Leadership

"When I was 25 years old, I started becoming a boss of my own with 2 brand managers reporting to me. I sent and replied to emails fast. I executed projects on time and within the allotted budget. I hit my sales target every year. I made money for the company. People praised me. I was your typical model employee.

Any competitive worker like me expected to be promoted EVERY year. And so when another 12 months passed, I was expecting my name to be announced in the CEO’s email about promotions. For the first time, my name wasn’t in it.

I clearly remember dashing to my boss’s cubicle. “You asked me to finish projects 1, 2, and 3. And I did with flying colors. Why isn’t my name there?” I was fuming with anger and confusion.

“Jonathan.” my boss calmed me down. “Remember that day when you brilliantly aced a presentation to the CEO and I congratulated you for it? I asked you out for dinner and to tag along anyone you liked in the office. You brought nobody.” She added. “I was expecting you to bring your 2 brand managers who painstakingly helped you prepare those slides. You didn’t. And you never even acknowledged them.”
I started melting with shame. I realized what I was missing all throughout.

“And this is why I’m not promoting you. You are insecure to share the limelight with other people. You refuse to share the stage. You don’t wear a corporate hat. You think it’s all about YOU.” My boss snapped. “You are a brilliant executioner Jonathan, but you have a lot more to learn about leadership. You can’t manage people yet.” She added.

This is probably one of the biggest and most painful lessons I’ve learned in my corporate career about leadership. There is a big difference between being individually good at what you do versus being good in managing people to do what they ought to do. Those who get promoted to leadership and managerial roles possess the latter. When I was younger, I often wondered what kept me from being promoted faster than how I expected to be, and I was missing the value of leadership apparently. At work, I have so many work colleagues who fall into the same trap---excellent individual players, but fail when they start working with teams or leading teams. They're like the folks in the picture. They sail with other travelers using the same ship with the goal of arriving at the same destination, but they insist to set sail on their own. They refuse to share the steering wheel, or let someone steer it once in a while.

Leadership is pullership, not pushership. Leadership is about serving the people who work for you, and not the other way around. Leadership is putting the spotlight on your team, and not on yourself. For all you guys out there aspiring to get promoted this year, make sure you are confident to tick this box. It’s not just about clocking the most time at work, submitting the best report, or hitting the most amount of sales for the company. Rather, social intelligence and the emotional maturity to lead that are essential in promoting people to positions of higher power, and to positions requiring people management. Because in the end, the real role of leaders is to make more leaders out of themselves."

Management Lessons from a 500 rupee note

Prakash Iyer, Managing Director, Kimberly-Clark Lever and Executive Coach shares two important management lessons he learnt from a 500-rupee note. Read on.

It happened some years ago but I can recall the evening like it happened just last week. 
I was in an audience listening to a motivational guru. 
The speaker whipped out his wallet and pulled out a five hundred-rupee note. 
Holding it up, he asked, "Who wants this five hundred rupee note?" 
Lots of hands went up. Including mine. 
A slow chorus began to build as people began to shout "Me!" "Me!" 
I began to wonder who the lucky one would be who the speaker would choose.
And I also secretly wondered - and I am sure others did too - why he would simply give away five hundred rupees. 

Even as the shouts of "I want it" grew louder, I noticed a young woman running down the aisle. 
She ran up onto the stage, went up to the speaker, and grabbed the five hundred-rupee note from his hand.
"Well done, young lady," said the speaker into the microphone. 
"Most of us just wait for good things to happen. That's of no use. You've got to make things happen." 
The speaker's words have stayed with me ever since.

'Simply thinking about doing something is of no use' 

Our lives are like that.
We all see opportunities around us.
We all want the good things. 
But the problem is we don't take action. 
We all want the five hundred rupee notes on offer.
But we don't make the move. We look at it longingly  
Get up, and do something about it.
Don't worry about what other people might think.
Take action. 

