Last March 31, 2011, I was asked to give a commencement speech at the Aba Al-Khail Computer School in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, Philippines. The theme was "Enhancing Global Competitiveness of Graduates in Rising Above the Challenges of the Times".
Be Better.
By Abul Khayr Amalon M. Alonto II
"Assalamu Alaikum wbt.
Thank you, Jamela, for such a warm introduction. Thank you to those who are in attendance: our imams, to the Master of Ceremony, to our Honorable Chairman of the Board and the Vice Presidents, to my cousin Thommy, the President of Aba Al Khail, to our guests, to the faculty, to the proud parents, and our beloved students. Again, thank you for being here today and it is a privilege to be invited as this year’s Commencement Speaker. Unfortunately, unlike most of you, I did not have the chance to grow up here in Lanao. So every chance I would get, I would come home. I am really honored for being considered for this daunting task of giving an inspirational speech to the graduates here today.
This is truly a surreal experience, because back in high school, I would never have thought that I would one day give a commencement speech. In fact, I don’t even think I gave attention to our speaker when I graduated – just like that student over there (just kidding). I used to read a lot of comics, play a lot of videogames, and all that – so to know you better I asked your President to give me a list of your career ambitions - which I found amazing and inspiring. I don’t think I started thinking seriously about my career until I had to go look for a job.
So when I was told that this year’s commencement theme is “Enhancing Global Competitiveness of Graduates in Rising Above the Challenges of the Times”, I got excited because a lot of what I do today is about coaching recent graduates of the Asian Institute of Management in their career choices. Just recently, I was sent by AIM to India, Singapore, and Hong Kong where I basically told heads of companies that we Filipinos are globally competitive. But I also asked myself, what does it really mean to be globally competitive in today’s age?
Does it mean being more skillful than the next engineer or doctor? Being more adept in making profit than the next businessman? Having more contacts than the next lawyer? Having more barangay chairmen than your political rival? In short, does it really mean knowing what it takes to “beat the competition”?
Being globally competitive in this day and age requires something more than just having better skills, better networks, or better education. That is given, and we have already taken an important step towards that by completing our respective stage of formal education. But there has to be something more than being better in those terms nowadays. We live in a time where information is everywhere; we just have to be creative enough on how to use it. We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity, and that is power in our hands. And remember what Spiderman said, with great power comes great responsibility.
There was this person that got really famous by teaching and writing about management - his name was Peter Drucker. In his article entitled “Managing Oneself”, he said that that each of us should be our own Chief Executive Officer and that it is our responsibility to have a deep understanding of ourselves - we need to know our strengths and weaknesses; we need to know how we learn and how we work with other people; we need to know what are the values we hold dear; and we need to know where can we make the biggest contribution.
Peter Drucker said we can find out our strengths and weaknesses by doing a feedback analysis – whenever you make a decision try to observe the results. For example, those who are taking a pre-law bachelor’s degree should take note in their first few months where their strengths and weaknesses lie so they can know where to focus. They might find out that they need to develop a stronger commitment towards reading, and to that I would suggest that they practice right away. I remember back in high school one of my teachers told me that I should read at least one book a month aside from the mandatory text books in order to prepare myself for college. That change in my attitude towards reading helped me a lot later on; in fact, during my MBA at the Asian Institute of Management, can you imagine that we had to read and analyze about 150 pages a day for 16 months?
We should know how we learn and work with others – do we learn by reading, listening, writing, doing, or talking? It may sound weird, but to give an example, I used to doodle a lot during class along with my notes. I am pretty sure that my teachers didn't appreciate that my notebook had Batman and Superman fighting robots on the sides of my pages. But I found out that some people have to write or draw to learn – so in my case if there was a pause in the discussion I tended to draw or doodle or write more notes- but I admit I also used to read a lot of comics back then so that should explain the drawings. There are those who learn and work better with others by speaking, just like Peter Drucker. Again, find out how you learn.
We should know the values we hold dear and list them down. We can do this through a Mirror Test. Whenever I make an important decision in my work, I try to think and ask myself: will I be able to face my reflection in the mirror the next morning? Can I tell myself “I did a good job?” or that “I did the right thing?” As early as now, think of which values are important to you and ask your loved ones as well what is important to them. There is no better source of guidance than from those who love you.
