Eagle Investments - Training Leaders"You’ve got to believe that God is in control of your life. It may be a tough time but you’ve got to believe that God has a reason for it and he’s going to make everything good."
Joel Osteen
The procession of our "to-be-ever-remembered-forever" late President Corazon C. Aquino at Makati does bring back an avalanche of both good and not-so-good memories of my work life. My first job was with the registrar's office. Great! Then, right after graduation, I landed a job at a Makati bank, that is, after a series of job applications, long queues, written examinations and interviews. I was a participant to the Ninoy Aquino – yellow-confetti events (so there goes my age).
Today, I proceed to a new task, returning to my old dear passion of writing. As I do just that, I aim to share my ideas that hopefully can be of use to anyone out there. I shall dig out some nuggets of learnings through personal experience, attending seminars, conducting training sessions, reading and establishing a business. There are success and failure stories to read about.
I have discovered that one of the areas I have invested in, with my young heart then and my fragile soul now, was supervision. Something that, to my great happiness, others says I am good at. There is confirmation (and not far, a couple of violent reactions) from my subordinates, colleagues and superiors (that includes the top brass). For step-by-step, I took the journey from a supervisor to a member of the Executive Committee and now a business woman. My journey entails a lot to write about. Bingo! Now, I get to blog!
I am a graduate of BSMIE of the MIT (B.S. Management and Industrial Engineering of the Mapua Institute of Technology). Somewhat in a rush to finish College, I took summer classes and was able to complete my engineering course for four and a half years. My mindset was "c'mon graduate, get a job and earn" ... sooooo into earning.
In college, doing my feasibility study, I visited a semiconductor plant in Sucat. Struck with awe by its facilities plus the knowledge that it pays pretty well, the goal of being hired by this multinational company stuck to my mind. Thus, it happened. After my one-year stint with the bank, I went to join this manufacturing team, a dream realized.
I applied as an IE (industrial engineer), but was not accepted for that position. The boss was a graduate of Adamson University and was very open that he preferred engineers from his Alma Mater. I was willing to take on any job as long as it was with this company. And viola! I got myself a job. I was hired as a production supervisor.
My expectation of doing time-and-motion studies (what I thought an IE does) went straight to the drain. Instead, I was always in motion all the time as a supervisor. Whew!
Our uniforms (called smocks, similar to the doctor’s coat) were color-coded (it was an aid for people to easily spot and call the supervisor, the engineer, the technician or the operator). I wore a cream smock. On my first day, I was approached by an elderly operator whose welcome words to me served as a warning “Mag-ingat ka kung ayaw mong mareklamo”. What a greeting, too warm, flaming hot! I don’t know her and worst I don’t know what she was talking about. Later, I have come to know that she was referring to a grievance committee. An open-door policy existed where anyone has the privilege to go straight to the President to lay down their complaints about you or anybody, for any reason. Way to go, and to think that I have not even sniffed enough cubic feet of air-conditioned air yet.
That incident did not make me lose courage, maybe a little, but only for a while. I have set my goal to work for this company way back in College, remember? I just have to go and learn the ropes, even if its the hard way.
Anyway, that was when the realization came. The role of being a supervisor is not merely taking on any job so you can get a payslip every 15th and 30th of the month. There goes a second “whew!”
I plan to blog my first-hand experiences as a supervisor, not just go blah, blah, blah on the PLOC of Planning, Leading Organizing and Controlling thingy. Instead let's look at "what worked" and especially “what did not work” for me as a supervisor. If you and I can smile as I relive those days, then that will be a bonus. Let's put my birth and growth pains as a supervisor to some use.
One of my dreams is to mold my own "bisors" in my business. I created this blog to push me in guiding my leaders. It is my aim, in my little way, to help them achieve success be being effective supervisors, not only for themselves but for their subordinates as well.
Ang pagiging bisor ay “mahirap pero kaya, practice lang yan.” Dapat ay isa-puso. Our goal - to be a service champion.
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