Several years later, it was another day, another time. 
And another motivational guru. 
As I watched him pull out a five hundred rupee note and hold it up for all to see, I thought I knew what he was going to do next.
But he just asked a simple question. "How much is this worth?" 
"Five Hundred rupees!" the crowd yelled in unison. 
"Right," said the speaker.

 He then took the note and crumpled it into a ball and asked "How much is it worth now?" 
"Five Hundred rupees!" screamed the audience. 

He then threw the note on the ground, stamped all over it and picked up the note and asked one more time: "And how much is it worth now?" 
"Five Hundred rupees!" was the response. 
"I want you to remember this," said the speaker. 

"Just because someone crumples it, or stamps on it, the value of the note does not diminish. 
We should all be like the five hundred rupee note.

In our lives, there will be times when we feel crushed, stamped over, beaten.
 But never let your self-worth diminish. Just because someone chooses to crush you - that doesn't change your worth one bit! 

Don't allow your self-worth to diminish because someone says something nasty –
or does something dirty -- to you."

Designing a quality life in Singapore doesn’t need a lot of money

Companies are inherently designed to squeeze as much out of you they can get away with. It’s in the nature of corporate business, even the good, well-intentioned employers. There is no doubt that this can be daunting, because you might be saying, “Bloody hell, Fahren! Cars & houses are so expensive, government bring in all these foreigners. Now you are telling me to stop blaming the government & control my destiny?” And I understand, how that can be daunting.

One of the reasons why you might feel suffering is that we are surrounded by people who seem to be doing much better than you, you find it unfair, be it the high salaries of MPs, or the affluent foreigners. But my point is, the small things in life matter, if you care to fine tune your definition of quality living .

Controlling your destiny doesn’t mean dramatic financial breakthrough. With the smallest investment in the right places, you better appreciate the small delights in your life.

My brother Henry, & his wife Yvonne, take turns to pick up their son & daughter, Jonathan & Cheryl, at the school gates, & walk together with them home. Along the way, Henry will joke with them, sometimes buy something to eat or drink & they share it together. He hasn’t done anything spectacular like bringing them to Disneyland, or bought them Xbox, but the kids love him very much & make very touching cards during his birthday & Father’s Day, to say how much they love him.

I think a more thoughtful and balanced definition of life doesn’t require a lot of money to achieve. Henry has read this article, & being a lower middle income earner with two kids to raise, he says that he TOTALLY agrees with me. Rather than taking stock of your so-called “miserable existence” in Singapore, you need to be realistic. Designing a quality life doesn’t necessarily require spending lots of money.

I’m past 30, & my current salary is SGD1,600 per month & I don’t own a car either. But I don’t believe in angering yourself over all these external circumstances, I think constructing a quality life within your current means, & preserving your sanity is more important than anything else. I think you can go further & gain more mileage in life this way, than the wishful thinking that a change in government will make your life more tolerable.

What I mean by controlling your destiny, is to design your outlook in life, such that you celebrate what is good in life. There are lots of wonderful people (friends/family), places & experiences around us, if you care to take notice. And if you set your eyes only on those so-called “unfair” policies, then no wonder some of you are grumpy & miserable. Because it’s bad enough, not getting what you want (but don’t really need), but it’s even worse to keep moaning about external circumstances and find out at the end of it all, you are still unhappy/dissatisfied somehow.

In fact, we have plenty to be grateful for in terms of the advances in internet computing & social networking, etc. We now have the tools & gadgets that have brought us the conveniences that our forefathers could never have imagined. Perennially complaining against the government & foreigners may bring solace & comfort to you, but once you let this behavior become second nature, it starts to prevent you from ever truly enjoying your life.

