Let me tell you a story...
TALAN is the concept that society should aspire to. A decent, respectable and honest humanity. A society in which governments seek efficiency and the common good over personal greed. A society in which organizations offer adequate conditions and employee development which in turn will yield greater productivity and company success. A society where humans seek, with their actions, not only their personal advancement but everyone's wellbeing. TALAN is the product of this story. All the experience and knowledge at the service of building an equitable-and-fair social model.
A TALAN society.
The human being is an individualization of the universal mind. It occupies a physical body and it moves thanks to the spark and energy of the spirit. This story focuses on one of the millions of individualizations that inhabit this planet. The soap opera name given to him is Francisco Alejandro Vargas Castañeda. He was born in Mexico City on January 26, 1978. His time in the city was short, because at the age of two he moved to Puebla where he lived a happy and warm childhood. At age 17, his life led him to migrate to the United States; specifically, to Sacramento, CA.
There, he finished his high school studies while working through the cultural shock. But life involves changes, and being aware of this, he knew how to take advantage of the opportunity and completed his university studies. He obtained a Bachelor's of Arts in Economics and a minor in Applied Mathematics. A couple of semesters before graduation, he landed his first full-time job in a Sacramento City government educational program for underprivileged schools. He ascended the ranks in the municipal hierarchy through positions such as Campus Director, Program Coordinator and Regional Director.
It was in this experience that Alejandro was introduced to the world of education and human development. In the educational part, he received training in design of study plans, organization and implementation of activities, group and behavioral management, among others. He was able to experience and understand, firsthand, the American educational system and its elements. At that time, currents of thought appeared on the best practices for supporting human development. One of these currents is "Youth Development" where five essential pillars are promoted in the formation of youth: Safety (physical and emotional), relationship building, student participation, community participation and skill development. This philosophy completely changed his perception of education, understanding that, in order to educate, the foundations must be first laid in order to involve the individual in the process.
In his 12-year professional career with the City of Sacramento, Alejandro ventured into the field of teaching and training. First, developing trainings to improve relationships between program participants and their group leaders. By linking the school's teachers with program staff, he was able to develop an optimized and strengthen program model. The result was that the number of registered students doubled in one year. It was this achievement that led him to the position of Coordinator in which he was responsible for the hiring, placement, training and follow-up of group leaders. His training skills improved over time to the extent that he was invited to participate as a speaker in a training program for all city staff on the principles of cultural diversity. In this period he also completed two training programs: one in leadership, and another in management and supervision.
However, during all this time, Alejandro questioned whether life was really about what "society" recommended. That entity that does not exist physically, yet it governs our lives in a significant way. Interestingly, one book changed everything. A friend lent him the book "The Alchemist" where the concept of the "Personal Legend" is presented. A Personal Legend is the divine design that is imprinted in the spirit of each person. It is the path that leads to attaining the knowledge a person comes to acquire in his lifetime. The path to the Personal Legend opens at certain moments in life, and it is up to us whether we allow its manifestation or not. For most of us, as we grow older, a mysterious force convinces us that it is impossible to reach. Feeling persuaded by this force, Alejandro decided to leave everything to go in search of his own Personal Legend.
17 years after arriving in the United States, Alejandro quit his job; sold his possessions; said goodbye to his family and friends and returned to Mexico.
The Alchemist affirms that once a person decides to search for his personal legend, the entire universe conspires in his favor. Along the way, the soul of the planet will provide signs (omens) to show the path of least resistance, although it is important for the person to train himself to recognize and follow them. This is how the omens led Alejandro to start his career as a teacher at the Cumbres y Alpes Institute in Querétaro. Immediately, Alejandro fell in love with teaching. He continued his journey through schools such as UVM, Prepa UCO, and Universidad Anáhuac. Through these opportunities Alejandro developed a philosophy about education where the student must be at the center of all planning. Although his years in teaching were unforgettable, life took a turn and presented him with the opportunity to experience work in the municipal public sector.
In his first approach to public service in Mexico, Alejandro was entrusted with the task of evaluating the objectives, indicators and results of all the secretariats of the municipality. It was where he delved into the concept of "performance-based budgeting" a current of thought where the public administration must manage through the achievement, or not, of previously-established goals. Public resources are assigned based on the programs and inputs required to achieve the objective. Once programs are executed, performance is evaluated and the budget is then adjusted based on results obtained. During this time, he became familiar with municipal public management and its shortcomings. After a year and a half in office, Alejandro concluded that public service, in its current state, is not compatible with his idea of what a government should be.
Pausing and reflecting on his Personal Legend, Alejandro realized that he had spent a lot of time and effort cultivating his mind and body, in the process he neglected cultivating the spirit. He then decided to go on a sabbatical to seriously invest in learning about the spirit and the divinity. Books, experiences and people were sent his way to take him on the path to self-recognition. Little by little the ultimate truth about the universe was revealed to him. It postulates that everything that exists is part of the divinity, and, therefore, contains part of its creative essence. However, the truth is overshadowed by how human society has evolved. Our governmental, educational and economic institutions have forgotten that the main objective was the the entire planet's common good. In return, we have fostered ideologies and institutions that privilege individualism over the common good. And although this fact is absurd, we are too immersed to realize it.
Thus TALAN was born.