And by that I mean genuine leaders. Leaders whose basic interest is in improving the lot for themselves and for others around them. Leaders who believe that it is one of their fundamental duties to grow so that they in turn can grow others along with them. Leaders who aspire to make others “Greater Than […]
It’s hard to write when your head is stuffed, so this will be a short post. Probably. I find that more and more people are asking me for referrals, regardless of how well or how little I know them and their businesses. In a way, that is a good sign. It means that the spirit […]
Outstanding! Are you tired of trying to be different, trying to “stand out from the crowd” and trying to be “outstanding”? I have good news for you! Stop that nonsense! Your body is comprised of between sixty to seventy trillion cells. That alone makes you unique! So, why do you try so hard to “stand […]
Say “Love” in this day and age and what comes to the hearer’s mind is spelt “S-E-X“. Come on, now, surely we have better minds than that. Still, it does seem to be so, from all I have been observing. “Sex” is a subset of what we understand as “Love”. “Love” encompasses quite a few […]
Never Fail? Do you fear failure? Do you know people who say things like “I never fail, I only learn”? Well, I respect where they’re coming from, and I also know that language controls communications and controls our thoughts. It is not only a tad hypocritical to say that we never fail, it actually causes […]
Are you a Boomer, Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z or whatever it is they call them these days? Is that how you want to be remembered, how you want to be defined? Do you allow others to label you and even take on those labels for yourself? More than that, how do you want […]
Conflicts at the workplace are often attributed to “personality differences”. Probe a little more and you get “personality weaknesses” that accompany “personality strengths.” So, when deploying your people, it is “wise” to deploy them according to complementary “personality strengths” in order to compensate for “personality weaknesses.” How convenient. Take two aspirins and see me in […]
The concept of “There is no second chance in life” appears to be quite deeply rooted in society. It is manifested in various ways. One of them was that if you as a young student went to one of Singapore’s Institutes Of Technical Education (ITE) then you’re done for. “It’s the end!” as some people […]
To be given a mandate is to be authorized to make decisions and take action in line with the intent of the authority giving the mandate. The nature of the mandate is very important. It needs to be clear, unambiguous and guided by universal principles. It needs to empower the one to whom it is […]
Communities of Practice? A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a craft and/or a profession. The concept was first proposed by cognitive anthropologist Jean Lave and educational theorist Etienne Wenger in their 1991 book Situated Learning (Lave & Wenger 1991). Just because there’s a community doing it doesn’t mean it’s […]
There is an old song which goes “Killing me softly with his song…”, to which the title of this post alludes. The song describes how the writer went to hear a singer and was struck by how the singer seemed to describe her feelings and inner tormented being with his song. She wanted the singer […]
Blind faith in the immutability of the bell curve spawns quite a few fallacies, of which the title of this post is one. It prompts us to prefer “dumbing down” instead of “raising up”. Of course it does, it’s much easier to dumb down, gravity is in your favour! If we raise people up, that […]
Links in this post lead to video clips. I’m not talking about the desire to become rich and famous or becoming known as a “Great Man” or as a “Great Woman.” I am talking about growing so much as a leader that others around you know it for a fact and you become top of […]
We are enamoured of highly-sculpted bodies, rippling with high-definition muscle. Even couch potatoes secretly wish they could all be like that to some degree. We may not all want to have the huge muscle mass, but most, if not all of us, would certainly like a well-toned, fit and healthy look. We want to be […]
For domestic chickens, a chick hatches after a 21-day period of incubation. The chick has to peck thousands of times at the shell before it emerges. It is a slow, laborious and exhausting process, and by the time the chick pops out of the egg, wet and tired, it has probably pecked at the shell […]
In yesterday’s post, I talked about being careful to empower only the right people. Enabling people is helping them in terms of ongoing character development. This is highly intensive, requires investing of your time and energy, and your attitude needs to be right. You empower people because you want to treat them well as people. […]
One of the buzzwords today is “empowerment.” We want our people to have greater autonomy, have more say in making decisions that affect the company and generally having higher stakes in the company’s future success. So, we get lots of advice about how to get out of the way, lead from the rear, let people […]
