Being on the other side of the world and a few hours ahead of North America has given me enough time to observe what’s going on around the world with the COVID-19 outbreak and how people are reacting. I’ve had the opportunity to catch up with acquaintances over social media and their stories have given me a glimpse of what most people are going thru.

– several folks that I know have gotten laid off because of business closures

– information workers who are now forced to work from home struggle with their new routine

– single parents struggle to find ways to juggle making ends meet while taking care of their kids since schools are also closed

– full-time employees are worried that they won’t have a job to go back to

– families struggle to stock up on the necessities – food, water, medicines, toilet paper – because supplies are running out

We’re living in unprecedented times. Everything is unpredictable. Global economy is falling. Healthcare providers and hospitals cannot keep up with the demand. Borders are being closed. Financial markets crashing. I can understand why people are fearful and in a state of panic.

It’s even worse here in Manila. The urban poor is severely affected. Most people are contractual workers who don’t get paid if they don’t go to work. With the national government declaring an extended community quarantine, those who need to travel to the nation’s capital to work can no longer do so. Everyone is doing self-quarantine and social distancing. But it’s unclear how people who live in the slum areas will isolate themselves should they become affected, given that there are almost 14 million people in just the capital alone – about 1/3 the population of Canada.

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With all these things happening around us, it’s very easy to go into panic-mode. But that’s not going to help. Sure, we cannot control the things that are happening around us. But we can certainly control these two things – our actions and our emotions. I wanted to take this opportunity to share practical steps that would help you not just survive the COVID-19 outbreak but rather thrive in these uncertain times. I want to support you in any way possible so you can come out as a better person on the other side of this pandemic. As Napoleon Hill said, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”

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This may sound so simple. Yet we ignore its simplicity. This daily exercise helped me survive the time when I was in bed for 6 weeks because I broke my right leg. What most consider to be an awful experience – breaking my right leg and being in bed for 6 weeks – ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me 3 years ago. From that day forward, I made it a point to write down at least 3 things I am grateful for – every single day.

It wasn’t easy when I was starting out. It took me about an hour just to write down 3 things. Here are just some of the things I wrote down during those challenging times.

– I’m so thankful for the Canadian healthcare system. I was in-and-out of surgery in no time and all I had to pay for being transformed into partial Iron Man was C$40 for the ambulance, C$10 for my crutches, gauze bandages for dressing my surgical wound, some pain killers that I avoided taking, and a C$20 Uber ride back home from the hospital. I would have paid at least C$10,000 or more had I been somewhere else

– I’m so thankful to be working in the technology industry. Before the surgery, I was on my phone responding to emails from clients. After the surgery, I was delivering my SQL Server Always On Availability Groups training class from my work desk at home. A high-speed internet connection, a powerful laptop, a webcam, and an amazing smile to hide the excruciating pain of my swollen leg are all I need to get work done. It’s the reason I didn’t qualify for disability insurance.

– I’m so thankful for YouTube and my smart phone. I’ve probably watched and listened to hundreds of hours worth of motivational and inspirational messages while lying in bed for 6 weeks. Those motivational and inspirational videos kept me going thru the challenges of feeling helpless and insignificant. It’s very easy to sink into the feeling of self-pity and worthlessness when you’re an overachiever.

I’ve only listed 3. But my Gratitude Journal is filled with so many of these things that I’m grateful for during those times. I saw the benefits of this exercise that I’ve decided to make it a part of my daily routine. Now, I travel with my Gratitude Journal and write down all the things I’m thankful for every single day.

You can do this, too. And you don’t need to think about extraordinary things to be thankful for. Here are just some of the things I’m thankful for while I’m hunkered down because of the lockdown.

