Barack Obama’s most important advice

Friends remarked that after my two-part series on shrinkflation (Jan. 11 and Jan. 18, 2024), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reportedly approved companies’ request to downsize key goods while retaining the same price (Philippine Daily Inquirer, page one, Jan. 19, 2024).

I wish that this column can claim to have influenced the government, but the timing is likely coincidental. I applaud the DTI and agree with them that shrinkflation may be necessary, as long as manufacturers can prove that they are having a hard time adjusting to higher production costs and that they are using new clear labeling to alert consumers to smaller product volumes.

Now let us address reader responses to the series on managing risk and failure (July 13, 20 and 27, 2023), where they complain about employees who act “sensitive” or “entitled.”

In April 2023, the Commission on Human Rights reported that many fresh graduates find it challenging to land good jobs even as schools try to hone minimum competencies. But aside from technical skills, companies report that graduates lack resilience, empathy, communication in the workplace.

Young employees reportedly shun mundane tasks, quit when critiqued, demand undeserved perks. With schools often catering to student demands—one reason for grade inflation—rather than helping them meet expectations, it is not a surprise that the Inquirer quoted employers as saying that “new graduates experience ‘culture shock’ upon entering the workplace ‘because their expectations differed from … school.’”

For years now, I have been discussing growth, grit, resilience and empathy with my students.

I emphasize that while our school is very mindful of their physical and mental health, they need to do their part. If they have severe mental health issues, they need to take a leave, focus on healing and return to learn the best they can, rather than scrounge for accommodations which are not fair to anyone, them least of all.

I discuss the importance of learning from mistakes, and tell students that they are in school not to engage in toxic competition with each other, but to challenge themselves and to grow.

If teachers need to emphasize soft skills to students, then employers have to do the same to employees. Aside from running workshops on resilience and growth to family firms and multinationals, I often work with their officers and human resources to promote these values in their companies.

When Satya Nadella took over Microsoft in 2014, he overhauled the culture of the company from a fixed to a growth mindset, changing the ethos from know-it-all to learn-it-all. Employees already have stellar technical aptitudes, so Nadella sharpened their soft skills: growth, collaboration, empathy.

Former US President Barack Obama witnessed firsthand the importance of humility and grit in his young staff. He told People Magazine, “Interns [would] come in, and after a week they’d say, ‘I’d like to help the President write a speech’ … There is an impatience that, on the one hand, I think is healthy … This generation recognizes that part of the trick of having a good career and a good life is having some control over what you’re doing and having some sense of purpose and meaning in work …

“But I am also a believer in paying your dues. It turns out that by showing that you can accomplish mundane tasks, push through boredom, monotony, be helpful even when it’s not fun, that you can be part of a team and you’re able to follow and not just lead—all that experience builds a more well-rounded human. Whatever you end up doing later … that will make you better at what you do.”

“The most important advice I give to young people is … learn how to get stuff done,” Obama told LinkedIn. “I’ve seen at every level people who are very good at describing problems, who are very sophisticated in explaining why something went wrong or can’t get fixed, but what I’m looking for is no matter how small or big the problem is, somebody who says, ‘Let me take care of that.’”

Queena N. Lee-Chua is with the board of directors of Ateneo’s Family Business Center. Get her book “All in the Family Business” at Lazada or Shopee, or the ebook at Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks. Contact the author at [email protected].