With apologies to Jane Austen. Consigning other people to hell as we define it, thinking less of them than we ought to, and thinking better of ourselves in the same manner, are all manifestations of pride, of prejudice, and ultimately, a sign of utter powerlessness. Contrary to popular misconception, power does not corrupt. Powerlessness corrupts. Power […]
Standardization. The rallying cry of optimization maximizers. In today’s innovation-centric environment, this might sound a little ho-hum to you. Which way are you inclined, optimization-centric or innovation-centric? Think you can’t have both? Think again! Really, this economics of exclusion has gone deep into the bones. Manifests in all areas of our lives, doesn’t it? Anyway, […]
People love fireworks. Stunning, beautiful displays of harmless power. Well, harmless if fired as intended. We also like sparks. New beginnings. Picturesque showers falling from new buildings under construction. Cute little babies, kittens, puppies, tiger cubs. We love the playfulness and wonderful, latent promises of future potential. Just a spark fires the imagination. Now, wouldn’t […]
One of the effects of Unconscious Competence is Unconscious Power. Power is the ability to do work, to get things done, to influence people to live at a higher level of consciousness. From that point, your Unconscious Power and Influence can help people into living at higher levels of unconsciousness. I once learned to operate […]
“But then, we might be speaking…a phrase too far…” Positive speak can literally be taken too far. Just look at the poster above. It talks about being a winner or a learner, never a loser. Now, because most people have brains but are reluctant to use them, this poses the real danger of simply being […]
Sure. Like, how can you be prepared for things you don’t even know will happen yet? How can you be prepared for eventualities that you still have no clue about? Exactly. If you have read the original “Scouting for Boys” by Robert Baden-Powell, you would probably be able to answer that question. Since all of us […]
I came across an article about “Why Apple Employees Never Wanted To Have Lunch With Steve Jobs” on Business Insider Singapore this morning and wondered how many times the same thing could be said about ourselves. Ourselves being in Steve Jobs’ shoes, so to speak. Apart from the fact that I strongly advocate us having […]
A daughter ran away from home and went to live with her boyfriend. After a few days, she called home. Her mother answered and she announced, “Mom, we’re engaged!” Her jaded mother replied, “In what?” That would be our response as well if someone announces that they’re busy at work or business. Busy-ness is normal. […]
I keep coming across posts and articles that talk about how contentment in your workforce is a dangerous thing, that it doesn’t lead to good business results. To which I say that if you have a workforce that is not content, you’re going to lose them pretty soon! What many people actually mean to say […]
I like using this line when asked for a writeup about myself: “Contrary to popular belief, he does not drive a yellow school bus and is not a walking encyclopaedia.” I DID drive an old yellow Volkswagen minibus at one stage, and people would say in jest that it was a yellow school bus, which […]
They’re possibilities. Expressions of possibilities, to be exact. When will we stop thinking about our preferences as limitations? Yes, we all have basic preferences, as we are all designed differently, and our different preferences, tastes and inclinations make up for a very interesting and diverse mix. We all have preferences when it comes to clothing, […]
Not what you think. I’m talking about the Grunt, the Digger, the Mudfoot, the Worker, the Labourer, the Crane Operator, the Front Line Salesperson, the Telephone operator, the Chef, the Waiter, the Bus Driver, the Deliveryman, the Farmer, the Fishmonger, the Toilet Cleaner, the Maintenance Crew, the Security Guards. Amongst others. Know any of them? […]
One of the unhealthiest appetites we develop as humans is the appetite for amusement, for entertainment. The word “muse” means “to think”. “Amuse” means “not to think”. Entertainment today is largely amusement. If any creativity is involved, it is largely in the domain of the crass and grotesque, disguised thinly as wit. People have become […]
Have you ever led a group of people, all of whom depended on you to take them to wherever you all happened to be going, and all of you got hopelessly lost because you either didn’t know the way well enough or got confused and took a wrong turn, perhaps? Have you ever had to […]
I came across Seth Godin’s post about “Emotional Handwashing” a couple of days ago and it reminded me immediately of the quality of Self Control. Much of the hype about “Be Yourself” is really incontinence that has been given a twisted sort of carte blanche for its expression. “No Fear” is really a manifestation of […]
I suppose you would be familiar with the phrase “Selling yourself short”. That is a misnomer. People don’t sell themselves short, they BUY themselves short. Think of the goods and services you’ve bought over the years. What percentage comprised goods and services you were actually glad to have paid for, and would in fact have […]
