Reflection Paper 2 - Leader Jenieryll Jomarie Mangalindan

Hi Prof,

Sending my Reflection Paper 2

Leader Jenieryll Jomarie Mangalindan

Factors that Shape You as a Leader

EXTERNAL

FAMILY

My family is my biggest influence that molds me on what I have become.  My mom is my first teacher, I am the eldest and she was very strict to me whenever she teaches me.  I remember when I was young, she was very hands on with me, she would teach me to count, write alphabet and number, how to write my name and other lessons even before I went to school.  She would pinch me whenever I make mistake and I would be very happy when my father arrives because this means that our lesson for the day has ended.  Almost every day she will teach anything.  She is a disciplinarian and my siblings and I would obey her immediately.  I even remember one night as we are taking our dinner when she asks me to speak to her in English otherwise she won’t give me Sprite (soft drinks); at times this is how she motivates.  During this time, my mom is a full time housewife and she would later graduate in Education and become a teacher at the age of 28 until to date.  I think this has produced result when I start to study, when I was in preschool I graduated 2^nd honor and continue to be part of honor roll during my grade school and high school days up to college where I graduated as cum laude.  My mother instills discipline on me when it comes to my study and I am thankful she did. 

My father on the other hand is the kinder version; he is the relaxed version of my mom.  When I was a kid we stay in the province of Tarlac and my father works in Manila and we would just see him every weekend.  Whenever he is home, I remember he would help me prepare my assignment, we would go to a farm with a house and a carabao with a sun, he would help me practice my declamation that I need to present in our class and tell us story of his life.  My father would often tell his story when he was a kid (while drinking beer and balut) that they are very poor, that he would only have a few cents as their ‘baon’ which he will use to buy paper and a ‘saging saba’, that they would just walk to get to their school which is a few kilometers away.  Amongst his siblings, only two of them were able to finish colleges and my father is one of them.  I noticed his siblings who did not finish college were poor.  Amongst them, my father start to upgrade our living when he starts working by being able to at least have a small but decent home, we have refrigerator, our own TV, eat on time.  And my father would often tell us the importance of education; he would always tell us that education is the only thing that he can give us.  That he do not have any money to give to us if he dies but he will be very happy if he see his children finishing our study.  I would also remember that I have an auntie on my father side and he always got beaten by his husband during that time whenever he is drunk, and my father would always go in between the fight.  During that time I would be very scared because I am afraid my father would get hurt in the fight.  After the fight, he would often tell me, “this is why should finish your study, so nobody will beat you.  Not even your husband, you do not depend on your husband alone but be independent on your own”.  My father would support me all the way up to college; he keeps pushing me to take advance summer class and to finish early until he can still support.  I ended finishing my degree 3 and ½ years, then took the review and pass the CPA board exam after I graduated.

Meanwhile as an eldest in the family with 4 siblings, I would be in charge of our house if my mom and dad are at work.  At the young age I learned how to laundry using hand wash, clean our house, took care of my younger siblings, teach them with their lessons, iron my school uniform, cook, and go to school with my friends and secure our home.  I became matured and become stronger to protect them.  I remember when I was in elementary, one time I was with my 2 little brother in a tricycle going home from school, when it suddenly pours rain and the driver pull over on one establishment and advise us to get in; I was vigilant and did not enter the vicinity and hug my brothers tightly.  At the back of my mind, I was thinking I would ask them to run in case the tricycle driver would do something bad against us.  Luckily he did not insist and we arrive home safely.  When my parents separated I was one of the main sources of strength to keep my family intact until my mom picks up herself.

ENVIRONMENT / SCHOOL

School also plays a big part of who I am now, my teachers greatly help me to learn and share their knowledge with us.  In school I’ve learn a lot – formal learning of our subjects English, Math, Science, etc. and gives me venue to socialize and meet different kind of people.  In school, this is where I met my best friend, my not so good friend, teach me to value relationships, this where I also got bully and learn how to stand up for myself.  This is where I learn to recite, memorize, review and take exams, to join cheering and school programs, to sometimes lead national anthem in front of my school mates, to make friends, to play that plays an important factor on my well-being.  In high school, I undergo cadet training officer which later gives me an opportunity to be a CAT officer where I was exposed on leading a platoon (a group of student).  During my cadet training, we were tasks to come to school four o’clock in the morning where we start the day with military exercises; then clean the school grounds before the students come in and guide the students to fall in line for the school ceremony.  I have also learned that time the importance of teamwork, I have worked closely with my co-officers to achieve our goals.

