1. Basha ’s cute, twinkling eyes that stares at me and makes me feel that this little angel loves me so much. Her tiny voice whenever she sings her own songs. The way she shakes her body when she dances. Her warm hugs and kisses that takes away all the stress that I have. 2. My… Read more.
Today’s food to share
I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself. I am in a trusting mindset and I am secured with myself because I know my abilities and I am confident with it. My performance in life does not depend on someone else’s success or failure. I am breaking my own records, not theirs.
- Kim Yuna, Olympic Figure Skater
Today’s food to share
Commitment is a line you must cross… it is the difference between dreaming and doing.
- Bernie Fuchs
HOT Teams: Improving results by optimizing team member performance
As a leader, it is not fun to lead teams in a work environment that seems doomed, possessed, and beyond help. How does the atmosphere get created and what role do managers play in establishing and maintaining the work environment? Each organization is different, but managers hold the key to what the work environment looks and feels like. Managers, more than anyone else, shape the ways in which their employees experience work. Creating a work environment in which people want to do their best is a critical management responsibility.
HOT teams are where work is fun and, when the day ends, you can’t wait for tomorrow. HOT teams are where everyone gets a lot done in less time without anyone barking orders or breathing down the team’s collective neck. Hard work doesn’t feel nearly as draining on a HOT team as it does elsewhere, and sacrifices are typically no big deal. Problems get solved without a lot of fuss, although not because everybody on the team always agrees. If there is a rift, a HOT team discusses it like adults and pulls together again quickly. The genius of HOT teams is it doesn’t matter who’s on the team – strong-willed individuals, softhearted coordinators, creative types, bean counters, old hands, and new hires. HOT teams have a way of getting everyone in even the most diverse groups to do their level best to follow through. That’s because morale is great on a HOT team. And that great morale creates an environment where the law of inertia doesn’t have as much pull and buy-in is easier to get and sustain.
- Excerpt from “It’s Not What You Say… It’s What You Do”
Here are some recommendations on how we can create and maintain HOT teams:
Get the right people attached to your team. You want diversity. You also want people who are committed to and passionate about the team’s goal. If you want a HOT team, find people who complement each other and match the needs of the team.
Clear Objectives. If people are to commit to the success of the organization, they need a clear understanding of the objectives and purpose of the team effort. This enables participants to feel comfortable and confident about their contribution to the overall success of the institution.
Believe that people want to work and do a good job. If the environment nurtures excellence, you won’t need to hassle people to get things done. Know that people are going to work each day and give a lot of themselves (unless managers do something to muck it up).
Don’t do things that kill the HOT teams. Don’t go crazy with policies and processes. Allow flexibility where possible.
Rewards and appreciation. Be generous on giving out rewards and appreciation. It may come in different forms like incentives or even just a simple “Great Job!”. Rewards and appreciation boosts the morale of people and motivates them to do better and improve their work.
Be cool. Be calm, approachable, and ready to listen.
Notice what works and what does not work. Do what works. Stop doing what does not work.
Establish basic rules for getting the work done. This needs to happen at the outset, so the team members will understand how they are to proceed and how conflicts will be settled. Team members also need to know how decisions will be made and how results will be measured. Keeping them in the dark about these leads to difficulty. Making each and every member accountable for performance is vital to the attainment of goals and objectives.
Promote urgency. In order to make the team perform at a faster pace and give best results, promote urgency in completion of the task and it will lead to good results. Keep tabs on all the work that has been complete and periodically keep the team informed about what they have accomplished, which in turn will motivate the eam to perform well.
Make teamwork engaging. This can and should be done for all projects, even the most mundane and ordinary.
Bite your tongue and let your people decide. Many heads are better than one.
Keep your team values aligned with your members’ individual values.
ConnectedThinking will continue to inspire people to greatness
Today is the end of tomorrow’s yesterday. Tomorrow is the beginning of the future. We will want many old things to change. We will want many new things to begin. We may let go of some not so nice things from yesterday, but we will definitely bring along all the good stuff as we move forward.
