When The Corporate World Becomes a Battlefield
don't like going through the Manila traffic. Especially not for more than two hours. But last night on my way home from work, driving with one leg on the gas pedal and the other folded beneath me (thank God for automatics), I thought about how the workplace can indeed be a jungle that imprisons us or can be a battlefield where we fight for our freedom...to be.
Yesterday afternoon, I spent more than 3 hours discussing a 20 page contract with our lawyers and real estate lawyers. Its completely nothing I expected to find myself in after graduate school. But as I saw how thoughts tossing around in the four corners of the boardroom, I'm reminded of how I sat in the AIM caseroom thinking about how leaders are born and bred.
I was infront of leaders. Witnessing their minds come alive. Spurn creative ideas and kill mediocre ones. At the end of those 3 hours I was exhausted but quite revved up for the next round of action to take place.
My boss and I ended up in Gloria Jeans. Talking about the challenges to come. I've had several conversations with boss and none of them are always about work. Not as what I expected. He doesn't ask me about numbers. He doesn't ask me about reports. He asks me about people. How to move them beyond job descriptions and 8 hour work days. How to ignite them to a passion that not just fills their pockets but fills their lives.
People at work (and sometimes I'm guilty of this myself) are sometimes imprisoned by the deadlines, the pressures, the deliverables and the success they want to achieve through what they do. And its a pervading feeling of heat that racks your nerves or makes you turn cold. But as I sat in the 2 hour traffic from Eastwood Libis to Filinvest Alabang, I thought about where I was and why I was where I was.
I'm not cut out for this. Period. My right brain hobbles just behind my left brain which has been fluctuating in produce eversince I was born. But in the middle of accomplishments and contracts won and milestones met, I am happy because I can't say that I did it all by myself. I am happy because, I know I am not cut out for it, and even if I wasn't, God saw some worth in my frailties and let me witness an unfolding of mission that is all about something great. Not man-made. And I hear several armies that have been raised up all over the world, through time, through history...armies in stories...in movies...be it fairytale, folklore or reality television.
There is always that constant fight for freedom. To Be. And yes, the corporate world can be a daunting enemy...but for myself...I found God in the shadows of income statements and sales pitches. And because of that..."simply being" is not as hard as I thought it would be.
Yesterday afternoon, I spent more than 3 hours discussing a 20 page contract with our lawyers and real estate lawyers. Its completely nothing I expected to find myself in after graduate school. But as I saw how thoughts tossing around in the four corners of the boardroom, I'm reminded of how I sat in the AIM caseroom thinking about how leaders are born and bred.
I was infront of leaders. Witnessing their minds come alive. Spurn creative ideas and kill mediocre ones. At the end of those 3 hours I was exhausted but quite revved up for the next round of action to take place.
My boss and I ended up in Gloria Jeans. Talking about the challenges to come. I've had several conversations with boss and none of them are always about work. Not as what I expected. He doesn't ask me about numbers. He doesn't ask me about reports. He asks me about people. How to move them beyond job descriptions and 8 hour work days. How to ignite them to a passion that not just fills their pockets but fills their lives.
People at work (and sometimes I'm guilty of this myself) are sometimes imprisoned by the deadlines, the pressures, the deliverables and the success they want to achieve through what they do. And its a pervading feeling of heat that racks your nerves or makes you turn cold. But as I sat in the 2 hour traffic from Eastwood Libis to Filinvest Alabang, I thought about where I was and why I was where I was.
I'm not cut out for this. Period. My right brain hobbles just behind my left brain which has been fluctuating in produce eversince I was born. But in the middle of accomplishments and contracts won and milestones met, I am happy because I can't say that I did it all by myself. I am happy because, I know I am not cut out for it, and even if I wasn't, God saw some worth in my frailties and let me witness an unfolding of mission that is all about something great. Not man-made. And I hear several armies that have been raised up all over the world, through time, through history...armies in stories...in movies...be it fairytale, folklore or reality television.
There is always that constant fight for freedom. To Be. And yes, the corporate world can be a daunting enemy...but for myself...I found God in the shadows of income statements and sales pitches. And because of that..."simply being" is not as hard as I thought it would be.