FORT DEL PILAR, Philippines—Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr. has dedicated 47 years of his life to public service—17 in the military and 30 in foreign service. How did he last that long in his chosen path? Now that he is at the “sunset” of his career, Paynor gives this advice: Be relevant.
“In order to be relevant, in my particular case, 47 years of gov’t service—17 in the military, 30 years in the foreign service, and now two as a retired foreign service officer—49 years, how can you be relevant in 49 years? How can you cadets be relevant from the day you graduate, up to the time you retire when you are 56 years old? How can you alumni be relevant even now as you stand there?” he told the 1,913 alumni and 484 cadets at Borromeo Field during the annual Philippine Military Academy alumni homecoming.
The guest of honor and speaker at the homecoming, Paynor is a member of PMA Class of 1971, an undersecretary of the Office of the President, and a director general of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation National Organizing Council in 2015.
He left the military service as a lieutenant colonel in 1983 and has since served in various positions in the government.
To become relevant, Paynor said alumni and cadets should “improve, forget, and leave” themselves.
“When I say choose to improve yourself, you continue to read and read and be current in this day and age when the digital age imposes on us to be multi-functioning individuals. Second, you have to choose to be able to articulate yourself in every way. By this, I mean that, at some point, we should forget cadet lingo,” he said.
“Third, develop strategic thinking. We cannot develop strategic thinking when all we do when we come to reunions like this is to discuss and to relieve plebe year. I don’t say that it’s wrong, it’s in fact one of the best things that we could do. Or perhaps part of the time we can discuss what West Philippine Sea is all about. Let us discuss forward deployment of troops, let us discuss current events and happenings and let us express our opinions and respect the opinions of others.”
He urged the audience to think of the big picture. “Think of the big picture always. Think out of the box. Always find solutions to problems that you find daunting. Be a solution looking for problems to solve to the best you can, 100 percent every single time, without waiting to be recognized. Because being recognized is part of what we call PR. Public relations is actually 90 percent doing good, and 10 percent talking about it. So whoever talks 90 percent and does only 10 percent, then the guy is not doing what he’s supposed to do,” he said.
Don’t be afraid to lose your job, Paynor said. “Isn’t this an oxymoron? Improve yourself then forget yourself? Forgetting yourself, by this, I mean do not be afraid to lose your job. Because you will do a good job of it. In other words, when you are asked to do something, you do it to the best of your ability, that’s part of improving yourself, when you are there doing it, you do it with an objective mind and not your vested interest.
“By that, you will develop an attitude, where you do not just give lip service. Love your country, love your country not because it’s the only one you’ve got … In your heart of hearts, this is the one and only country that you know of. Love your country, because there is a direct correlation between corruption and lack of patriotism, the lack of love of country. You want to do anything for your sole vested interest. You forget yourself, think of your country, think of the others.
Lastly, decide what legacy you want to leave. “Decide on what legacy in life, what footprint you want to leave behind. Decide what you want to be known after you shall have gone. Leave yourself. And this is something that everyone of you can decide on,” he said.
“Improve yourself, forget yourself, leave something of yourself behind.
“I am now at the sunset of my professional career, I think I have done all three. You cadets, you have everything in front of you. You just stand up to the challenge. Will you remember that on this day, I said, improve yourself, forget yourself, leave yourself? To the alumni who are here, will you accept the challenge of being relevant? I guess the answer is up to you,” Paynor said as he concluded his speech. RC