We had our Grand High School Homecoming last weekend and had the opportunity to be together with my batch mates and teachers. Swell!From Manny V. Pangilinan's speech to the graduating students of the Ateneo de Manila University in 2006:
I’d like to make a personal request. I’d like to ask each of you a favor. Give me bragging rights. Do something great. Sometime in the future, I want to hear some incredible thing you’ve done. And I’d like to brag that I spoke at your graduation. In return, I offer you a few more pieces of advice. Keep it real. Stay true to what’s best in yourself, to the best of your experience here at the Ateneo. Trust your instincts. Believe in yourself. Engage in sports, you’ll need it as you age. Make art, or at least, value it. Be brave. Be bold. Find something that moves you or pisses you off, but do something about it. You have a voice, speak up.
Take a stand for what’s right. Make a change. You may not always be popular, but you’ll be part of something larger and greater than yourself. Besides, making history is cool, isn’t it? But I also want to offer a warning: you will meet people who’ll entice you to compromise your principles. They’ll try to seduce you and distract you with money, power, security and perhaps, most dangerously, a sense of belonging. Don’t let them; it’s not worth it.
You can have genuine values and still get that job. You can have a conscience and still make money.
Let me send you off with one final thought. I was born poor, but poor was not born in me. And it shouldn’t be born in you either. You can make it. Whatever you may wish to do with your future, you can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but morning comes always. Suffering breeds character. Character breeds faith. In the end, faith will not disappoint. You must not disappoint.
I took this photo when my family went to revisit "Kamay ni Hesus" at Quezon. It was a stress-relieving day for me (something good in the midst of life's concerns).Look at your top sellers report and concentrate on the top selling items. Answer these questions about the top ten selling items from the last three months:
The “promise” behind my products?
Basketball legend Michael Jordan says: "I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot . . . and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Oliver Cromwell says it very well: “Not only strike while the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking.”
Always thank employees for doing a good job.
- Take the time to meet with and listen to employees. Take them to breakfast or out for a cup of coffee.
- Give them feedback concerning their progress or performance on the job. Employees need to know how they are doing and that their contributions are appreciated.
- Give rewards, and promotions to employees who perform well.
- Keep the employees informed concerning your advertising and growth plans and ask for input.
- Allow employees to have input in day to day operations.
- Provide training opportunities for employees to increase their skills.
- Remember their birthdays and important dates.
- Write down your company policies and procedures and abide by them.
- Set some goals and celebrate with them when those goals are reached.
- Encourage new ideas and suggestions.
- Pay your employees well and have quarterly wage reviews.
- Consider what benefits you can give, hospitalization insurance, vacaton pay, emloyee meals, etc.
- Invest in your employees. This could be a bonus, insurance, training and personal time.
- Make them feel special. If you make them feel special and feel like they belong, they will do special thing
Have a fruitful, happy new year!
