On positive mindset

The story is told about a mountain climber who desired to climb the highest mountain peak. So, he went to climb it. When he was a few feet away from the peak he saw thick clouds that concealed the highest peak which was already within his reach. 

Thinking that he was still very far from his objective, he gave up. If only he knew that his objective was within his reach; he could have climbed on and achieved his goal. 

In your work environment there would be times when your patience would be tested by your superior/s. You might be given a job that may seem so hard for you to do; don’t refuse it, accept it instead. 

For all you know it’s just a test for you if you could handle bigger responsibilities in the future. Or it could be a test if you are ripe for promotion. If you think that your knowledge on the newly assigned job is lacking, don’t be afraid to ask help from your superior/s.  They are there to help, assist and guide you and not to intimidate you.  Google and ChatGPT OpenAI are there also to widen your understanding about the new responsibility. 

Perhaps you’re just being challenged by your superior, He wants to test your work attitude, patience and motivation. Your success in an organization will always be determined by your persistence, hard work and by your positive work attitude.  

If only the mountain climber in our story persisted and exerted more hard work he could have achieved his objective but he gave up. Life at work is full of challenges that will test your tenacity because this is a given fact of life at work. 

Always have a positive mindset because challenges no matter how difficult are more made achievable when you approach it with a positive mindset. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Is there a connection between Quiet Quitting and Dissatisfaction at Work?

The smoke of devastation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic is slowly clearing up. Organizations have started once again the engines of their organizations and it seems that it’s back again to normalcy for the majority of the world economy and its related organizations.   

But the issue of quite quitting is coming to fore in many organizations wherein employees are simply going thru the motion in doing their jobs. There is no more motivation to do their assigned jobs they simply do their jobs because they need to earn a living for their families. And while doing the bare minimum in doing their jobs these employees who are into quite quitting are also looking for opportunities of employment elsewhere.       

However, why do employees engage in quite quitting? They are into quite quitting for the simple reason that they are not satisfied with their present employment. Employment dissatisfactions are basically the reason for quite quitting. These dissatisfactions of employment are caused by a number of things. For example, organizational leadership and setup, behavior of co-employees, the issue of salary and benefits to name a few.   

Therefore, when there is dissatisfaction human’s normal reaction is to look for the solution to address the dissatisfaction. And  once they find this magical solution they will now think of resigning.  The prudent ones will not immediately resign they will first see to it that there is already an employment waiting for them before they resign. 

Quite quitting is actually an organizational problem that is preventable if only organizational leaders would find time to listen to the issues being raised by their employees. Lest we forget, those who engage in quite quitting are normally the competent ones who confidently think that they can easily get employment from organizations who can satisfy the needs and wants of their employment. – Marino J. Dasmarinas       

The mistake of knee-jerk reaction

Do you believe that managers are Leaders too? 

Managers are leaders also as such they are called to manage and lead their organization with utmost efficiency and productivity. However there would be instances when their abilities as managers and leaders will be tested by their subordinates. In such instances it is best for them not to react in haste.  It’s best to stay calm and composed under stressful situation. 

For example if an ego-tripper subordinate is challenging your authority to advertise his own ego. Be calm and be patient do not immediately react to his arrogance because the moment you react without careful thought you will be at the losing end. Why? Because you would be dignifying his own arrogance and ego-tripping and you go down to his level which is not good for your image and standing in your organization. 

So how would you address this troublesome situation? Approach it with calm and civility by pretending not to mind it. Then after an hour or two or even a day schedule a personal meeting with the concerned person. Who challenged your authority and tested your patience and during the meeting point to him his mistakes. 

Clearly emphasize your authority and his responsibilities as your subordinate and after you’ve done this.  The concerned individual hopefully will be enlightened and appreciate your civility, humility and diplomacy. 

The mistake of thoughtless/knee-jerk reaction is you will not gain anything from it except another troublesome situation in your organization. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Volodymyr Zelenskyy/Volodymyr Zelensky: A Heroic, Inspiring, and Shining Leadership Masterclass #mjdasma

The man of the hour right now is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy his name, videos and quotes are trending in the world of social media. Why? Because he dared to face head-on Russian president Vlaldimir Putin’s immoral, unprovoked and inhuman war against his sovereign nation.     

