GOD@WORK – Page 2 – JUAN GREAT LEAP

The Rise of the Free Agent Era and 5 Strategies to Survive It, Part 2

September 12, 2013September 12, 2013Peter Cauton

(This is part 2 of a 2-part series. Part one can be found here.)

3) Build Free Agent Skills

So what sort of skills are highly useful in this free-agent era?

Skills which maximize your ability to be independent – skills which can allow you to be highly mobile and flexible.

Here are three really strategic ones you can work on:

a) Learn How To Learn Real Fast

Two common realities of the free agent era: there’s always something new to learn, and you have to learn it fast. If you learn things fast, then you can work in vuitually any condition and won’t be a victim of obsolescense.

Adapt and live.

So don’t get married to a skill set (especially technical ones, which get obsolete fast). Learn how to acquire skills fast, especially the tricky personal ones, like negotiation, leading, and reading people. Read up on current trends in your industry of choice. Read books (I can’t recommend an Audible membership enough). Talk to experts and be conscious of your learning process.

b) Selling

Here’s something which I think won’t change anytime soon: people will buy stuff.

This is how every person, every company, survives.

If you know how to sell – yourself, your ideas, your products, your vision – then that is a HUGE advantage in the free agent world.

If you’re going to have to move UPWARD from company to company, if you’re going to be a great entrepreneur, if you’re going to be an awesome freelancer (really still an entrepreneur), then you’re going to have to get people to BUY what you have to offer.

There is an art and science on how to do this. (and a great amount of literature) Start learning now.

c) Networking

Know-who trumps know-how.

I think this is a very obvious characteristic of all the highly successful people I know thriving in the free-agent era – they’ve built great personal networks.

A great network can act like a great parachute in the free agent world.

You got downsized? Good thing you know that HR Director who happened to have job openings.

Your new company is low on funds? Good thing you know a few investors who can give you a bit of help.

But a great network does so much more than be an insurance. I think its a crucial element for those who really want to thrive in the free agent era.

Looking at it from an entrepreneur’s lens, the free agent era is an era of humungous opportunity. The very elements which are disrupting big businesses are the very same elements creating great opportunity. There are SO many industries undergoing disruption.

The MORE people you know, the MORE information you garner about these opportunities, the more likely you can spot those which suit you.

Then you just pounce.

4) Build a Brand

Let’s say you have two people of exactly the same competency level vying for a marketing manager position.

One person has a marketing blog where he shares his thoughts on best practices regarding his job. He has an updated and comprehensive Linkedin account, and he is a member of several marketing-related groups.

If you google his name, the whole first page is filled with marketing stuff he’s written about and intelligent dialogues with peers.

The other person, meanwhile, isn’t so active. When you google his name, only a few entries come up.

Who do you think gets the job?

Think about it folks, every time you apply for something – a job, a co-founder role, a partnership, a contract – you WILL get googled and investigated.

Use this to your advantage. Build a brand around your strengths and interests.

I can’t tell you how much running this blog has helped me get into contact with several key people, or even get new clients to say they read my blog on sales meetings when I represent STORM.

In the free agent era, there are hundreds of people vying for the same things. Stand out by building your brand.

5) Get away from the herd

I think this is the most important piece of advice in this post.

In case you haven’t noticed, the herd gets ultimately marginalized (a bit ironic if you think about it).

What do most graduates do?

They look for a job in corporate, most without even thinking what they truly want.

They look for the highest bidder.

They will spend 3-4 years and then move on to another firm, moving again in another 3-4 years. )This cycle is markedly faster in the BPO industry.)

Perhaps most are even unaware they are in this groupthink cycle.

Stop.

You want to standout?

Think and act differently.

Zig when the herd zags.

The free agent era rewards uniqueness and being special. Embrace what makes you special (yes, we each have unique God-given gifts which make us special) and get away from the herd. Don’t be afraid of the slight separation anxiety you might feel separating from the pack.

The free agent era obviously loves free agents. (and isn’t so nice to herds) So the best advice I can give in the free agent era?

