It’s Not How You Start, It’s How You Finish

Life is a marathon, not a sprint. And as with any marathon, preparation is an important part of the process. So early on in life, we are raised to believe in this formula for success:

Go to school and get good grades

Get into a good university and graduate with honors

Find a job in a big and established company and work your way up the corporate ladder

There are a few exceptional individuals that have stuck to this formula and have found great success. But in reality, a lot fall on the wayside on that long path to success. 

The very first mistake that people make is to believe that if you miss a step, then your chances for success grow smaller. Nothing can be further from the truth. 

I currently run a start-up company, becoming a woman CEO at 37. I did not graduate with honors, spent 6 years in university having shifted courses during my senior year, and graduated with a degree that people thought was a joke. If I believed that my path to success relied solely on those three things, then I would have given up a long time ago and not be where I am now. 

 I would like to clear some misconceptions about some long-held beliefs.

Fallacy: If you don’t get good grades in school, you will not be successful.

There is a growing belief now that the traditional form of education—classroom education—hinders children’s creativity. That instead of encouraging independent thought, it forces young minds to follow rules and memorize concepts, thus, stifling their potential. Finland has long been lauded for its excellent educational system that takes children out of classrooms to learn and grow. These Finnish students cumulatively produce among the highest test scores in the world. 

I did not have a Finnish education, but I have always said that all the important things I needed to learn, I learned from (i) reading books, (ii) watching news and documentaries, and (iii) on the job.

There are so many “book smart” people out there, which is what our educational system recognizes and rewards. But often, it is the street smarts who get through the tough times in life and in business. Having said that, a love for books increases knowledge that you would normally not get from the four walls of a classroom, and lets you live vicariously through other people’s experiences. Documentaries also have the same effect, while watching the news keeps you in touch with what’s happening in the world—informing your decisions if you are in a business based on the market pulse. 

Last but not the least—not unless you practice a vocation that requires specific skills and knowledge (such as engineering, medicine, or law)—what you need to know for work, you learn right on the job. 

Fallacy: Get into a good university and graduate with honors.

Sure, getting into a good university is one sure-fire pass that you can get to a good job because it suggests two things: (i) you were smart enough to pass the stringent entrance exam, and (ii) you were able to get quality education. Traditional recruiters during paper screening like to prioritize graduates from top-tier schools but smarter recruiters have grown to realize that an emerging trend is that some, if not the majority of graduates from these “elite” schools, tend to exhibit a sense of entitlement. 

Smarter recruiters nowadays tend to favor graduates from second-tier universities or those from provincial campuses.  I can say that with a definitive view since based on my experience, our best recruits come from such schools or campuses. They are more hardworking, and more “hungry” to learn. 

Again, graduating with honors does imply that you have put in time and effort to learn, yet it does not always translate into higher work productivity.  This is why apart from interviews, personality and values tests are key items in the recruitment process. 

 Fallacy: Find a job in a big and established company and work your way up the corporate ladder

The popular belief is that big companies are always better. And why not? They have deeper pockets—which suggest better compensation packages, and the prestige that comes with being part of such a company. Yet, not getting your dream job is not the end of your dream world. Sometimes, it is actually better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. 

I have been with companies, big and small, and having made the comparison, it is easier to go up the ranks in a flat organization than in a big one with its bureaucracies and politics. As a woman rising up the ranks, I have come to appreciate the relative uncomplicatedness of a flatter organization that start-up companies tend to have.

 In general, though, whether you follow a process, a plan, or a formula for success, the biggest factor that will ensure you get to the finish line—regardless of the obstacles and situation—is that thing which celebrated author and psychologist Angela Duckworth has come to call “grit.” 

All those years that I have worked, I never really labeled that thing, until now. But looking back on my own journey, my own marathon, during those times when I felt like my hopes are down, it is grit that kept me in check. It kept me running, it did keep me going.  Money, intellect, a good degree—all those things do not matter if one lacks the will power to persevere and keep going.   

Millennials nowadays like to talk about pursuing their passion. They talk about finding what they are passionate about and then one never has to work a day in their life.  Wrong!

To misconstrue passion, which are intense emotions, desire, or enthusiasm, with that kind of “passion” that is driven by direction and commitment is perilously wrong.   

I started with a major in Comparative Literature because books are my passion. But I graduated with a degree in Library Science and ended with a career in Marketing. I did not pursue my passion but eventually became passionate about what I do and have found success and happiness in it. 

Life is not perfect; it likes to throw curveballs and puts you off track. It might not start out the way you wanted it but at the end of the day, it’s what you make of it that matters.  Remember, nobody will remember how you started the race, but they will always remember how you finished. 

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Ms. Lenna Desuasido is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Baytech BPO Corporation

Note: This article was published in The Corporate Magazine’s Issue No. 15