No matter how times have changed and will continue to change, I will keep on doing my best to inspire people to greatness.
Thank you for giving birth and life to this site.
Thank you for keeping my passion burning.
A Letter For My Dear Friends: Ang Araw ko ay Araw ng mga Bata
Just this morning, I received an SMS message from one of my friends. I know it was a forwarded quote but it really struck me. It says:
What is a Trash Can?
To a kid, it’s just a container for his ugly toys. To a student, it’s where she keeps her bad test papers. To a teenager, it’s a basket case for the letters of an ex-lover. To a writer, it’s where piles of rejected drafts are thrown. But to street children, it’s where they depend on to live… That’s how blessed we are.
There has been an increase in the number of children left on the streets with nothing but the side walk to sleep on, the trash to feed with, and the streets to grow with. I don’t have the exact statistics but each day, as I ride the bus going to the office, I see them on the streets knocking at the window of every vehicle in the express way, asking for alms. Hoping that they can buy a piece of bread to share with the other street children who has become their family. Hoping that they can survive today and live another day tomorrow. But actually, I would be half glad to know that they would be buying bread. Sadly, most street kids would rather buy “rugby” to hallucinate them and make them sleep and forget their hunger for food. It is cheaper. It can be shared by many. It’s effect last longer than a piece of bread. But we know that it is not good.
These people are the children of God. They are our future. Each one of them holds the Filipino dream. They are our hope. They are this country’s hope.
As a child and until now, I like the lyrics of the song “The Greatest Love of All”. It goes like:
I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride. To make it easier, let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be.
It is about time to do something for our children. It is about time to nurture our children.
In October, I will be celebrating 26 years of existence. I want the celebration not to be about me. I want it to be about the children. I am planning to schedule one day of activities for one foundation that houses and rehabilitates street children here in Metro Manila. I will call it “Ang Araw Ko ay Araw ng mga Bata”. I am writing this letter to my family and friends because I want to invite you to celebrate my day with the kids and make it their day instead. This year my wish list will be:
1. Your precious time to spend and conduct storytelling, tutorials, feeding and fun with the kids at the foundation
2. Blessings that you could share in form of food, toiletries and other necessities for the children.
I hope and pray that you will accept my invitation and be one in nurturing the hope of our future, Our Children.
Myra Aranda
live.love.dream.inspire.serve.lead
You have the ability to be great
Each one of us has our own idea of greatness. Many great people sees it in different ways.
Merriam-Webster describes greatness as something notably large in size: huge.
In the context of life and leadership, have you ever asked? What is greatness?
Is greatness sincere commitment to a certain cause or vision, so that you forget about your own benefits and concerns? Winston Churchill, considered the greatest Briton of all times sees it as a responsibility – “Responsibility is the price of greatness.”
Is Gandhi, with many human failings though, considered great because of this commitment ‘to the greater good’? “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi.
Is greatness a glimpse of something beyond the accepted and ordinary that can be brought about by inner transformation? Nelson Mandela achieved greatness by personal transformation and says – “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
Is greatness about rising above the mediocre? But the manner of rising above mediocrity is also crucial. “There are countless ways of attaining greatness, but any road to reaching one’s maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity.” Says Buck Rogers the American Science fiction hero.
“To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.” Marleen Charles de Montesquieu (French Politican and Philosopher, 1689-1755)
Greatness is not ascribed or inherited. It is an individual choice – “The proof of one’s greatness lies in the performance of great deeds, not in being born as the son of an illustrious father.” – teaches the Bhagavad Gita.
Greatness has a moral dimension, a willingness to be good. William Shakespeare guides us “He is not great who is not greatly good.”
Martina Navratilova, the Czech born American Tennis champion teaches us “The mark of great sportsmen is not how good they are at their best, but how good they are at their worst.”
The ever saucy Mark Twain brings a humorous twist to being good “Be good and you will be lonely”.
