So good they can’t ignore you

When I was going through my own quarter-life crisis, I read three books that shaped my perspective about careers: The Dip by Seth Godin, How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen, and So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport.

What stood out to me about Cal Newport’s book is that it directly challenges the dominant advice of “finding your passion” in one’s career. I’ve heard of some horror stories based on following this well-intentioned advice in the form of the following types of events: (1) serial quitting and stagnating and (2) losing passion for something that a person seemed to love before. The advice of Cal Newport is to focus on one’s skill that one can hone and one can even potentially learn to love.

For some people, that skillset overlaps with passion; but for some people, that skillset may not necessarily be what one is passionate about. For example, some may be bored by research but they have the capacity to understand technical concepts. No passion, but with skillset.

Maybe the insight is that embracing one’s talent, dare I say “light”, is not always a honeymoon experience. But there’s something powerful about the analogy of the light and a person’s skillset – we cannot help but notice light in the same way that we cannot help but notice exceptional performance.

Light can be warm, but it can also burn. To flourish is to discover our inner light and manage it such that our light makes us remarkable rather than our light burning us out.

Matthew 4:12-23. …the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light…

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 2023-022: JANUARY 22, 2023]

To lead is to accompany

As more and more people have access to media and various communication channels, we realize that leaders at the top do not necessarily hold all the power anymore.

Although I am not in favor of cancel culture, this phenomenon reveals how people, in general, are discovering that we have the power to put down leaders and influencers.

Maybe the most appropriate kind of leadership in today’s context is a leader who accompanies rather than a leader who dictates. “Leading with” rather than “leading at the top”.

This is a very tricky dance because such leaders cannot afford to be distant, yet they should be able to see far enough, conjure a vision, and inspire a team.

How can we develop future business leaders who are of this kind?

Mark 3:13-19. “… that they might be with him and he might send them forth…”

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 2023-020: JANUARY 20, 2023]

If no good deed goes unpunished, should we stop doing good?

It is such a tragedy to think that the world can sometimes be so harsh. A jungle-like “survival of the fittest” paradigm is one thing. However, what’s worse is when the world can be so evil that it punishes good deeds.

Thus, I find so much meaning and beauty in doing good for its own sake and not for an expected reward. Maybe we can have faith that there is a reward, but expectations can ruin an otherwise virtuous cycle of good.

This is why we are called to be as wise as serpents yet as innocent as doves.

And if we frame this as a challenge, isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that flow-inducing? When an artist is one with the craft and an athlete one with the sport, isn’t this the most fulfilling experience?

When the person is one with the good deed, isn’t this an example of humanity in its most authentic and fullest?

Mark 3:1-6. “They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him.”

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 2023-018: JANUARY 18, 2023]

Quick meta-reflection on AI-assisted writing: I tried using ChatGPT again, but I was not satisfied with its outputs. It gave useful analogies and ideas, but it felt like a listicle and generic. I had a pointed idea to reflect on the saying “no good deed goes unpunished”, and I felt that writing this reflection mostly from scratch helped me articulate my insights through my “voice”. For what it’s worth, using ChatGPT this time strengthened my conviction about an angle I wanted to build on by making me realize the angles I did not want to include in my reflection.

Fermenting wine and insights

Just as wine needs to undergo fermentation in order to develop its complex flavors and aromas, our minds also need to process and digest new information in order to fully understand and integrate it.

Fermentation is a process that takes time, it’s not something that happens overnight. Similarly, cultivating insights also takes time and effort. We need to be patient, and be willing to let the new information sit and marinate in our minds before we can fully grasp its meaning.

Also, just as wine fermentation requires the right conditions and ingredients, cultivating insights also needs the right environment, such as a conducive atmosphere, the right resources, and the right people to discuss, debate, and learn from.

Are we able to adapt our wineskins such that we can properly ferment our wine of insights?

Mark 2:18-22. New wine is poured into fresh wineskins

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 2023-016: JANUARY 16, 2023]

The responsibility of those who are well enough

It takes a sober understanding of ourselves to recognize if we are well enough to carry on or if we need help.

If we are not careful, the toxicity could go both ways: toxic positivity can make us pretend that we do not need help, while toxic negativity can drain the mood out of everyone we deal with.

The inconvenient responsibility of those well enough is to resist temptations – whether it be projecting we are better or worse than we really are. It feels like a dull march or the behind-the-scenes training of athletes and artists. We are growing, but it feels slow and sometimes even soul-sucking.

The moment we fool ourselves into believing we are worse or better than we are, we also deprive ourselves of a real opportunity to grow and flourish. The worst is when we inadvertently steal the resources that could otherwise be better invested in those who fare worse than we are doing.

Being “well enough” is not a very exciting place. Maybe it is like a feeling of “meh”, almost languishing, but not really.

But it is an opportunity to power through. And with faith, “the father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Mark 2:13-17. “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 2023-014: JANUARY 14, 2023]