It all began on February 24 Thursday, when Putin’s tanks, missiles and other hardware of war and destruction rumbled through targeted cities of Ukraine most specifically the city of Kyiv where the seat of power is located. Because of Pres. Putin’s very superior military might and nuclear armaments the world thought that it would simply be a cakewalk for Putin but it is not, in fact it’s shaping to be a quagmire for Putin and his Russian military cohorts.   

Hours before Ukraine was invaded by the Russian Armed Forces President Zelenskyy in a video address warned President Putin by saying: "When you attack us, you will see our faces not our backs."

On February 25, the morning after Russian missiles rained and tanks went rumbling inside Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video and defiantly vowed to stay and fight on and He said: “I am here. We are not putting down arms. We will be defending our country, because our weapon is truth, and our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children, and we will defend all of this.” These courageous words from Zelenskyy galvanized and inspired his people to hold the line no matter the odds against them.  

What lesson/s of leadership can we derived from this video of Zelenskyy and his succeeding other pronouncements?  

Lesson number one: Great leaders such as Zelenskyy always leads the way and shows the way. This simply means that these great leaders are in the thick of things, they are in the trenches they give orders and fight in the battlefield and not within the confines of their luxurious and secured offices. When the USA offered him a safe way out of his besieged nation he stood his ground and courageously said:  "The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride."      

Lesson number two: Great leaders are effective communicators they use social media to their advantage, they carefully craft their messages. And immediately communicate to their people and subordinates what needs to be communicated. Time is of the essence here because a delay of what the leader needs to communicate can cost him dearly in terms of his reputation, character and leadership position. Zelenskyy is a master communicator since he is a former actor and a comedian at that. He flawlessly communicated his inspiring messages of defiance and solidarity with his soldiers, his people and with the world.   

Lesson number three: Great leaders like Pres. Zelenskyy project strong image and calmness at all times. Why? So that he can inspire, mold and motivate his people to fight the invaders/oppressors no matter how strong they are in this case President Putin and his Russian armed forces. Notice that in that video Zelenskyy face was an epitome of bravery, calmness and defiance and he chose a historical and strongly-built building as his backdrop. 

Lesson number four: Great leaders are not afraid to ask for help they show their vulnerability. During the second day of the attack when the chips were down on the Ukrainian side. Zelenskyy was not afraid to say this: “Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone. Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee of NATO membership? Everyone is afraid.”   “We’re defending our country alone. The most powerful forces in the world are watching this from a distance.” Hours after saying his lament of vulnerability pledges of help in terms of weaponry, other armaments of war and humanitarian assistance began to pour in.  

Lesson number five: Great leaders have a positive mindset, are effective motivators and they have a vision. As the violent forces of war were being unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.  Zelenskyy addressed his people and his nation’s security forces to inspire them: He told them, “Our military, our national guard, our national police, our territory defense, special service, nationals of Ukraine, please carry on. We will win. Why did he say this despite the odds against them? Because he wanted to fuel the morale, fighting spirit and motivation of his people.  And President Zelenskyy is valiantly succeeding for the reason that he, his nation and his people are keeping the violent Russian forces of war at bay. 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Courageous and Inspiring leadership masterclass is a true to life continuing saga that unfolds before our very eyes and ears.  It exhibits his extra-ordinary leadership skills which we can learn a lot from as we manage and lead our own respective organizations. Are you learning gems of insights from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Courageous and Inspiring leadership masterclass? 

Let us continue to pray for peace in Ukraine, let us pray for Vladimir Putin’s enlightenment that he will stop this unprovoked war that he created and let us pray for the suffering PEOPLE/NATION of Ukraine– Marino J. Dasmarinas 

When you Impose discipline impose it with civility and respect

How do you impose discipline in your organization? 

Some if not many of us impose discipline the old fashion way. This means that we punish the transgressor right in front of the crowd to shame the person. But when we do this we only plant the seeds of anger and resentment on the person being disciplined. He/she may not immediately vent out the anger and resentment for the shame that he/she had been subjected. But sooner or later he/she would vent out the anger and resentment. 

There are leaders/managers who are heavy-handed when they impose discipline because they think that it is the appropriate way. But heavy-handedness in imposing discipline is counterproductive because it results to the development of deep-seated feeling of resentment. 

So, what should a leader/manager do when he/she impose discipline? The leader/manager should immediately call for a private meeting with the subject transgressor/s so that appropriate punishment could be imposed in private. By doing this the leader/manager avoids the unnecessary and arrogant projection of his/her power and authority. 

