Leader Ma. Corazon Q. Guevarra
Leadership
Ateneo GSB Clark
August 3, 2015
Reflection Paper No. 3
What is your passion? What is it that you love doing?
Doing this reflection paper seems to be the hardest among the three that we have been required to submit in this course. Although I find it difficult I consider it very challenging and at the same exciting as this brings me to a soul-searching exercise. Going through the slides that our Professor has posted in the blog, I realized that I am a "late-bloomer" in terms of passion. One reason why I said this is because it was already late when I discovered some of the things that I was passionate about. Two of these things are cooking and driving. I was already in my late 30's when I found out that I could cook and whip up delectable and tasty dishes without having to attend cooking lessons or a culinary school. Same goes with driving. It was only recently that I have been bothered by an ardent interest to go to a driving school and learn how to drive. Presently, I am enjoying doing both whenever I have free time as I find them to be very effective way to de-stress and relax after an arduous and demanding week of work.
Then I began to find out also that life's passion is deeper than doing these little things. I started to discover that my work in itself has been ever since my true passion. From the time I started working, I have devoted my time and talent to my job and I believe that this certain passion is the force that has driven me into where I am right now. It was another self-awareness exercise and a thought to ponder upon that we cannot be successful in each endeavor if we are not passionate about it and that almost always our passion is our work, vocation or profession.
When we love what we are doing, we love everything and everyone around it. This was exactly my experience when I was still working in Omni Aviation. The experience was so valuable for me and the hard work that I put in it had paid off. I was so fortunate to be part of the company and its success. My growth as an employee had been simultaneous with the growth of the company. Passion in my work would mean going the extra mile by always being present physically in the workplace to attend to whatever problem that may arise taking into account that aviation industry is a dynamic business. I can still recall when I would stay in the office until the wee hours of the night just to make sure that every single detail was given proper attention. Taking a leave even during the times that I was sick was never part of my schedule. This was the reason why I was able to accumulate more than 400 days of vacation and sick leave two years before I resigned.
Now that I am presently working for another company, the passion has not waned. I am still the same person (who has rendered 16 years of service in Omni Aviation) - equally passionate and enthusiastic in helping my new employer/company in achieving its mission, vision and goals. I would like to extend the same dedication and commitment to my new job because I consider it a new opportunity that has saved me recover from an emotional demise with my past employer. And this is where my passion is at the moment which God has allowed me to experience once more.The sacrifice of commuting daily to and fro between Pampanga and Pasay City is a clear manifestation of my passion towards my new job.
Another enlightening thought is that there are passion that are timeless that we will forever love doing. Motherhood is a lifetime and boundless career. Maternal passion is an instinctive and natural desire that I will not stop doing even if my children have already grown up. The inexplicable force in motherhood is a mystery that ignites us mothers to become more passionate with a lot of things. I believe this is because the life and future of our children i.e. how they will become are primarily in our hands. I will unceasingly be on their side as long as I live because I want them to develop their own passion that will mold them to be better persons in the society where they live in. Cliché as it may sound, I want to use the motherly love that is inside myself to make our world a better place for everyone.
Another realization in doing this paper is to be aware of the fact that there are other passion that are innately within us that we look forward to accomplishing in the future. In my case, the passion of having a lot of time for myself and spending it in beautiful places here and abroad has been put aside temporarily because I have to prioritize another passion which is to pursue my MBA. Two years ago, the intense desire of enrolling in Ateneo's MBA program has been realized. Presently, attending graduate school is keeping me busy of which I am overly passionate about. The mere fact that I have been deprived of a lot of things like rest and recreational activities because of my MBA is quite a big sacrifice. I have decided that I will only go back to my passion of travelling after my MBA graduation. In the meantime, the latter has to be given full attention.