Go and be one.

(Know anyone who would especially resonate with this post? Be a blessing and share!)

The Compass, The Anchor, and The Propeller

August 7, 2013August 7, 2013Peter Cauton

When we moved into our new office, we were in a momentary quandary about what to do with a good-sized room that was right smack in the middle of the layout.

We could turn it into another meeting room – you could never have enough of those.

Or perhaps a designated interview room?

Incubate a startup idea (or two)? (such a temptation!)

Then, it hit Pao and I at the same time – we just HAVE to turn it into a prayer room.

It’s obviously not the bottom line-friendly alternative, but knowing our history, it just made too much sense to put a prayer room in the middle of the office. This was our little way of honoring the God who has been so faithful to us and our journey.

Prayer has been absolutely essential in my life as an entrepreneur.

I know “prayer” and “entrepreneurship” don’t really mix that well in the eyes of some people, but for me the opposite is quite true – I think prayer is absolutely critical in the life of the (believing) entrepreneur.

COMPASS

“I want to be the CAPTAIN of my own ship!”

This was my battle cry all those years in corporate. Then, one day, I made it happen – the big leap.

Then I felt it.

It was very clear to me from day 1 as a “captain.”

…I felt that I had NO CLUE whatsoever on how and where to steer the ship.

That was a HUGE adjustment I had to make. In corporate, everything was (mostly) laid out for me. I had a boss. He had goals and objectives for me. The company had overall goals I had to align myself with. There was an accepted method of doing things.

As an entrepreneur though, everything was MY CALL.

This amount of freedom – without any accountability – is very dangerous.

Sure, you can lead your firm to quick profitability and success, but if you don’t watch it, the subtle costs can lead you to be someone you don’t want to be.

I remember years ago, at a time when we were just starting to turn it around as a startup, we got an opportunity to service a motel chain.

We certainly needed the cash, but after going back and forth on the matter, we declined.

I would probably get a lot of flak from that decision from most entrepreneurial experts (an employee actually questioned me about this), but ultimately, my prayer led me to the conclusion that it wasn’t a project aligned to what I wanted the company to stand for, and ultimately, to what I wanted to stand for.

There are many, many, many other morally ambiguous items which you would have to decide on when you run a firm. These ultimately will have an impact on the company culture you create, and perhaps, more importantly, to who you become. (our decisions make us, after all)

Tread carefully.

This is where prayer has really come in handy for me as a discernment medium. As a much-needed COMPASS, prayer helps me navigate the sea of infinite choices and options I find myself in.

ANCHOR

I’m not so sure if I blogged about this before, but I remember many many years ago when I happened to find myself doing some work for one of the richest men in the country.

As I would come to know after a few months working with him, he was – bar none – the most power/money hungry person I’ve ever met.

What I remember mostly were his eyes. There was something about them. Even before I knew about how he was, I remember looking at his blank eyes and finding something off.

They were soulless.

I remember vowing to myself NEVER to walk that path, never to love money that much.

This isn’t easy. It’s an incredibly slippery slope.

When most of an entrepreneur’s time is spent safeguarding and ensuring “bottom line”, it’s very, very difficult not to obsess over it and make it the ONLY target.

This is where prayer comes in as a much-needed anchor. Prayer has helped me, over and over and over, realize that my worth does not lie in money…nor in my startup, for that matter.

It lies with the fact that I am God’s child.

Prayer helps me put things into perspective.

But it does more than that.

I realize now that prayer has become my propeller.

PROPELLER

Without prayer, I would still be in corporate. Without prayer, I wouldn’t have had the right amount of serenity to realize there was a call for me to give back and encourage other people to take their own leaps. Without prayer, there would be no blogging. No JGL.

Prayer is where I draw the necessary strength (the secret – it isn’t mine) to do big, hairy leaps.

The Grand Design

So, my friends and fellow entrepreneurs, never forget and take prayer for granted.

Pray.

Fight for your prayer time. Don’t pray much? Start. Don’t pray much in conjunction to your work as an entrepreneur? Start the integration.

