MM Leadership Final Integrative Paper by Leader Erika Manrique

Hi Prof Jorge,

Below is my FIP. Thank you for the opportunity and learnings from our reflections and also from my fellow leaders.

I will truly miss you class.

Yours truly,
Erika Manrique

Final Integrative Paper

By: Erika Manrique

My journey into this class has been quite challenging. From the very first day (when we had the debate), I already knew it was going to be a very different experience for me. I can say that my level of exposure compared to my classmates was quite different. Most of them have worked for years in the corporate world, while I have just had a glimpse of it during my few years at Dell. Working in the family business has its pros and cons, one of the cons being confinement. Confinement in the sense that you have limited access to other people who you can learn from. I have felt a lot of times that I needed to get out of the box in order to gain new insights that could help grow myself, my relationships, and the business as well. This class has been very empowering and insightful because this is exactly what I gained from it.

Where I am now?

I have always admitted to myself that I am a work in continuous progress. My hunger for knowledge and natural curiosity has always steered me in the way of learning. I have always felt that my brain needs to be stimulated every now and then because I do not like feeling complacent and being in a constant routine. In managing our family business, there were times that I felt I did not have the capacity to do handle some things, which is why I have decided to start my MBA.  It was very timely that I started my mba with Leadership class as I feel it will prepare me for the journey ahead.

MM Leadership Reflection Paper 3 by Erika Manrique

Reflection Paper #3: YOUR PASSION

There is something about water, and nature in general, that calms me down and inspires me. Aside from its beauty, it's the fear and respect for things that we cannot control and predict, hence my love affair with Surfing. Before I started surfing, I would say I was a sheltered and jaded person. A good friend of mine introduced me to the sport after I asked her why her skin was so tan. She did not know how to swim but she was brave enough to be surfing for a year. At first, it was just my curiosity and natural tendency to try something new that intrigues me. After my first surfing lesson, I quickly found myself going with her and our friends to different places to surf almost every weekend. Soon, I was taking my brothers and also influenced them into taking up the sport. I was hooked to the "stoke" of being able to ride a wave after an agonizing hour of trying to get to the lineup and paddling for waves. No amount of cramps or lactic acid build up in my muscles could get in the way of getting at least one wave.

Surfing has taught me the value of preparation and hard work. People who are new to it would say that it is all about balance, but that is so far from the truth. For me, it is 70% paddling, 10% timing, 15% ocean / wave reading, and 5% balance. Surfing rewards you when you work hard for every wave, and put in "water-time" to build muscle memory and to improve your wave reading skills. In some spots, you have to paddle for 30minutes or more (depending on your fitness & surfing level) before you get to the line-up (this is the point in the ocean where the waves have not yet broken and where most of the surfers would wait for each set to come). If you are not mentally and physically prepared to paddle that long and fight through the breaking waves, you will not get there. Getting to the line-up is just the first part, working for a wave is another thing. You need to be able to read the wave if it will be able to carry you, and feel when you need to stand up. This is where timing comes in. Paddle too late or stand up too soon, you will miss the wave.

Aside from the possibility of drowning, you can get injured by your board, other surfers' boards, or the rocks and reefs at the beach. Knowing where and when to go out is also another thing. You need to be able to read the ocean, where the currents are, and to be observant of the other surfer's actions in the water. You need to learn the characteristics of the ocean or the spot where you are playing. Where the reef is, where the rocks are hidden, to which directions the currents will take you and where these currents are, among other things. If you do not learn this properly, you will end up wasting a lot of energy trying to get to the lineup when you should have been paddling somewhere else (where the current is, so it will carry you out to the sea), or worse, get carried off by the current and not be able to get back to the shore or hit a reef because you didn't know it was there.

It is this important factor that has brought me closer to people. I've always thought of myself as a person who cannot do team sports because I am too critical of myself and of others. I thought surfing was an "individual" sport but this is not the case. Surfing has taught me that it is important to talk to people and to rely on them, because it is impossible for you to know or learn everything on your own. If you do not talk to the locals or other surfers, you will not learn where the other surf spots are, you will not learn how the waves move in that spot or the characteristics of the beach. Talking with other surfers and the locals gives you invaluable information that will not only help you enjoy your time in that spot, but might also save your life.

There have been two times when I thought I was going to die while I was surfing. The most recent one was the second time I surfed in a spot in Anawangin (Zambales). The surf was very strong that day but I went ahead and thought to myself that I should at least try it. I had hesitated while I was paddling to get a wave so I wiped out and the waves kept pushing me down and I could not get back to the surface. I knew that I was already at the shallow reef part of the beach so my movement under the surf was limited because I could hit my head on rocks or coral. I have never felt so helpless in my life, but I had managed to fight it and to clear my head and focus on how I could get out of the situation. I realized at that moment that I was stronger than I thought I was, but at the same time, I also thought why I had not asked for help from other people. Had I made one wrong move, I would have been pushed further into the shallow reef, and I would have had peeled off a lot of flesh and skin, or worse, I could have drowned. I realized that I should have asked for help, and that I should not be ashamed to do so. Accepting that sometimes you cannot handle things on your own is something I also needed to learn.

MM Leader Erika Manrique Link to AVP

Hi Sir,

Below is the link for my AVP.

https://youtu.be/JOSCHaf8JZs

Thank you and Best regards,
Erika Manrique
MM Leadership

MM Leadership Call to Arms Speech by Leader Erika Manrique

Dear Prof.Jorge,

Good afternoon! Below is my Call to Arms Speech. Sorry I am using my work email address because I'm sending it from my work computer.

