Regis Cebu Leadership Leader Izumi G. Yamashita, My Passion

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Izumi Yamashita 

Regis Cebu Leadership

Leader Izumi G. Yamashita

Reflection Paper #3: My Passion

What is your passion? What is it that you love doing?

What is my passion? What is passion in the first place?

Passion: noun | a very strong feeling about something; an intense emotion, a compelling enthusiasm or desire for something

Passion may be a friendly or eager interest in or admiration for a proposal, cause, discovery, or activity, or love – to a feeling of unusual excitement, enthusiasm, or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love, towards a subject.

Source: Wikipedia

Following this line of definition in relation to leadership, the question now is, what activity, cause, or purpose do I feel strongly about or passionately desire? What is it that I love doing?

To begin with, I love people. I take interest in knowing their stories, in knowing who they are, and figuring out why they are the way they are. I love learning about their own personal experiences, and I love sharing with them my own. Basically, I love learning about people and ultimately influencing them.

I believe I have been blessed with the gift of being naturally sociable and I have to thank my genes for that. My mom is a natural to when it comes to dealing with people, and so is my dad (or so I heard). This explains why even at such a young age, even without everything I've come across in life, I am comfortable when it comes to exposure to people.

Of course I also have my life experiences which allowed me to hone this skill. As narrated in my previous papers, given my relationship with my grandmother, our house was the last place I would want to be in. We've always been on each other's throats thus prompting me to prefer being in the streets in the company of strangers and friends than with her at home. Having said this, I all the more developed my interpersonal/social skills and such other values with compassion being the most important one.

With such God-given talent, I aspire to give hope to people; to inspire them to see life as one big present or blessing full of surprises. I aim to give hope to as many people as I can when it comes to dealing with life's challenges; to help them see that no matter how difficult life gets, it's not God punishing us. In fact, it's His way of teaching and preparing us for a purpose we've been destined to serve – a purpose bigger than ourselves. I believe, and as I've said before, challenges ultimately only make us better persons. They may not make sense at the moment, but one day, we will be thankful everything happened the way they did because ultimately, they turn us into the people we are meant to be and serve the purpose we are meant to serve. No matter what we go through, everything will eventually make sense. Everything happens for a reason. This is my passion – to give hope to people whichever way I can.

How is it reflected in your work, daily life, and life's journey?

In one of my papers, I wrote the following:

"Our lives are unique stories and we are the authors. Don't let circumstances and situations dictate how your life story goes. We have the power to change it in order to achieve the happy ending that we dream of. We are all leaders; make sure your story turns out to be inspiring."

We have all been dealt with a unique set of cards to play with. It's up to us whether we'll choose to accept defeat throughout the game, play the victim and let the world see us as one, or we can choose to play our cards right and choose to change the course of our lives.

Love makes people want to become better persons. When one is filled with love, it inevitably spills over to the people around him or her. This is how love becomes contagious. More importantly, the effects of such are more significant especially for those who are less fortunate. Often times, they are those whose orientation of the world is that of a cruel jungle they have to survive in every day of their lives. This is the reason people often look after their own and survive even at the expense of others.

I firmly believe that we can change this.

We can help them play their cards and change the course of their lives. We can help them turn their stories into inspiring ones, which could eventually be of inspiration to other people even to the future generations.

We can start by being kind. By looking at each one as an actual person and not just by what they are. As I've said, our acts of kindness could be so powerful that it can show them that the world is more than just a cruel place where they have to merely survive. It can paint them a picture of a very different world, thus opening their minds to limitless possibilities of what they can do and become. Our simple acts of generosity, even kind words can make a big difference.

…at work, daily life, and life's journey

You probably have quite a clear idea how investment bankers are. We can be nasty/cruel money-making people who take pride in our achievements and wealth. We can be downright cold-blooded monsters even.

In an environment such as ours, it is very convenient for us to be swallowed by the culture in order to fit in – to belong, to be cool, to be one of the guys. Name it. However, considering what I value, I make it a daily decision to be kind, to be generous. I always choose to be a better person. I always choose to speak with kind words. I would always talk to a janitor, a messenger, or a security guard the same way I would talk to the president; such things which are considered as unconventional in the banking industry, especially in investment banking.