– I’m thankful for peace and quiet in Manila. Being one of the most populated city in the world, you can hear the annoying sound of public utility vehicles honking and people shouting. The lockdown has caused the city to take a pause. Very few vehicles and people are on the road which means less noise and…

– I’m thankful for improved air quality. Manila ranks 3rd in the world for air pollution deaths. The air quality here doesn’t even meet the Clean Air Act standards. The main cause of air pollution: vehicular emissions. It’s no wonder most people were already wearing face masks years before the COVID-19 outbreak. The city was prepared for this pandemic. But because of the lockdown, fewer vehicles are on the road. I used to wake up to a thick blanket of smog in the morning that I can barely see the high rise buildings. Now, it’s clear blue sky. And I’m seeing the beautiful mountain terrains of Rizal province from afar for the first time in years. Our beautiful mountains are what made me fall in love with nature in the first place.

– I’m thankful for the people who risk their lives everyday to help contain the COVID-19 virus – the law enforcement personnel who man the checkpoints, the healthcare professionals who risk their lives to save others, the supermarket staff who need to come to work instead of isolating themselves to assist us with stockpiling of basic supplies, and everyone else who are working to help us make it thru these challenging times. I try my best to give them a word of encouragement to let them know how much I appreciate what they do. A slice of cake for snack definitely brightens up their day.

Come up with your own list. You can write down 3 things you’re thankful for before you start your day and add 3 more before going to bed. If you look hard enough, you will never run out of things to be thankful for.

Now it’s your turn. ???? ??? ??? ???????? ??? ??????

Often times, we only look at Easter Sunday as the day when Christ resurrected from the grave. After a grueling experience at Golgotha in the hands of the brutal Roman soldiers and being left alone by followers and disciples, a triumphant Christ came back to life as He promised and, right before the very eyes of the people who despised Him, ascended to heaven with a promise. How we love the story. The underdog who was mistreated – beaten to death, died the most humiliating death one could ever have – came back as a superhero. It is no different from any typical superhero story you might say.

But what does Easter Sunday really mean to us? We may all have our own meaning for this wonderful day – a day when kids can go out on an Easter egg hunt, where families gather to have a great meal or maybe even reflect on how Good Friday led to Easter Sunday like what I’m doing right now. But one thing God wants us to realize is that there is more to it than simply overcoming death. The grave represents so many things – your broken dreams, an unfulfilled promise,a hopeless case, etc. I know you have your own. In fact, you might have been thinking of one right now. “My career’s way out of hand. My spouse’s not going to change. The economy is getting worse. I can’t get rid of this bad habit. The doctor says there is no cure. I have failed so many times.”

Hopelessness. This is what the grave represents. And this is what God wants us to realize. Jesus was able to conquer the worst there is – death. What is God teaching us here? He simply wants us to dream again, to realize that there is ALWAYS hope.

I was reading the story about Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome walking down the grave to anoint the body of Jesus, when something really hit me. Have you ever had that experience where you read something (even memorized it) for a couple of times and on the nth time, something unusual pops up. You might have thought to yourself, “was this really there all along?” On the way to the tomb, they might have been very sober; thinking of what happened the Friday before. Not expecting anything except a dead body, they were surprised to see an opened tomb. Why were they there in the first place? Why waste time and effort going to the tomb – the tomb of the one who called himself God, now dead for three days. He was the hope of everybody who believed, until every hope collapsed when they saw him up on a cross – dead. If there’s anybody who should be on the tomb, it should be the disciples. Or probably they, too, lost all hope. But the ladies were there, for no apparent reason. And God was probably thinking to Himself, “let me give them the surprise of their life.” When they reached the tomb, an angel of the Lord told them of the good news. And what’s surprising is that the angel specifically mentioned Peter, you know, the guy who said he’ll go down with the Master no matter what but ended up denying him three times before the rooster crowed. This is the part I like the most. You might have lost hope about yourself, failed a lot of times and disappointed a lot of people – even God Himself. Just like Peter, you may be saying to yourself right now, “I blew it, I’m done.” But Jesus was so concerned about Peter that He made special mentions – “and especially Peter.”

Talk about giving hope. He doesn’t care whether you failed Him a lot of times. He still wants you to have hope. I just couldn’t imagine what Peter could have felt if he was there and heard his name. But I know one thing for sure, it turned Peter’s life around, enough to change the world in his lifetime.

