The Filipinos are taking the Middle East by storm, with a lot of professionals achieving various levels of success in different career fields.
Another one, however, is about to steal the spotlight—this time at the 12th edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. His name? None other than Jonathan Yabut.
Yabut is a multi-awarded marketer and seasoned HR professional, with over 12 years of experience in Southeast Asia. He uplifted the Filipino image on a global scale, having consulted Fortune 500 companies, spoken for over 500 organizations around the world, and published best-selling motivational books. He also has his own marketing and talent consultancy company called JYCV (Jonathan Yabut Consultancy Ventures), which he founded after he won the first season of The Apprentice Asia, a hit reality TV show aired on AXN across 15 countries. For winning the show, he served for 1 year as Chief of Staff of AirAsia reporting directly to Malaysian business mogul, Tony Fernandes based in Kuala Lumpur.
Dubbed as “Asia’s Millennial Guru,” Yabut is the perfect representation of global acclaim.
He has proven just how extensive his influence can be by being featured in the Emirates Literature Festival, a feat considered beyond big deal. The event brings together more than 130 of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, and doers—invited to tackle stories and discussions about motivation and education, as well as love for reading and writing.
As one of the speakers and valued guests at the event, Yabut will be distinguished alongside other well-known personalities like Mitch Albom, Jonathan Phillips, and Christopher Lloyd—reflecting just how much of an achiever he is in his field.
“I’m very excited because this is one of the biggest events in the Middle East. I visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi so far because I’ve had some clients there. This is a bigger one, though, because it exposes me to a bigger audience,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Filipino Times.
Get the grit
As one of the world’s widest and youngest Asian speakers, Yabut has successfully captured the millennial audience with his relatable talks and practical tips that can easily be applied by anyone. This is also the reason he is recognized as one of LinkedIn’s Top Asian Influencers in career management.
Yabut, however, told The Filipino Times, that whatever he has achieved, other Filipinos can also get—you just need to get the right amount of grit.
“Grit is a non-intellectual psychological trait that says even if you fail so many times, you get to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again. It’s when you think that that failure is not the opposite of success, but is a necessary condition for success to happen. When I won the Apprentice Asia, for example, I wasn’t the most experienced guy, neither was I the smartest, but I was the grittiest. I was the one who wanted it so bad. I wanted to prove to the rest of the world that a Filipino can make it big in the international arena. It’s the very reason I joined the show and that motivated me to end the game as the winner,” he said.
As to how he gets to move forward and maintain the grit, Yabut only has four words: eyes on the prize.
“For all the Filipinos who aspire to achieve further, always channel motivation from the people that you love, your goals, and your dreams. One technical way to psychologically reminder is to have visual reminders, like your phone, your list, your visual board inside your room. When these are always attached to you, it gives you a fresh energy,” he said.
What to expect from his workshops at Emirates LitFest
Yabut will conduct four workshops and talks at the Emirates Literature Festival, which will focus on boosting confidence, work productivity, the importance of grit, as well as finding your life’s purpose.
But while there are so many motivational speakers around who can talk about the same topics, Yabut promises sessions that can provide practical tips and not just dense motivational talks.
“I am not a big fan of motivational speakers who keep on telling you to grab your dreams. You can get these things from the internet. But they always leave you asking “what do I do next?” so in my talks, I give frameworks, case studies, and practical pieces of advice,” he said.
He added that his talks are based on scientific studies and research, such as Steven Cobby’s Framework of Time Management, Four Frames of Communication Styles, Google Project Oxygen. Such talks, he said, make it easy for his listeners to apply his tips on their own lives and careers.
“At the end of the day, becoming better is all about absorbing the best practices from other organizations or individuals, creating your own style out of it and eventually creating an individual out of you, a better version of you,” he said.
Yabut also said that guests can expect to learn about this important Japanese concept from his talk. The art of Ikigai is the act of finding your purpose—one that makes your life and your soul full.
Jonathan Yabut may be one of the most accomplished Filipinos in the international arena, but it’s not his public achievements that make him a real success—it’s how he has touched lives with his motivational talks about how to love your life and the people around you. After all, he believes that “when you’re on your deathbed breathing your last breaths, you don’t get to count your wealth you get to count the amount of people you’ve touched and the amount of people you’ve made happy.”