Do you believe we all have a specific purpose here in earth? I do. I believe in a Grand Design. This is why I am so excited about today’s entrepreneur-friendly world. I think we can pursue our truest passions (inextricably linked to our purpose) in a much easier way than it ever was. I think it is much easier now to stop compromising and live up to what OUR grand design is.

The MOST efficient and effective way to figure this out?

Talking often with the Grand Designer.

Fathers and Sons

July 26, 2013July 26, 2013Peter Cauton

Exactly 6 years ago, I was in Cardinal Santos hospital feeling an overwhelming mixture of happiness, fear, and excitement.

You see, for the first time, I was holding my son in my arms.

And there was something else I was feeling.

As I beheld my son, I felt an unmistakable tug of the heart.

It was the first time we met face-to-face, but never did I feel such an intense feeling of love for another person.

He was mine.

Then I had a quick realization.

I quickly looked for my dad.

Finding him, I gave him a hug and said, “happy birthday!”

It was also his birthday after all.

I then extended the hug a bit.

You see, it was also the first time in my life I realized and felt exactly how he loves me – as only a father can love his eldest, firstborn son.

It’s an amazing, surreal gift that has God designed for me – having both my son and my dad share the same birthdate. Every time July 26 happens, I get swathed with existential nostalgia.

Happy birthday Papa! Thank you for your expressive love, vulnerability, and your playfulness. I realize the way I love my children now stems closely to how you loved me growing up. Thank you for showing me how to treat others like myself. (won’t ever forget the time when I was a kid when you went down and helped that man)

Happy birthday to my son! My ultimate wish for you is that you get to know God and love Him. Well, perhaps I can also wish that you get out of your angry birds phase. It has been three years.

To my Father in Heaven, thank you for loving me so uniquely and intensely through these two people. Through them, I get a glimpse of just how much You love me. I love You more than anything.

The Absolutely Crucial Art of Defending Your Dream Time

July 5, 2013July 5, 2013Peter Cauton

Do you want to know what’s truly important to you?

There’s really no need for further philosophical / existential analysis.

Here’s a surefire way to know.

Take a look at your calendar for the past month. Take a look at the number of hours you spend on certain tasks.

Where you spend your time will show you an objective view as to what you truly find important.

Do you spend countless hours working overtime? How much time do you spend with your family? Do you spend a lot of time pampering yourself? Video games? TV?

Your calendar says a whole lot about you.

In our community, we are encouraged to “defend our prayer time.” That we should spend 15-30 minutes, at a specific time of the day, praying and being with God. We know this will be challenged by the temptation to sleep, watch TV, work, or a hundred other things, which is why we have to vigorously defend the time. Because God is important.

I can’t help but think this also applies to following our career dreams as well. We need to designate a certain time of day. Even just 15-30 minutes a day(for those of us will fulltime jobs which we already know don’t and won’t fulfill us). Because our dreams are important.

I recently talked to someone asking me for advice on how to do a startup part-time. He had an interesting B2B idea which I thought had some potential. I told him it IS possible to start things part-time, but that he would have to work hard and render disciplined, daily effort. I told him we can talk from time to time so I can check up on him. He kept on saying the right things – I want to follow my dreams, I want to pursue what I love, I will do what it takes.

But then when it was time to share with me what research he should’ve garnered, or which potential partners he’s now talked to, he chokes. He says he just too busy.

I would have believed it too, had he avoided adding me in FB, where his reactions to Game of Thrones and the NBA playoffs pop up in my feed.

An NBA game is around 2 1/2 hours. Initial internet research on possible competition can take a mere 30 minutes of smart Googling. Coffee with a potential partner usually takes an hour.

In the time he took to watch ONE basketball game, he could have interviewed two candidates and made the research.

NBA > Dreams.

It sounds funny and simplistic, but if we take a look at our calendars, I’m sure we would also see dozens of “misalignments” between what we SAY are important to us and where we ACTUALLY spend our time.

If your family is important to you, did you sacrifice time from other stuff to be with them?

If your dreams are important to you, how much time a day do you spend working on it?