There’s always hope. It’s alright to dream again. And that’s what resurrection Sunday brings to us. The God who conquered death is the God who brings us hope. And He dares you to prove it!

I get it. I may be the stereotypical IT guy who makes loud clunking sounds on my keyboard the whole day with very minimal social interaction. I do the best that I can to get the job done as efficient as I possibly can and then moving on to the next task. My work literally disappears among the other issues that happen in the office because everything just works fine – until they don’t. I guess there’s something about the IT industry that attracts the introverts, the nerds, and the geeks.

I’m a private, introverted individual. I guess that’s what’s gotten me into IT. My mom encouraged me to pursue a second undergraduate degree in business but strongly refused (although I did pursue an MBA degree which I didn’t bother finishing.) The very first job opportunity I was offered after college was as a sales engineer. I opted out, thinking I wasn’t really built for that. For years, I refused every opportunity to pursue a job in sales, exclaiming out loud, “But I hate selling.” That was all it took for me to avoid any sales opportunity throughout my career.

But I guess I had it all wrong. I looked back at the things I did ever since I was a kid. And, then, it hit me. I was actually doing sales, I just wasn’t aware of it.

• At five, I sold tomatoes on the farm with my cousin.
• At nine, I sold snacks at church for vacation bible school.
• In high school, I sold the idea of raising funds for a community project.
• In college, I sold baseball caps at the university mall.
• I sold the idea to my classmates that the next generation of computing is coming and that we need to be either ready for it or get lost in the tide. A lot of them ended up pursuing a career in IT.

From being a computer technician to becoming a database consultant, I was selling – be it ideas on how to improve processes to doing pre-sales calls to secure a new customer.

I guess hate is a strong word to express a feeling that I didn’t want to admit. I actually didn’t hate selling – I was afraid. Afraid of being turned down. Afraid of being ignored, laughed at, ridiculed, or even disappointed. Sure, doing a great and excellent job comes easy for me – I was trained for it. But I sure wasn’t trained to take in disappointments nor ridicule. So, I avoided it. But when I realized that what I was “selling” was helping someone else, I started to see it differently. It made a connection between something that I avoided and something that I was passionate about. I was passionate about serving others, helping them grow and develop their full potential. Whether I was selling my professional service, an idea or a product, I know I was serving others.

I’ll never forget the time when one of the attendees in my SQLSaturday presentation in New York City approached me as I wrapped up the question-and-answer portion. He said, “Sir, you probably don’t remember me but I was one of your students when you were teaching Structured Query Language in the Philippines back in 2004. I’m now a business analyst in one of the large financial institutions here in NYC.” Almost a decade after being able to serve someone, I was a witness to the outcome. I probably won’t get to see the outcomes of the hundreds or even thousands of folks that I have had the opportunity to teach, inspire and serve over the years – from those who’ve attended the conferences I’ve spoken at to those I’ve mentored one-on-one. But that doesn’t stop me from pursuing what I love to do.

And, that’s why I teach. That’s why I create courses like the Windows Server Failover Clustering for the SQL Server DBA and the SQL Server High Availability and Disaster Recovery Deep Dive. Because they’re not just about becoming really good at SQL Server. That’s just a natural side effect. They’re really about serving someone else and helping them reach their full potential. But I certainly need your help so I can be of service to more people. If you know anybody who might benefit from these courses, feel free to share them.  Better yet, make the investment of paying for someone to take these courses. You won’t regret it. I’ll save my own story for a future blog post.

Oh, and I don’t hate selling anymore.  I just need to try harder.

I have gone back to playing the keyboard since this past summer. I have been privileged to play during Sunday services for myChurch here in Ottawa. Being a part of a great team of musicians and singers is really a wonderful opportunity for me to express my gifts and talents while serving God in a creative way. 

The last quarter of the year is usually the busiest time for me with regards to my speaking schedule. I usually call it my personal conference season – from the annual PASS Summit conference in Seattle, Live360 events in Orlando to the small user group meetings and SharePoint Saturday events happening within the last quarter of almost every year. Those who know me understand the amount of time, effort and resources that I put into preparing and delivering my presentations. And, I love going thru all of the work required to deliver a great presentation.

