Dear Prof Jorge,
This is my Reflection Paper 2. My apologies for the late submission.
Regards,
May
What are the family, environment, school and work experiences that shaped me today?
Family
I have often thought of my family as simple and ordinary. But I believe that they had the greatest influence in my life. We are just four in the household - my father, the breadwinner, my mother, the housewife and a sister who is five years my junior. My father is strict and traditional while my mother is kind, sensitive and understanding. Because there is only one person working, life was not that easy. We managed to get by daily but we always had a lot of bills and debts to pay. However, this did not stop my parents from providing my sister and I all they can give, especially in terms of education. We may be short with material things, but there was no lack of love or concern. Although we were not rich, I lived a sheltered life. Because of this, I have grown to be very close to them such that up to this time, I consider them in every decision in my life.
Environment, School
Since pre-elementary, I have studied in a non-sectarian co-ed private school, except when I moved in to college. I was very timid and shy during elementary. I barely talked unless spoken to. I was a good student, a regular part of the class' top 10 list. During high school, I realized that good grades were not all there was. I started making a lot of friends and still managed to graduate 3rd best in my batch.
As he was only able to finish a vocational course, it was really my father's dream for me to get into UP. As for me, I only wanted my name to be written in the school's streamer congratulating those students who made it to the top 3 colleges in the country. During the filing application for UPCAT, he wanted me to put UPLB as the campus of choice because of two reasons - #1 we reside in Laguna and #2 being the protective father he was, he thought that studying in Manila is dangerous and will corrupt my mind. Unbeknownst to him, I wrote down UP Diliman in the application form and submitted it. When he found out, he got mad and told me to take the exam in Quezon City all by myself.
Studying in UP was one of those experiences that shaped my life greatly. I may not be the typical UP student who joins rallies and is not afraid to speak up, but UP changed my personality by letting me experience independence and responsibility.
Ten years later, I decided to take up MBA. Apart from advancing my career, it has always been my personality to look for ways to improve myself and to do something different. Since I have now moved from a technical to management role, I would like to ensure that I have the tools to make myself successful.
Work
The most influential work experience that I had was during the time that I got assigned in Qatar as a Field Engineer. I often prided myself with the mere fact that I was able to stay there for 2 ½ years. I didn't live in a hotel nor in an accommodation in Doha. My home was a container van inside an industrial city. My neighbors were people from around 40 different cultures and locations. My typical day was going out in 35 degree temperature to climb reactors and vessels to commission a field instrument in preparation for the site start-up.
It was actually at this period that I was given a chance to become a "leader" in the traditional sense of the word. I was given a lot of opportunities to show what I was capable of and I enjoyed every challenge given to me. More than the technical skill and knowledge that I gained, I learned to believe that I can do anything as long as I have a clear goal and I put my heart into it.
What are my values, strengths and weaknesses? How do these affect how I decide and act?
What are my values? I have to admit that this question left me stumped. I know I have them, but I can't seem to readily provide an answer. So I stepped back, pondered and managed to come up with the three that are most important in my life right now – commitment, family and learning. From a deeper reflection, I realized that my strengths are on being open-minded and having a sense of how things should be. However, these strengths have their equivalent weaknesses – because I try to see all sides of an issue, I am usually slow to decide and even though I know how things should be, I usually lack the initiative to start the change. I am unassertive and uncomfortable with confrontations and conflicts.
All these internal factors have contributed significantly on how I make choices and act. Without actually thinking about it, these values have been the reasons behind why I do the things I do. For example, I was able to finish 42k because I value commitment and running a marathon means committing oneself to the training. In the past, I was able to make the sacrifice of being overseas for a long time because I know that deep inside I am doing it for my family – to improve our way of living. Similarly, I quit my previous job and am now taking up an MBA because learning is a value that is important to me.
How do they prepare me for future challenges?
Experience gives us wisdom to do things differently next time. Therefore, personal past experiences can prepare me for future challenges by always reminding me of what I've gone through and what I I've learned from it. On the other hand, truly identifying and understanding my strengths and weaknesses can be of help in playing difficult situations to my advantage.
What is the new learning? What is the relation to what I already know? What have I done, am doing and will be doing for this topic?
This second reflection paper has given me more insights on who I am as a person and therefore on what kind of leader I try to be. Another thing that I learned is that my experiences while I was younger were actually linked to my values, strengths and weaknesses. It's indeed similar to what Steve Jobs described as needing to connect the dots to understand life's journey and purpose.
I also found out why I have the weaknesses that I have. I take a lot of time before I come up with a decision because I was used to having decisions made on my behalf. I am uncomfortable with confrontations and conflicts because I never saw my parents fight or argue. It is something new to me, so I tend to shy away from it. I know that to become an authentic leader, I must learn to regularly look and reflect on my strengths and weaknesses for I cannot improve something that I cannot measure.
The question about what values I have is one of the toughest I had to answer in this exercise. Actually, I even googled how I can determine what they are. In the process, I learned that it doesn't have to be something grand or shared by many. What is more essential is that as leaders, we recognize what they are and use it as guiding principles on how to live a life that is full of meaning and of service to others.
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