Just a mere 30 minutes a day of deliberate work on your dream can yield tremendous results.

When I was starting STORM out in 2005, I had a fulltime job and I was pursuing a master’s degree. I had really wanted to do a “business” though, (the term “startup” wasn’t quite popular yet) so I really resolved to find some time. I still remember spending a few minutes every weekday researching on flexible benefit competition, polishing my powerpoint deck, and “profiling” potential partners (I remember having a list of people with their strengths and backgrounds). Sunday mornings (otherwise known as corporate veg-out time) would be sacrificed for morning coffee with potential co-founders. I would drive out to the Starbucks nearest to the homes of my potential partners.

After months of doing this, I finally found partners who were willing to take the leap with me. Then, the project started taking a life on its own. There was momentum (so crucial). Excited, I started finding more and more time to work on my dream. Weekend coffee transformed into weekend planning with my partners. Soon, we would be putting up our share of the money, get SEC-registered, and start. By no means was it smooth sailing after, but I never looked back. Three years after, I took my fated full-time leap.

Is your dream worth sacrificing for and pursuing?

If it is, then take your calendar and start making changes.

Put your time where your mouth is.

(do you know anyone who would especially resonate with this post? be a blessing and share! Sometimes we need to encourage people to take leaps! – Peter)

Don’t Slip Into The Entrepreneur Entitlement Trap

June 18, 2013June 18, 2013Peter Cauton

It was one of my most painful learning experiences as an entrepreneur.

Around 3 years ago I was invited to be an investor/co-founder in a mobile startup. We were four people. The resumes of my co-founders were dazzling – Ivy League degrees, corporate stalwarts, multiple successful ventures. I signed up immediately. I also proceeded to make the most sizeable investment I’ve ever made (not my usual fare as a passionate proponent of bootstrapping and minimum seeding)

We met once a week.

On Skype.

There was no one fulltime among the founders. The company was everyone’s second or even third priority.

The deadlines were soft, chewy, and unaccounted for.

We were burning money per month on expenses. I felt my money burning away.

But hey, we’ll turn it around soon enough though! How can we, the super-awesome Fab Four fail?

Soon enough, that company folded.

I ended up actually paying more money than I invested because it turns out closing an LLC (in the US where the company was registered) is not something cheap.

I fell into the entitlement trap.

This is when I-am-so-awesome gets in our head.

As an entrepreneur, we typically become symptomatic of this when we taste some degree of success.

“Success” here can totally be subjective. To wit:

I’m making a million buck a week! I AM AWESOME!

My FB company page was liked 10 times this week! I AM AWESOME!

My dad founded a big company – my very blood flows with entrepreneurial awesomeness! I AM AWESOME! (and redundant)

We then let it get to our head. We forget why we got there: hard work, entrepreneurial hustle, starting from zero, other people helping out, God.

I have heard/read these actual quotes from entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs:

Our competition sucks. They don’t know what they’re doing. (the very typical adjective I hear a lot regarding competition is “bulok”)

No one in the world can mentor me on this because what I’ll be introducing will be first in the world.

I’m pretty sure I can get funded for this.

This sense of entitlement, this sense of “the world owes me” is quite dangerous for the entrepreneur (and frankly, anyone else).

For me, the two most important traits of an entrepreneur are hard work and learning. This whole new entrepreneurial paradigm that the likes of Steve Blank and Eric Ries are championing revolves around these two traits.

It is also precisely these two traits that entitlement slowly chomps away at:

I am so awesome, I don’t need to work that hard.

I am so awesome, I don’t need to learn from anyone else.

Don’t fall into this trap.

It can be easy to fall prey to this because confidence is one trait all entrepreneurs share. We HAVE to be confident if we want to survive in this unforgiving industry.

But let us not confuse confidence with arrogance.

Stay hungry. Stay humble.

On the New Storm Office, the Infamous Orange Chair, and Why You Can Do It!

June 7, 2013June 7, 2013Peter Cauton

STORM transferred to its newest office a few weeks ago.