As a jazz musician myself, I find parallels in how artists think about their craft – how they prepare and deliver their art to the audience. Presentation expert Garr Reynolds (Twitter | blog), a jazz drummer  himself, wrote about how jazz relates to communication and presentations. I thought I’d share some of the things that I do both as a keyboard player and a technical presenter to deliver great technical presentations. If you are a technical professional – systems engineer, developer, database administrator, network engineer, etc. – looking to explore the world of presenting and speaking at events, read on.

1. Really know your content. No, seriously, you have got to know your content really well. As a keyboard player, as soon as I get the list of songs from my musical director, I listen to it repeatedly – in the car, on my MP3 player, my phone, my laptop, etc. I remember having to use cassette tapes almost 20 years ago and repeatedly play and rewind songs until I can barely hear them. I listen repeatedly until it becomes LSS. Likewise, as a presenter, you should know your content really well that you can talk about it for hours non-stop. Since SQL Server high availability and disaster recovery is what I specialize on, I can talk about it for hours during whiteboard sessions, consulting engagements and, yes, even presentations.
2. List and gather your props. Props are objects used on stage by actors during a performance. As a keyboard player, I have my trusty old Korg X50 music synthesizer that I use for basic playing. Earlier this year, I got introduced to the world of software synthesizers (synths) and started using Mainstage for the Mac. That means that I now have to carry both my MacBook and my Korg X50 during practices and performance. These in addition to the audio cables, audio digital interface, power adapters, etc. that go with playing keyboard using software synths. As a technical presenter, list down all of the things that you need during your presentation – be it the clicker for your presentation, a laptop running Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote, the demo workstation to show how things work, a USB thumb drive that contains a backup copy of your slides, etc. But here’s a secret that both great musicians and presenters know by heart. Legendary American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane once said, “You can play a shoestring if you’re sincere.” It’s not about the tools that you use but rather how you use the tools that you have to deliver the message in a very sincere way.
3. Organize your content. So, you’ve done your research, collected as much resources as you can, gathered all of the facts, included references, etc. You’ve got everything that you need to write an entire book. Unfortunately, you’re not writing a book (or in our context, producing an album.) You can only put so much content in your music and your presentation with the given amount of time you need to deliver it. When I search for information about a song that I need to play, I try to answer these basic questions:
   • FOUNDATION: “What really needs to be there?” Any piece of music will have melody which is identified by the chords and scales. This is a must and should not be  compromised. Similarly, a technical content needs to have the foundational information. Without the foundational information, the audience will get lost along the way. If advanced concepts need to be covered, don’t assume that everyone in the audience would know it but rather build it in implicitly without them knowing it. It’s like having kids do complex calculus by starting off with basic math.
   • THEME: “What message am I trying to convey?” Did you think that music is just an arrangement of notes organized to make you feel something when you hear it? Music is an expression of one’s self. That’s why there are lyrics that pertain to love, amusement, anger, etc. and they resonate within you when you hear them. That’s why there are theme songs for movies and advertisements. A technical presentation is no different. And that starts with the abstract. The abstract gives the audience a roadmap of what to expect in your content. This is also the reason why we have to really think about writing the abstract because it sets the audience up for the right expectations.
   • STORY: “How does my story look like?” The best music that you will hear are the ones that have stories embedded within them. One example that I could think of is that of Bob Carlisle’s Butterfly Kisses.  Take a moment to listen to that song. It touches our heart because it resonates within us. Similarly, a technical presentation needs to have some story wrapped within it so that the attendees can connect with the presenter on a personal level. This is a very tough item to consider and, honestly, I still struggle with this even after more than 15 years of presenting.  I think because technical professionals are so wrapped within the confines of their work environment that it’s hard to find the emotional connection with servers and databases (although I know a few folks who fell in love with their database server that they wouldn’t want to replace them.)  But let me assure you that there is always a story that you can find and relate to your topic if you search hard enough, even if it isn’t our own story. One of the best story that I tell in my disaster recovery presentations was that of having to personally endure the effects of the second largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century.
   • TRIM: “What can I exclude?” Great musicians know which notes NOT to play. Great leaders know which tasks NOT to do. “Are you saying that I just wasted all of that time and effort researching content that I am supposed to throw away?” Well, I didn’t say anything about throwing away content. All I said was EXCLUDE. It’s interesting to listen to music that consists of only 4 notes instead of 10. But those 4 notes are properly selected to sometimes produce sound that is way better than having 10 notes. In the same way, pick a handful of ideas from the content that you’ve already researched that your audience would consider the most important ones. Focus is key here. You would be surprised at how much your audience will appreciate the level of focus that you put into your content once your presentation is over. Oh, and about that content that you’ve researched? That will come in handy during the Q & A portion. It may end up being a topic for a blog post. In fact, you’re reading one right now.
   • GRAVY: “What can I include that may not be as important but would spice up the content even more?” I keep this to a minimum as much as I can. In fact, I only consider this once I have addressed the first four. You can call this your Easter egg or embellishment. When playing a piece of music, I usually try to squeeze in an unusual chord or tone that would make the sound even better with anyone barely even noticing it unless it was recorded and intentionally analyzed. I do it mostly for fun and experimentation without leading the listeners away from enjoying the music. I do the same thing with my technical presentations – be it a picture in the slide deck or a text in my sample code that I’m demonstrating. People who are aware may be able to pick it up but don’t sweat it if nobody doesn’t. This is for me because I want to make delivering presentations fun.