What is the importance of having a private meeting with someone who breached the discipline of the organization or someone who is at fault? You signify your sincerity to correct the person who is at fault. And you send a message that you want to immediately contain and solve the problem without grandstanding, ego-tripping and without insulting anyone. 

By doing so, you create a sincere message that you want to heal the wayward behavior without shaming the concerned person in front of the crowd. If you do this you will even get the respect of the person whom you are disciplining.

Many of us commit the mistake of correcting a person in front of a crowd but this will not help heal a wayward behavior. This would only create a deeper emotional resentment to the person who is at fault. Hence, instead of bringing him/her closer to correction, healing and reconciliation we instead are creating an emotional bubble within the person being disciplined which could explode anytime.

 Let us not let ourselves be eaten by our power and authority when we impose discipline or when we exercise our leadership because this will not do us any good. When we unnecessarily and arrogantly discharge our power and authority we are only exposing how flawed and limited our leadership skills are. Let us instead hold on to civility, respect and reason because this is the only way to correct and completely heal a wayward behavior.

What is the use of showcasing our power and authority in public if it would only create deeper emotional injury? What is the use of correcting a person in full view of the crowd if it would only create a monster called hatred and resentment? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

The price of manipulative Leadership style

The story is told about a politician who cannot accept that he lost an election contest. So, he  fed his rabid supporters a false narrative that he was cheated. But whenever he was asked to provide evidence about his allegation he could not present any.   

His narrative of being cheated struck a chord among his rabid supporters that they believe it hook line and sinker. Hence, the losing politician told his rabid supporters to be ready to protest and they marched and protested. 

However, during the day of the protest the losing politician was nowhere to be found he simply let his supporters undertake the protest. Unfortunately it turned violent and there were casualties among the politician’s supporters and the authorities. An investigation was conducted by the police and they found out that the losing politician fed his rabid supporters the false narrative that he was cheated. Therefore the manipulative, arrogant and egotistical politician was arrested and was put in jail. 

Manipulative leaders/managers exist in every area of an organization. They are arrogant, brash and egotistic. They exist not to serve their organization but to serve their own selfish interest and agenda in the organization. They will do everything including feeding their direct reports and subordinates false narratives for them to survive. And they would be quite successful in using their manipulative leadership for a certain period of time. 

But leaders who employ behaviors that are deceiving and manipulative do not last for long. They are sooner or later exposed for their insidious behaviors and actions. Not only that they are exposed for who they really are they are also severely punished by laws that measures up to their crimes and they are judged harshly by history. Why? Because that’s the steep price that they have to pay. 

Do you know a leader/manager that has a manipulative behavior? – Marino J. Dasmarinas    

On dealing with your problem employee/s

Do you have a problem employee in your organization?

Every organization has its own share of problem employee/s; name any organization and there is somebody who creates headache for the manager/leader.

 

How would you deal with this problem employee? Would you immediately impose punishment or you talk to him/her first? It’s no brainer that the best course of action to take is to talk to this problem employee/s first, for all you know he/she only needs attention.

 

Punishment must always be the last option for an erring employee. Because the moment you impose punishment. You are actually planting the seeds of resentment in the heart of your employee and this is best illustrated by this short story.

 

Mr. X is an HR manager in a private organization, like other HR managers he also has his own share of problem employees. But what makes him unique is this: He has never resorted to punishment to straighten out a problem subordinate. He always resorts to diplomacy and so far this method always bears fruit for him.

 

When asked why does he refuse to use punishment as a tool in disciplining erring employee/s? This was his short but insightful answer.

 

When he was a child he was always been subjected to corporal punishment by his retired military man father. Whenever he commits a wrongdoing there was always a corporal punishment immediately imposed upon him. 

But unknown to his father there was always resentment in his heart whenever he was punished. The trend of imposing punishment as a means to correct his breach of discipline continued for  a long period of time. until it reached a boiling point that he argued with his father.

 

Punishment as a measure of discipline always has its limitations; it may work initially but the moment you impose punishment you are actually igniting the smoke of resentment in the hearts of your erring employees. Until such time that this smoke becomes a full blown fire that can destroy not only you but also the entire organization.

