I officially joined APTS at this meeting. The meeting was fun, and the two speakers spoke about stuff which resonated a lot with me! Dr Kala spoke about Personal Mastery, which really was all about making choices to develop yourself and make yourself happy, in simplistic terms. Deja vu, I had just written a post […]
This is one of the stories that can be found in Rudyard Kipling’s “The Second Jungle Book”. The story is called “The Miracle of Purun Bhagat” and can be read free online. It is about a man who, having reached the dizzying heights of a long an illustrious career, forsook it all and took up […]
Is this statement true? Most of us would remember from elementary mathematics that it is, of course, not true. Set A Union Set B cannot be greater than Set A Plus Set B because the whole cannot be greater than the sum of its parts. Hang on…I thought we said many times that the whole […]
Simple Truths has a movie called the 212 movie. It is about how a difference of one degree (Fahrenheit, in this case) makes all the difference between no power and steam power. When I was with Lifeskills Enrichment, I wrote a blog post (now defunct) to expand on this concept. My stand was that the amount […]
I’ve been hearing talk about organizations being “too big”, resulting in challenges with internal alignment, communications, slow turnaround times, etc. To all those, I say: Go Talk to a Blue Whale! A blue whale doesn’t need half an hour to change course, it just changes course! It doesn’t have to wait a week before all […]
Are you familiar with “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)”? What is your view of it? There are many terms and viewpoints that have sprung up around the concept, the more ubiquitous ones being “Creating Shared Value (CSV)”, “Triple Bottom Line (TBL)”, “Corporate Moral Responsibility (CMR)” and quite recently “Corporate Responsibility (CR)”. All the concepts seem to […]
Most of us know the Golden Rule, and many do try to live accordingly. The Golden Rule is recognized as universal, and has been compared across religions and similar beliefs. Then there is the Platinum Rule. Many who know the Platinum Rule state that it is superior to the Golden Rule. Nothing could be further […]
Heard of Teenagers? Well, this is not about young swinging twenty-somethings. It’s about all those times in-between. Are you familiar with them? Those times in-between when you are waiting for a call from an important client, when the someone you’re supposed to meet suddenly has to reschedule at the last minute, and when you arrive […]
It is no secret that we as people tend to trend. We want to be with the “In” crowd. We want to be “Hip”, “Cool”, “Happening” and I don’t know what else. I don’t think it only happens to teenagers, meaning that supposedly crazy mixed-up bunch with raging hormones, which in my book should not […]
It has often been said that business relationships ought to be nurtured based on a “farming” approach instead of a “hunting” approach. I was wondering how much our environment influences our decisions in that regard? Would an environment that actively encourages agriculture tend to generate more of a “farming” mindset? What if the environment is […]
The number of books, articles and related scholarly, business and entertainment paraphernalia regarding the subject of warfare and business is indeed plethoric. Many, if not most, of these seem to hold Sun Tzu in high regard, and rightly so. There are indeed parallels between triumphant warfare, which includes “warfighting”, for my American friends, and the […]
I was reading Alan Weiss’ book “Thrive”, and was musing on what he said about WISH-ing your life away. It struck me that a fundamental difference between a DO-er and a WISH-er is that DO-ers Develop Opportunities and that WISH-ers Willfully Inflict Self Harm So, are you are DO-er or are you a WISH-er? Be […]
It’s amazing, the number of people who can get their priorities straight. Amazingly few, that is. People seem to need a lot of help understanding what their purpose in life really is. This lack of clarity as to purpose in life always translates into fuzzy career and business purpose statements as well. Goals for the […]
These are a few thoughts following a read of “More meetings, so more pay for OCBC directors” in the Business Times of 26 Apr 2012. Do you know what a Board of Directors does? Why is it there in the first place? Well, as far as I understand it, a Board of Directors is to […]
An article in the Business Times’ Editorial & Opinion column of 25 Apr 2012 talked about developing global leaders with an Asian focus. I thought it was well-written and it discussed issues facing many leaders today. What is an “Asian” leader? What is a “Western” leader? Is the “Asian” leader more “collaborative” and are “Western” […]
No options? Who says? We always have options. One of the biggest leadership cop-outs I know is when leaders take the stand that we have no choice. You always have a choice. You can choose to exercise leadership, which is what you’re paid for anyway. You can choose to let someone more capable than yourself […]
What is the purpose of implementing a minimum wage? Minimizing exploitation of low-cost labour, even foreign labour, by employers. Is that the only way to minimize such exploitation? Certainly not! The only reason I will support such legislation, if it indeed comes to pass, is to bring unscrupulous employers who exploit such workers, both local […]
This was held at the American Chamber of Commerce at Shaw Centre on 12 Apr 2012. The topic was “How to move yourself and your clients from stuck to action!” by Christopher McAuliffe. It was a rather interesting session, as it was a lot quieter than usual. Perhaps it was due to the noticeable absence […]
One or two weeks ago, I happened to accompany a friend who was looking at some sound and projection systems for his new executive lounge. We went to OSACAR at Sim Lim Square, as my friend was acquainted with the owner, Mr John Lim, who had set up his home karaoke system some years ago. Mr […]
On Wednesday 14 Mar 2012, I happened to meet with Koh Yong Jin, an old friend who had served with me in the Armed Forces since the mid-80s. Yong Jin is a Fitness and Conditioning Specialist who helps people live better quality lives by keeping their levels of overall fitness at an optimum level. We […]
The headline “AirAsia’s decade of unbroken success and expansion ends” in the Aviation Section of Business Times on 8 Mar 2012 came as no surprise. Long-haul flights and budget carriers don’t mix very well. At least, we haven’t seen a good mix yet. Specialization seems to be the way to go, if we take a […]