Did I say “part 1” in the title? That’s because there really is a lot to consider whether you’re an aspiring musician or a technical presenter. We’ll continue on in the next blog post where I’ll talk about the other things that I do to deliver great presentations. You might want to hang in there a bit until the final part where I explain the process behind all of these. Stay tuned.

Have you ever tried using your left hand to write if you’re right-handed? Or maybe tried driving on the right side of the road? Recall the first time you’ve tried riding a bicycle or learned how to skate (I have to admit that I still don’t know how.) How did that feel? Here’s what’s worse. You’re trying a totally different approach related to your area of expertise. Like the accountant learning how to use TurboTax for the first time.  He knows the spreadsheet in-and-out but just couldn’t get the software’s user interface. This reminded me of how users reacted to Microsoft Office 2007 when it first came out. And because change is constant and inevitable, we’ll always feel like a noob. ALWAYS. And it feels awkward. ALWAYS.

But just like learning how to ride a bicycle, we get used to it. The awkward feeling starts to go away and we start feeling confident. When you’re riding your bicycle without holding the handle bars, you never think about how many times you’ve fallen off or the number of scratches you got. You probably couldn’t even remember. You went from being a noob to being an expert and riding the bicycle no longer feels awkward. You now feel great about it. But it definitely took a lot of trying it out and getting used to it. The path from being a noob to becoming an expert is never an easy one. That, in fact, was the thesis of Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers and the idea behind the 10,000 hours road to expertise. With the right investment of time and effort, anyone can move past the feeling of awkwardness fairly quickly.

But I think it’s more than the awkward feeling of being a noob. Behind all of that is the feeling of PRIDE. Admitting that you have to throw away all of your efforts and investments does feel a bit awkward. And that feeling where you suddenly have to slide down the ranks from up top all the way back to the bottom. When experts feel that they’re back to being a noob. And because they’ve gotten used to the feeling of being an expert, they no longer want to go back and re-experience how it all started – the fear, anxiety, and frustration that comes with it.

Didn’t I say that change is constant and inevitable? This means we have to get used to being a noob because we will always have to learn something new. But we need to put our pride aside or we’ll never get past this awkward feeling.

Now, go ahead and ride that bicycle.

Right-hand drive by EdwinMSarmiento

This is the second in a series of blog posts that talk about success. I had the opportunity to ask the registered attendees for SQLSaturday Philippines to vote for a particular topic that they like best. Since I usually talk about professional development for IT Professionals at the PASS Summit, I provided a list of topics from presentation skills to landing your dream job. This was the one that got the most number of votes: What Your College Education Didn’t Teach You About Success. 