You might think this is too early a time to think about it, but try to figure out what you want to contribute and where. Do you wish to be a doctor? Do you wish to enter the army? Do you wish to be the next mayor or governor or congressman? Whatever you will decide, take the responsibility and then ask yourself: will you make a difference? What are your dreams? What are your ambitions? But do you also have what it takes? If you want to be a doctor, are you good in science? If you want to be a solider, do you love your country? If you want to be in politics, are you a good communicator; are you an honest person? If you are not, what will you do about it? My mom took me with her to AIM when she was taking her MBA, and I was probably no older than you kids in the front row when I started telling myself that I would also go to AIM one day. Now, AIM is quite known for financial management, and being a Psychology major and Human Resource management practitioner, I lacked a finance or accounting background. So while I was taking my MBA at AIM, I spent extra hours reading basic accounting and finance just to catch up with the others and that meant having 2 to 3 hours of sleep- in order for me to realize my dream of graduating from AIM.
It is our responsibility to dream big. Dreams are not expensive – they are in fact free. But realizing these dreams require courage and dedication. So dream big, and dream big towards making a difference.
When I was asked to prepare this graduation speech, I wanted to speak about career building, and also try to share something about having a halal way of work life. I may have referred to Peter Drucker, but I also know that the most accurate and truthful book about management is the Holy Koran. From the very limited knowledge I have of being Muslim, I know that as Muslims we shouldn't make profit our main goal; rather, our main objective in our businesses or careers should be to strive for a Halal way of life.
I have learned that honesty and truthfulness are essential for any Muslim – and this means establishing trust with people. You gain trust by gaining people's confidence, and it is our responsibility as Muslims to take care of that trust – because if we abuse that trust through deceit and lies, then you’re not only being confident, you are also a con-man. So strive to never abuse the trust that is given to you.
As Muslims, we should be open to scrutiny and criticism. We are not perfect, so let’s welcome criticism because every situation in life is a learning experience.
We should be clean in our practices. We should aim for bigger and higher goals. Think of how you can contribute to the bigger picture. As Muslims, and as people of this society, we should cooperate and work well with others. Find ways on how you can contribute not only to your community but on how you can help make things easier for others in their own respective businesses or practices.
But perhaps the most important lesson for us in our goal of practicing Halal is to never engage in that which is Haram.
Is it Haram to copy the answers of your seatmate? To copy and paste text from the internet? To buy a fake engineering degree or to buy a thesis in Recto? To not pay the right taxes? Is it Haram for a lawyer to represent a corrupt politician? Is it Haram to buy votes, or to accept payment for votes? What is Halal and what is Haram? What is encouraged and what is not permissible? These are the questions you should ask yourselves when you try to come up with a list of values that you hold dear.
I guess striving to be globally competitive is okay, but again that is probably already a given. Being competitive is what everyone in the world has been doing in the past century. But what everyone is not doing is actually being better in their faith.
There is a rule that is common in all formal religions: the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule states that you should do unto others what you want to be done unto you. In the Hadiths, the Prophet Muhammad saw said that “None of you will truly believe until he wishes for his brother that what he wants for himself.” If every Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, or any other formal religion were to strictly abide by this rule, we will always put ourselves in other people’s shoes. There will be empathy. But more importantly we will “care”. C-A-R-E. We must CARE.
There is a flood of information today, yet amazingly there is so much misunderstanding in the world. Where is the Golden Rule? You have Jews killing Muslims in Palestine. You have Muslims and Christians killing each other here in the Philippines. You also have Muslims killing fellow Muslims in places like Libya, and you don’t even have to look any further, you have Muslims killing each other here in Mindanao.
To paraphrase the words of the late Senator Domocao Alonto, he said we Filipinos must work towards being better Muslims and better Christians because we can find unity in diversity. And The Holy Koran says, in Surah 49 verse 13, "O mankind, we...made you into (different) nations and tribes, so that you may know each other (and not that you may despise each other)."
So what does it take to be globally competitive today?
Seriously, ask yourself right now: Is life even a competition? Is life a rat race? When I was younger, which wasn’t so long ago, I was often told that life was like a rat race – where you put rats in a maze who are all looking for that piece of cheese, and they will repeat the experiment and do the maze again the next day and the next. If you also think that life is a rat race, then that is sad because you still have about 50 or 60 years of competing. And, to quote the famous comedienne Lily Tomlin, the “trouble with the rat-race is that even if you win, you are still a rat.”
Don’t be afraid to be good and don’t mind the person who tells you that good guys always finish last - that person just doesn't know where the finish line is.
It isn’t right or enough to have just the skills anymore. I think being globally competitive today should also be about two other things: having self-awareness and being a good person. Know what you are capable of and strive to live Halal. To the graduating batches of 2011, I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Dream big, but dream big towards making a difference and be better in your faith. Be better than us. The world needs you.
Assalamu Alaikum wbt. "
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