I love it!

It’s brightly lit, incredibly functional, spaceous, and comfortable to work in. There are no “manager” rooms. There are whiteboards and wallboards everywhere, and multiple spaces for different kinds of meetings.

Pictures below!

Looking closely, you would also see rather peculiar items in the office:

Like this old restaurant-style chair…

Steel restaurant chair — Try spending 8 hours working on this steel chair

And of course, our infamous “orange chair.”

The infamous, one-armrest orange chair — No, you wouldn’t want to see this in a high-resolution picture. Yep, its THAT grimy.

These “artifacts” belonged to the very first Storm office – the one-bedroom condo where I lived. The bedroom became my house – everything else was transformed into the office.

(how I wish my old hard drive didn’t crash so I could’ve shown some pictures here)

I always joke around the office that we have to throw these chairs away, that I would designate them as prizes in our Christmas raffle for the poor soul who would end up “winning” it.

That restaurant chair there was donated by a friend of ours who closed down a restaurant. Nope, those chairs don’t have ANY bend on them. They are as uncomfortable as you can imagine.

That orange chair was the only comfortable chair we had. It was also a donation from someone who already had it retired in their home stock room. (Of course we still had to sit on the hard chairs – this comfy chair went to our first employee – our programmer) (Hi Angela =)

Truth is, I would want these items around for as long as they would hold up. They’re continual reminders of our journey. It’s a reminder of what we went through and who we are. Of how incredible Blessed we are. Actually, this is what I feel when I walk around the office. It’s not “wow, we have a nice office,” rather, it’s “wow, we’re pretty blessed!”

You see, back then, we had nothing.

We had no experience in running a firm, no mentors, no “donations” from any relatives, no MBA’s, no high QPI’s, no funding, no fancy methodology, no automatic clients referred by a powerful relative. We just had 2 things going for us: an idea we believed in (flexible benefits), and a powerful desire to see it through.

Then we just leapt and committed.

This is partly what fuels my passion in telling you to do the same: I really believe you can do it. Perhaps all you need might be a little push. Hopefully, this can be your push. Trust me, you don’t need any of the above-mentioned stuff. Anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong.

Don’t wait. Leap.

(Do visit us at 602 Centerpoint Building, Julia Vargas cor Garnet Streets, Ortigas Center! And if you have anyone in mind who might especially appreciate this post or will find it useful, do click those buttons and share!)

Forget Your Career And Pursue Your Vocation

March 31, 2013April 1, 2013Peter Cauton

My So-called Career Development

For the most part of my adult life, I thought I knew what I had wanted to do.

I wanted to pursue a career in HR. I wanted to make money. I wanted to make my resume as impressive as I could possible make it.

And so I tried my very best to achieve these. I knew they would make me happy.

At particular points, I would find myself dissatisfied with certain facets. So, I just decided on changing some things along the way.

Not enough money? Join a better-paying firm.

Resume not impressive enough? Get an advanced degree.

Still not happy? Party and go out with friends.

In my fourth company, Chikka, I became extremely confused.

I was doing well.

It was a dynamic firm. I had a great boss. I made key decisions in my function. I was paid well. It was fun.

I SHOULD be happy, I thought. So I pretended a bit, trying to ignore my restlessness.

But I just wasn’t happy.

Almost instinctively, I thought of leaving for another firm. But I knew one thing which bothered me to the core: after 3-4 months, the novelty would fade away in my theoretical new firm, and I would be left with the same dissatisfaction I had wanted to escape from.

Was this how life is? Just trudging from one place to another like a plodding headless chicken?

Could I start anew in another field?! No! How can I just waste a decade of my life and start from scratch?

This was how effective my “career management” endeavors ended up being. My own decisions brought me to the brink of desperation.

Finding My Vocation

In How God Founded Our Startup, I talk about how God intervened at this particular point in my life.

It wasn’t an instant thing.

I think I really only found Him around two years before that fateful leap.

Prior to that, I had no prayer life whatsoever (except maybe when I needed something, then I’d say a short prayer), I did what I wanted when I wanted. I would usually skip Mass. In retrospect, I never let Him be a part of my life nor of my decisions.