Planes have attitude indicators. Yes, I myself was surprised when I first heard about it. Also known as the gyro horizon, it’s an instrument that informs the pilot of the plane’s orientation relative to the earth’s horizon. When the plane is climbing, the nose of the plane is pointing above the horizon. When it is diving, the nose is pointed below the horizon. Most pilots will say that the performance  of the plane is dictated by its attitude. In order to change the performance of the plane, pilots need to change its attitude.

This was the second slide in my presentation about what our education doesn’t teach us about success: ATTITUDE DETERMINES ALTITUDE. Unfortunately, our education system is more concerned about test scores and IQ than emotional intelligence (EQ) or even attitude development. I bet that if you ask a lot of successful entrepreneurs, leaders and business people, they will tell you that their attitude has been a major contributor in their success. Our attitude is the only thing that we get to control 100% of the time. While we don’t have any control of our circumstances, we have full control of our attitude. It’s a matter of choosing which attitude we carry around with us that will determine how successful we will be.

I have to admit that choosing the right attitude is not easy. I wasn’t all that positive in the past. I complained about almost everything, saw myself as way better off than anybody else I knew and blamed others for the misfortunes that I experienced. It took me a while to realize how my attitude is affecting my career and, eventually, my future.  My drive to be excellent at everything I do compensated for my bad attitude but it wasn’t long until the bad attitude finally caught up. As I was in the middle of my failed startup, my wife gave me a wake up  call. She told me that unless I start changing my attitude, things will only be heading further south. I had to make a choice. The process was painful. It was like unlearning all of the stuff that I’ve learned throughout the years. But I was determined to go thru it. Years later, I was trying to figure out how I managed to go thru the process so that I can share it with others. It’s not that I was smart enough to learn about a process I followed that helped me overcome a bad attitude. I was clueless back then. But here are three things that I did to help me develop a positive attitude:

1. WRITE. I wrote down the things that I don’t like about myself. Now, this is a tough exercise. You need to be very honest about yourself  – what you like and don’t like. I knew I was complaining about almost everything so I wrote that on top of my list. I was determined to revert that bad attitude into a positive one. I also knew that I was blaming others for my misfortune. I had that item next in the list. I didn’t resolve all of my attitude problems at the same time (it’s probably the reason why some of them still show up every once in a while.) I just wanted to resolve the ones that I think are that bad. As I wrote them down, I thought of an alternative attitude that would replace the bad ones. The bad ones have to be replaced by good attitudes. I wrote those down as well. You could also type it on your mobile device or tablet if you prefer that.
2. SAY. I believe in the power of confession. There’s a reason why the Bible talks about the power of our words. Successful sales people understand this concept in that they constantly speak positive words to themselves especially when trying to close a major deal. I practiced the power of confession daily by telling myself the good attitudes that I need to replace the old ones with. It may feel uncomfortable at first but you’ll get used to it. But what’s good about it is that you are now starting to reinforce your belief with your words.
3. ACT.  I needed to put my belief into action. I needed to practice what I wrote down and told myself. They say actions speak louder than words. I have to act according to my belief. I used to complain about almost everything. I replaced that with gratitude. I felt uncomfortable at first, like the time when I was saying positive confessions to myself. I became grateful even with the smallest things. I thanked people around me. I thanked those who contributed to my success. I still do. Every once in a while, I check my LinkedIn, Facebook (yes, I have a Facebook profile now),  Twitter accounts, email archives, etc. to find opportunities to thank others for what they have done for me. I’m not saying I no longer complain. However, gratitude is now my dominant attitude as compared to 15 years ago.

Having a great attitude is key to success. It’s so important that Dr. John C. Maxwell, America’s leadership expert, wrote an entire book about it – The Winning Attitude. But it doesn’t come easily. I still have to work hard at it every day, choosing to start my day with a right attitude. Now, I’m one of those who claim that having a great attitude has contributed a lot to where I am right now.

