Know Your Place

When people ask me for advice regarding their jobs, in any organization, I always say only three words: know your place. I have learned that intellect bears only half of one's success in any endeavor. The rest depend on relationships. I have seen people who were really nerds in school, graduated with honors, but failed miserably in their careers. Not that I am concluding I am successful now. The road to success, or whatever you might want to call it, is still a long one for me. But I have reached a point in my career where I can say I have achieved, I have done my best in what I love to do, and I am content. Not happy, mind you, content. Happiness is much more complex. Notwithstanding of course the concerns I have to deal with everyday, I am fine with my job now. I guess. 

I write about this now because I had two interesting conversations yesterday with two people close to my heart. One of my mentors, one who helped me in this career, called to say he was visiting Vigan and he wanted to meet for coffee. Small talk ensued after and he asked me how I am. I said I am doing alright, except for some people that really cause trouble unnecessarily. He told me that in all the years he was in the job, he looks back now and learned that only one key got him through all the funny situations with these kinds; patience. He told me that he has made the mistake of hurting other people's feelings in his younger days on the job, that they became burdens to him, deeper in his conscience. So he said before he retired, he made peace with all those he had hurt. Now, he told me, he feels 'free'. 

Relationships. I took an assessment examination for managers a couple of years back and one of the concerns of the examination validator as he gleaned from my answers (in the assessment examination) was that I tend to 'value relationships more than the rules'. I failed that examination largely because of that observation. Yet I don't regret that. Because yes, I do value relationships more than the rules. That is the way I get things done, deliver the outputs expected of me. While I realize that as a manager, I need to be accountable for my decisions as bound by rules, I normally do so only for compliance. Not because I believe in the wisdom of the rules, the rules we have are way up there in the scale of hypocrisy. 

Knowing your place is key to relationships. My daughter, Ana, revealed to me last night that changes in their company's management has resulted to her having heavier responsibilities with her job, at the expense of those who have been in the company for longer, hence with more experience. Ana did not feel right about it. She told the management candidly, together with her workmates, how they felt about the changes. They were reluctant, but they still thought it was wiser to be honest. Rather than work in an atmosphere of tension and conflict, they chose to recognize their capabilities, and the bearing of these changes in the relationships among them, 'knowing their place'. 

I guess in a world where all seem to be so fast, so competitive, where we all need to struggle and fight for our 'spot' in the limelight, it is sobering to hear of stories like these; from the old who has seen it all, and from the young who is yet to see the angels and the demons there are out there. I learn everyday some small thing, to validate what I have seen, heard and experienced. These are gifts, really.