Are you afraid to fail?

 Are you afraid to fail? 

By: Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Many are afraid to fail because they think failure is not good for their life and future and failure itself is not good or is not a positive word. 

But if you are afraid to fail you will not achieve anything because the foundation of many achievements is failure the foundation of many successful lives are failures. These people who became successful went thru many failures first before they reached the pinnacle or summit of success.

If you are afraid to fail you will not learn because it is going thru failure that you will learn and when you learn from your failure you become wise and the ladder to success is much easier to climb. 

So, you have to keep going no matter how many times you fail. You have to stand up again and again no matter how many times you stumble or fall. 

Be not afraid to fail since the journey toward success is rarely a smooth, unbroken path. Instead, it is often marked by setbacks, challenges, and moments of failure. 

Each failure is a lesson, which helps us grow. Failure tests our resilience and perseverance. Success often demands an ability to endure setbacks and to continue despite failures. 

Failure if taken positively builds our character and makes us humble. It instills the importance of hard work, dedication, and positive mindset. The ability to acknowledge failure, learn from it, and move forward with humility is a sign that eventually you will become successful. 

In summary, failure should not be viewed as an endpoint but as a crucial phase in the journey toward success. As Winston Churchill wisely stated, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” 

Gentleness as a means of leadership?

When we say ‘leader’ or ‘leadership’ we normally equate this with someone who has a swashbuckling personality. They are people who standout among the many because they dare to assume leadership positions when no one dares. They admonish their subordinates not only based on their position of leadership but it’s also rooted on the strength of their character and personality. 

How about gentleness? Does it have a place in a leader’s exercise of his leadership functions especially in the area of discipline? It has a place but this is something that many leaders tend to overlook or intentionally forget. Because they favor the strong personality of leadership rather than its gentle and humble side.

Traditional, leadership styles emphasize boldness, authority, and power. But gentleness offers a unique and valuable approach to leading and managing others. Gentleness humanizes and gives leadership an added dimension that leaders can utilize when they feel that there’s a need for it.

One of the specific areas where we could fully utilize gentleness in leadership is during the imposition of discipline. There are leaders who impose discipline based on the strength of their position, authority, power, and overbearing egos. They do this by personally berating the erring individual(s), and this has become the norm for many of us.

Gentleness  is oftentimes mistaken for weakness by those who have limited understanding of leadership. But this is not true because gentleness can also be bold, determined, courageous, and direct to the point. However, gentleness in leadership is never harsh, arrogant or oppressive. In truth and in fact, gentleness is a powerful technique for leaders and manages which they can harness whenever they want. 

It has been proven time and again that a person is more open to change his ways for the better when we talk to him with gentleness. Rather than talk based on the strength of our character, authority and power.  For example when we approach an erring person with gentleness he is more open to change and there is less resistance. Rather than approach him with our authority coupled with our bloated egos.

While gentleness in leadership can be effective, it is not suitable for every situation. There would be situations when a more assertive or authoritative leadership approach is required. For example, during times of crisis or when decisive decisions are need to be made. The efficiency of leadership style also depends on the leader's ability to couple gentleness with other leadership approach to suit the need of the situation and the need of the organization. 

Gentleness as a leadership technique can help create a positive and productive work environment, improve communication, and foster teamwork within the organization. It's just one of the many leadership approaches available, and its effectiveness hinges on the timing of its utilization.

For a change why not try employing gentleness more often in your exercise of leadership and see the good result that it would give you?  - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Can consideration be an instrument of motivation?

The story is told about an employee who was requesting his boss a consideration if he could give him some days off. Because he will be attending to a personal family matter. After asking a few validating questions the boss said yes!

Consideration is a powerful instrument of motivation, particularly in the context of leadership and other Human Behavior in Organization relationships. Consideration points to the act of showing empathy for an employee’s need and wellbeing. When leaders and managers exercise consideration, it would influence motivation.

For example, Trust, Respect and Obedience are strengthened: When subordinates are listened, understood, and valued, they are more likely to trust, obey and respect the person giving consideration. This positive human behavior dynamics give birth to motivation.

It is a given fact of organization life that when subordinates are given consideration, they become more engaged and committed in their work. They feel a sense of ownership and commitment because they believe their contributions matter and are recognized. This engagement leads to increased motivation and dedication to achieving goals.

Consideration creates an environment of psychological safety. Where subordinates and direct reports feel comfortable taking risks, expressing ideas and being vulnerable without fear of judgment or even punishment. Such an environment encourages creativity, innovation, and intrinsic motivation.

To sum it all, consideration plays a crucial role in enhancing employees’ motivation. Because it creates a positive and supportive organizational atmosphere and it strengthen the leader and employee relationship. But of course, consideration is also subject to abuse by unscrupulous employees. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the leader/manager to carefully evaluate his granting of consideration. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

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

Are you a Positive Leader?

 

A positive leader is someone who uses humane and democratic methods in the exercise of his/her leadership. For example, when imposing discipline such as verbal reprimand he would always see to it that the reprimand is done in private wherein nobody will be aware of it except the parties involve. And he does not shout to his subordinates he instead talks to them in a civilized manner. He does this to let them know that there’s always a chance for them to straighten up their behavior. 

This is consistently the behavior of a positive leader. His end objective is always to correct and motivate and not destroy the morale of his subordinates/people. He would at all times think of ways to make everyone in his organization a contributor to the growth of the organization. 

Another quality of a positive leader is his infectious positive outlook in life. You would never see him frown even during trying times he would wear that optimistic smile every time on his face. And this is a very good demeanor for a leader because his positive and optimistic character will certainly rub off to his subordinates. 

A positive leader is also very accessible to anyone; he does not create silos and walls that only creates alienation and division in his organization. He is not egocentric nor a power tripper he instead is a model of humility and hard work. 

Just imagine an organization with a positive leader he will certainly bring his organization to greater heights. And he will surely be a positive influence to his subordinates. We therefore have to use positive leadership in our exercise of leadership because this is the only way for us to become good and effective leaders. - 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 importance of Moral Ascendancy in Leadership

The story is told about a leader who had been espousing ethical and good leadership to his people. It was smooth sailing for his leadership during the first year then after his first year his lack of moral ascendancy began to unravel. There were allegations of lavish partying, corruption, womanizing, breach of discipline, abuse of authority to name a few.

What is Moral Ascendancy? Moral Ascendancy is the influence that a leader holds toward his people through his moral, ethical and righteous leadership. A leader who does not have moral ascendancy will not last long in his leadership position.

Sooner or later the people under his influence and leadership will come to realize that this leader has no more moral high ground to lead them. So what they will do is they will protest against the morally deficient leader to let the leader know that he is not anymore fit to lead them.

This protest could lead to the leader’s resignation that is if the leader is sensitive to the pulse of his people. If the leader would decide to cling to his leadership position, power and authority he should be prepared to face the wrath of his people.

Moral ascendancy is very important in leadership be it in government or in the private sector because there is no successful and effective leadership without it. How can a leader effectively lead if the respect that he gets from his people or subordinates is only a façade?

How can he effectively communicate his ideas if he is not anymore being listened too because of his eroding moral authority? How can a leader command discipline and respect if the behaviors that he exhibits are lacking in discipline and respect?

If a leader is aspiring to be successful in his exercise of leadership and if he is attempting to build a lasting legacy upon it. He must see to it that he is not only competent in the exercise of his leadership he must also see to it that he should have the moral ascendancy to lead.

Otherwise his leadership is like a beautiful castle built on sand on the seashore. – Marino J. Dasmarinas