FAHREN

3 Soft Skills That Top Earners Possess

Top earners don’t actually have much in common. They might be generous Warren Buffet types, or ass hat Donald Trump types (pull their hair, you’ll figure it out). But somewhere under the eccentricity and fawning media coverage, their metaphorical “engines” are similar. In this article, I examine three non-specific skills that seem to attract money. If you can’t fully embrace them, learn to fake them:

1. Learn to Fake Extroversion

Extroverts are the ever smiling “people persons”, who tend to become motivational speakers or carnival clowns (same thing).

People who are gregarious, outgoing, and able to open their mouths have an easier time making money. Take a look around your office, and you’ll see it’s obvious: Bosses tend to promote the most social employees. The ones who organize birthday parties and dominate conversations.

But here’s the thing: Most extroverts also learn slower, have poor concentration, and are reckless. How are they making more money, and why should you want to join them?

I spoke to a corporate trainer, who only wants to be known as Pradip. He’s worked with CEOs and successful investors alike. Pradip claims that:

“Yes, it’s true extroverts find it easier to make money. Extroverts find it easier to get things their way in general; they look like leaders, they know how to get their point across.

But it’s a mistake to think being an extrovert alone makes you wealthy. In fact, most top earners are not even extroverts, but are thinkers who have taught themselves to act extroverted. 

Bill Gates is very much an introvert. But look how he acts in the media spotlight, how he conducts business. He hides his shyness so well. People can train themselves to pick up extroverted traits, so they look confident and likeable.

…when you speak to clients or bosses, breathe from the centre. Prepare beforehand so you speak fast. Shake hands firmly, walk with large strides. And no matter how tiring it is, remember it’s temporary. It’s just for a few hours, then it’s over, you can go home.

Practice it. Learn to put on a game face when you need to.”

2. Know How To Borrow 

“Neither a borrower nor lender be”. Yeah, that strategy panned out; back when information technology meant a really fast horse.

Today’s successful traders and investors work on the margins all the time. The difference between them and some goon who maxes out 11 credit cards is simple: They know how to borrow.

They know to check and compare interest rates before borrowing. They make sure they’re earning more from the loan than the original worth of the loan. And they’re not afraid to occasionally end up chewing grass and pretending it’s steak; that’s how they learn.

Property Investor Charlie Sng says:

“If you’re not born rich, you better learn how to handle loans. You better learn about leverage. Because if you don’t have the knowledge and guts to borrow, you have no place at the table.

Of course you must learn things like how to work out repayments, how to do accounts. But you better grow a thick skin and get used to pain. There will be times when a loan will kill you financially; you just learn to bear it.”

Mr. Sng suggests that, the next time you are about to ask a banker or broker about loan amounts, try to work it out yourself. When you meet them, have them check your calculations and spot your errors.

3. Delay Gratification

You may have heard of the famous Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.

In 1972, psychologists rounded up a bunch of children, aged four to six. Said children were shown a marshmallow on a plate. They were told that, if they could wait 15 minutes before eating the marshmallow, they’d get two marshmallows instead.

A minority ate the marshmallow right way. Some attempted to wait the 15 minutes, and a third of them succeeded.

10 years later, the shrinks checked on their former lab rats. The same children who waited the 15 minutes were more successful; probably because they could delay their need for gratification.

The next time you want to make an impulse buy, think of the children! Identify when you’re in the “impulse zone”. It’s usually when you keep thinking or imagining buying something, for no reason other than wanting it. Once that happens, you can either:

(1) Distract yourself with a book or TV

(2) Set a future date and resolve to buy it then

Delaying gratification gets easier with practice. In time, this skill will extend to cover your use of credit cards and loans. Stock traders, in particular, need copious amounts of patience. Commodities trader Richard Bei says:

“Learn to be sceptical. Learn to deny your knee-jerk reactions. The most difficult lesson is knowing when to do nothing; sometimes you just need to keep quiet and wait.

I have experienced many times when I made bad investments; just because my fingers are itchy. I cannot stand to just watch while the market is peaking, I want jump in because I’m scared I’ll miss it. But the right thing to do was to wait, for the time when the market dropped again.”