"Performance speaks for itself."
"Performance speaks for itself."
A person’s name does not appear in his or her personal balance sheet, whether as an asset or a liability, but it should. An attractive name can be a plus factor for a person’s life and career; a badly chosen name can operate as a detrimental factor.
This is particularly true of individuals who lead public lives, whether in the private sector—as businessmen or professionals—or in the government. Government officials are constantly under pressure to deliver good performance; some perform very well – at times exceedingly well—but others are clearly incapable of doing what is expected of them.
For any government official— especially those with high profiles—it always helps to have an impressive-sounding name. A government official who the public considers a star performer is doubly blessed when he or she has an impressive-sounding name. A name usually sounds impressive when it is made up of a long first name and a long surname or has more than one first name; an example of the first is the name Demosthenes Penetrante and an example of the second is Earl Patrick Dolormente. In contrast, an impressive-sounding name will not save a non-performing official, and the mellifluous sound of his name will do nothing to improve the nation’s assessment of his performance.
It is understandable if a government official’s impressive-sounding name is the one given him by his parents at birth; there’s nothing he can do about that. But some government officials appear to be trying to impress by lengthening their names, throwing in one or two additional first names on their mother’s maiden family names. The latter situation is clearly explained by the desire to sound impressive.
A high-ranking government official whose name I found impressive was the late Cayetano Paderanga Jr., who in his latter days was Director-General of NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority). The present-day official whose names I find impressive-sounding include Agnes Devanadera, chairperson of the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) and double-first-names Karl Kendrick Chua, the current NEDA chief, Ms. Devanadera is not inclined to flaunt her second Christian name.
A businessman whose name is impressive-sounding is Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala; Zobel de Ayala is the complete family name. Another is Sergio Ortiz Luis; Mr. Luis simply spelled out his mother’s maiden family name.
Does a high-profile government official or businessman need an impressive-sounding name to be able to impress? The answer is No. Former Secretary of Finance Cesar Virata is a very impressive person and he has a very short name. A performance speaks for itself.