When we pretend that we don’t know More than a decade in the university (counting my years since being a student) made me realize that academic performance is less about IQ or intellectual intelligence but more about stamina. Though working smart and having booksmarts would help a lot, the capstone projects (final internship, thesis, dissertation) […]
The courage to lead change Having done and witnessed action research projects through the years, I arrive at the conclusion that change initiatives are best thought of as experiments. This means that success is not guaranteed; and thus, should organizations really aspire to innovate, they must provide safe spaces for experiments to happen. These safe […]
When the crowd exerts its power In trying to explain norms and culture as well as their powers, a critical realist perspective is very powerful and useful. Margaret Archer provides the Structure-Culture-Agency (SCA) framework, while Dave Elder-Vass proposed the idea of “norm circles” which can exert power to influence the behavior of a group’s members. […]
Encounters Each encounter with others is an opportunity to touch their lives (or have our lives be touched by them). I am always reminded of this everytime I see students beginning to realize their potential. Being in this profession of teaching and mentoring is such a meaningful and honorable vocation; each student success is reward […]
Finding peace in sacrifice Trade-offs and sacrifices are painful. There are struggles to overcome. However, there is peace to be found in our sacrifices. Finding peace means learning to dance in the rain, embracing the discomfort, and discovering the strength within. It is about realizing that our lives is filled with threads of sacrifice – […]
Enough Recognizing when something is enough – neither incomplete nor overboard – takes a lot of experience and reflection. Achievers tend to err on the side of going the extra mile, but in doing so, there is a risk of burning out. Contentment is different from settling. Contentment means recognizing when everything has been completed. […]
On mentoring and giving peace I’ve been very fortunate to be in a continuing opportunity of mentoring and being mentored. This makes my personal and professional life very meaningful. In mentoring sessions where I am the mentor or the mentee, I appreciate and crave for the moments when we enter a state of both flow […]
Authenticity means to avoid overstepping When we feel strongly about something, it’s easy to overstep. In management parlance, we may call this “micromanaging”. In a way, we humans are creatures of beliefs and convictions; we are compelled to act in a way that supports our philosophy. But authentic practice requires discerning when it is our […]
Repetition, indeed, legitimizes Sometimes (or oftentimes?), we grow tired of hearing the same principles and reminders over and over and over and over again (see what I did there?). But maybe there is truth in the saying that a person who has practiced something a thousand times is more formidable than a person who once […]
Authentic second-person practice When a new whole emerges that is greater and different from the sum of the whole’s individual parts, do the parts necessarily have to lose their identity? A true and full team does not mean that their members defer to each other or to their leaders; rather, a true and full team […]