A woman’s journey of endurance

FAMILY VACAY Aside from sharing bottles of wine some nights, the Garcias prefer to journey collectively. This household groufie was taken throughout their journey to Australia in June 2023. From left: Henry, Cecille, Hannah and Czerina Garcia.

Cecille Reyes-Garcia talks about her occupation the best way she talks about working: with an ear-to-ear smile on her face and a visual shine in her eyes.

For the director of operations and site chief at McKinsey International Companies Manila, working is greater than only a morning routine. It’s past pushing by means of the smooth however insistent burn in her muscle mass as her physique wakes up.

These are all secondary to her; working is the place Garcia finds solace and readability when she hits a snag at work.

“Typically you get caught and by simply working exterior, you get to really feel the contemporary air; you’ll be able to suppose issues by means of,” Garcia tells the Inquirer. “I assume the size of time that it lets you run makes you consider a variety of issues.”

Certainly, the mom of two has made a few of the most vital choices and even drafted enterprise plans whereas working.

Garcia is just not ashamed to confess that even some misunderstandings along with her husband, Henry, have been resolved throughout joint working classes.

“By the tip of the run, we’re buddies once more,” she quips.

HARD-EARNED HOARD Medals from numerous working occasions accomplished right here and overseas —Contributed pictures.

Self-discipline and dedication

Her self-discipline and dedication in brushing away the cloud of sleep within the morning for 16 years has put Garcia precisely the place she is now—in pursuit of her sixth World Marathon Majors medal whereas coming into her twelfth yr at McKinsey.

Primarily based in New York, McKinsey at present has greater than 130 workplaces throughout the globe that guarantee their shoppers are matched with the proper folks, expertise and experience.

Standing tall greater than 13,000 kilometers away from its headquarters is the Manila workplace alongside Makati Avenue. That is the place Garcia manages expertise acquisition at their human sources (HR), info expertise, finance departments and even as much as the service line.

As a brand new rent in early 2010, Garcia was initially requested to carve out simply 30 p.c of her time to supervise your complete workplace.She took on the function with out hesitation. Earlier than she knew it, that 30 p.c had swelled to one hundred pc when she was tasked to supervise the expansion of a minimum of 320 colleagues.

Aside from her duties as a mom and spouse—and now, marathon runner—she sees to it that her colleagues and the McKinsey shoppers are supported in numerous methods, whether or not in recruitment or skilled improvement.

“As a location, we’d host the totally different service traces that may help the enterprise,” Garcia says.

“Once I describe my job, I typically say I construct expertise,” she shares. “That’s actually what you do: You mentor folks so you possibly can construct them and be the perfect variations of themselves.”

AT THE TOP OF HER GAME Cecille Reyes-Garcia is chargeable for greater than 320 folks at McKinsey International Companies Manila.

Serendipity

HR was not at all times the trail for her. Fairly frankly, Garcia wished to be a health care provider, however this entailed a variety of prices for her household.

It was her cousin who inspired her to take BS Psychology on the College of the Philippines in Diliman.

Garcia was instructed that pursuing this specific area may take her to paths that may lead her to both turn out to be a health care provider like she wished, or an HR skilled within the company world—one thing that was fully new to her.

As many might already know, she took the second path.

“However I truly didn’t know what it meant,” she says in jest. “I solely realized it meant one thing after I was already learning psychology.”

Lastly understanding HR was fairly serendipitous for Garcia. As a younger kolehiyala again within the early 90s, she took on part-time work to make each ends meet.

“I didn’t understand that in that whole journey, I used to be going to search out pleasure. That pleasure I discovered is in talking with folks, serving to folks,” she remembers.

The younger skilled adopted her path of pleasure, beginning out as HR officer for a Japanese expertise agency earlier than ultimately becoming a member of clothes big Levi Strauss & Co. in 2002 as a studying and improvement supervisor for the Asia-Pacific division.

Thus started her 22-year journey that may take a look at her limits as a lady balancing married life with motherhood, and managing folks with various backgrounds.

