Category Archives: Cultural

What is the Culture and Nature of a Filipina Wife?

Wondering what it would be like to be married to a beautiful Filipina?

There is no escaping the exotic beauty of a Filipina. How confusing it is though that on the “outside”, the Philippines appears to be on one of the most Westernized countries in Asia. English is prevalent everywhere you go, and most all signs are in English. Filipinos have taken to the Western culture voraciously, in dress, slang, fast-food, movies and music, and so forth.

Yet, underneath this veneer lies an Asian soul. Filipinos share many of the same values and attitudes with other Asians. If you fail to realize the façade of the English language, and the Filipina lady will act, react and think like a Westerner, you will commit many social and personal relationship blunders that could have long lasting effect. What specifically are some of the differences in the culture and nature of a Filipina wife?

1. The Filipina has been taught since childhood to be faithful, sincere, grateful and obedient. Culturally, from her mother, her aunties and from the church she has been instructed in the skills and duties to please a man. Instinctively she knows how to keep him content and how to create a comfortable atmosphere in the home. Strongly ingrained in their being is the respect for their parents as being most sacred.

2. A Filipina wife understands that in a family, as in any living organism, two heads attached to the body creates a monster. They therefore cherish and heavily value a man who leads. They are very comfortable following and allowing the husband to make the final decisions. They realize that at the end of the day, after all discussion has been had regarding a decision, it is the man’s responsibility to lead, and their responsibility to follow.

3. The Filipina is still very conservative. She knows that she must be faithful and respective to her husband. She will never have another man in her life while she is married.

4. In a dispute situation, the Filipina will go out of her way to avoid any direct confrontation. She will not “get in your face”; rather, she will hide her feelings behind what appears to be a genuinely friendly smile, or she will simply go silent on you. She will hold inside her true thoughts and feelings. The downside of all this is that anger builds up, and then she will respond at a time and place, and in a manner, a Westerner would never expect. The one thing above all to remember is that a Filipina, at the end of the day, is Asian and is a very sensitive lady.

5. The Filipina wife emphasizes a smooth relationship with her husband. Harmony at all times is her goal, and loss of face must be avoided at all times.

6. Yes, the Filipina is very exotic. She has a seductive quality that captivates and hypnotized the Western man’s eye. I fell in love with my Filipina wife the first moment I laid eyes on her, and I love her more today than I did 20 years ago. It is an amazing experience.

Intentionally Creating Problems Creates an Innovative Culture

Is innovation the result of long arduous trials and errors? Or is it a practice, which can be divided into parts and learned? Does your company know how to effectively position its innovations and differentiation in the marketplace in order to drive sales and increase market share?

Rocking the Boat

Good managers solve problems. However, great leaders create problems and then empower others in their organization to solve them. Creating worthy problems leads directly to innovation.

Yet, deliberately creating problems is counterintuitive. We’re wired to avoid problems, even before we try to solve them. Culturally we’re trained to get rid of problems. Businesses are structured to reward managers for their problem-solving skills. At the same time, the keys to the executive suite are not available to managers who only solve problems. Does your organization have structures in place to reward people who create problems? What could happen when you don’t have those structures?

More than a century ago, Henry Ford built an innovative company to solve a problem he created: make it possible for every American household to own an affordable automobile. He solved the problem by creating the assembly line. The people of Ford Motor Company changed the world. Except, the company didn’t look ahead, didn’t pose new problems, didn’t continue innovating. When GM introduced style and color in its cars, Ford lost market share to this new innovator.

In 1979, Sony brilliantly created the personal audio market with the Walkman. The company created a problem: how to develop a device that will allow individuals to privately listen to music anywhere, anytime. Today, however, Apple dominates the digital personal audio market with 78 percent market share in the U.S.

Signs that Your Company is Lacking an Innovative Culture

How can you tell if your company is lacking an innovative culture?

