MANILA, Philippines ? ?Always smile, you never know when you?ll be in a stolen shot,? I was told on my first night in Makati for the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) 7th Business Orientation Program (BOP), as one of 28 student leaders chosen from 16 schools.
I look at our photographs now with a big smile, still feeling a hangover even as I shift to summer school mode. The case study, company visits, CEOs (chief executive officers) I interviewed and shook hands with, the sumptuous food, naps on the coaster, good friends I made?a week?s worth of scenes still play vibrantly in my mind.
?The best meets the best.? This was the statement that drew me when I first read about the BOP on our school?s bulletin board. Who were the best? Who were the other best that the best would meet?
I surfed the Net for blogs and pictures of BOP alumni. My curiosity took me to the Management Division for application forms. I wanted to test my competency outside school while also taking a step toward finding out about the corporate world.
Weeks later, I was seated in a John Clements office with cold hands, waiting for the aptitude test. Add a few more weeks and I found myself at the AmCham office in Waterfront Cebu, trying to persuade interviewers about my view of Obama?s stimulus package for the failing banks, General Motors and Chrysler. All in 45 minutes!
I could hardly sleep the night after the interview as I reflected on my answers. But the matter was temporarily forgotten while I had my final exams and term papers had to be submitted. Then a text message surprised me: ?Congratulations Ms Beryl! You were highly recommended to join the BOP 2009 at Makati!?
It made my day.
Amazing
I went to Makati expecting the usual talks, workshops, and company tours. But this program was different. That we could ask CEOs questions, shake their hands and get their business cards were unbelievable. My fellow Cebuano, Hyde Francis Chan from the University of Cebu, said he?d always seen those guys as larger than life.
?Now that we?ve met them, they are no longer just industry names, and that is just amazing,? he added.
For me especially, having Asian Institute of Management professor Ning Lagman and John Clements president Carol Dominguez as mentors on our group case study presentation for Jollibee?s international expansion was like getting a seat in a masteral class. I even sat beside Professor Lagman during the closing awards dinner and asked him tips on my future career.
The BOP delighted me and exceeded my expectations in these ways.
The most interesting company we visited was Sunpower Manufacturing Inc. in Technopark, Laguna. Since the ?70s, it has provided high-efficiency solar solutions to major customers like Honda, which uses Sunpower solar cells in its vehicles.
Sunpower?s unique way of doing business is to pursue profit while saving the environment. I?ve always wanted to be part of a company like it, whose business makes a big impact on society. Government and electric companies ought to push greater awareness of and support for the use of solar energy. Other countries even give incentives for solar-powered houses!
Gina Lopez of the ABS-CBN Foundation gave a talk on corporate social responsibility at the General Membership Luncheon Meeting. Educated in the United States, she came back to share a big part of her life by working to save the environment. She headed the movement to save Pasig River (Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig), and led other projects like Bantay Bata 163, Bantay Kalikasan, and BayaniJuan.
Just hearing her speak humbled and inspired me, for there on stage was a woman with resources, influential surname and a big heart who chose to be an agent for meaningful change.
Lessons learned
The process of being divided into mixed teams to formulate a business plan for presentation taught me how to look at a case study from different angles. The nights we spent as a group allowed us to make friends with peers who shared the same passion. From them, I learned how to ask the right questions, to accomplish things on time, to manage stress by enjoying the light moments. Those are the real, lasting prizes.
I learned as well from those who pushed us simply by expecting our best and by walking the talk themselves. BOP Committee chair Dave Morin, who is Goodyear Philippines? president and managing director was like a father to us. He monitored where we were, checked if we had lunch on time, dismissed us early from the case study to get some sleep.
He said our batch was the best, and he was part of our being the best. People like him set the example that we gladly followed.
Big impact
When I graduate, I see myself as part of a company that makes a big impact on society. I?m not yet sure which industry. There are so many possibilities right before me?and with the business cards to match!
But I?m sure that wherever I?ll go, I?ll bring with me not just lessons from management school, but the BOP experience and values of passion, integrity, commitment, love and understanding.
After the BOP, I learned that if I really want to succeed, everything would have to start with me. Just like all the CEOs we met, I choose to be proactive. The best people don?t just sit and wait for things to unfold. Their schedules are tight because they enjoy the challenge and the results that come from hard work.
As my high school coach once said, it?s the busy people who make things happen. That, I?m pretty sure, will be the gist of my story, too.
Beryl, 19, is a consistent Dean?s Lister. A student editor, violinist and associate choir trainer, she also represented UP Visayas at the First Young Leaders Summit in Los Angeles, California, USA.
The American Chamber of Commerce?s Business Orientation Program aims to make tomorrow?s leaders aware of the contributions of American multinational business to the country?s development, offering well-qualified undergraduate Filipino students an opportunity to gain a new understanding of key global business and economic issues, through a program of site tours and in-depth discussions with management professionals from a wide spectrum of leading multinational companies in Manila. Participants are pre-screened by John Clements Consultants and TOEIC-Hopkins International Partners administers the TOEIC tests for English skills to those who are accepted into BOP.
