Running a Tight Ship

Today’s business climate reminds me of  a time two decades past. Armed with a college diploma and an idealism that would put Plato to shame, I set out on my architectural career with Asia’s biggest design firm (at that time). As fate would have it, the Asian financial crisis dealt my fledging design career with a rude wake-up call. As the property sector plummeted, so did allied services that were highly dependent on the industry, such as design. Real estate was the first industry to get hit by the crisis and the last one to recover, thus no work for architects and designers. The majority of my contemporaries chose to go outside the country to earn a living, while I, on the contrary, faced my demons to pursue a career in real estate. That was 21 years ago.

Now, our country finds itself at a crossroads. By extension, PDO is facing its toughest challenge as well after a record- breaking 2017. The challenge: to surpass, and more importantly, to SUSTAIN the company’s growth in the face of tremendous internal and external obstacles. While we cannot do much about external factors, we can anticipate the effects of national and world events so as to be guided in treading these critical moments of our company’s history. Times like these, we close ranks. Now more than ever, we need to be critical of our individual performance and how it contributes to the bigger picture. Simply put, let us remind ourselves and each other the standards of PDO, regardless from what department or division you are from. And in doing so, maybe we will come to realize our shortcomings and start clawing our way towards the Gold Standard by running a tight(er) ship. Forget “pwede na”, instead push for “pwede pa!”

Someone once told me that running a tight ship means being tough on standards but soft on people. To be an effective manager, one must find the perfect balance between these two concepts, especially in these challenging times of bloated inflation, skyrocketing prices of goods, and market anxiety. So, the question I pose to everyone is…

Are you ready to face YOUR demons?

Leonardo B. Dayao

Senior Vice President