  • Your CEO spends more than 10% of his/her time solving problems.
  • Your company is content with the status quo. Being content leaves you vulnerable to competitors who can disrupt your business model. Without risk, innovation becomes happenstance.
  • Your company’s top line is growing while your bottom line is shrinking. Your products or services have become a commodity. There is nothing to differentiate you from your competitors. This is an ideal time to create a problem for your organization.
  • Employees are afraid of failure. A learning and innovative culture embraces failure; a project that fails can still be valuable to the company’s larger goals. Employees should be encouraged to create problems themselves.
  • Management is disconnected from the employees in terms of innovative ideas that move the company forward. Oftentimes, companies make the mistake of going it alone – relying on management and/or research and development in a silo to come up with innovative and creative ideas as opposed to engaging the brainpower of employees throughout the organization.
  • Your company is successful.

How to Create an Innovative Culture

Creating an innovative culture incorporates three very important approaches:

  1. Lay out the problem clearly, with a definite objective.
  2. Make sure people have the tools they need to solve the problem you or your CEO created.
  3. Get out of the employees’ way as they solve it. Empower them to innovate.

Jack Welch, when taking over as General Electric’s CEO, declared that every division must rank No. 1 or No. 2 in its industry – or be sold. Welch dared to imagine a future dramatically different from the past. This was no “cut costs by 3 percent” memo; this was a new vision, which could only be fulfilled by committed people with a new perspective on their business units and the possibilities.

The problem Welch created was the catalyst for a quantum leap, which disrupted complacency. Nevertheless, creating problems is counterintuitive. What must happen to ensure buy-in for a vision that appears to be a problem? It’s imperative that organizations design a culture that embraces a new mindset toward problems. In addition, Welch’s problem gave people in the corporation a greater purpose. He didn’t demand that people work harder and do better. He gave them an objective, which didn’t require him to micro manage. Individuals were responsible for creating goals for which they could claim ownership.

When a leader declares a future that doesn’t exist, it’s inherently a problem. It breaks from the past; it may demand new skills and competencies. When the leader is standing for something bigger than the problem, however, that stand becomes the value system of the organization. The value system inspires and motivates people to innovate. When people are empowered to be innovative, their commitment increases; they have a chance to take new actions and be proud of their accomplishments. Indeed, when people are allowed to create problems themselves, cost efficiencies, new products, and new services are created.

When problems are viewed from another perspective, it becomes fairly obvious that possess opportunities. New opportunities require innovation. Innovation is a solution looking for a problem to solve. What problems does your organization solve?

Also, problems can give your organization a new future. It can bring purpose and values. It can be the catalyst for innovation. And it can differentiate you. What is your problem creation strategy?

Strategically Positioning Your Company

Once you have created a truly innovative culture it’s important that you, as a leader, facilitate a communication structure and strategically position your company as an innovator in the marketplace. You’ve heard that old saying, “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one to hear it, did it make a sound?” The same is true for companies and their marketing or lack of marketing initiatives. If your company is highly innovative, but prospects and customers don’t know it, do your innovations exist?

It’s critical that companies understand how to position or reposition themselves in their industry. This involves developing a positioning statement that clearly differentiates your company from competitors, underscores your company’s strengths and explains how your company and its products/services provide a solution to a problem. An effective positioning statement can also provide your company with a thought leadership platform.

What’s your elevator speech? In other words, if you have 15 seconds to tell an important prospect what your company does and how it differentiates itself, can you? If not, you need a unique positioning statement that is articulated by everyone in the company – from the CEO to the receptionist.

A positioning statement is not a tag line; it’s a sentence or two that establishes your leadership position in your industry. It also provides direction for the company and keeps everyone focused toward a common goal. And, it’s important that it rings true with all constituents.

Risk and Reward

You can’t have reward without risk And, nothing holds greater risks – and rewards – as creating problems in order to create new products and markets and become a recognized leader in your field.

Being complacent and accepting the status quo is a greater risk than taking a risk.

Those who are great leaders create both problems and the innovative culture to develop solutions to those challenges. And… through effective positioning and a smart, strategic communications plan, they make sure their industry, shareholders, customers and prospects hear it loud and clear.