Final integrative paper
Will my new leadership
knowledge be effective?
Ferdinand Gabriel
Ateneo Graduate School of Business
Middle Manager Program
Leadership Class 2015
Prof. Jorge Saguinsin(g)
"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, it is the one that is most adaptable to change."
Charles Darwin - Naturalist
Introduction
It has been a short but meaningful journey for the past four months in my Leadership subject here in Ateneo Graduate School of Business under Professor Jorge Saguinsing. The question now, did Mr Gabriel learn anything from the last four months?
If he did, what are those? Will he be far more effective leader than before? Will the new knowledge affect his existing leadership style as a Sales and Marketing consultant? Did he discovered something about himself that he never knew before? Let us try to find out…
Part - i
Before we begin with my Leadership adventure, let me tell you a short story of my life, for the sake of those who are not my classmate in this class. I was born September 11, 1975, in a not so known hospital somewhere in Sampaloc, Manila. My Mom officially introduced me to this world around 10:00 in the morning. She said that, she never have seen a baby as white as me back then which I am not surprise today. So if you guys are wondering now, am I still white? Yes I am still white. Growing up as a kid, the little me always ask so many questions and my curiosity drives the people around me crazy. Until one day my Dad told me to read books titled "Encyclopaedia" which he said can be found at the library, because my family cannot afford to buy a set that is why I settled for the Library copies which I am quite happy because at the library there are tons of reading materials. Unfortunately, having limited attention span, my focus were diverted into Basketball and a lot more, some meaningful and some are stupid things. Guess when you're young you are really supposed to do stupid things. I went to Knox Bethel School and partially in Tenement Elementary School in my primary schooling days, then back to Knox Bethel High School in my secondary level, then to University of Santo Tomas where I took up my degree in Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management. And now, taking my Masters' degree at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business under Middle Manager program, to which I am proud of.
Now you have a little background of my childhood days, let me tell you now, something about my professional (sometimes unprofessional, at some point) life. My first job was a Front Desk Officer at a small hotel somewhere in Ermita Manila called The Mabini Mansion Hotel under the, The Mansion Group of Hotels owned by Mr Ruben Tiu who happens to own also The Discovery chain of hotels and Sterling Bank. I stayed with them for almost seven years while transferring to other properties also, such as the Dakota Mansion. After that, I went to telecom industry, got hired by Globe Telecom as a Platinum Account Manager, which I stayed for four years. Then after that, went to Sun Cellular as a Corporate Account Manager which I stayed also for about four years. Then after that I signed a contract with St. Luke's Medical Centre as a Department Manager for Industry Relation and Special Project team where I met my Defining Moment adventure, which is plainly written in my Defining Moment Reflection Paper. My tenure with SLMC lasted only for a couple months and then went to another industry again, Logistics Industry. Logistics Business, for me is a very challenging yet lucrative industry that will require any leader a strong character and values to overcome the financial temptations that he or she will face on a daily basis. And now, I am a Sales and Marketing consultant for three different companies.
Looking at the previous paragraphs, those experiences from childhood to adulthood, if you try to connect the dots, will show that those experiences made me what I am now, a street smart person with a lot of battle scars all over the body, though it is not obvious but it's true. Am I proud of my past mistakes? Yes and no. Yes because it made me a better person not bitter a one, for now. No, because there are some mistakes I could have clearly avoided but did not. Nevertheless, those mistakes made a huge impact in my life and in my leadership skills. Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life) said, "We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it". And I strongly believe in that.