Inclusive growth. This is one of the legacies which the current administration wants to leave behind. Inclusive growth, means equal opportunities for all participants in a growing economy and the benefits being reaped by all sections of society. It simply means everyone is included. Not just the super rich, not just the middle class, but also the poorest of the poor. What drives inclusive growth? Is it the multinationals? Is it good education? Is it the OFWs? Yes these all drive the growth of our economy, in one way or another, but these are not what drives inclusive growth. The multinationals and big corporations do not employ the illiterate. It is a fact that good education is not accessible to all. The poorest of the poor cannot be uplifted from poverty by your conditional cash transfer program. "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day". Teach a man a skill and give him a job, you feed him for a lifetime. This is exactly what SMEs can do.

Each country has its own definition of a Small and Medium Enterprise, but the general idea is that well, they are small. Here in the Philippines, the government calls it MSMEs (wherein they added "Micro"). According to the Magna Carta for Small Enterprises, MSMEs are businesses whose capitalization is from Zero to not more than Php60m. These are your local basket weavers, handicraft makers, sari-sari stores, start-ups, bed and breakfasts, bakeries, and etc. According to the DTI, as of 2012, there are 944,897 business enterprises operating in the Philippines. 99.58% of these are MSMEs, while only 0.42% are large enterprises. Within these numbers, the jobs they generated total to 4,930,851 versus 2,658,740 jobs generated by large businesses. That is 65% of the total jobs in the Philippines as of 2012. 

Are you surprised with these numbers? Most people would think that the big electronics companies or the bpo industry employ the most number of people. What they fail to realize is that there are more people who do not meet the qualifications of these large companies. The MSMEs employ those who cannot read or write, persons with disabilities, those who are deemed "too old" by big businesses, the marginalized.

If you would really like to help our country, patronize your local businesses and products. Inclusive growth begins with all of us. We cannot just depend on our government, with all the red tape and bureaucracy that block and contradict their goals. Buy from that small coffee shop rather than from Starbucks. Start your own small business and see how you can help a marginalized community by giving them an opportunity to earn income. Just like Rags to Riches who help the women of Payatas provide for their families by making hand made fashion accessories from rags. Of course, it doesn't have to be as fantastical as that. Your support for inclusive growth can be as subtle as buying that skirt from forever21 that says "Made in the Philippines".

Thank you!

MM Leader Erika Manrique

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MM Leadership - Genogram Sharing by Leader Erika Manrique

GENOGRAM:

Erika M. Manrique

MM-LEADERSHIP

My Mother's side: MENDOZA

My mother, Emperatriz, was born to Strauss Mendoza of Alcala, Cagayan, and Paz Villarica of Bustos Bulacan.

Strauss Mendoza (deceased at 56): I never really got to know my grandfather because he died before I was born. His parents were Lola Magdalena and Lolo Severino, both farmers originally from Ilocos Sur. They moved to Alcala, Cagayan Valley and that is where he grew up. He was a board exam top notcher when he took the bar to become a lawyer. He eventually became a judge and was also assigned in Alacala. Like most of the men in the north, he loved cock fighting and often took his children, especially the boys, to watch the fights. I never met lolo Strauss because he died of a heart attack when my mother was still in college, but my mother often said that he loved kids thats why they also have several adopted children even though they already had 9 biological kids..

Paz Villarica (deceased at 93) : My grandmother married my grandfather when she was almost 30years old. She grew up in Bustos, Bulacan, to Ernesto Villarica and Vicenta Mercado. Her father had a gambling problem, so life wasnt always easy for them. Her mother was killed in a vehicular accident when she was 7years old. Eventually, her father remarried and his new wife was Vicenta's best friend. Their love story is actually quite interesting because Doray (his 2nd wife and his wife's best friend), was actually his original girlfriend, but for some reason, he married Vicenta instead. Even after they got married, Vicenta and Doray remained best friends and Doray would even help tend to their children when Vicenta was away on trips to Manila. Doray was their second mother, and eventually became their stepmother. Paz had 2 brothers, Luis and Francisco, and a half-sister, Nenita (Doray's daughter with their father). My grandmother often told stories of how her little brother Francisco served during the 2^nd world war and was eventually killed.

My grandmother was a kind woman. She was the kind of grandmother who would make your lunch for school, the kind who would scold the other children who bullied her grandchildren. The kind who would comfort you when you were scolded by your parents. She lived with her eldest daughter in Bukidnon after my grandfather died, and then with another daughter and her family here in Laguna. After that Aunt died, she lived with us until she died in 2011. She taught us a lot about self worth and how we should take care of ourselves and not let other people walk over us. She was a strong woman, maybe stronger than she though she was because she was mostly submissive to the men in her life. This includes her husband and my uncles. She finished cosmetology before she got married, and then became a housewife. She took care of her 9 children, her husband, and also several "ampons".

Reflection Paper #1 by Leader Erika - Defining Moments

Hi Sir,

Resending my reflection paper without the attachment:

Reflection Paper#1:

What were your defining moments? What incidents / events taught you to be better/transformed you.

I would like to think of myself as a work in progress, and by that I mean a lot of work is needed. I am 32 years old and I still cannot say that I know what I'm doing. When I was younger, I would describe myself as a very competitive and ambitious person. I had a road map and had set goals for myself, and was very confident I could achieve them. In fact, one of my best friends from high school with whom I had a very recent reunion with, reminded me of this because I had forgotten this aspect of myself. As I grew older, my priorities and outlook have changed to much simpler things.

To give context to my story, perhaps a history of my family and my life is needed. I was born to a regular middle class family, with both my parents having college degrees. Education was the legacy of my parents and grandparents because they did not have much possessions to leave behind.