When I was in college, the subjects gets more intense as we take our major subject, it requires a lot of discipline to study, to establish a study habit so you won’t get left behind, to balance study between your major and minor subjects, and mingle with friends.  During my later part in college, I can be seen mostly in library.  There are times that I lose my focus, and I would take time off before I get burnt out and pray to God to help me.  My internal motivation that time is the happiness that I can see in my parent’s face whenever I bring good grades.  And to be a role model to my siblings.

WORK EXPERIENCE

I started as a finance staff shortly after I passed the board exam in 2006, and my first boss would be my role model at work.  What is taught in school is very different on actual practice; my boss would guide me how things are done at work.  She would show patience in me.  I was quick to pick up the tasks and was given more responsibility after.  Our company is being audited that time and I saw the auditors talking directly to our country manager, general manager and all other department.  I asked them what they do and I said to myself I also want to do what auditors do.  I want to be able to talk to managers, expose to other groups tasks as well, meet different people in your various audit clients and get the technical exposure they get in audit.  During that time, I was dedicated on a portion of accounting tasks and only deal with my group.  So I decided to transfer to audit by end of 2006 in SGV & Co. as an external auditor.  My expectation never failed me, during my two year stint in audit I was able to experience a lot of things – to become a part of a huge team, meet a lot of people, report to multiple boss, go to different locations on the client’s office, join meetings, expose to a lot of technical and soft skills training and practice it, talk to upper management of the client, stay in the office until midnight to finish a financial statement to meet the tax dateline, handle people and a lot more.

Now I have been with FedEx since 2009 and being in a private company gives me the other side of the coin, how to actually become part of the system on a larger scale.  My training in audit helps me to do a great job in FedEx by submitting reports, closing the books with much ease.  I recently move to a managerial post where I am lead 17 employees motivating them, sharing the company and the team’s vision, encouraging innovation, giving them time to shine, empowering and the managing our tasks, their tasks, myself and them.  It is still an on-going learning for me on becoming a manager and a good leader, taking Master’s degree is one thing I do to further equip myself.  What I learn, I tried to apply in real life situation, and also share my knowledge with my team as I deemed fit.  One of my objectives is to become a visionary leader to encourage some of my teammates to never stop learning and always seek ways to learn.

INTERNAL

VALUES, STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Knowing my values gives me a view on what is important in my life, this is part knowing myself.  Being God-fearing, giving importance to others, act with integrity, respectful of others, has a sense of responsibility, independent, value teamwork, loyalty, provides quality work, and courage to correct wrong doing. 

Nobody is perfect.  To become an effective leader, part of my self-awareness is to understand my self, to identify my strengths and weaknesses.  My strength to capitalize on it and make use of it effectively, my weakness to mitigate on the risks associated with it and develops and conduct action plan to make my weakness to become my strong point.  As part of self-reflection, I know my strengths includes people a people person, hardworking, desire for continuous learning, not afraid to admit mistakes, give myself and others room for error (again nobody is perfect), open-minded, pro-active, open to collaboration, accepts criticism and take it constructively, not afraid to ask question and a positive thinker.  On other hand, my weaknesses include stage fright, being too kind and sometimes emotional, average on communication skills.  One of the actions I take to mitigate my stage fright and improve my communication skills is to enroll in Masters which is a good venue for me to practice talking in front of a group of people and getting to communicate a lot.  One my fear is to lose my drive on what I do, and so I ask myself “what drives me?”, “what motivates me?”  I look for the answer and found it – it’s my inner desire to keep on learning, to impart my knowledge, become a role model and serve others.  I’ve learned that internal motivation is very important to drive me on my long journey. 

Actually after my Masters, I am already thinking what other things I want to learn which keeps me moving and excited for the future.   What lies ahead?  I do not know but I am excited to take that ride and enjoy my life.

HOW DO THEY PREPARE YOU FOR FUTURE CHALLENGES?

My family, my environment and school, my work experience, my values, strengths and weaknesses are the multiple factors that mold me.  It makes me become a better person.  I used to be subjective, now I know have gained a lot of wisdom which would help me a lot in my decision making.  It instills in me the discipline I need to as I take my journey.  I value hard work and the hard work of others, working on a team I know I cannot do it alone and it requires team work to achieve our goals. 

In the future I am planning to become a college professor, by equipping myself now then I would be able to impart more knowledge to my future students. This is a noble goal that I would like to pursue.   I would also like to teach my children, my relatives, my teammates the importance of education.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

I think one inevitable scenario for me is to meet failure from time to time, life teaches me to accept this and fail easy and get out of it as soon as possible.  Pick yourself and have the courage to stand again.

“Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves.” ― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being 3