 

Always use diplomacy first in dealing with your erring employee/s for this is the best path to take. Then if all else fails you can now resort to the appropriate punishment. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

The power of positive mindset #mjdasma

The story is told about Jacinda, a Chief Executive Officer who noticed the weary behavior amongst her subordinates since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The usual happy, alive and bubbly behaviors amongst her subordinates were not there anymore. So, she thought of a way to bring back their motivation otherwise if she would not it would surely be the end of their organizational life.

Hence, she called for a meeting of the entire human resource in their organization’s gymnasium. And she told them, “We have to have a positive mindset notwithstanding our present predicament if we want our organization to survive otherwise we would be all out of job sooner or later.”

But what is positive mindset? Positive mindset is a mental attitude that expects nothing but the best despite of all the negativity, gloom and adversity that surrounds us. Positive mindset is also the beginning of having a positive life for without positive mindset there would be no bright future ahead of us.

Positive mindset opens new avenues, new doors and new windows for life’s opportunities and success. It ushers us to uncharted lands that give us nothing but the best. Helen A. Keller the famous blind and deaf author has this to say about positive mindset: “No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.”   

Positive mindset is also the secret of athletes in winning and achieving success in their chosen sport. Michael Jordan the greatest basketball player of all time has this to say about positive mindset: "If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

Positive mindset is the best mental attitude that we need to have during this trying times. Because it programs us to have a laser like focus on the brighter side of life. It blinds our eyes to all the negativity of life. And when we are focused on the brighter side of life we naturally invite it to come eventually into our life. 

Going back to the story of Jacinda. She was able to bring back the sagging morale of her subordinates and their organization is still vibrantly existing right now. Simply because she encouraged them to live with a positive mindset.

This too we can apply in any arena of our life: Family life, organizational/work life, married life, personal life, retired but not tired life or whatever area of life that we are in right now. We will be able to survive and eventually win this battle against pessimism, gloom and negativity brought about by Covid-19. Because we will use to the hilt the power of positive mindset. Aye! – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

When we are overly conscious of our titles

Do we love to be called by our titles in the workplace for example, sir or ma'am?

The story is told about Mr. X, a newly promoted employee who is very particular with his new found status. He would tell his former colleagues who are now his subordinates to call him sir. because according to him to be called sir is like music to his ear and besides it tells a lot of his status in their office.

Therefore, his subordinates started to call him sir and he would mischievously smile when he is called sir. His newly found status created an air of arrogance in his attitude also.

What he did not know was his demeanor started to create a negative impression to his subordinates. They would silently say that their former colleague has changed for the worst since he got promoted. Thus, it resulted to their distancing themselves from him it also created a big dip on their office performance.

Mr. X is a typical example of a person who became swellheaded by his new found office status. Being swellheaded is a big no-no in human behavior in organization and in human behavior in general because this only creates animosity and friction with our subordinates.

Our promotion must not go to our heads because instead of building bridges we create walls that will isolate us eventually. As we ascend higher in the organizational hierarchy it would be better if we bring ourselves closer to our subordinates.

The more that we go up in the organizational hierarchy the more that we go down to reach-out with our former colleagues. We bridge the gap that separates us with them. Thus, we build teamwork, respect and we amplify office/workplace solidarity. The bad thing about being overly concerned with office/workplace title is it creates disunity and hidden disrespect.

Leaders/managers should not be very particular with their office title whatever it may be. They should rather focus on their performance and on building teamwork. For this will further result in the growth and enhanced performance of their office.

Office titles if allowed to go to the head by a swellheaded/ego infested person would only create isolation, animosity and disunity. This is the reason why there are managers/leaders or even company Presidents and Chief Executive Officers who avoid the trappings of their titles. They instead silently work and let their achievements speak for them. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Let us not let social media dictate upon us

Are we always tension filled caused by the Covid-19 pandemic? Many are tension filled these days and when we ask them where it emanates they conveniently point to the havoc caused by Covid-19. This is correct to a certain negligible degree! But what really cause the useless tensions that many of us are feeling right now? It’s our addiction to social media!

Many of us are so addicted to our smart phones and laptops that we always browse facebook and other online portals to get news about what is happening regarding covid-19. Many would even uselessly comment and share news items about it not minding the psychological injury that in can cause to themselves and to those who read and receive it.

When we do this we let social media dictate upon us, we let useless tension creep into our system of thinking. And we end up what? We end up like fools and neurotic people, we end up like headless chickens swarming an unknown environment, all because we let social media dictate upon us.

