The Importance of Work Life Balance

I always believed that achieving work life balance is the most important thing of all. As the saying goes, "too much of something is never good". In our class discussion, we have talked about how important and how to achieve work life balance. We have also evaluated ourselves on where we currently at in terms of achieving our full potential in life. In my own personal opinion, I believe that having a balanced life is the most important thing of all. If we fail to balance the different aspect of our life, we are doomed to despair. We may be successful in one aspect but failing in another which I believe most people are suffering from. In order for us to say that we are truly successful in our lives, then we should have achieved balance in all aspects of our life.

Listening to the talk of Pat Gelsinger about work life balance, it made me realize a lot of things which I must admit I am guilty of. It had also opened my eyes to a new paradigm of thinking and handling my priorities in life. I believe that above work, the most important aspect of our lives is our families. I believe that they are the reason why we are working and striving hard everyday. However, apart from our families, we also have other aspects of our lives such as our social life, spiritual life, financial life and career. All these things should be in balance in order to achieve full satisfaction and happiness in life. 

In his talk, Pat Gelsinger suggested a few things on how to improve our work life balance. One of which is putting priorities in each of them. We have to accept that we are given a limited number of time and resources and it is up to us on how to allocate our time and resources to the different aspect of our lives. Also, in his talk, he mentioned about looking beyond career and work and taking into consideration other aspects of our life.

Taking my own life as an example, I see to it to live and practice work life balance. Every weekends, I see to it to keep my relationships healthy by spending enough time with my loved ones and to keep my spiritual life healthy as well by going to church and worshiping God every Sundays. Despite my very hectic daily schedule, I make sure to take time to improve myself and that is also one of the reasons why I enrolled in the MBA program. Apart from that, I studied financial planning in order to keep my financial life in order. I also work hard during weekdays so as to prepare myself for a brighter future.

I believe that all of us have an obligation to keep our work and life at balance. I believe that this is essential in finding happiness at work and meaning in life.  

On Being a Lasallian Business Leader

In today's discussion, we have discussed the role of a Lasallian business leader. As future managers, presidents and CEO of various organization, we should not forget our roots and values when it comes into making decisions specially during times when there are ethical concerns at hand. I have read an article about a talk of one of the most influential business person in the country, Mr. Manny Pangilinan. In his talk, he emphasizes the importance of ethics and good governance in business. He said that these two things differentiate a world class firm from those that are not. 

I would like to connect the link in Mr. Pangilinan's talk, our class discussion and our reading material which is the Vocation of the Business leader into my writing. First, as mentioned in the Vocation of the Business Leader, the critical part of a person's formation of beliefs, values and purpose of business is his or her education which I believe is true. As mentioned by Mr. Pangilinan, a person's values should be embedded from his childhood. I also remembered that our Professor also mentioned that there was a study made on students who came from sectarian and non-sectarian schools and the results showed that those students who took up religion, values and catholic church teachings proved to be more successful in their careers and on businesses.

The second point I would like to highlight is the importance of ethical and spiritual formation compared to our technical skills which was boldly highlighted in the article. We have also discussed the implications of people who have led large companies based on technical skills but later on had to fall due to ethical reasons. One such company is Enron and more recent is Lehman Brothers. Mr. Pangilinan also pointed out the importance of ethics and good governance in his talk. He said that "Present-day financial markets determine which companies are good, and which are not – equity markets will price your shares impartially. Debt markets will price your loans objectively. if you want market acceptance, then you must perform well, and do it honestly. It’s as simple as that." He cited samples where he and his company had to make ethical choices and in the end had paid off.

Lastly, I would like to emphasize that business leaders should be encouraged to see their work as a vocation and a response to God's call for service. Also, these leaders should act as leaders who are serving God, looking after the welfare of the whole organization and not only on the bottom line. 

In closing, as Lasallian Business Leaders, we should do our part and act as agents of change in the current business environment. I always believe that by embedding ethical and spiritual values in business, it will pay off in ways where money cannot compensate. I believe that Lasallian Business Leaders should exemplify a business with a heart. 

St John Baptist de Lasalle - Leading by Example

I have always heard of St. John Baptist de Lasalle but it is only until today after I have read and watched a film about his works and history that I have truly understood his life, his works and his significance in the past and until the present time.

St Lasalle can be characterized as a true risk taker, innovator, servant leader and mentor all throughout his life. Despite coming from an affluent family, he took the risk and gave up all his riches for the sake of his desire to help and to educate the poor. He also took risk in opening up schools despite the limited resources and obstacles which he faces at that time. However, his boldness bore fruit when he was able to pass on the vision to his fellow educators and to the people during his time who has the heart to help others. His exemplary works were never forgotten and served as an inspiration and model for a lot of educational institution until the present time.

He is also an innovator in the sense that he looked for a way to standardize his system of education and by training people from all walks of life to be educators like him. Personally, I admire his courage and boldness to think outside of the box and introduce a non conventional method of teaching during his time. He might have been criticized a lot a first but his dream, vision and passion has kept him in pursuing his goals.

Lastly, he is truly a servant leader as he does not only lead others by giving out orders rather he leads them by his example. For me, this is the most admirable trait of St. Lasalle as he lived not only by doctrines but by examples. I believe that he was able to inspire a lot of people to join his cause through his examples. He has won the heart of other educators by walking his talk.

In my personal opinion, I believe that all of us should not only be inspired by the life of St.Lasalle but rather it should also serve as our guide on our journey in becoming future business leaders. I believe that in order for us to claim that we are Lasallians, we must be able to exemplify St.Lasalle's example in our personal and business lives.

Thinking about it, the life of St. Lasalle may have been fruitful but in order for its fruitfulness to continue throughout generations and generations, we, as Lasallian business leaders, must do our part by living and following the example of our patron saint in our everyday life.