That language known as English is just, well, quirky. If a judge is unjust, the result is injustice. If the judge is just, then whoever deserves it would be getting his just deserts. When you think of the words “just” or “justice”, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Do the words […]
Some of you would be familiar with Kouzes & Posner’s “Leadership Challenge.” If you aren’t, do look it up. They have concluded from several years of research, still ongoing, that there are five leadership practices common to most, if not all, people. One of those practices is called “Encourage the heart.” At first glance, you […]
Choices, choices, choices. Some we love to have, others we wish we didn’t have to make. Life is full of them. This or that. Now or later. Cake or cookies. Us or them. Innovate or optimize. Profit or value. Lead or follow. (Or get out of the way). The list goes on. In the previous […]
We live in an age of instants. Instant coffee, instant milk, instant music, instant weight loss, instant gratification. “It’s now or never!”, “Last chance to win great bargains!”, “If not now, when?” are phrases we are bombarded with constantly every day. Our culture predisposes us to act first, ask questions later. We are constantly encouraged, […]
I’ve written previously about how you ought to make your CEO redundant. Now, guess what? Yes, YOU! In fact, if you aren’t hard at work making yourself redundant if you happen to work for me, I will fire you the next chance I get! Huh? What gives? Remember what I said about two-thirds? If you […]
All of us want the best for ourselves. We want the best for our people. We want to leave a legacy that says we did our utmost, we were great guys, we were the most inspiring influence for future generations. We want our people to remember that we gave them the most benefits, the highest-value remuneration packages, […]
Makes no difference who you are. Sweet dreams, just as you please, for who am I to risk debris? It seems to me that what many people call dreams are shattered again and again, yet we dream on, desperately clinging on to the hope that one day, that dream would become real. After all, we’ve […]
Offended? Why, are you an imbecile? Labels like “imbecile” and “moron” evoke feelings of contempt and damnation and most sensible folk would rather avoid their use. Which is exactly why I use them, since I can hardly be classified together with “sensible folk.” People don’t like to be called “imbecile” or “moron” and take offence […]
You know what the Peter Principle is. The presupposition, which, I suppose, is at least based on some measure of observation, that in a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. Since people as a whole tend to fall back on the “tried and tested”, managers would tend to promote people […]
It is often quoted that people won’t remember the words you said, but they always remember how they felt instead. Concepts like the Platinum Rule have become common knowledge, and we strive to give each other “memorable experiences.” At least, we strive to do that for our customers and clients. We all ought to continue […]
Yes, you read “without”, not “within.” I have been told that one way of getting people interested in what goods and services you have to offer is to tell them all the great stuff they can have without the sweat, inconvenience, effort or similar sacrifice they don’t want to make. It facilitates living the Philosophy of […]
I saw a LinkedIn post the other day vilifying what it referred to as “stretch goals” in organizations. I can’t find it now, or I’d put the link here. Well, whether people choose to refer to “stretch goals”, “quantum leaps” or whatever new terminology comes along, I know one thing for sure – I always […]
Children play. Adults play. We all play. Why, play tell? Well, it’s fun, of course. It stretches the imagination. It helps us to unwind. It helps us acquire and maintain certain skills, especially psychomotor skills. It helps us to develop strong, meaningful relationships. At its most basic, child’s play is actually preparation for thriving later […]
You might like to listen to the BNI Podcast Episode 231 when you have time, or rather, do make time for it! Recognize the fact that you are special. Six-sided snowflakes look ordinary when seen with the naked eye, but look at them under magnification and you soon realize how exquisitely unique each one is. […]
Are dependent on my personal well-being, which is dependent on my self esteem, which is dependent, in part at least, on my self-efficacy. What are my personal effects on others? What are my personal effects on you? I would like to think that my effects on others, including you, are: Have you thought about how […]
I always find it so amusing when people wring their hands in anguish at the prospect of an impending change at the workplace. Change is seen as something distasteful, something to be feared, for it upsets the sacred calm waters of the status quo. For when those calm waters get stirred, who knows what may […]
I once knew someone higher up the ladder who made it a habit of saying “I leave it to you” when assigning tasks to others. That might sound like fun, except it isn’t, especially when you haven’t a clue what resources have been given and what sort of free play you have. It doesn’t help […]
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