The Wise and Wisdom filled don’t allow social media to dictate upon them they instead dictate on social media. How are they doing this? For example, they purposely limit their time of exposure to social media for the simple reason that they know the psychological harm that it can cause them.

So, they set limited time to browse facebook and other social media platforms. Say, 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes before retiring at night and that is more than enough for them. And what are they doing for the rest of the day? They go about their usual routines: They clean the house, they read, they listen to uplifting music and useful audio books.

They pray the rosary, they read the bible and reflect upon the word of God. They tend their gardens with facemask of course :) and they talk to their plants but let us not overdo talking to our plants because our neighbors might accuse us of neurosis :) :) :).

We can still do so much outside of social media; we can plan on how to carefully walk the post covid-19 new normal. And then we set our sights and soon after sail and carefully navigate to a bright, hopeful and faith filled future ahead of us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

The wise and wisdom filled leaders listen first before they speak

The story is told about a leader who called for an important meeting among his direct reports. He did so because he wanted some changes effected in his department. When the meeting started the leader talked lengthy about his plans for their department. After he spoke he gave the limited time that they had to his subordinates to share whatever ideas that they may have.

After all of his direct reports were through sharing their ideas he found out that their ideas were very different from his own ideas. He was now in a dilemma on how he would reconcile this gap.

Typical, egotistical and authority drunk leaders always speak first during important meetings. They do this to emphasize their authority and to let everyone know who is the boss and master of their organization. In doing so, they highlight their selfish, autocratic and ego-driven intentions and behavior.   

On the other hand, when a leader lets his direct reports speak first he is silently telling them that their opinion and ideas matter. That they are important and that they have a voice that needs to be heard. When we listen first we are silently able to align their ideas to our ideas and we can adjust our intentions without prejudicing their intentions. So, we can easily arrive with a win-win outcome.

When the leader is the last to speak it doesn’t mean that he is weak, that he is relinquishing his leadership and authority. As matter of fact he is actually strengthening, solidifying and reinforcing his leadership and authority. This also shows that the leader is wisdom filled, confident and humble. – Marino J. Dasmarinas    

Humanize your leadership

The story is told about a slave driver manager who would always treat his subordinates as expendable machines. That needs to work hard day in and day out. This was always the scenario for so many months until the subordinates had enough of the slave driver mentality of their manager.

So they talked to the said manager and warned him that if he would not change his foul behavior towards them. They would petition for his replacement. Aware of the repercussion if his subordinates would petition him he therefore changed his way of treatment towards his subordinates.

Organizational leadership is not only about the achievement of organizational goals, targets and objectives. It is also about humanely treating our employees. What use would it be if we are able to achieve our organizational targets when we don’t treat our employees humanely? If we treat them like robots?

We have to be aware that organizational leadership is not all about meeting the organization’s objectives and goals. It’s also about treating our employees rightly and humanely. So, how do we humanize our leadership in the midst of the frenetic pace of an organization?

Number one is we have to be inclusive when exercising our leadership function as much as possible. To be inclusive means that we consult and solicit the ideas of our subordinates before we do leadership decisions. The beauty of inclusive leadership is we convey a message to our subordinates that they are not simply employees. That they too are decision makers and vital members of the organizational family.

Number two is we have to be helpful. Many leaders choose to stay in their ivory towers and look and lead from afar. For the reason that they are already leaders they choose to create distance rather than mitigate the distance by being helpful towards their subordinates. When we are helpful towards our subordinates we create an invisible bond with our subordinates. Invisible bond which we can always activate whenever we want to activate it.

Number three is we have to be up close and personal in the right manner with our subordinates. Some filthy minded leaders take advantage of being up close and personal with their subordinates by despicably trying to build sexual relationship with them.

Being up close and personal with our subordinates simply means that we try to get to know them better and personally. For example, we try to know their family and once in a while inquire about how their family is doing etc. And it ends there.

There are infinite benefits when we humanize our leadership primary among this is we increase the intrinsic motivation of our employees. Therefore, try to humanize your leadership and see the transformation that it would bring to the behavior and motivation of your subordinates. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

An effective leader is not afraid to show his/her emotions

Are you sometimes afraid to show your emotions? For example, your direct reports failed to achieve their target accomplishments and you were naturally disappointed. As much as you want to express your disappointment you held back because you did not want to antagonize them. So, you simply reminded them about your failed expectation and that’s it.