Greatness has a spiritual dimension such that achieving spiritual potential may lead to greatness. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), the American essayist, philosopher and poet, who got great inspiration from the Indian Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita teaches us “A great man is always willing to be little”, “Great men are they who see that the spiritual is stronger than material force, that thoughts rule the world.”
Yet greatness cannot be achieved by plan or desire for greatness. “Men achieve a certain greatness unawares, when working to another aim.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Does greatness need humility and not being engrossed in oneself, so characteristic of people who want to be great? “To be simple is to be great” says Ralph Waldo Emerson.
George Bernard Shaw adds his thoughts “Forget about likes and dislikes. They are of no consequence. Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness but it is greatness.”
Napoleon Bonaparte links greatness with the human longing for continuing one’s existence and immortality – “Greatness be nothing unless it be lasting.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe reminds that not everyone can be great – “Everything great and intelligent is in the minority”.
The wisdom of the Bible brings a healthy perspective to greatness – “Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.” Job 32:9
Greatness comes from within.
Ask yourself.
What is your potential? What holds you back?
What makes you great?
Vision. Can you see, touch and taste your dreams?
Belief. Beyond hope, absolute faith in yourself, in your goals, in its outcome.
Desire. The depth and meaning of life.
Courage. The ability to put your dreams above your fears.
Perseverance. In the face of failures, setbacks and barriers, the strength to take one step and another and another.
Execution. What inspires you to action? What is your creative force?
Passion. The spark that lights the soul. What drives you?
Aspire to greatness in each facet of life, in your career, in your relationships, in your dreams.
It is not enough to be the best when you have the ability to be great.
It only takes one soul to inspire another
Just recently, I met a very motivational and inspirational speaker. He inspires me with his words each time I read his blogs and write ups. Meeting him and getting to know him inspired me even more. It felt like his aura radiates a powerful ray of light that made me want to inspire others too.
His day will always be spent on activities and actions that lead to the fulfillment of his purpose. His mission: Transform Leaders into Heroes. Yes, it may seem too big for a dream, but I know and I believe that it is never impossible for him to do that. He is gifted and equipped with God-given talents that make it easy for him to fulfill his mission. Above all, he has a big heart on what he is doing. He is never self-serving. His purpose is never to only generate profit from his profession but to really contribute on the progress of his clients. His intentions are genuine. He has always wanted to bring out the best in every person so that they can be leaders and heroes in their own little way.
I can say so many good things about him, and all of them are truly exceptional and inspiring. If there is one thing he has done to me that I will never forget, it is how he has awaken my long lost dream of becoming an inspirational speaker and writer like him. He has brought me back to my senses that it’s never too late to achieve my dream. He has once again ignited my desire and passion to serve, lead and inspire others. And really, he has moved me to do things that made sense in life; that makes it more meaningful not only for my own sake but for others too. He has lighted my torch and I will keep on passing it on. I was like a comatose patient, almost dead, living each day only through tubes and machines attached to my body until he came and brought me back to life. I may sound exaggerated, but it is really how I feel every time I experience his leadership, his inspiring words, his motivational acts and his transforming force.
I am one with his mission. He is my mentor. He is a Starfisher. He is Jef Menguin.
Good morning sunshine in my mind
Sitting by the porch with the majestic volcano at view while reading a good book on leadership and sipping my cup of freshly brewed coffee. He sits beside me. He is sipping his cup of coffee too – his laptop in front of him while working on his next inspiring blog. The sun is up but the cool breeze touches our skin. We exchange ideas. We share the laughter. We appreciate the view. This day is a wonderful day. It will always be when I’m with him.
Midnight Mistress
by Myra Aranda
February 19, 2007
Lonliness creeps into me.. the night is shattered and the blue stars shiver in the distance. It has become colder and darker. I’ve been longing for you, your touch, your lips, the warmth of your body.. Hold me in your arms, make me yours. Take my soul, unfreeze it. Make me feel, even just for one night, that i’m yours. It doesn’t matter anymore that you’ll never be mine. By then, I would never be alone again. By then, your memories will fill my emptiness. Let there be nothing to hold on to, only the moments that has been ours.