You might also want to read:

• Self-Discipline Series: Taming Your Thoughts
  
• It’s all about perspective: An amazing result of the power of positive thinking

Question: What one attitude that you want to change today to become a better person tomorrow? You can leave a comment below.

University of the Philippines Oblation by randyg

“With rights come responsibilities. If we aren’t willing to take responsibilities, how dare we claim the rights.” 

I’m rarely vocal about my political views for “fear” of being branded as a leftist (I used the word fear because leaders are not immune to the feeling: they just know how to deal with it.) When I was in the university, I was almost always associated with the leftist primarily because of what I wear and who I hang out with. Most people know me as somebody who’s passionate about my country – the Philippines – even when I was still a kid. And I consider myself as an “unofficial Philippine ambassador.”

Last Friday, I noticed several media personnel in the University of the Philippines (UP) (Manila campus.) I wasn’t aware of any issues surrounding the premiere state university in the country because I try to avoid reading the news. I was intrigued. When I got back home, the first thing that I did was check the news. It turns out that there was a freshman university student who committed suicide because she was forced to take a leave of absence for failure to pay tuition fees. This became instant news, especially with the upcoming senatorial elections in May of this year. A friend of mine posted a very intriguing question on Facebook regarding the incident: is the University of the Philippines for (a) Poor Pinoy students, (b) Academically Excellent Pinoy students or (c) Academically Excellent Poor Pinoy students? I responded. Not because I wanted to defend my alma mater. I wanted others to understand that there was a much deeper issue that had to be dealt with. It was an issue of the heart. An issue of entitlement. It’s sad to hear about the loss of a loved one. More sad to realize that people are blaming the system without first looking for answers from within. Some say the student was killed by the system. Others say she was a victim of  a repressive policy that wasn’t in favor of education as a right. A characteristic of true leadership is taking responsibilities for any actions done. Below was my response to the question. 

I try to avoid telling others that I went to University of the Philippines (Diliman campus) primarily because (a) I failed “17 courses” in my undergraduate program and (b) nobody wanted to hire me because of the former  Now, when the UP system was founded back in 1908, the ultimate goal was to provide a high quality of education to the Filipino people. Nowhere in the original goal did it mention that it was for “anybody poor.” The system has evolved into what it is today primarily because it was partly subsidized by the government. With the economic journey of the Philippines after World War II, where it used to be a first-world country in Southeast Asia, most people in the government took advantage of the UP system as a means to advance their political career. Because there was an increase in the population of those living below the poverty line, the UP STFAP was born. The UP STFAP program was conceived in the late 80s, following the People Power revolution. This was the time where there was an increasing gap between the rich and the poor. This created an ever increasing “entitlement mindset” among those who are poor-yet-deserving students to go to the UP system. The very reason why tuition in the UP system is way higher than the other state universities is because they subsidize other state universities. So, to answer your question, the UP system is for the academically excellent Filipino students, regardless of economic status. For those who feel that they deserve to go to UP, go ahead and prove that they indeed deserve to go there. I couldn’t afford a UP education because it was relatively expensive for me. I had a choice between not pursuing a university degree (cheaper,) going to other state universities (a little more costly,) going to other private institutions (most expensive) or going to UP (bordering between cheap and expensive.) I chose to go to UP. I fought to stay in UP. I sacrificed a lot to go to UP. Now, do I deserve to go to UP because I was poor? Absolutely not! But I made a choice to go there, stay there and earn my university degree for there no matter what. I knew how it felt like to go from UP STFAP’s bracket E1 to bracket A (during my time, the UP STFAP used a numeric system for the brackets.) I knew how it felt like to scour for funds to finish my degree regardless of what my STFAP’s status was. Education, I believe, should be a right. 