When I decided to really follow and love God – and get to know Him and talk to Him more consistently in prayer, things slowly started to change. I learned I needed to let go of the wheel and surrender. Very tough for someone as independent as me.

Little did I know that 2 years after, God would ask of me all that I found important in the world – money, titles, security, clarity, control – in making my great leap.

I had never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would be an entrepreneur, much, much, less a helper of entrepreneurs. It was never, ever a career option.

Up until I wrote the first Juan Great Leap post, blogging was something very very foreign for me. I never in my wildest dreams thought: “I want to start an entrepreneurial blog and a build a community of entreps who help one another.”

Yet, this is precisely where God has led me.

Only He could have designed something that fits me perfectly in so many profound ways, I cannot even begin to describe. I have found my vocation, and my soul cannot stop celebrating.

Career versus Vocation

When we speak of “vocation,” it is usually reserved for just describing someone entering the priesthood or the convent.

No way.

All of us are missioned. God has a purpose for EACH one of us, and until we find that purpose, our souls become restless. We may try to numb this restlessness with money, power, control, or even relationships, but until we find that purpose, I believe getting rid of this restlessness will be elusive.

Vocation hails from the latin word vocātiō, meaning a call or a summons. Quite literally, vocation means being were we are called by God.

Heeding our vocation – which connotes seeking and following what His will is for us – is quite a different process from developing our careers – which frequently involve mental decision making.

The goals of a career are quite different from what the goals of a vocation are as well. The goal of a developing a career will likely revolve around some of the things I mentioned earlier: money, power, security, control.

The goal of a vocation, meanwhile, is to find our place and God’s purpose for us.

Careers are typically goal-based. We try to find jobs that pay us x amount per month let’s say, or will allow us to travel to countries, or will give us a certain title, or a certain type of car. There’s an endgame.

Vocations, on the other hand, to quote Fr. Ramon Bautista, SJ, in a retreat I had earlier today, “are never ‘mission-accomplished'”

Putting it most bluntly: careers don’t usually involve God. It seeks satisfaction in the external, specifically, that which we do not have.

“My dream job is out there. I need to keep looking.”

Vocation, on the other hand, makes you look at your interior self.

How has God moved in my life? What are my deepest desires? What are the gifts God gave me? How and where can I use them best for Him?

These internal questions, which I now so often use when I discern, are so different from the questions I used to ask, when I decided:

What field will I be happy in? How much will my minimum salary be? Are the benefits comparable? Is my boss cool? What is the salary increase rate here? How fast will I get promoted?

For lasting happiness and fulfillment, I think it’s pretty easy to see here what to pursue. You’d be glad to know following God has a practical angle as well: God’s plan will surely involve developing the best you that you can possibly be, maximizing your gifts and talents. When this happens, opportunity abounds. (In the end though, the bottom-line is this, if you surrender to God, don’t you think He will be faithful and take care of you?)

My social media spat

I got a note from someone around a year ago who said something like:

“Religious faith has no place business decisions. I would understand things like ‘having faith in the company,’ but religious faith? I fail to see how that can help any business.”

After everything that happened to me, I felt like going nuclear on the guy.

But then I realized that I felt the same way just a couple of years ago. Come to think of it, I NEVER involved God before in my career decisions. In fact, it was a little weird to mix “careers” and “God” in the same sentence for me.

I’m sure a lot of us still feel the same way.

So perhaps its best to start with something most of us can agree with: God loves us so very much.

Incredibly. Uniquely. Infinitely.

If you believe He loves us this much, then surely, You have to believe He must have a unique plan for each of us. A purpose.

If we believe He does have a plan then doesn’t it make sense to begin the process of trying to find out what it is?

The Sounding Board: Be Heard for A Change

January 30, 2013January 30, 2013

Sharing information about your startup with other groups can be scary. You’ve put sweat and tears into building your business and sometimes you’d rather not share because others might just tear it down. It takes a lot of trust and confidence to bare your heart and soul to any individual or group. It’s understandable, but you have to get passed that apprehension. Seeking advice and counsel is crucial to the success of your business.

