The BOP Experience

“He who walks with the wise becomes wise”

This is what I believe I have gained after being in the company of 28 of my peers who were participating in the 2009 American Chamber of Commerce Business Orientation Program for Aspiring Leaders.

I walked with them on their first day of company visits and at the end of the day I, too, grew wiser because of the experience.

To spend the whole day with the college achievers who interacted with various speakers from different companies, was really empowering. I feel fortunate to have been given this task of documenting the first day of the BOP and post a blog about it as part of my internship in a leading multinational PR agency.

The AMCHAM annually selects the BEST students from a field of nominations submitted by universities around the country-- to participate in a week-long program that includes activities such as: (1) company visits, (2) talks from various leaders of different corporations (3) case study analysis and (4) business case presentation. Dubbed as “The Best Meets the Best,” the students get to experience the “real deal.”

Monday’s schedule included talks from two executives (CB Richards Ellis Chairman and John Clements VP for Marketing/ Managing Director Grace Sorongon) and visits to three companies namely: Citibank, Chevron and Ogilvy.

Adding value

The program started at 7:15am. The delegates were welcomed by 2009 AmCham BOP chairman and Goodyear Philippines President Dave Morin. Everybody was required to come in corporate attire, so there was—at first—a very formal and stiff atmosphere. But, Mr. Morin broke the ice by cracking jokes and making everyone feel relaxed.

He enumerated AmCham’s expectations of the BOP delegates: mutual trust, respect, and commitment.

Then AmCham Executive Director Robert Sears shared with the students the organization’s history, objectives, and projects. He said something that caught my attention: “(In whatever group you belong to) you have to add value, otherwise they’re not going to keep you.” While Mr. Sears was coming from the context of being part of a company, the reminder was also applicable to what the students were expected to accomplish during the week-long BOP.

Hanging on

“LEADERSHIP is 90% showing up and 10% hanging on,” said CB Richard Ellis Phils. Chairman Rick Santos

He started the talk with a stimulating question: “If time and money were no object and success was guaranteed, what would you do?” It led many to pause and really think.

“Leaders never give up. Leaders have a great story. Leadership is lonely at the top. But it is crowded at the bottom.” These were among his quotable quotes—all of which were admittedly true.

I thought that to become a leader one can start by celebrating his or her being different—something which Mr. Santos later on validated when he said “leaders speak, act, and think differently.” Then he went on to punctuate his talk with stories about real-life leaders.

When he said that “leaders break a lot of China”… everybody laughed. But it led me thinking, “ yes, one has to be able to muster enough courage to take risks which comes with being a leader.”

Express yourself

“With the opportunities that come your way, make the most out of them and learn,” said John Clements Vice President for Marketing Grace Sorongon.

Having been with John Clements, a management consultancy firm, for 34 years, she drew examples from her own personal experience to talk about how her company was able to address its clients’ ever-growing demands

She reiterated the value of communication when she said that one should be able to express oneself well because it makes up the 40% of competency needed to land a job.

A student asked her if there are still jobs waiting for them--which could have been on every student’s mind given the global economic slump. Her response was very encouraging: “there are a lot of opportunities, you just have to look.”

THE COMPANY VISITS:

CITIBANK

Right after the last resource speaker, there was little time to waste so we headed straight to the bus. Our first stop: Citibank in Paseo de Roxas, Makati.

Citibank’s very corporate ambience greeted us as we were led to a lounge which served both as lecture and dining hall.

The first speaker was Citibank Managing Director and Country Head for global transaction Tonet Itchon. His talk about the company opened our eyes to what Citibank has achieved through the years.

Candidly, he said that while Citibank may be a big financial institution, it has not been spared of the impact of the global economic slump. “Regard the Company as if you were the owners, not as employees,” Mr. Itchon said, talking about their mindset as they thought of ways to address the crisis.

Then, Citibank Markets Head and Country Treasurer Argos Fernando talked about risk management. “By doing nothing,” he said, “you are exposing yourself more to risk.” His statement, “the risk of inaction is greater than the risk of change” was truly thought provoking.

We were treated to a hearty lunch right after, during which the Citibank executives went around and interacted with the students. They asked about our courses, provincial roots, and interests among others. Admittedly, the Citibank officers were very warm and friendly—quite the opposite of the seemingly very strict banking ambience.

CHEVRON

The office of Chevron is actually in 6750 Ayala. But the session was instead held at the RCBC Tower due to scheduling conflicts. Anyway, when we got into the conference room, Chevron Policy, Government and Public Affairs Executive Mark Quebral welcomed us along with HR Associates Mia Posadas and Grace Rivera.

Mr. Quebral talked about Chevron’s Philippine operations. Like me, a lot of the participants may have also been amazed of the interesting facts and figures Mr. Quebral shared.

He proudly discussed the Chevron Malampaya project—which involved the building of an underwater pipe from Palawan to Batangas. He also shared programs in support of Chevron’s vision which is “to be the global energy company most admired for people performance.”

OGILVY

When we got to Philamlife tower in Paseo de Roxas, and to the Ogilvy office at the 15^th floor, I heard someone say “fab!” Another one said, “Oh, it’s so red!”

I totally agree with them. The office is fabulous, but more than that, it’s the people working there that make the office passionately red.

The students felt more relaxed given the agency’s relatively more creative ambience. The briefing was held at the conference room where Ogilvy Public Relations Business Unit Head and Client Services Director Leah Huang made the students feel at ease.

Then Ogilvy Philippines country manager Randy Aquino explained how the entire Ogilvy Group is committed to producing “great work that works.” He also talked about the characteristic trademark of Ogilvy which is the 360-degree brand stewardship mindset, and quoted company founder David Ogilvy to stress that “We do not work for clients. We do not work for the agency. We work for brands.”

Soliciting the students’ impression of Ogilvy, Mr. Aquino was amused when one said Ogilvy was “like Ecomoda”—the fictitious agency where Betty La Fea works (the ABS-CBN version). It drew laughs from many of the participants.

Then Chief Strategist Bambi Cajilig talked about how the rapid changes in our environment require companies to “evolve or die.” What we previously knew about the 4P’s of Marketing were challenged – that in today’s world the new framework has evolved to the 4E’s of Marketing: Experience, Everyplace, Exchange and Evangelism. She also outlined what it is today’s youth require -- freedom, scrutiny, integrity, entertainment and collaboration.

Ogilvy Managing Director for Advertising Peachy Pacquing then explained the concept of 360 brand stewardship further, stressing the importance of research (brand scanning, diagnostics) and insights in the development of an effective campaign.

Certainly, the BOP participants were blessed to have been given the chance to hear these business learnings ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’, so to speak. The practical insights everyone obtained from the experience validated many of the lessons they learned from their respective universities.

They went home that day looking forward to what the rest of the week would bring.

(Ayessa Parayno, incoming 4^th year Organizational Communication student at UP Manila)