have a long way to go when it comes to really letting go of what we've been used to. I'm not saying it's bad, but there is a massive effort to be done in terms of influencing everyone in this country to cope with the change whilst being proud that we are Filipinos. I'm not convincing everyone to dump your Filipino values and adapt the ways of the stronger countries. I'm just saying, we need to start thinking how to maximize our positive traits and churn it into the globalization machinery. This is where I believe we will win and become acclaimed leaders in any industry.

Filipinos are known to be hardworking, skillful and happy beyond immense pressure. With proper guidance, these are the type of people you want to eventually see to lead, to be the alpha dog in the pack and be at par with every other nationality known or expected to do so. As a manager, I am faced daily with the task of making sure my team learns how to be stronger, more outspoken and open to feedback. I know the best reward that I want to attain is to see them next time as leaders/managers of other teams, easily developing their people with the global mindset. But I believe, everyone not only my team needs to be striving to achieve that level. After all, we do not want high performers to go down the drain. I mean, there will always be water walkers but aren't we putting competitive people in a race that will eventually force them to comply with what the whole pack is doing? Therefore, the art of globalization will now prove to be useless. It's like an experimental rat exposed to extreme variables for it to cope with and then subjecting them to an environment that's totally different. 

I guess the point I'm driving at is we need to rethink how we as a country and culture are coping up with the needs of the world today. It's not just simply following the instructions given- but challenging the way of things that you believe will be beneficial and targets collaboration and partnership with other successful countries.  Easier said than done, yes. But it starts with you.

On Leadership, Patience and Right Timing

Had a good conversation with a mentee last week and it felt very nostalgic, in a way that I saw myself years ago in this person. Don't get me wrong, I am all ears to rants, complaints, frustrations when it comes to work-- but over the years of learning, undergoing painful and happy experiences, I eventually took responsibility to come up with steps to overcome these.

Years ago, I could remember, bearing a heavy luggage of questions on "when will promotion be granted?"  or "I've done this much and much, but when do they notice?" I became restless and tried to do everything that I THOUGHT I could do, instead of assessing what I SHOULD be doing to make it more effective and efficient. Mentors coached me about the perfect timing and how time can further develop me in my chosen field. I can remember how frustrated I was as the young man in front of me last week.

When Paulo Coelho wrote, “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” - he didn't mean that whenever you wanted it, it will happen IMMEDIATELY.

Looking back over the years, there were a few tips that I shared to my mentee and hopefully via this blog,  share to a wider community on how Patience and the Right Timing mattered.  Here are  some of the tips on the top of my head (take note, I'm no guru, I'm still learning...just thinking out loud!)

1) There's a reason for everything.  You know when you wanted something so bad that sometimes you're too blinded to see all the obstacles on your way and try to do anything you can to get it; and end up feeling defeated because you can't? It's the same logic that applies here. No matter how good you think you are, but not open to feedback that can actually help you, you are only looking at one side of the spectrum. You might have areas of development that you haven't seen yet but visible to your leaders, mentors or coaches.  You are being prepared for something bigger than what you do now - that's why it's very valuable to have a balanced view of what you currently have and what you want to be. 

2) Humility is key. When we emerge from being individual contributors to being team managers or leaders, it is inherent that you have the same expectations on your team members-- that they can do what YOU can DO. But when they fail your expectations, there is something inside you that tells you're a cut above the rest. That's true, but your role now demands that you coach and guide these people to develop their skills further and hopefully achieve what you've achieved. Being humble enough to make them fe  el you once went through what they are currently going through will make a difference on both sides. Besides, humility is free of charge. :) 

3) Never bear a grudge. No matter how hurtful things are being said about you, it only becomes heavier when you bear a grudge on the people who throw it at you. Listen and take notes- why did they say it? Is it an indication of how they see you? Agree that it hurts, but they are entitled to their own opinion, and you cannot influence how they want to say it. It's the uncontrollable factor that you must gear away from- instead, focus on what you can do to develop, learn, and make yourself stronger. You'll need it especially if you want to climb up that corporate ladder! You never know who you meet up there. 

4) Always try to see the good in every bad situation. Sometimes, we tend to focus on the negative because it's so easy to wallow in it. It feels very inviting to think of all the bad vibes about it, create and recreate more negative scenarios in your head. It's really hard to get out of it, I tell you, but look at what good  can it do to you? If you're blindsided about when your desired outcome would happen, know that there's always good things coming out of this experience. That you are blessed with these experiences to make you a better leader. That you are already being developed in ways that you might not understand right now, but would prove really helpful when you get into a higher level. 

5) Roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty too. Being a leader, there are situations that will call for your undivided attention. Lead by doing- this way, your team would see you are one with them in understanding the difficulties of the task, that you can guide them through the issues they face and that what they do are visible to your eyes.  Yes, you may have earned your title as a leader, but it doesn't mean you are exempted from understanding the tasks at hand. It's actually seeing your team in action that can help you apply leadership in the different moments of truth that all of you will encounter. 

6) Know what you really want in life. What I learned over the years, it's not just the short term goals that mattered. When you get promoted to the next level, it's another phase of wondering when you will get to the next and the next...etc. But is it what you really wanted? An endless cycle of wanting and focusing on the wrong goals? My only take on this is- write down your 3 year, 5 year and 10 year goals. Drill down or make a why why analysis - just to be clear why you wanted it. Oftentimes we tend to want things that may be a step or a consequence to the real goal but we just haven't articulated it or thought about it enough. Sometimes, it will surprise you what your ultimate goal in life really is. 

7) Always make it a point to improve yourself.  Change is not the easiest thing to deal with, especially if you feel your working habits have been effective for the past decade. However, things around you are constantly evolving. You always need to level-up your skill sets and make sure you do your part in preparing yourself for the next level. Find workshops or certifications or training that can boost your current skills or build a new one. You will never regret it.

8) Learn to respect differences within the team.  Your team members are composed of different personalities, characters, have different ways of responding to issues; or maybe different when it comes to understanding. Get to know your team members. It never hurts to do so. Oftentimes, it is your gauge to which tasks will bring out the best in each member of your team. Take note, that sometimes, you have to go through a trial and error stage as well, since it takes time to know each person's strengths and development areas. 

9) Pay it forward. I know most of you have watched the film and why do I link it to leadership? From my mentors to the senior leaders I've met, one of the consistent tips was around giving back to the new leaders what they've learned over the years. In my 14 years of corporate life, I have met a lot of inspirational people who were never selfish in helping colleagues, mentees. They impart a legacy that they have also inherited from previous leaders. This, I believe, is because they are grateful for everything that they have achieved and like planting a tree, they nourish the new leaders with all the "nutrients" they have to continue on that legacy. 

10) Work is not the entirety of your life. Always balance out personal and work related events - you will ALWAYS need to recharge and get back in the groove to avoid burning yourself out. I learned to apply this 3 years ago and it was definitely a lighter load I carry on my back ever since. It's always a choice, but a good one when you decide to take it. Work is not everything; there are far more important things in life than this. 

So, there you go... again I'm not an expert but having a conversation around this made me feel happy about the transformation I've undergone through the years. I know I'm still a work in progress; and looking forward to more learnings as I walk along this corporate journey.