Managers and leaders should not be afraid to manifest their emotion when there is a need for it. Even if it will antagonize those who would receive the emotional outburst, why? Because it’s when we manifest our emotions that we become more effective managers and leaders. A good and effective leader/manager does not paint brush, sugar coat and hide his true emotion in the exercise of his managerial/leadership function.   

When a manager/leader is afraid to manifest his emotions he becomes hostage of his direct reports. He becomes an inutile leader subject to the whims and caprices of those under his supervision and care.  Emotions are what make a leader/manager effective. It galvanizes those under his care and supervision and it makes the leader/manager authentic to his direct reports.

What would happen if we are not afraid to show our emotions? We inspire our people to move towards the achievement of the goals of the organization. We create a magical but invisible motivational instrument that would push them to move forward and be positive no matter the odds in front of them. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

On handling a needy employee

How do you handle a needy employee? A needy employee is someone who often seeks your attention. Among many other reasons, he does this because he lacks confidence in doing his job. Where does his lack of confidence emanates? There are many behavioral reasons to this lack of confidence. If it emanates from his lack of knowledge on how to properly do his job. The solution available is to educate again the person on how to do his job properly.

After reeducating the person again the expectation of the manager is the neediness behavior would be cured or eliminated. But more often than not an employee’s neediness doesn’t only emanate from the lack of proper knowledge about the job. Sometimes it’s much deeper than what we think it is. And when this is so, the manager should sit-down and have a heart-to-heart talk with the needy employee to properly address the symptom of his neediness.   

One of the results of the heart-to-heart talk could be lack of freedom on the job. For the simple reason that the manager is micro-managing his direct report. The solution here is to loosen the grip and give the direct report freedom in doing his job. This freedom that is given is of course not absolute it should still be within the ambit of the rules and regulation of the organization. Lack of self-confidence of the direct report can be solved also by telling the employee that you would always be there to help if needed.

Needy employees exist. And an effective and good manager can easily address this human behavior issue by having a heart-to-heart talk with the concerned employee.  – Marino J. Dasmarinas

When there’s resistance to change

The story is told about an organization that was planning to institute change in its working hours. From the usual 8:00 am-5:00 pm it would be changed to 6:00 am-3:00 pm. For the past thirty years it had always been 8:00-5:00 and the employees were used to that already. So the employees union resisted and told the management that they would not agree.

What are you going to do when there’s resistance to change?   The first action to do when there’s resistance to change is to call for a meeting among the parties involved. In this case the employees union and the management. In that meeting the fuzzy issues should be threshed out. Employees resist change because they have no clear understanding yet why is there a need for that change.   

Therefore the component of listening and flexibility are very important here. Management and the employees union should listen to each other’s viewpoints and be flexible if need be. There would naturally be initial disagreement about the change that is to be put in place. But there are also some valid points that both parties could agree.

For this reason, focus first on the points of agreements after that focus now on the issues of disagreement. Why is this so? Because when both parties focus first on the issues that they could agree it immediately creates an environment of calm. Which is very conducive as a starting point to begin threshing out the issues of disagreement.

The thorny part when an organization wants to implement change are the issues of disagreement. Therefore, management must not push its weight around it should extend its patience to the limit. This means that meetings and dialogues about the change that is to be implemented should continue until the nitty-gritty details of that change are ironed out.  

It’s not easy to implement organizational change however change is needed for an organization to evolve, upgrade and grow. Therefore change must be implemented for nothing is permanent in this world except change. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Compassion in your organization

Alex is a manager of a home care facility. Every morning it had become his ritual to have scheduled visits to their patients. He talks to them and ask them about how they are feeling. This home care facility is always 100% full and the reason behind is the compassionate care that is administered by the manager and his staff.

To be compassionate is perhaps alien to many business organizations. Because as we all know the bottom-line of business organization is to earn profit. And maybe compassion towards its employees is the least of its priorities.    

What does it mean to have compassion with your employees or to be compassionate with your employees? To be compassionate is to do acts of kindness, caring and be concerned with the well-being of your employees.

To be compassionate is not only to understand your employees’ present emotional state. You also have that strong desire to help them soothe it with the end in mind of helping them cure that present emotional state. For example, if you notice that an employee is forlorn and has a sudden distant behavior. You can say to that employee that you are ready to listen and help in whatever way you can.

When we are compassionate toward our employees we establish connection with them which in turn will motivate them to work hard. Why? Because we cared when they were in that emotional state. We therefore have to establish a compassionate and caring organization not an organization whose only bottom-line is to earn profit.

