Never work a day in your life

MANILA, Philippines - Thomas Edison once said when he was asked about his famous work ethic, “I never did a day’s work. It was all fun!” That’s how I feel about work – it’s all fun. We’ve all heard the advice to find something you would gladly do for nothing, and get good enough at it so that people are happy to pay you for it. That’s what I’ve been able to do in my career.

These things I would “gladly do for nothing” are really just bounded by a few simple beliefs. I’ve carried these beliefs since I started working and they continue to guide me. They are about what makes work for me interesting, energizing – and fun.

Shared values and teamwork

I believe that taking people to the top is what good leaders do. Lifting employees or colleagues to a new level is a requirement for effective leadership. That’s hard to do if you get detached, because you can no longer sense their need, know their dreams, or feel their heartbeat. Opening communication lines and inspiring everyone to move together as a team are important.

We all need to be inspired and to push ourselves to do something better. I believe that as a team, we need to put some heart and soul into everything we do because that gives deeper meaning to our work and provide the conviction that it’s not just a job. My role as a leader is to keep looking for that angle, and to constantly make sure that we’re aligning personal values with social and business values.

I really see the goodness and believe in the Filipino value system, and how it can be used as a personalized approach to business. Examples are the “katiwala” system which is all about trusting and empowering people by giving them resources to perform and succeed, and also the “suki” system which is all about developing a great symbiotic/bilateral relationship between the customer and the company. These examples of values that are practiced by Filipinos are the same traits that can encourage teamwork and a much needed pulling-in-the-same-direction spirit which any successful enterprise needs.

When Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) was born in 1998, I was tasked to handle Ayala Property Management Corp. (AMPC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ALI. We wanted to create a situation that when people in business would think about property management, they would think first and foremost of AMPC and the high quality standards of the company. As such, we focused on our employees’ training needs, inculcating the values of professionalism, integrity and teamwork, providing career opportunities and rewarding outstanding performance. Because of these, standards were set, managed and delivered by our employees, who were (and still are) the principal assets of the company.

Don’t just do things right – do the tight thing

When I worked with IBM straight out of school, the work environment was more technical and highly structured. Procedures were based on international best practices. No matter how much circumstances would change or what challenges would present themselves, because of the structure, people on the team would know they were moving in the right direction and would make good decisions. That helped me learn the value of doing things right.

When I moved to Manila Water Company, Inc. as president in 1999, the most notable challenge was to provide 24-hour water service to 100 percent of the five million households in the East Zone concession, and to remain profitable while doing so. We met the challenge and tackled it head on, succeeding in the end. Moreover, the concession area included many low-income communities that traditionally had not been very profitable to serve. But this was about doing the right thing, not just doing things right. With that as a core value we launched our “Tubig Para sa Barangay” project, which brought water to over two million people in low-income communities and garnered various awards. It was also doubly satisfying that this was accomplished largely by the former public sector employees & hundreds of young employees we brought into the organization.

Ultimately, success is measured by how you help others and still effectively make business happen. In the end, it’s more efficient that way because we know we have to push ourselves to that higher level.

Pursue growth

Directionally, Ayala Land wants to bring its products to more people closer to the base of the pyramid. We’re gearing up our business to give high quality products to a greater number of people, especially those who are most deserving (e.g. OFW’s, call center agents, public school employees, etc). We not only establish business districts but we end up being growth centers for the whole community by providing employment, higher quality of living and a general upliftment of the environment—which is all part of nation-building. And we will be creating these growth centers all over the country, from Luzon all the way to Mindanao.

There is almost no limit to the potential of a company, such as Ayala Land, that recruits good people, raises them as leaders and continually develops synergies across teams. It’s easy to keep on evolving without straying too much, just as long as you are locked in with your values.

Doing the right thing, having shared values and pursuing growth make work interesting and enlivening. And at the end of the day, it’s not work anymore – it’s fun!