It was about the 2nd Quarter of 2017. A new leader of our Globe Enterprise Group was onboarding. He is a Fil-American by the name of Peter Maquera.  

First thought bubble - "MUY GWAPO! A Richard Gomez!"

Second thought bubble - nosebleed having to speak in straight English all the time. Haha! 

It happens to be his Birthday [on Monday, April 27]. I’m not one to disclose openly a person’s real age because that would be rude. But here’s one thing I’ll tell you – he is older than you think. Haha!

My workspace in the office is near his. Every morning at around 8am, he comes over and we chat. He convinces me to get in shape and lose weight. In my mind I say, “easy for you to say, you’re a triathlete.” LOL. He shares his philosophies and beliefs in work and in life. I listen and sometimes banter with some conflicting views. He laughs. I laugh. He moves on to the next person in the next workspace. He’s very personable. He is kind and proper all the time. And he IS actually funny.

We have the same province. He stayed in Laoag, Ilocos Norte until he was four years old. Then, his brothers and Mom migrated to the US. He keeps on calling me “Cuz” because we came from the same "tribe".

In his first year at the Globe Enterprise Group (EG), he had only been there for six months, I asked him what his motto was for EG. He answered: “All in.” He contextualized it even further to say that he breathes, lives, speaks, thinks, and bleeds EG. In everything, we should all be "all in", he said. 

In 2017, we barely hit our targets for the group. We were off a few millions. Then came his 2nd year as Head, 2018. We finally hit our targets again after two straight years of losses! He transformed our group. We became agile. We created Scrum Teams and Scrum Masters. We had Agile Trainings. We had daily team huddles. We practiced Rockefeller Habits. We started meaningful conversations with each other in the group about the business. We became digital. We became automated. We became technically savvy. We all instilled a GM-mindset. We gave importance to the impact of our work to business growth and business opportunities. We became more proactive. We became more resourceful. We were on our toes. We became strategic. We became more creative. 

Finally, in 2019, we EXCEEDED our targets for the group. We had transformed. Peter transformed us.

And now, he is proactively advocating servant leadership. 

He is like a Father to me or a close uncle. And he cares.

On a more personal note, Peter is very cultured. He loves art in the form of paintings. For sports, he has done probably all kinds: Golf, Swimming, Running, Cycling, etc. He loves traveling. He loves watching Tennis as a sport. He also takes care of his plants. He’s a planter. Haha! I guess it calms him. He has a green thumb. He has one child, a daughter, who lives in New York. His Mom used to be the professor of my Mom in College. My Mom calls his Mom "Ma’am". His Mom is a lovely, kind, and strong woman who is also like my Mom with multiple Facebook accounts because they keep on forgetting their passwords! Hahaha! He is the third child among four siblings of all boys. And lastly, he has a pleasant, pretty, young-looking, and lovely wife, Tess.

He loves his TWG coffee and tea. He has pure class and breeding. I love him, like a father.

On his special day, I wish nothing but more blessings for him and his family. I pray that everyone sees him through my eyes. He is the best. He imparts wisdom and shares his knowledge and views. He is a good person. He is rational. He is reasonable. He is just.

On your birthday, Peter, may your day be filled with love, joy, and peace of mind. Thank you for everything, and do know that I will always have your back as you have ours. 

And as Kobe Bryant said, “If you’re going to be a leader, you’re not going to please everybody. You gotta hold people accountable, even if you have that moment of being uncomfortable.” And that’s Peter... a leader who holds people accountable, and he is not bothered when he gets uncomfortable. He is always up for a challenge. He has no excuses.

HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY, PETER MAQUERA! May you have many, many, MANY more birthdays to come! Cheers!

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