With rights come responsibilities.If we aren’t willing to take responsibilities,how dare we claim the rights.
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More Broken Glass by autowitch

Black baseball cap with a fashionable army jacket. That’s the image that people who know me recognize when they hear my name. When I started speaking at conferences and events here in North America, I became intentional about the image that I project. Let’s just say that everything started with a profile photo I gave Microsoft Singapore for use in their marketing collaterals. I couldn’t find a professional-looking profile photo when they asked for one back in 2007 for a conference I’m scheduled to speak at. So I gave them one that I have. I was wearing a baseball cap. That photo instantly became my official profile photo – from the book chapters I wrote to the case study documents from Microsoft Learning. And so I’ve decided to maintain that image and became very intentional about its consistency. I’ve also taught professionals how brand consistency helps in improving their career. A simple test that I do is perform a Google search on my name and check the results. If I get the results that I want consistently – be it the profile photos or keyword combinations – that means I have done a good job in creating the brand that I want.

I like doing experiments. I always like to try something new to test a hypothesis or just to break away from the rut. Several days ago at an event where I am supposed to speak at, I’ve decided to do a social experiment. I’ve decided to abandon the “baseball cap and the army jacket” image and just stick with my good old fashion self, the one where you can barely see hair on my head. On top of that, I’ve decided to include my new personal assistant – my eyeglasses – as part of my image. I wanted to test if I have successfully created a personal brand throughout these years. I knew the side effects of being inconsistent with my personal brand when I’ve decided to rename my LinkedIn and Twitter profiles several months ago. And so I went on with the experiment. The people who knew me well didn’t have much problems recognizing me. They were confused at first but have gotten over it. Moving on. I walked among the crowd. I heard people saying they wanted to attend my session. That’s not surprising since I knew many people wanted to learn more about the topic that I’m going to present on. What’s really surprising is what happened next. I heard people asking if they’ve already seen me. Some of the event organizers are starting to become restless because they couldn’t find me anywhere. Somebody told them that I was already at the venue. They just couldn’t find me. Or maybe they were looking for somebody else. Maybe they were looking for the guy wearing a baseball cap and the army jacket.

The experiment highlights few key points regarding branding:

1. You/We are a brand. Whether we like it or not, our personalities are our brand. Same is true with companies, products and services. Quit avoiding the fact. You might as well do something about it and…
2. Be intentional. Don’t wait for others to define your brand for you. You do not have control over that. Instead, define it for them. If you don’t define your brand, others will do it for you. I chose to be intentional about the brand that I have built over the years and I expect the results I’m getting.
3. Know thy self. It’s hard to define something if you don’t even understand what it is. Whether it’s a person or a product, we need to know what it i and hat it stands for. Knowing one’s self takes time but it is key to successfully creating a brand.
4. Be consistent. Imagine seeing a Coca-Cola logo with an orange colour. I can’t. That’s because I’m used to seeing it with the colour red. It becomes confusing when a brand is inconsistent. That’s the main point of my experiment. If we are inconsistent with our brand and our personality, others will be confused. Worst, they will eventually forget who you are.

If there’s one key point to consider when it comes to branding, that’s CONSISTENCY. And it doesn’t just work for branding. It does so too with leadership. You’ll earn the trust and respect of the people you lead.

Mile Marker 181 on the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway. Near Florence, OR. by Terry MacVey

This blog post  was inspired by a conversation I had with a high school friend. Imagine planning a trip to your vacation getaway. You know that you will need to do the following to get to your destination

1. Drive about 5 hours
2. Get your gas tank full and may potentially refill along the way
3. Check to make sure your coolant tank is full
4. Pack your stuff in preparation for the long drive

While driving, you definitely need to do the following

1. Check your speedometer to make sure that you’re not driving too fast not too slow. Driving too fast will get you a ticket. Driving too slow will take you longer to reach your destination
2. Check your temperature. You want to make sure that your engine does not overheat while you drive
3. Check your fuel meter. You want to know when it’s time to gas up

It’s amazing how many people put a lot of effort in planning for a trip and have very detailed information. Unfortunately, we don’t do the same thing for our goals. The first month of 2013 has just gone past us and items in our New Year’s resolutions have either been ticked off a checklist or totally forgotten.  If we put more effort into planning, tracking and specifying more details into our goals, I believe that we will be able to achieve more of them. We’ve got the entire year to work on our goals and New Year’s resolutions.  It’s not too late to start.