A Reflection on Life's Stages of Work

On our 3rd meeting in my Lasallian Business Leadership and Ethics class, we talked about the different stages of work and was given the chance to discuss among ourselves on where we think we are currently in the matrix provided. 

On the matrix, there are 3 stages of work with the highest being a work of service to others and the lowest as seeing work as work. I have personally shared that I am still at stage 1 where I still see work as work and still haven't really found the meaning in my chosen career. 

While driving  home, I started to reflect about our class discussion and thought about the reasons on what can help me reach the highest level of work and service. I realized that in order to achieve that level, I have to do and to change a number of things in my life. First, I have to find something which I truly love to do. Having said this, in order to find my highest purpose in life, I should be able to find and identify that one thing that I really love to do. I have to find the work which I would be willing to do even without getting paid. Second realization is that when I find that one thing then I should do everything I can to excel in that field and to enhance my skills and capabilities to be the best in my chosen field and lastly, I should continue learning everything I can until such time comes as the saying goes, luck is when opportunity meets preparation.

Also, while doing my life plan and financial planning worksheet, I realized that still want to achieve a lot of things in life. When I think of myself 10 years from now, I see myself as a successful entrepreneur living a happily married life. Thinking about my current situation, I believe that I am in the right path in pursuing my goals. I also believe that by the MBA program which I am currently taking up will help me reach my goals.

Is Good Ethics good on Business?

Modern businesses are increasingly becoming aware on the importance of ethics in their dealings. We can note from history that all the major failures and bankruptcy in businesses are caused by unethical practices by some greedy and crooked individuals. Starting from Enron and Worldcom and more recently the global financial crisis on 2008 where financial institutions pursued profits over practicing prudence and even breaching ethical standards. So the major question today is that "Is Good Ethics good on Business". As a young professional, I can definitely say that it is a big YES.

As we all know, businesses are made in pursuit of profit but it should be stated that businesses should consider moral and ethical standards in their pursuit of profits. I don't believe that ethics and profits are two separate and contradicting statements rather profits and ethics should be working hand in hand in order to build a lasting business. I believe that the one thing that separates a long and lasting business from those that don't are not their products nor their profits but the moral and ethical standards of their leaders.

I believe that being ethical has its long term rewards. All companies are being faced with ethical concerns every day and it is up to the senior management of the business to decide on how to deal with this. Having said this, I believe that being ethical should start not only when we are already senior executives but it should start as early as now. It should not only be a standard on the senior management and executives rather it should be a standard for the whole company from the lowest rank until the highest. 

One thing I would also like to emphasize is my belief that profits follow over good ethics. As a noteworthy example, I have remembered a speech from Mr. Manny Pangilinan which I have also cited in my previous blog which he emphasized the importance of ethics and good governance in business. He noted that these two things are what separates a good business from a bad one.

In closing, I would like to apply the concept of good ethics in good business in my own life. I believe that as individuals, we should be having our own set of ethical and moral standards to adhere to. These should be embedded in us and learned at home and at school. These ethical standards are the things that will set us apart from others and which will also propel us to higher success. Being ethical is not contradictory to being successfully rather these two things should be complimentary of each other.

On Career, Personal Finance and Family Life

During our Fourth session on our Lasallian Business Leadership and Ethics class, we discussed about career, personal finance and family life. This session was really close to my heart given that I am a very career oriented person and a financial planner. It is also interesting to learn about the family code in the Philippines and the legal duties and responsibilities of parents in the society.

As a young professional, I always think about what I want to do and what I want to become. I always foresee myself in the future as a business person or a corporate executive but on top of all of this, I foresee myself as a loving husband and father to my future family. In order to achieve all these, I am fully committed to do everything I can to reach these goals. One of which is by taking up my MBA in De la Salle University. I believe that the knowledge and skills which I will acquire will equip me to become a better business leader. Other than that, I keep on building up my interpersonal and business skills as I believe that luck happens when opportunity meets preparation.

Another area discussed in our class is about personal finance. As a financial planner, this area is the closest to my heart. I believe that our country lacks the financial knowledge in terms of personal finance. We have been brainwashed as children that buying branded and expensive items are good when in fact it is not really practical. I have been an advocate of financial literacy ever since I was in college.  I learned about the importance of financial literacy early on and I teach my fellow students the importance and benefits of being financial literate.

Last area which we have discussed is about the Family Code of the Philippines. I was intrigued by the topic which prompted me to do a research about the article on Family Code. While reading through the article, I realized a lot of things which were written down that are not being practiced in our society today. I realized that if every Filipino family would adhere to the guidelines of the Family code, our society will be better and we will have a better quality of life here in our country.

Because of modern technology, families are increasingly becoming further apart. The demands of work to the husband and wife requires them to work long hours in the office leaving their children to the care of their nannies. It is written in the Family code that the father and mother should furnish them with good and wholesome educational materials, supervise their activities, recreation and association with others, protect them from bad company, and prevent them from acquiring habits detrimental to their health, studies and morals.

I believe that our society lacks this supervision today which leads young children to be easily influence by false advertisement of the social media. In closing, I hope and pray that Filipinos will live and practice the family code wholeheartedly and be responsible and loving parents to their children thereby helping society to bring up future worthy and responsible leaders.

As the saying goes, "Ang Kabataan ay ang kinabukasan ng Bayan"