I always choose to take the simple road rather than what's deemed to be acceptable in our industry hoping to set an example, paint a better picture far from the convention, and hopefully create that domino effect.

I guess that's one of the best values of being secure and aware of oneself. You don't just get sucked in by the system, but rather stick to the values you truly believe in being fully aware of what's right and wrong.

Outside of work, I choose to see the world differently. I try not to judge who, what, and how people are for I know they've been through a journey I definitely have no idea about. I have never been in their shoes, which is why I know for a fact I never have the right to criticize or judge them. I do believe that those who are most malevolent are those who are most in need of love and kindness.

As to how I intend to show mine, I have repeatedly mentioned that I want to help people get a fighting chance in life; to get out of poverty. I want to help them receive education because I am a firm believer that education is the key to leveling that playing field.

Just as I have been blessed with the break to achieve a better life and future through education, I also want to pay it forward by being an outside intervention to those who are less fortunate and do not have the means to receiving education. I wish to inspire people, especially children, about how education can get them out of the poverty cycle. I wish to create an impact in the world, whichever way I can, no matter how small, by lending a hand and giving the deserving ones access to education.

What is the new learning?

I have to say, the opportunity to go through this whole Leadership course is a privilege and I cannot express how thankful we are especially for pushing us to level ourselves up – for MAGIS.

Because of this course, we were, for lack of a better term, forced to dig and reflect on ourselves. From our roots, to our birth, to our defining moments, to the factors that influenced us – all of which ultimately helped us figure out our purpose in life. Well, at least for me.

All the requirements helped me understand myself better. Why my family is the way it is and ultimately why I am how I am. It also helped me spell out the change I want to create and see in this world. This, for me, seals my Ateneo education.

What is the relation to what I already know?

I would like to relate this to one of Professor Jorge's recent blogs, the D's Needed to Be a Successful Leader. According to the blog, "Leaders bring hope and changes in this life". This is what I aim to achieve.

Those D's include the following:

D -           ream (seeking brainstorming)

D -           ecide  which options to pursue

D -           etermination (you have to pursue that goal which you decide relentlessly)

D -           edication (of your life, effort, and resources)

D -           iscipline (to do the things necessary to reach the goal even if this distasteful or difficult/challenging

D -           o

I've long dreamed about pursuing my passion and advocacy. I've also decided which options to pursue. This class greatly helped me in terms of determination. I've never wanted it more in my life than now. I've also found a lifelong commitment and dedication to achieve the accompanying goals of my advocacy. I'm now bent on having the discipline to actually do everything.

And with the newly established Ignatian leadership in me, I believe my personal advocacy will go the distance and will definitely create the impact and change our world so needs.

What have I done, am I doing, and will be doing about the new learning?

Not having excess resources, I started with my brother. When I was just 22, I took care of all his school needs when he was sent back here in the Philippines. Given the language barrier, we had to send him to an international school. I sacrificed delaying my MBA to be able to afford his tuition fee and all his school needs. Even as he went back to Japan, I still continued to help out with his studies. This, I believe, is my way of helping my mom out considering everything she had to sacrifice for me. I wanted to provide her comfort every which way I can.

When I was done with my brother, I helped one of my younger cousins in college too. She had to drop out of school several times due to financial constraints, but I couldn't stand the thought of having another generation merely getting by. I wanted her to have a good life, which is why I urged her to go back to school. We are taking care of everything. All we ask of her is to study hard and learn as much as she could.

Moving forward, when I have more than enough resources, I plan to put up a scholarship foundation, which I will dedicate to my grandfather. I also intend to put up a headhunting agency which will help ensure the employment of our scholars. It's my own way of contributing to nation building. We mold future leaders then we help contribute to the growth of the economy. More importantly, we mold people who will continue our advocacy of helping people get out of poverty. This is my advocacy.