the manager is a father...

so surround youself with competent employees, because it is your responsibility.

This was a part of a series of management seminars we undertook as a team for the company. You'll have to excuse my english here. I have a mixed group, there are Korean and Filipino managers in our company so I had to adjust to what most of them could appreciate. Anyway, this will be one in a series of rants for this blog.

Making Sense of the Senseless

In the hurried world of business, enterprise and management, one goes through a day with “chopsuey” thoughts and concerns. These days, planning a day becomes difficult and complex as you ask questions to yourself about who to meet, why, and the significance of a meeting or even casual conversation. Most times, a planned conversation with an agenda in mind becomes irrelevant simply because it has been planned. The candidness, where one can expect a more truthful sharing of information is lost if a pattern or a plan is followed. -- Well I guess that all depends on what one wants anyway.

Several weeks ago, this company went through a dilemma over the scheduled legal holiday season. The kind of dilemma we go through every year being an enterprise involved in the entertainment and tourism industry. In my mind, the dilemma should not have happened, but since it did, then that means that we have not learned anything for the past five years... and apparently, such is the case. In cases like these, I am reminded very much of the two terms that I have learned while I was still involved in development work, REACTIVE VS. PROACTIVE.

allwords.com defines reactive as showing a reaction; liable to react; sensitive to stimuli, while proactive was defined as actively initiating change in anticipation of future developments, rather than merely reacting to events as they occur.

These words are two of the many favorites I have had since taking on a management position in this company and I have taken a liking to them in analyzing situations or at least in pretending to understand and analyze a situation.

As a manager, I would always want to be proactive in my stance... no matter what. That's basically because I do not want to get entangled in a mess that I know could have been prevented in the first place. But that's me... and I hope and wish that all my managers would think the same. Then again, sometimes I wish that the rest of the executives would be the same. However, there is this slight surge of logic that runs through me in defense of being reactive.

I would like to examine how a person perceives a necessary possession, let's say, a car. Being a proactive person, I like the feeling of security knowing that there is nothing wrong with it and therefore the chances of being compromised in the middle of the street becomes almost nil. This we call, PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE. This used to be the reason why I always get pissed off with my driver because something always seems to be wrong with the car. Now that I'm driving it by myself (don't worry, I didn't fire him, he's on medical leave after crashing my motorcycle on Christmas day), everything seems to be okay.

So getting back to the topic...

Being proactive or practicing preventive maintenance on your vehicle is way more expensive than it should be. Imagine paying for a new battery even before the old one dies. I think that mere mortals like myself would much rather squeeze to the last drop our car battery's life or better yet, buy a new one, place it in the trunk and then wait for the old one to actually die before installing the new battery.

I guess that managing a company is as much pressure filled to an investor or an executive as it is to the average Joe thinking about a buck he's saved squeezing the last ounce of energy from a car's battery. I know that the comparison is way much simplified, and that the bottom line seems to revolve around the "buck" but I guess that in today's society, life does revolve around it, no matter how much we deny that fact. With companies, the buck ensures our existence as an organization.

Of course, there is also that logic stating that preventive maintenance ultimately saves you money in the long run because it prevents your vehicle from suffering bigger damages resulting from allowing damaged parts to interact with good parts. But this assumption is only applicable assuming that you have the money to burn in the first place… So what if you don’t?

An organization, much like a car runs on the same principle, except that the parts feel,… parts meaning the members of this organization, parts meaning the employees – rank and file, supervisors, managers, executives plus the shareholders. And unlike car parts, they can’t simply be thrown away without the repercussions that will follow. And I’m not even talking about the repercussions you might have in mind, I meant that the best part of my job is when I hire people and say “welcome”, the worst is when I have to say goodbye.

This hint of being human in the face of managing a large organization simply exemplifies to me that two terms are much closely related to one word. – Sensitivity. Being proactive simply means that one must be very sensitive to know when things are about to happen and therefore be able to remedy a situation even before it does happen, if not, being reactive simply means that you must be sensitive enough to react when a situation is at hand.

Note:
Again, my apologies for posting a blog on my consistent incoherence. I guess that I just needed to blabber again.

To the people who made me...

from the album "FREEDOM"
2001 casie villarosa / sunset records limited
produced by Marcel Magsino and Joey dela Vega

Five years or so ago, I worked with people who had no idea what it was like to be human enough... I dedicate these songs to all of them, and people like them. And with the sincerest gratitude, I 'd like to say thank you... for making me a better man...

casie villarosa - JUDAS



casie villarosa - FREEDOM

these things i miss...

Here's a list of things I so dearly miss...

• writing poetry under the shade of a mango tree... which unfortunately is not there anymore because "Milenyo" tore it to shreds.
• writing lyrics for my songs in cigarette packaging riding public utility in the middle of rush hour traffic
• jamming with Jun Domingo, Jun San Pedro and Tony Robles (that means pounding away at the drum set until Jun SP runs out of scales and scale variations to play which meant a hefty work out)
• watching the rain from a bedroom window
• riding my motorcycle at 2 pm from Quezon City to Dasmariñas, Cavite and appreciate 160 kph
• figuring out what the hell my band mates are arguing about (chords that I have never heard of my entire life)
• working ala-chain gang style with Joey, Kuya Jake, Diko Francis, and Sangkong Mando, removing debris, grasses, and unwanted plants in our aunt's garden
• playing on stage
• cleaning a guitar... every square inch of it
• knowing all the names and details of every employee of this company
• getting my hands dirty fixing a motorcycle
• asking how much a bottle of beer costs and computing in my head how many I could afford
• my entire salary (I usually spend it before I earn it)
• talking to a friend about nothing at all
• daydreaming

lookin' like this!

