Just a year back, I shudder at the idea of people management. I know myself and I know that it's not my strength. No, I haven't actually tried it full time before, but with all the projects I've handled, taking care of the people involved, motivating them, disciplining them and all that, is just the hardest aspect.
Sooner or later though, everyone needs to go through a "growing up" period. I can't be an individual contributor forever. As I age and take on bigger, decision-making roles in the workplace, I need to work with people and guide them to reach their potential. Sometimes, it includes listening to all their blow-by-blow accounts of how their day went. Sometimes, it means prodding and prying until they open up and help me understand the real challenges they face.
A boss said a few weeks back that a people manager's job is about cheering team members on. I have pictures in my head of myself walking through the office aisles with pom-poms and streamers, yelling "you go!" While it looks fun, in real life, it's exhausting, and I think the reason why that is, is because to be able to cheer someone on, you build up these happy, positive thoughts in you, and transfer them on to someone. With each employee you cheer on, you are a few ounces of positivism less within your own supply. Unfortunately, there's no Gatorade or energy drink you can drink to replenish your own happy, positive thoughts immediately. The only way to replenish them is either by getting them from someone else (i.e. be cheered on yourself), or rest for a while and recover. All these combined - exhausting.
Yesterday, I walked into a room of hopeful individuals in our company who were taking an exam needed for them to be promoted. When I opened the door, all 5 fresh, young faces looked up in a mixture of panic and effort to appear composed.
Here are the people I work for. Here are the reasons why I do what I do. I am no longer young, no longer a part of the twenty-something bunch boasting of high potential. In people management, I am now part of the bigger world whose responsibility is find and develop those twenty-something bunch so they reach their potential. In essence, I need to ensure that these 5 people, and all others like them stay focused on that exam, stay focused on their goals, and more importantly, find those goals early in their career life. For that brief 10 seconds, looking at all those faces, I felt replenished with a whole month's, maybe year's worth, of positivism.
With that, I go back, pick up my pom-poms and do a somersault. Figuratively. I never learned how to perform one.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Define: free gift
I got a very belated Christmas gift of a laptop bag a week back. Since we paid by credit card, we got a scratch card from Citibank that revealed a fabulous prize - a pen set!
Anything free is great, so we hopped off to the redemption booth to claim our prize. Two ladies were already waiting at the booth for their pen sets as well. Unfortunately, the booth was out of pen sets, they only had a delivery of the school supplies set - a goodie bag of crayons, pencils and art materials.
The ladies started complaining on how inconvenient the whole process is - you go to the redemption booth, which is a floor above the scratch card booth. Then, upon getting there, you don't get the prize you were promised. What if the pen set is more expensive than the school supplies set? When will the pen set be available? This is an outrageous program you have! Buti pang di na kayo nagpa-promo!
After apologizing profusely to the two customers who left greatly dissatisfied with their new Crayolas, the redemption booth lady finally turned to assist me and immediately launched into pleading explanations because she can only provide me the school supplies set.
It's a fast-paced life we live in. Our generation is used to having everything we want quickly. With the freedom of the internet and quick-changing technology, we can easily search for alternatives if companies don't give us what we want. That means companies always have to be on their toes and be ready with stuff to lure us in. Hence, the free gift.
And I am all for the free gift.
Eventually though, we get into the habit of thinking we deserve so many things in life, up to the point when we refuse to reciprocate opportunities with hard work and diligence. When we start thinking that others owe us something, simply because we exist. We get into the attitude of ingratitude.
There are so many things in life that are much worse than being given a school supplies set instead of a pen set. We have to choose our battles, and reserve our energies to fight for the things that will matter in the greater scheme of life. Sometimes the inconvenience of a situation gets the better of us, and we start to complain for the sake of complaining. But really, what is wrong with a school supplies set?
Especially if you've just been out shopping for school supplies with your kid, who looks to be at the age when crayolas are the best thing on the planet.
Anything free is great, so we hopped off to the redemption booth to claim our prize. Two ladies were already waiting at the booth for their pen sets as well. Unfortunately, the booth was out of pen sets, they only had a delivery of the school supplies set - a goodie bag of crayons, pencils and art materials.
The ladies started complaining on how inconvenient the whole process is - you go to the redemption booth, which is a floor above the scratch card booth. Then, upon getting there, you don't get the prize you were promised. What if the pen set is more expensive than the school supplies set? When will the pen set be available? This is an outrageous program you have! Buti pang di na kayo nagpa-promo!
After apologizing profusely to the two customers who left greatly dissatisfied with their new Crayolas, the redemption booth lady finally turned to assist me and immediately launched into pleading explanations because she can only provide me the school supplies set.
It's a fast-paced life we live in. Our generation is used to having everything we want quickly. With the freedom of the internet and quick-changing technology, we can easily search for alternatives if companies don't give us what we want. That means companies always have to be on their toes and be ready with stuff to lure us in. Hence, the free gift.
And I am all for the free gift.
Eventually though, we get into the habit of thinking we deserve so many things in life, up to the point when we refuse to reciprocate opportunities with hard work and diligence. When we start thinking that others owe us something, simply because we exist. We get into the attitude of ingratitude.
There are so many things in life that are much worse than being given a school supplies set instead of a pen set. We have to choose our battles, and reserve our energies to fight for the things that will matter in the greater scheme of life. Sometimes the inconvenience of a situation gets the better of us, and we start to complain for the sake of complaining. But really, what is wrong with a school supplies set?
Especially if you've just been out shopping for school supplies with your kid, who looks to be at the age when crayolas are the best thing on the planet.
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