Drawback fixing and coaching

At Levi Strauss, she had a seven-year stint main the Philippine HR capabilities as human sources supervisor for each the industrial enterprise and manufacturing plant.

Garcia was a pure at problem-solving and coaching. Whereas some folks could also be anxious to talk to others and take their time attending to know their friends, these have been virtually what she liked most about her job.

“When we now have the prospect to speak [to colleagues], I get to ask a variety of questions. It’s so inspiring whenever you ask these questions they usually get enlightened; they provide you with options on their very own,” she says.

Garcia noticed a variety of her colleagues develop from their first daunting days of apprenticeship to changing into crew leaders that at the moment are capable of confidently communicate up and flourish in different international locations, whether or not in Czech Republic or Costa Rica.

The colleagues she had skilled even communicate with the so-called “Cecille fashion”: eloquent, skilled and at all times backed by knowledge.

However with the enjoyment of the job additionally got here what was essentially the most difficult week of her profession—and one which she vividly remembers.

“I used to be sweating profusely,” Garcia recounts. She was 9 months pregnant along with her second daughter, the now 20-year-old Czerina, when she joined the administration panel and led negotiations with the workers’ union for the renewal of their collective bargaining settlement (CBA).

“As a lady chief, there’s the problem of getting to handle a number of jobs that most individuals are usually not experiencing, whether or not or not it’s little one rearing,” she says.

Her persistence had allowed each the administration and union sides to agree on their new CBA inside three days—a file time for the corporate—and only a few weeks earlier than giving delivery to Czerina.

RUNNERS IN PARIS The Garcias completed the Paris Marathon in 2019. They’ll run in Boston this April, aiming for his or her sixth World Marathon Majors medal. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

All within the household

Maybe it was her sturdy will to know the workers’ wants whereas listening to her physique that in the end influenced her daughters.

Each Czerina and 26-year-old Hannah are pursuing careers which might be difficult but fulfilling. Hannah is now within the remaining months of medical college, whereas Czerina is in her third yr as a political science scholar in UP to later enter regulation college.

Their mom’s athletic persona was likewise handed on to them: Czerina was a gymnast as little one, whereas Hannah nonetheless swims repeatedly and enjoys walks along with her mother and father.

And now that each spouse and husband are on their solution to their sixth world marathon in Boston this April —Garcia’s thirteenth full marathon general— she is most grateful for the fixed help she has acquired from her household.

Hannah and Czerina would shock them on the sidelines of their 42-kilometer race, cheering them on and handing bananas and water to gasoline the ultimate stretch.

Past supporting one another in bodily actions or work, the Garcias additionally see to it that they’ve time to unwind as a household.

”Whether or not a superb or unhealthy affect, we drink collectively,” she says with fun. “Both at residence or exterior, we’d have our beers or wines. It’s a superb factor they (Hannah and Czerina) are usually not ashamed to be seen with us.”

Henry, her faculty sweetheart and fixed companion in athletics and in elevating their youngsters, has at all times supported her decisions and by no means barred her from talking up.

“I significantly preferred that he allowed me to flourish alone .. It’s a coequal family,” Garcia says.

OUT IN THE FIELD Garcia sees working as a solution to clear her thoughts when she hits a snag at work.

Shaping girls leaders

As a lady chief who has had her justifiable share of obstacles in a extremely conventional Filipino tradition, Garcia needs to make sure that younger girls study three essential issues in pursuing their respective careers: construct their confidence, communicate up and make a distinction, and search for mentors who will information them to success.

These have been the identical values instilled into her by her mentors when she got here throughout that acquainted profession bottleneck of not realizing whether or not to observe her present path or go elsewhere.

“It’s actually crucial that you’ve someone that can assist you navigate very difficult complexities on this world,” Garcia emphasizes.

And he or she doesn’t remorse selecting the trail of HR over her earlier dream of changing into a health care provider. In any case, Garcia factors out, this was the place she actually discovered pleasure.

“I don’t suppose I’d do it every other manner. HR has been the center of what I’ve been doing,” Garcia says.