The Office New Year's Party

December 28, 2006 --- it was a night to remember

casie villarosa - I'll Be

casie villarosa - unwell

some anecdotes from people i know... with...

What do I think a manager should be like to become ascendant in the eyes of their subordinates?

"Nung lumapit ka sa akin, ang sabi mo ay kailangan mo ng trabaho, kaya binigyan kita... ngayon naman humihirit ka pa ng sweldo?" (you came to me and asked for a job so I gave you one, now you want salary, too?)

"Pinangakuan na nga kita... ngayon gusto mo pang tuparin ko?"
(I already promised... now you want me to keep it too?)

If these would be told during "barkada" time, (hanging out), it would solicit laughter. Not to be misinterpreted as a cruel joke, but most times, there is a certain truth to these phrases. In life, we will always have to deal with association. That basically means interacting with another human being. At work, at play... interaction is part of our daily life.

Last night, I scheduled a drinking session for the members of the engineering department who are presently working on the roof deck of the building. It was sort of like their time with the Vice President, to talk about the everyday things in their lives inside the company and personal matters as well.

I have kidded them about their tans and told them that they should have invited me next time they go to the beach. I appreciate the fact that they have sacrificed so much working on the roof in anticipation of the rainy season given this terrible heat wave we have this summer.

Of course, my personal belief of "IN VINO VERITAS" -- in wine there is truth, something I learned from a friend, classmate and colleague of mine from the past, allows for a comfortable discussion, sets the mood, and loosens up the tongue... mine and theirs'.

Naturally, a bit of the session turns a bit nasty as to be expected and it was of course, natural. Most of the guys in the room were my direct subordinates when we started the company some five and a half years ago. I was then the musical director and concurrently the art director as well as the art department manager so I knew well enough how difficult it was to be in their shoes. I still remember the time when I was promoted to Executive Technical Director and I had to leave them behind to someone whose moral ascendancy and integrity as a person, a leader and a manager was questionable. There was a petition signed in my old office by these guys on a t-shirt with the slogan "we want casie back at the art department". I was flattered, but I was not about to allow a mini-coupe to happen... not in any department, mine or someone else'.

A lot of other similar events transpired the following years with all the departments and I guess my job ultimately became the damage control officer for the company... most of the damage of which was due to the inadequate management capabilities of many managers.

So which leads me to this blog.

What do I think a manager should be like to become ascendant in the eyes of their subordinates?

I think that managing in itself is difficult. Unless the manager sees and appreciates the fact that managing is difficult, then he/she will not strive to improve capabilities and therefore achieve ascendancy in the eyes of the many. I have said once too many that getting that promotion is easy... but staying in a position is difficult. Much more, getting promoted again is even more difficult. I guess that's why I am currently stuck as Vice President.

The power of the manager emanates from the people below and above him. Not to mention the relationship he must not undermine with his fellow managers. So surviving and keeping the delicate balance of relationships are crucial for one's survival in the dog eat dog world of corporate life.

It has been mentioned that one cannot please everybody... that is a given. And if that is true, then one must then strive to please at least the majority without necessarily compromising the objectives and goals of the organization. The way I see it, most managers fall into the pit of being too ascendant. Unfortunately, this ascendancy is only based from their personal judgement of themselves. Like they say, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". True. That is why, unless a manager becomes realistic enough to recognize his or her own weaknesses, then they will never truly understand how they can properly utilize their strengths. It is never enough that you are assigned by management to manage. Sooner or later, if you cannot win the hearts and minds of the people under you, then you will be of no use to the organization. Better yet, you might end up making more damage than contribution.

That is why, when I talk about ascendancy, I would mean it from the perspective of the people around you. My mother used to think that I was handsome and I believed her, until I came about the phrase "a face only a mother could love", which made me understand why I had to work harder, strategize better, and put more effort into making myself ascendant... I knew that I had to compensate for a lot of my physical shortcomings. In a nutshell, I have to double my efforts for people to like me since I have recognized that being an asshole only leads to shitty things. he, he...

Management therefore is the delicate play of what the former Vice President calls the "carrot and stick" technique. Punish the guilty, reward the good. Now I say... I believe that the carrot and stick works... but I also believe that the relationship between employee-employer has evolved into something that means that managers are not to treat employees as meer subordinates, or like children for that matter. Information, properly delivered, properly explained goes a long way for a long lasting relationship... and until then... managers who manage likewise cannot expect long lasting relationships... and therefore, objectives will never be met.

Note:

So what's with this blog? The usual, the best way to learn is to make a mistake. I recently made one and paid the price, for that I am both sorry and thankful... now all I can say is... at least I learned something.

the rider carries the bike... not the other way around.

wherever you will go (the calling cover)

I think that this song is everyone's favorite from the Calling. I'd like to thank a good friend of mine, Marcel Magsino from Lipa, Batangas for introducing me to this band... to you my friend!