REFLECTION ON ADVERSITY

Leaders learn from mistakes. Not all success stories happens overnight, some happen over time (Conyne, 1999).
Every leader will experience a change that brings about who he is as a leader. Everything that happens to you,
every passage you go through, creates a shift in your pace, in your daily life, and this shift brings about change
(Richardson, 2005). And that change is for the better.
The change that you become is dependent on how you respond to situations or scenarios happening to you. You
can either do nothing, or choose to adapt and survive. Your future is dependent on how you react to situations or
events that happen in your life (Fullan, 2007).
Because events occurring are trials in life, they push you to the limit (Walsh, 2002). You know you have to succeed
and this brings out a multitude of capabilities you need to overcome the problem. These capabilities are either
something you have always had but never used or newly acquired attributes.
It is a lengthy process to become a good leader.
Some leaders are looked up to, and being looked up to has accompanying expectations. Leaders are expected to
overcome problems or setbacks. However, not all good leaders are aware of why these setbacks happen, and to
an extent, how to fix them.
There are some leaders who think that they know it all. They fail to understand that there are always two sides to
a coin. It is not all the time that they will be correct. Sometimes, they have to listen to other opinions and solicit
advice.
In order to be successful, you have to know what your capabilities are and bank on them. Sometimes though, it
takes a significant push to make these strengths come out (Seligman, 2011). Leaders who are self-aware are more
successful because they are able to utilize their strengths and since they know their limits, they know when to
delegate these tasks, and even strive to better themselves by continuously learning.

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 When you were going through this experience, did you have much time to step
away from it and think about what was occurring?

I just started last January at my new job. Being the new person, I knew I had to be acquainted with my peers
to fit in. I believe that this is an easy task because I am really friendly and like making new friends. I previously
worked at a prestigious private school in Manila and am now currently employed at a private school in the
province. I had a blast working in my former school, and since we were a close-knit community, it was easy to
get to know and get along with everyone. This time, it came as a surprise to me that not everyone in my new
school were nice nor were they polite. I took this as a challenge that I had to get along with them, since I was
the newbie in the roster of faculty. Not to belittle my new workplace but the standards are far from what I was
used to. My new dean, knowing my background, gave me specific requirements to level up the standards of
the college. I am never one to brag about my skills nor my accomplishments but I guess word traveled fast that
my dean favored me and I got bullied by some of my co-faculty. I was taught from the beginning to always be
polite, but if push comes to shove, I also know when to fight back. I reflected and wondered if I did anything
wrong to them and then later on realized that I did nothing wrong because there were only a handful the
more senior faculty who seemed to have a problem, not just with me, but with everyone else. Some of my
co-faculty said it was best not to mind these older faculty members, but they were being very unprofessional
and I just could not let that go. Until one day, I was tasked by my Program Chairperson to give an update on
the latest trends on Essential Intrapartum Newborn Care (EINC) to the whole department. I had not even
started my first slide when I was rudely interrupted by one of the senior faculty and loudly objected to my
presentation. She questioned the dates on my slide saying the dates were obsolete. I decided I would not back
down and answered in a composed manner, informing her that if she were listening, she would know I was
discussing the history of EINC, therefore, of course the dates were already in the past. She fumbled and
apologized.
I believe this incident gave me the respect from my fellow co-faculty, especially those senior to me. The Greek
philospher, Heraclitus, once said the only thing in life that is constant is chage. I believe I stirred change in that
moment. Whether a good change, I believe I was about to find out.

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 After the events had wound down, did you reflect on what had taken place? Did
you put this event into the larger context of your work or personal life and
attempt to figure out its meaning in the greater scheme of things?

I finished my lecture and had a very participative audience. At this point even the
senior faculty were sharing their opinions in a positive manner. I believe I set the
tone for a non-biased discussion. After the lecture, I was approached by the other
faculty members congratulating me on how I handled the situation, they told me
that the senior faculty I answered never apologized to anyone, let alone out loud,
and were shocked that she apologized to me. They also were happy that
somebody stood up to the senior faculty.
I have always been a strong person, I lived away from my family, so I learned at a
young age to fend for myself. It has its perks, because I do not get stepped on.
However, I do know because I am younger than the people I may interact with, I
can be perceived as someone who is impolite or rude. But I have always believed
that a logical person will strive to understand where an individual is coming from.
So, while I always try to be polite to whomever I encounter, I prioritize doing what
is right, whatever means necessary.
I realized at this point that even though I work in an academic institution, not
everyone will be act civilized. My ideal perceptions of who an educator is do not
always follow in the real life.
I also realized that you should always learn to depend on yourself because at the
end of the day, its every man for himself, however, sad that may sound.

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 Did you engage at least one other person, besides your spouse or partner, in
significant dialogue about this passage? Was this conversation confined to what
happened and what you might do about it, or did you talk about deeper issues-
how you feel, your fears, your expectations?