Our employees are humans with feelings they are not machines they are very sensitive to acts of compassion, kindness and caring. Thus, the more compassionate we are the more that we reinforce their loyalty to our organization. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

On giving behavioral feedback

How do you give behavioral feedback? For example you noticed that your direct report is noisy at work. How are you going to correct this errant behavior without offending the concerned direct report?  

When we give the behavioral feedback we have to focus on the offensive act and not the person who did the offensive act. But before doing that we have to find an appropriate place where we can civilly talk with the concerned direct report.  The appropriate place could be in your office or a place where there is privacy and solemnity.

Be calm, objective and civil when you talk about the errant behavior so that you avoid antagonizing the person. Some managers do this without considering calmness, objectivity and civility. Hence they lecture the guilty person as if the concerned individual is their slave. So what happens is the concerned will push back and defend herself. This can happen most especially if the direct report has a strong personality.   

After talking about the errant behavior allow the person to speak and voice her sentiment and as she speaks listen with your attention poured into her. Your expectation here is she would talk also with calmness, civility and objectivity. Why? For the simple reason that this is how you approached the concerned person. We have to remember that we get what we give: If we give respect we would also get respect and vice versa.

Close the one on one conversation on a positive note by telling the person that she has your back anytime. Ever ready to listen whenever she has issues about work or even issues about his/her family. -  Marino J. Dasmarinas 

When there’s conflict in your organization

Erwin is a manager of a business processing company. One afternoon, a subordinate went to him to report about a shouting match amongst his subordinates. Erwin nonchalantly dismissed the report as irrelevant and not worth of his time. After a week, Erwin was a witness to a brutal fight involving the subordinates that had a previous shouting match. 

How should you react when there is a report of conflict in your organization? Should you simply dismiss it as a quarrel amongst children or you immediately act to resolve it? The wise course of action to do is to immediately resolve it. Because when you simply dismiss it, it will grow and have a natural life that could result to something tragic.

However, many of us perhaps put it aside or we outright dismiss it because we are too busy with work. But the crux of the matter is conflicts are disturbance of smooth organizational life. It creates dysfunction not only in the organization but also in the respective lives of those who are involved. So, when there’s a report of conflict don’t dilly dally immediately act to resolve it. For it will save you and the organization from unwanted trouble.

How are you going to resolve it? Don’t take sides, be objective and be impartial. Be as calm as possible and don’t overemphasize your authority. Let them speak and attentively listen to the parties involved and act more as a friend than a judge. Why? Because in doing so you’ll be able to gain their trust and confidence. Thus, you’ll be able to ferret out the truth immediately.

After hearing both sides, mediate and let those who are involved be reconciled. And after that give them time to speak if they want to speak then urged them to shake hands. Then  close the meeting with a prayer.

Whether we like it or not the ugly head of conflict will come out every now and then. Nonetheless, a good, calm and effective manager/leader can easily navigate the organization towards its immediate resolution. – Marino J. Dasmarinas   

Avoid the blame game

Homer is a newly promoted Chief Operating Officer in a conglomerate of business. Part of his promotion was to head a company owned by the business conglomerate overseas. When he took over the business, he found out that its financial, production and human resource records were in disarray. The company was in near bankruptcy.

He asked himself, what should I do? Should I blame the past administration for this mess? Or should I simply work and try my very best to fix the mess that they’ve created, institute reforms and move forward. Homer chose the latter.

To employ the blame game is the easy way out of this mess. Homer, could have simply washed his hands and said, “This is all caused by the past leadership.” Yet, Homer realized that he was not brought in to point fingers or to put blame on others. Homer perfectly knew that he took over because he has a job to do and he must do it right and to the best of his abilities. So that he can positively guide his organization moving forward.

Are you quick to harness the blame game when your organization is in trouble? Or you avoid using the blame game like a plague and take full responsibility of the task given to you? When you avoid the blame game and simply do your job to the best of your abilities. You are silently telling you bosses and your subordinates that you will solve what needs solving and then move forward.

To blame the past is already useless and futile. Yes, you have to look back not to blame others or to point fingers. You only have to look back to learn the lessons of the past so that you could use it as a springboard for the future.

The future that will serve you well if you do your job to the best of your abilities without employing the blame game. – Marino J. Dasmarinas