Final Integrative Paper by Leader Alejandro L. Garcia Jr.

FINAL INTEGRATIVE PAPER

LEADERSHIP
Ateneo Graduate School of Business

Submitted by: Leader Alejandro L. Garcia Jr.

Submitted to: Professor Jorge Saguinsin

            I would like to start my final integrative paper by reflecting on the activities that have transpired in the past seven weeks: My journey on self-awareness, one of the basic traits of being an authentic leader.

I remember after enrolling in the course and reading the syllabus, I knew that the activities would involve a lot sharing of life experiences in class. I even told some of my classmates that after this course we will all become close because we will share very personal information.

            The first task that we did was the learning agreement wherein we had to analyze our strengths, weaknesses, and our goals in taking this course. It was the first exercise in looking into oneself. I would like to attach part of what I wrote in the learning agreement:

LEARNING AGREEMENT

Strengths:

1. Ambitious

I dream big. I believe that our dreams, big or small, we can achieve through hard work and God's grace. 

2. Focused

I set goals for myself and I work hard to achieve my goals.

3. Calm

As an anesthesiologist I deal with a lot of stress at work and I have learned to stay calm under pressure. 

4. Responsible

When I am assigned a task, I make sure that I deliver what is expected.

Weaknesses:

1. Impatient

I am usually impatient waiting for the results to happen. If there's a faster way of doing things, my tendency is to choose that, sometimes at the expense of quality. When I realize I am not satisfied with the quality of the option I chose I will eventually choose the option that will yield the better result. 

2. Impulsive

When I want something really bad, I just do it. 

Five year plan:

I am presently at the stage of building my career as an anesthesiologist. I am open to different opportunities that I think will give me stability in the future. I am affiliated in different hospitals both government and private, still trying to find my niche. I decided to study business management as part of my investment for the future. I believe that having the correct knowledge and attitude in business will help me achieve financial freedom sooner. In five years I plan to start my own business or invest in properties that will give passive income.

Objectives in taking this course:

To become more self aware. 

To find my passion.

To learn and apply effective leadership strategies that are compatible with my own personality.

To be able to balance leadership with compassion. 

To become effective in motivating others towards achieving our goals.  

Desired grade: 4

Like I said I dream big. With dedication, hard work, and prayers, I know it's is possible. But more than the grade, the knowledge and the experiences that I will gain from the course is what matters. 

How will I achieve my objectives and desired grade?

I will be able to achieve my objectives and desired grade through dedication, focus, participation, listening, keeping an open mind and the willingness to learn.

            And then we were surprised when Prof. Saguinsin posted our learning agreement in a blog. At first we became hesitant. Personally I did not want my contact information posted publicly and I was embarrassed that other people will read my strengths and weaknesses. However, as I was reading the learning agreement of others, I got to know my classmates even before I met them personally.

            Looking back, this was our first exercise on self-awareness. To be an authentic leader, you must know and understand yourself, your capabilities, in order to focus and maximize them. By knowing your weakness, you are also able to accept and conquer them. Because when we are aware of our weakness and we are not ashamed of them, others will not be able to use it against us anymore.

On our first meeting, our exercise was to debate on whether leaders are born, made, or situational. I was assigned to the group of "born leaders" and we did everything that we can to defend it. The group of "made leaders" won. Losing the debate did not make us less of a leader. Leaders take risks in spite of the chance of failure. What's important is it led us to the truth. That leadership is a mixture of genetics (height, good looks, intellect, charisma), environment (school, training, conditioning, reinforcement, family, social environment), and situations (events that require leadership). Ignatian leadership would say we all are leaders in our own ways without even realizing it. When we influence, help others, dream, discover, envision, create, share, we become leaders. Prof. would always say ordinary people in ordinary times and ordinary situations can be leaders.

For the second meeting, the exercise was to execute the perfect crime. This exercise enabled me to gain new friends. I became groupmates for the first time with Rcee, Kay, and Janelle. I have known Doc Zel from previous classes and she's been my groupmate twice. I was the only guy in the group and because of that, we thought of a crime involving passion where one man is torn between two women and we labeled our group "Mister and Miss-tres." I believe this was an exercise on how to be ingenious. Planning a crime involves strategizing and predicting the next step. As leaders, we all had contributions on how we will execute the project and we combined our resources to come up with one plan. In the process, we developed camaraderie and cohesion. It was also an exercise on emotional intelligence. Goleman states that emotional intelligence is made up of the following characteristics:

• Self-Awareness 
• Self -Regulation 
• Motivation 
• Empathy 
• Social Skill 

The exercise helped us discover our individual abilities. Editing and script writing for Rcee, acting and organizing for me, kay, Janelle, and Doc Zel, and conceptualizing for all of us. Our camaraderie was the result of having a common goal, which is the exercise, and understanding our group mates. We received praise for our final project and no one in the group took the credit but we shared it with everyone. An act of selflessness, which is one of the attributes of a good leader.

