Philosophy of Work
My philosophy of work stems from my three core values: Legacy, Growth, and Knowledge. Throughout your life, from grade school to college to your professional life, you overcome many challenges and successes that help define who you are and the work you produce. For so many, work is looked down upon to get a job, work a 9 to 5, enjoy the weekend, and then repeat until retirement. I have learned from my life path that there is no such thing as a separation between work and your personal life. Your work is the legacy you leave behind. Work will create many challenges and failures for you to overcome and grow. Finally, work is foundational to creating and generating knowledge as you seek to generate more of an understanding of the world around you.
The values of Legacy, Growth, and Power are the foundation of the work I produce, leave behind, and, most importantly, go forward into the future. I choose to work in the Consumer Produced Goods industry because it is aligned with leaving a "Legacy" behind; the work I produce can be looked at admirably from the perspective of a reputable and well-respected brand. This industry is full of challenges from government regulations, acronyms, employee relations, and so much more that have tended to spark curiosity and challenges in the past and have continually challenged me to grow for the present and the future. Finally, the value of knowledge is what wakes me up every morning, a value of knowing that I am going to go out and learn something new today, a strive against complacency. For myself, going out and learning something new, whether a new town, new product, or the personal traits of a new employee, is crucial in keeping the world around me diverse and the work that I produce the best I can do.
The value of a legacy comes from my grandfather, who changed so many lives through his work philosophy. He left a legacy to be remembered, and I am proud to have him as a grandfather. A legacy for myself is what gets you to work the extra hours, to drive in a blizzard to rescue an employee, and especially go above and beyond in the work you leave behind, knowing that you will be remembered for it even after your days have ended. At the end of my life, I want to be remembered for the legacy I have left behind and the work I have completed over the years of my life.
The second core value, growth, is foundational to my work philosophy. It encourages you to challenge yourself and grow from your successes or failures. Growth is my core value, as it has been at the forefront of my life, especially over the past two years. In need of a change, I decided to set out on my adventure, allowing the work to take me to wherever it will; being in PepsiCo's LDP program brought me to living in three different states (New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah) in the past three years, eliminating the work and personal separation. I worked with people from various backgrounds, cultures, and new places that I had never experienced until I was a resident of those states. Working with others close to twice your age, overcoming challenges and excessive hours, only to fail at certain times. However, it is not the failure that defines your work; what you take from that failure and its growth makes it foundational. Admitting to a failure and growing from it is vital to leave a legacy; it defines growth and, most importantly, makes you proud of your work. Over the years, I've learned a new aspect of my life that will continue to help me strive for success through my growth but not stray me away from the potential failure it may cause in the short term.
The third core value pivotal to my philosophy of work is knowledge. This core value that I emulate in my work philosophy stems from the power that knowledge represents itself upon. Knowledge in work keeps you up at night during your personal time searching for ways to help out your employees; it also gets people excited to learn something new in the work you produce the next day. Working in the CPG industry at PepsiCo, you are learning something new every day, which entails that the value of knowledge is not necessarily knowing everything; it's the need to learn new things and share that knowledge in your work. The value of knowledge and the striving for it is something I have exemplified in my work in the past and is a value that I strive to possess in the work I perform in the present and future.
Work for myself must involve these three core values, as it is pivotal for me to enjoy the work I produce daily. I need to learn new things in my work to find a solution, grow from the work and the challenges it produces, and finally, have the drive to leave a legacy behind in the work I produce for others to see. The typical idea of going through the week mindlessly performing tasks is not one for me, and nevertheless, it is different from what is considered good work. Unlike many, I strive away from complacency, setting a course on finding and gathering as much knowledge of the world and work around, growing with every obstacle I encounter, and most importantly, leaving a legacy behind after my years are behind me.