As proverbs says,

“Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14).

The message is clear: seek counsel from a group to prevent the fall.

Now the challenge in seeking counsel is finding a group that you can trust. Counselors are your most trusted advisors. They must be able to listen well without any hidden agendas.

What types of counselors can you trust?

You can trust groups with pure hearts and intentions, the youth. The youth, open-minded and fresh minds, who have ideas and solutions sprouting from a safe learning environment known as the university.

What if you could get free advice from a group of young, bright minds who have pure intentions and want to help?

Meet the Sounding Board, a group of young students and professionals who are crazy-passionate about social innovation at the grassroots. They provide idea-stage social entrepreneurs basic knowledge and tools that help turn their simple proposals into investment-ready social enterprise plans.

While they focus on providing services to startup social enterprises, the Sounding Board is a perfect example of a group of young, bright individuals that you can consult with.

I met the group randomly when I tagged along with my good friend, Karl, Sounding Board’s Head Coach, after grabbing some grub in Kapitolyo.

After a long day of yapping to prospective partners, I was rejuvenated by the energy, ideas, and strategies being tossed around the table by the Sounding Board. Aside from their sound evaluations of client needs, the Sounding Board’s openness to working together for one common goal, to help social enterprises succeed, is what really moved me. In spite of all their commitments as busy college students and young working professionals, they were devoted and serious about their work as a consulting group that could help social enterprises develop. It was apparent in the way they worked as a team.

As I was sitting-in on the group’s meeting, I could feel their passion and sense of purpose as they worked together as a real team that listened to one another’s opinions and knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, they were hearing each other out to give the best advice for social change. The moment shared truly inspired me to introduce the Sounding Board to all of you.

Are you also being moved to hear from the Sounding Board?

If you are a young person looking to join a group like the Sounding Board, click on this link.

If you would like to support the Sounding Board in any way shape or form, you can also email: soundtheboard@gmail.com

If you are a startup enthusiast supporting other startup enterprises or groups determined to make changes for Juan, spread the good news!

We could all use a sounding board from time to time. Let’s hear each other out for a change!

He Gives and Takes Away

January 24, 2013January 24, 2013Peter Cauton

Around three months ago, I got a call from my wife Pauline. She was frantic. She was crying.

“I don’t know what to do.”

She was pregnant with what would be our fourth child.

She was pregnant only after a few months of giving birth to our third child.

With all the strength I could muster, I talked to her as calmly as I could, saying I would be home soon and we could sort it out.

On the way back home though, it hit me. Hard.

I thought and worried about escalating tuition fees multiplied by a larger factor, an ever-expanding household, how we won’t be fitting in our current family car anymore, and my ability to be a loving father to four children. I was worried also for my wife, and how she would go through yet another pregnancy just on the heels of another. I also knew she was worried about the ramifications it had on her career (she talks about it here).

I was filled with fear and doubt.

In my prayer time, I was asking God “Why?” all the time. Why now? What will we do?

It took a bit of time, but soon enough, Pauline and I were embracing this Plan for us. We realized – in mind AND heart – that children are always blessings. We tucked our doubts behind us and looked at the future with hope and faith.

We talked to our kids about how we were going to be blessed with another member of the family. We imagined how each of them might interact with the new baby. We wondered as a couple as to what the gender might be, and as usual, playfully squabbled with names.

I began mulling what car would be suitable, and toyed with the idea of expanding the house to create an extra room or two.

Last week, this all came tumbling down.

I was awakened by Pauline in the middle of the night.

She was bleeding profusely.

I asked if she thought we lost the baby. She nodded her head and cried softly on my shoulder.

On the way to the hospital, all I could do was to pray furiously it wasn’t so. It can’t.

We reached the hospital and I was asked to go to the waiting room while they did some tests to check if the baby was alright.

It was agonizing wait. Around 30 minutes later, they confirmed what I had feared – they couldn’t find the baby’s heartbeat.