Lastly, my greatest passion is to make a difference in the lives of the underprivileged and disadvantaged. This is I believe what my Creator has been whispering to me to do but so unfortunate that until now have not yet done because of limited time and resources. I feel guilty sometimes that I can only do so much and although I have started doing this on a "small-scale basis", I have been looking forward to doing it full time and doing it soon. The presence of constraints such as insufficient financial resources and lack of time is yet to be addressed to make this dream a reality. My vision is to put up an institution in our community that will provide shelter and take care of the needs of the abandoned particularly the street children, vagrants and those who have lost sanity because of depression and mental illness. My heart bleeds whenever I see people who have been deprived of dignified lives- the homeless who live on the streets begging for alms, and are inadequately protected and supervised. I would like to bring back in them the passion and hope, as they restore their lost and forgotten dreams, and help them become productive and independent individuals in the society.
How is your passion reflected in your work, daily life and life's journey?
Our passion are reflective of how we live our life through our day-to-day encounter with other people in our home, in the workplace, as well as when we take each step of our life's journey. For me, passion is what drives me to bring out the spirit of enthusiasm and energy to accomplish my daily tasks efficiently. I consider them my inspiration to achieve my goals and my purpose for existence which gives me an optimistic disposition in life to connect effectively with the people around me.
This self-awareness on passion has made me realize that it is passion that gives us energy to be productive. It is evident that people who are not passionate are likened to a dead wood that have outgrown their usefulness and are no longer productive.
A good example of this is the Leadership course that I am presently taking. Because I have passion for this course, I have always been inspired to attend the class and finish my assignments and requirements on time which gives me a feeling of satisfaction and because of that I am also motivated and inspired to do my job as a mother, manager, and community leader. I enjoy the continuous learning and most of all I am able to develop a healthy interpersonal relationship with the people I work with.
When you have passion for what you are doing, people you work with are also energized. Because the impact of passion is contagious, people enjoy working with you which create an enjoyable workplace environment where everyone looks forward to coming in everyday and having a big part in the organization's success. Personally, this is how passion reflects in me and the people around me, and this is what I experience at the moment.
Conclusion:
Passion is not merely being desired for personal satisfaction. Leaders are passionate to accomplish the cravings of their hearts and minds but the difference is they desire for the things that are unselfish and noble. Leaders want to make a difference by focusing their passion and interests on things that will improve the world and the people around them. In my case, I would like to do the same. I would like to use my passion to be able to contribute something good to my community by alleviating the pitiful condition of the homeless. For me, this is my ultimate passion so that when my face-to-face encounter with God has come and He would ask me," what have you done for Me?" then I can answer Him," Lord I believe I have done something good for the less fortunate." The Jesuits' mission of saving souls resonates with my decision to use my passion for my ultimate purpose which is to be in the loving presence of the Lord when my life on earth comes to an end.
As a leader and mother, I would like to leave a legacy to my followers and children- not in the form of money or material possessions, but something that will serve as a good example that they can follow which will make them good leaders in the future. My wish for them is to have the same kind of passion that will also make a difference in the lives of others.
Passion is what shapes our purpose and vision in life. And to be great leaders, we need passion to ignite ourselves and inspire our people to achieve our goals because nothing great was ever achieved without passion. It is very much related to Emotional Intelligence (EQ) that Daniel Goleman has written about. One of the five core competencies of EQ is motivation which is triggered and powered by our passion. EQ is strongly linked with love, spirituality and bringing compassion and humanity to the workplace. Leaders that possess EQ qualities have been proven to be more successful than those who only possess cognitive traits. And all of these are clearly correlated with passion.
In conclusion, doing this paper gave way to a fruitful meditation. I could liken this exercise to the spiritual exercises of the Jesuits which is the integration of the four core leadership pillars namely: being aware of the things we love doing (self-awareness); being resourceful in turning our passion into reality (ingenuity); fulfilling our passion for the love of oneself and others (love); and lastly, doing more (magis) than what is expected from us, and being a woman for others (heroism).
For me, a passion that has remained unrealized is just a dream. Lao Tze once quoted "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step". Taking one step at time, the best time to begin and bring our passion into fruition is now! And I know with my selfless and good intentions, God will listen to my prayer and He will allow me to fulfil my greatest passion. 3
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