            The exercise for our third meeting was our enneagram.  This was an eye-opener for me. We have perceptions of ourselves and other people have perceptions of us. These we would know about when people tell us. However, with the enneagram test, we just answered how we would be in different situations and the results were pretty accurate when I read further about the personality type that I was assigned to. And because I was convinced that it was accurate, I tried to learn more about it. I realized the good and the bad and what I can do to improve and affirm myself.

Enneagram result:

           

For our fourth meeting, we had to make a genogram and defining moment. Again this for me was an exercise on self-awareness. As the saying goes, "ang hindi marunong tumingin sa pinanggalingan ay may stiff neck!" Kidding aside, it is important to know about the lives of our ancestors because our past helps explain how we have become in the present. In this exercise, I realized that everything that we are is connected to our past. I learned from the sharing in class that some were born with poor families but because of their motivation to improve their lives, they have become successful. Some come from broken homes and have vowed to give their children a good family life. Some had parents who are leaders and were influenced by their leadership. Going back to the earlier topic wherein are leaders born or made, we can see in this exercise that it's a mix of both. We are born with innate gifts but our family and environment are responsible for making our leadership attributes come out. It may be suppressed or can be enhanced depending on our environment. I come from a family of doctors and my family has a big influence on why I decided to become a doctor.

The team building activity on our fifth meeting was for me an exercise on Level 5 leadership. According to Collins, Level 5 leadership is other-centered and without self-interest. Level 5 leaders look at the interest of the institution and not themselves. Looking back åand reading from Collins, I realized that the clash masters followed the eight practices:

• They asked, "What needs to be done?"

• They asked, "What is right for the enterprise?"

• They developed action plans.

• They took responsibility for decisions.

• They took responsibility for communicating.

• They were focused on opportunities rather than problems.

• They ran productive meetings.

• They thought and said "we" rather than "I."

The activity was a success. Our interaction with our Professor and our classmates outside the classroom was a great opportunity to know get to know each other more. I think this was the time when the "barkadahan" started.

            Reflection paper #2 on the internal and external factors that shaped us was another exercise on self-awareness. According to Goleman, Leaders should develop a habit of reflecting in order to be continuously self-aware. For this exercise I looked back on my past and I realized that our experiences, both internal and external have shaped us to become the person that we are at present and how our minds work in making decisions for our future.

            The sixth meeting, our assignment was to reflect on our passion and speak to the public about it. Not all of us are comfortable speaking in public. But Prof would always say "ang mga leaders makakapal ang mukha at hindi nahihiya." It is true that to become effective leaders, we should be good communicators in order to promote our values and advocacies. We have to be clear in what we believe in order to be understood. It was another opportunity for me to reflect because I believe that passion is something that comes from the heart. It is what we love to do and do not feel tired doing. Passion gives us the energy to move things, dream, and have a vision. It's what draws people to us and believe in us.

            As I was reflecting, I thought that my passion would be my practice as an anesthesiologist. I wake up everyday to comfort patients who are anxious and are experiencing pain. I put patients under anesthesia so that they can undergo surgery in the most humane way possible. I make them forget about the trauma of being cut and opened. I make sure that they would wake up, recover, and feel better that when they had an illness. Everyday I get the opportunity to help others, giving them my time and my full attention. However, it was also my source of income as a doctor. Then I reflected again on the times that I am happiest doing anything or sometimes nothing. It all pointed to the time I spent with my family. I realized that I work, not only because I am passionate with comforting the sick, but I work because I want to give my family a comfortable life. I would do everything for my family.

            I will always be grateful for my parents for giving me good education and it's probably the reason for my "success." However, now that I have my own family, I would like to spend as much time as I could with them. It is true that education is important. But I believe that the involvement and guidance of parents is much more important in raising children.

            The last meeting was very meaningful as we watched the AVP presentations of our classmates. It was the summary of all our life journeys from childhood to what we have become and our dreams for the future.

            The leadership class will truly be very memorable for us because it helped us understand ourselves and become self-aware. It was also an opportunity to learn from our classmates experiences which made us value what we have and at the same time be inspired that we can be what we dream.

            The advocacies that we present are boundless and if we can help and lead each other we can make a difference.

            Going back to my learning agreement, was I able to achieve my objectives in taking this course?

Objectives in taking this course:

Ö      To become more self aware. 

Ö      To find my passion.

Ö      To learn and apply effective leadership strategies that are compatible with my own personality.

Ö      To be able to balance leadership with compassion. 

Ö      To become effective in motivating others towards achieving our goals.  

o  Desired grade: 4   4 for this paper

              As you always say, Prof., the grade is just a number. What is important is we learned and were able to apply our knowledge in the real world. The Ignatian education and inspiration will be my guide as I continue my journey in life as an authentic servant-leader, a man for others.

                   It was a pleasure and an honor being your student Professor Saguinsin. I am thankful to God for choosing you to teach us. I know how much effort you put in teaching a course that is new to you and how far the distance that you travel just to come to class. We will forever be grateful Prof. Big big thank you!