“Why are you late”

#InternationalWomensMonth #BreakTheBias #GenderEqualityasaGlobalPriority #BakitNgayonKaLang

#ONETeam #SNAPS #SageandNotableAdvisesfromPatrickSalazar

During a solution defense onsite, both C-level clients were very strict, does not smile and they want to finish the meeting and go.

Both women asked us to pause as they wrote on their checklist. It was like having a very loud silence every time that happens. We all politely waited for them to say “go ahead”.

After our tour to our Recruitment Center at the ground floor, we passed by the lobby where there was a Singing Competition in celebration of International Women’s Month. The Site HR Manager jhoifully went up the stage and she said something like..

Ladies, we are 60+% female in the site of 2199 Associates. We are able to provide financially for our families and do not have to work outside our Province to find world-class jobs. As we celebrate International Women’s Day, I would like to say 'thank you' to the man who helped bring jobs to our Province. He is here right now and he is Patrick Salazar. Patrick can you say a few words please..

I blushed and didn’t know what to do coz I was hosting a client visit. My client said.. “go ahead”. So I went up the stage and talked about how I appreciate the women in my life from my grand mother, my gorgeous wife Prudence, my sister, my 3 daughters and a lot of amazing female friends and fellow-Associate. Then, the crowd started to cheer “sample! sample!” which meant I need to sing.

My client shouted “GO AHEAD!” I sang a popular song and everyone sang with me. After singing, everyone was thanking me and shaking my hands as I walked back to my clients.

When we got back to the Boardroom our clients said “I did not know you had this impact to the people and especially to women in this Site”. The rest of the meeting became fun and engaging as we talked about the Associates and how we grew the Site.

*About the photo

That was me singing during the actual client visit. I sang the popular song at the time “Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang” composed and sang by Ogie Alcasid. I fondly told my clients the direct translation to English of the title is “Why are you late” and then explained the true meaning of the entire song and they fell in love with the song.

*3 Months Later

My clients asked me to sing during the video conference when they awarded us the contract.

I was happy to see the COO explain to her C-level colleagues that they will ask me to sing a Filipino song which when directly translated to English is “Why Are You Late” and then she explained what the love song really meant.

Simultaneously, the senior executives on my side were asking in the chat tool “What is happening? Why is Patrick signing?”