I am a very friendly person, I have a lot of colleagues

and easily make new acquaintances, but there are only
a few people who I can trust, and yes I do seek their
opinion about how I acted or what else could I have
done differently if I did something wrong.
I gather the different opinions and suggestions from
the people whose comments matter to me. I discern
on them, and then take it as a learning opportunity if I
made a mistake, and then vow to be better the next
time something similar happens.

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 If the event had an adverse effect, did you admit to yourself or others
how you may have failed or come up short? 1

I was able to work with this same senior faculty at the National Center for Mental
Health (NCMH), I had no problem working with her. She became a sort of mom,
guiding me and offering me help since I was new. I realized she was okay to deal
with. However, when we were already having our actual duty, the staff at the
NCMH always calls for my attention asking me to inform my co-faculty to log-out
at the office. It seems I am the only one logging and logging out, while the rest do
not log-out and just leave after duty. So I informed my co-faculty about this,
twice, towards the end of the last day, there was already a memo about schools
whose faculty members did not log out, and our school was one of them, again
the training office told me to tell my co-faculty about this. This particular CI, took
it very hard, telling me to stop telling her what she should or should not do, and
implied that I was being obsequious to the bosses, she went on and on about
how she was there longer than I have been, that we were both supervising at the
NCMH and that I should not think that I am greater than anyone.

Continued

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 If the event had an adverse effect, did you admit to yourself or others
how you may have failed or come up short? 2

At this point, I really did not like how she was telling me these things. I have never
had any hidden agenda, I am not that type of person who tries to impress people,
and I never want people to get into trouble. I could answer back but seeing that
she was close minded about the situation. I decided to apologize if I had offended
her. I really hate getting into confrontations and I do not like it when someone
thinks negatively about me. She still was clearly upset over the issue but I decided
to drop the subject. It really bothered me and I spoke with the other co-faculty
members present during this altercation, and asked if I did anything wrong. They
said she just misinterpreted what I said, and I should just leave it alone. The next
day, she immediately went to my group of students, stuck her tongue out at them
and said Beh! Kami uuwi ng maaga and then when she saw me, she said that
the students were very rude and again went on saying that we were all affiliates
at NCMH and that no one should act greater than anyone.

Continued

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 If the event had an adverse effect, did you admit to yourself or others
how you may have failed or come up short? 3

She reported me to our Program Chairperson and of course I aired my side.

Faculty members were quick to say that it was her problem and her fault. I told
my chair that I was only concerned about our school getting a memo from the
training office that is why I informed them regarding this and had no other
intentions. I also told her that I had no problem about her shouting at me in
public but what I can not stand is how she is harassing my students and being
very unprofessional. My program chair admitted that the concerned faculty is
really a handful and has numerous incidents similar to mine and she told me to
just forget about it. But being the person I am, I can not drop it, I want a peaceful
and harmonious working environment, so during a faculty meeting, I approached
her, and asked her if it was okay to forget what happened and work normally
around each other. She agreed and since then, we have had no problems
anymore. I realized that I should just watch out and be more careful with the
words I use around her because she seemingly is very sensitive.
This scenario made me realize that I should choose which battles to fight. Even
though I know I could have answered back, sometimes you have to be the bigger
person so the problem does not escalate any further.

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 Is there anything you learned from this passage that motivated you to
reassess certain assumptions, made you aware of a certain vulnerability,
or prepared you to handle a similar passage better in the future?

This made me realize that even though your intentions are

pure, somewhere along the way, there will always be some
person who does not see things the same as you, and
misinterpretation can happen and create problems in the
workplace.
That being said it is always important to think before you
speak in any given scenario.
It is very important to know your strengths and
weaknesses, this way; you can maximize your potential and
avoid conflict.
Lastly, sometimes, in order to be a great leader, you must
be the sacrificial lamb, for the greater good of your
institution.

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 REFERENCES
Conyne, R. K. (1999). Failures in group work: How we can learn from our mistakes. Chronicle Books.

Drucker, P. F. (1998). The discipline of innovation. Harvard business review, 76(6), 149-157.

Fullan, M. G. (1993). Why teachers must become change agents. Educational leadership, 50, 12-12.

Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change. Routledge

Richardson, P. W., & Watt, H. M. (2005). Ive decided to become a teacher: Influences on career
change. Teaching and teacher education, 21(5), 475-489.

Seligman, M. E. (2011). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. Vintage.

Tate, M. L. K., & Fath, T. (2016). The Only Constant Is Change: Next Generation Materials and
Medical Device Design for Physical and Mental Health. Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Walsh, D. M., Lewens, T., & Ariew, A. (2002). The trials of life: Natural selection and random drift.
Philosophy of Science, 69(3), 429-446.

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