Further tests revealed that we were supposed to have twins.

A gamut of feelings rushed into me as I waited some more in the hospital – guilt for my earlier feelings about the baby, concern for Pauline, confusion as to why this happened, and just a profound sense of grief.

I spent the next day with Pauline and the kids. When I gazed at my kids, I felt the pang of loss even more – I could never look at them again and feel like a complete family. There was that what-if.

Twins.

And so I bombarded God with my confused and angry why’s. Why give and then take away? Why was this part of the journey necessary? Why?

This would dominate my prayer time for the next few days, until I just veered off from praying altogether.

Last night I had Sharedmeal with my small group from community. It was a venue where we all broke bread together and shared God’s Word.

It was last night when I realized something about myself – that I was always attached to the answer.

It began to make sense.

I realized that I have very low EQ as far as waiting for the answer is concerned.

I would read wikipedia to check how a popular TV series would unravel. I would fight myself from doing the same thing with fiction. I absolutely hate and would have no patience on what I call “irrational traffic” – traffic jams which just had no explanation.

It was also precisely why I always asked “why.”

I would always recount the difficult things which have happened in my life and then quickly identify the bigger reason why God allowed those difficult things. This gave me a strong sense of closure and satisfaction.

I concluded that my faith was heavily tied onto the answer. When a difficult thing would happen to me, I would remain faithful because I know that soon, God will provide an answer.

I realize now though, that in some instances, no answer would be given. Sometimes, I just would never understand why.

For my faith to grow, I would have to let go of this attachment. I would have to accept that this Great God of ours has every right to give and to take away, that there is nothing that is truly mine, that in greater scheme of things, nothing else truly matters except for loving and following Him.

Even if it hurts. Even if it doesn’t make any sense.

I don’t know why I’m sharing this here, in a startup blog, of all places.

Perhaps it is to release. Perhaps a part of it is. (thank you then for listening)

But the bigger reason really is to just to express that life is so much more than startups and innovation and the bottom line. (and I think you know how passionate I am about those topics)

Life is about your parents and your relationship with them. It is about your kids and how much time you have for them. It is about being true to yourself. It is about the simple joys. It is about seeing the beauty of the world despite frustration and problems. It is about being there for a friend. It is about not merely IF you are making money but HOW you are doing it. It is about how you treat the people around you, especially those below you. It is about pain and how you grow from it (which is why you should always be dubious with “abundance” mongers) It is about getting up.

Most of all, life is all about filling that gaping emptiness we feel in our chests. We try filling it with money, romance, friends, booze, and even work. Sooner or later though, the hole proves too big to fill, doesn’t it?

We need to fill it with God. Only then would things be complete.

The biggest leap isn’t the great startup leap.

It’s still the leap of Faith.

On Power, Spiritual Leaders, Achieving the Impossible, and Other Random Motivational Thoughts

January 23, 2013

This is my third attempt at writing a blogpost today.

Currently, I’m experiencing that same feeling that I get when I’m being moved to write. The experience in which the spirit takes over and I am provoked to let go of inhibition because I’m being called to send a message.

I’m not sure what I’m being called to say, but here it goes:

Money will not give you power. Respect and humility in your work will go a long way

Leaders are spiritual. Something greater than their idea of self is at work. If we accept the call, then we must lead unafraid of what the world thinks

If we are trying to change things in the world, something in it apparently isn’t working

Never let the world define you

If you are truly passionate about a cause, people will join you

Don’t ever be afraid to take help from someone that you trust

Don’t ever be afraid to lend a hand when you are called to do

Logic and sense will only take you so far, but the spirit will carry you through

Trust in the Lord

The impossible can be accomplished if you fully open your mind and surrender your self

A courageous heart will move you to do things only ever dreamed of

Stay grounded

3) Build Free Agent Skills

4) Build a Brand

5) Get away from the herd

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COMPASS

ANCHOR

PROPELLER

The Grand Design

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My So-called Career Development

Finding My Vocation

Career versus Vocation

My social media spat

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