The Seven Seeds

Lexcode’s office in Seoul has just made it to the top spot in Korea’s language translation and interpretation industry with their 2017 revenue. To our delight, Lexcode Philippines has reported record-breaking sales after two years of setback.

The 7Cs that spell who wins in Lexcode are the tenets by which its founder, Young Ham, operates the business:

  1. Not a sprinter but a marathoner—Consistency

  2. Not someone who avoids failure, but someone who challenges failure—Courage

  3. Someone who knows what to accomplish, not how to show it—Contents

  4. Someone who cares for others and sacrifices himself/herself—Caring

  5. Someone with knowledge, abilities, and skills—Competence

  6. Someone who is a positive team player that connects with others—Communication

  7. Someone who knows where to go and what to shed—Clear Vision

My takeaway from these “seeds” of values for the New Year 2018 can be summarized into the 7Cs that deserve credit and praise for everything that Lexcode is and can still be.

CEO

Almost eight years have passed since Lexcode was established in the Philippines. Every year thereafter, whenever a new year kicks off, I feel a deep sense of overwhelming gratitude to Young. (That is what he prefers to be called, but his first few employees kept calling him “sir” until he stopped correcting them.) Being the “C”—candor—that gives our company its distinct character, we yearn for his visits whenever he is developing yet another disruptive and organizationally invasive innovation. Mabuhay ka, Young!

COLLEAGUES

I am grateful to each Lexcodian whom I have worked with from day one. There has been uprooting and replanting, only to test the forest and make it stronger than any single tree. Our humble and handpicked Lexcode PH family has multiplied from 3 to 21. We have grown slowly but steadily, mostly with senior staff members who have been with us for five years and more. Thus, as we like to say in our company videos: Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat!

CLIENTS

The beginning of things is usually the hardest. The start of life, both during pregnancy and childbirth, is the toughest moment for both mother and child. The growing years of a person, a family, a project, or a company, are hardest for those accountable for their foundation. Lexcode’s clients are not easy to get by because trust is not easy to gain. The measure of our quality service is in the professionalism and patience we extend even to the most demanding customer. A company that is truly thankful for those who keep it in business must care for its clients as it cares for its employees and vice versa.

CRISES

Internally and externally, as an individual and as a team, we encounter times of hardship that shake us to the point of quitting. I appreciate the various forms of trials that came Lexcode’s way. There are more to come and conquer. However, after everything that the company has been through, Lexcodians know better than to surrender. We counter challenges, be it in sales or ourselves, by seeing our progress through our traditional daily achievement logs and monthly reports. Self-imposed and society-set deadlines ensure that we see such things through the end—that we dream, create, labor, deliver, sustain, survive, and repeat.

CHANCES

My own small family has been crazy beautiful for 16 months and counting. There is no romanticizing a bustling household, but it is what keeps me inspired every day. One day, I got the chance to say that I must change my life and raise it to a level that I think will make me happy, and boom! I went with the flow and settled down. The point is, there might be barriers to opportunities that can make us feel more alive, sure. However, given the situation that puts us in a more privileged position than the majority of the world’s population, the option to decide to live meaningfully is ours. In and out of our homes, offices, or heads, we can laugh amid the stress and love amid the hate.

CORE

When we explain what Lexcode is to our clients, we always talk about our core first. Thankfully, since the company started, Young has been crystal clear with us about our core business: translation and interpretation. Throughout the years, we have evolved to cater to the needs of our diverse clients and the Philippines’ emerging market. Watch our website for the new additions to our services other than copyediting, desktop publishing, subtitling, transcription, and voice-over. You will see and feel us more and more on social media and in events. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, we know that our central role is to be Asia’s premier provider of professional translation and interpretation.

CODE

If it is in our name, it must be in our blood. When we urge you to “Lexcode it,” we tell ourselves, “Let’s code it,” and we analyze, convert, and give something back to you that you or your audience would understand. Moreover, in recognition of the code—the 7Cs by which we were trained, I remind myself that we owe our sense of belongingness in this company to the value that it brings to our lives. No place is perfect, as no person is holier than anyone. However, I see perfection in our founder’s will to work through what is possibly the hardest to change—mindset (his favorite sermon and debate topic). Filipinos are hard people to break, and that is to his advantage and disadvantage as our equally strong-willed mentor.

There is no price tag to the loyalty that Young has for us that he remained faithful to his promise of literally showing the world to those who would risk joining him. 고맙습니다, Sir! Here’s to planting for another great harvest this 2018!