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120301-330936.html Second day of the Budget Debate, and more calls for social safety nets. That’s what they should be – safety nets, not bedroom sets. We dive into water so we can pull a drowning person to safety. Having done that, may the rescued be grateful and perhaps make the effort to learn how to […]
There have been many calls to tax the rich in order to feed the poor, in order to help reduce the span of the rich-poor divide. This is a dangerous perpetuation of the Robin Hood myth and we should be aware of it. The reason why myths prevail over clear-headed thinking is because they appeal […]
I came across an excellent INSEAD article in the BT-Citibank Young Investors’ Forum on 27 Feb 2012, “Changing business behaviour”. Professor Jean-François Manzoni of INSEAD believes that it is possible to get organizations to behave ethically, but that it would probably take several years. Messages, and not just verbal messages, promoting ethical behaviour have to come […]
I used to sell for a couple of retail investment establishments, and I was always told to “under-promise and over-deliver”. That sounded logical at the time, but in hindsight, seems a little self-defeating. Firstly, I couldn’t promise whatever the company didn’t promise, and I certainly wasn’t in any position to deliver anything, since the investment […]
Many, if not most of us, would remember the story of two basketball teams that were quite evenly matched participating in a tournament. Two days before a big match, one of the teams was at its more-intense-than-usual practice session, practicing their drills and working through game plans. The other team did something quite different. Instead […]
I read with interest about the Buffalo Fighting Festival in Do Son, Vietnam, in the 23 Sep 2011 edition of the Business Times’ Special Focus Section. Having done a little research on smallholder dairy farming in the tropics a while back, it was heartening to note that interest in buffalo farming remains high in this […]
This morning, we enjoyed some badminton at the Woodlands Sports Hall. My son had booked two courts from 8 to 9 am. I spent most of the time playing with my daughter Ephrath, who is our seventh child. Remembering that she is not the active sort, I returned her shuttlecocks that were easy to reach, […]
I’ve used the JOHARI window many times in the sessions that I deliver. It’s also known as the “Trust Model”. Developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, for those who don’t know yet. Listened to a recorded webinar just now. I missed the live one last week because of internet connectivity issues in Port Dickson. As I listened, […]
I’ve had this on my mind for a very long time, and I am recording it here. For several years, I have had this impression that a nation is only really viable as a nation in the long term if it has water, food and basic energy resources. If any nation lacks any of these, […]
The 25 July 2011 issue of Business Times carried an article “Change of guard comes at a crucial time for SATS”, with the subtitle “Outgoing CEO cut reliance on aviation, transformed SATS” on page 9. I read the article with interest, and listed a few points about what I would say to SATS at a […]
Copyright Personality Insights, Inc. Reprinted with permission. You may subscribe to the “Tip of the Week” for free at http://www.personalityinsights.com and receive Dr. Rohm’s weekly Tip every Monday morning. I have been subscribing to Dr Robert Rohm’s weekly tips for quite a while now, and they are always refreshingly insightful! I could really become less reactionary myself, as […]
How concerned are you with making right choices? What do you base your decisions on? How do you decide which career to embark on, what hobby to pursue, what financial instruments to invest in, where to go for your next vacation, and so on? In this post, I am not talking about making ethical choices. […]
I last wrote about this on the Lifeskills Enrichment blog (now defunct) on 7 Apr 2010. Since then, a lot has taken place and I’d like to add one or two more thoughts to what I’d already recorded. On 20 Apr 2011, I had the privilege of being at a talk by Professor Peter Hawkins […]
To lead the people, walk behind them. ~ Lao Tzu I thought, “This can only be done when a true leader has fully developed and equipped his people to be true leaders themselves!”. I sent this to the person who had sent me the quote. Leadership is very much like parenting. The aim of equipping […]
A few days ago, while waiting for the feeder bus, I happened to notice a student reading what appeared to be some sort of in-house newspaper. The heading of the article was “Does Democracy Make a Nation Strong?” or words to that effect. I was rather intrigued and reflected on it during the commute to […]
I was very glad to have been able to attend the talk on “Developing High Performance Teams: The role of Leadership Team Coaching” on 20 Apr 2011 at the Civil Service College. It was certainly very enjoyable, and I would like to record a few points that came to me while it was going on. […]
Say “Talent”, and what springs to mind? A cursory glance at the dictionary would seem to indicate the existence of some special ability or an enhanced capacity to perform excellently in a given field or fields. Other words which may come to mind are “rare”, “gifted”, “special”, and so forth. It has become fashionable to […]
This morning, 17 Jan 2011, I was having a coaching session and almost allowed myself to be distracted by the vibrations of an incoming call. I managed to remember to deliberately put the phone down without answering it, and refocus on the client. The client was no doubt very friendly and said he would not […]
On 13 Jan 2011, deep in the nether regions of NTUC Foodfare, Level 3 Ang Mo Kio Hub, I became guilty of a serious felony known as Inattentiveness. I was having a lunch appointment with a business associate and allowed myself to be distracted by a few text messages on my mobile phone. My business […]
It is always gratifying to know that we have touched and helped people along the way. When we see how those whom we have coached gain new insights, overcome fears and issues, and forge new and better directions for themselves, it really is a wonderful feeling of celebrating and gratefulness. When our coachees send us greetings […]
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