“The eyes are the windows to the soul.” – Traditional Proverb
If you’ve ever found yourself in the world of virtual meetings, you know it’s a whole different ballgame. As we lead our teams through these virtual realms, one thing often gets overlooked – eye contact. Let’s dive into this essential aspect of virtual leadership, sharing some experiences, both good and bad, along the way.
The Good Moments:
Firstly, let’s appreciate the power of making eye contact through a screen. It’s a game-changer. When you lock eyes with your team members during a virtual meeting, you instantly establish a connection that transcends physical distances. It’s a nod of acknowledgment, a signal that you’re truly present, and a boost for team morale.
The Bad Moments:
Now, onto the challenges. We’ve all been there, right? You’re leading a virtual meeting, and you can’t help but notice your team’s eyes darting everywhere but at the camera. It’s frustrating, and it makes you feel like you’re talking to a room of ghosts. Lack of eye contact can lead to miscommunication, disengagement, and a sense of detachment among team members.
Personal Growth and Gratitude:
Reflecting on these experiences, I’ve come to realize that as leaders, we’re all on a learning journey. Acknowledging our own shortcomings and areas for growth is a sign of maturity and self-awareness. I’m grateful for the opportunity to adapt and improve my virtual leadership skills.
Tips for Effective Virtual Meetings:
So, how can we lead virtual meetings effectively with eye contact in mind?
Camera Awareness: Start by being aware of your own camera. Position it at eye level and look directly into it when speaking. Your team will appreciate the direct connection.
Encourage Participation: Encourage team members to turn on their cameras and make eye contact as well. Create a culture where everyone feels comfortable doing so.
Engage Actively: Use team members’ names during the meeting to engage them personally. This simple act shows you’re paying attention and fosters a sense of inclusivity.
Regular Check-Ins: Schedule regular one-on-one or small group check-ins with team members to maintain a personal connection.
Feedback Loop: Ask for feedback on your virtual leadership. Your team’s insights can be invaluable for improvement.
Looking Ahead:
In the ever-evolving world of virtual work, we have to adapt and grow. Our journey as virtual leaders will have its ups and downs, but acknowledging our areas of improvement and embracing change is the way forward. Let’s continue to make eye contact, even through the screens, and lead our teams with authenticity and connection.
As we embark on this virtual leadership adventure, remember, it’s not about the miles between us; it’s about the moments we create together. Happy leading, and here’s to stronger connections and more engaged teams in the virtual world!
“Enjoy the journey and try to get better every day. And don’t lose the passion and the love for what you do.” – Nadia Comaneci
“In teamwork, silence isn’t golden, it’s deadly.” — Mark Sanborn
Well, it has been more than a year since the new normal started, and for the past two months, I have been working from home (WFH). Having a lot of virtual meetings and engagement with the team remotely.
And I have been thinking, what is a good topic to write… Ah… yes, I should write about Remote Team Working. So, based on what I have been experiencing so far WFH… I have summarised the learning into five -(5) C’s as below:
#1 – Check-ins
There are many ways for the team members to check-in on each other and the projects / tasks that they are working on. Some organisations use Slack, Trello, Workspace and etc.
Currently, my team will be using our server / portal to check-in (to sign-in for work), to check on the team member, we normally will have our work chat group, virtual meetings, emails, shared documents, and phone calls.
Especially in times like this, we will be checking one another more frequently (with the intent to care and concern about the well being, not otherwise).
“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.” – Unknown
#2 – Communicate
Communication is key, especially when the team members do not get to see each other on a daily basis… and I have been emphasising on building trust with the team (for longer term results, anyone can drive and demand for results in the short term basis). The team has to be having psychological safety to be vulnerable and sharing their thoughts, when any mistakes are identified.
My opinion, the next best method to communicate apart from face-to-face will be video call / conference, then followed by call and then only messaging. Another important point (at least for me), will be to clarify and confirm, when in doubt and never assume.
“Questions are never foolish. Stupider are those who never ask anything.” – Tamuna Tservadze
#3 – Consistency
I learnt in one of my training sessions that an airplane can only take off with momentum (not starting and stopping). My point of view, to keep the team consistent and communicated, there has to be a way to meet consistently. Meeting at least once a week in the weekly catch-up meeting and at times having ad-hoc meeting when there is an emergency or real need.
One more thing, as a leader, the direction given to the team has to be clear and consistent too. Imagine how the team is going to perform when they do not have proper direction nor consistent messaging.
“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson
#4 – Continuous improvement
Many people are struggling with their work (or lack of it) during this time of crisis. A lot needs to be done to keep business and the people motivated. I find myself an increase need to improve day by day. There are various ways to improving ourselves. Some past articles around this topic as below:
“Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection.” – Kim Collins
#5 – Celebrate
Find reasons to celebrate, especially in times like this, there are many people who are feeling miserable and may not realise what they are doing is bringing value to the team. My perspective of being a good leader, find ways to recognise the team member, be it the effort or time put in for the task. We give power and energy to what we focus on. Why not focus more on the positives?
“The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. If you don’t celebrate those, they can pass you by.” – Alek Wek
There you go… the 5C’s of Remote Team Working… thank you for reading and I believe there are more than these 5C’s. Go ahead and experiment some of them and let me know the results.
Looking forward to your success and we can always meet virtually to celebrate the success. Cheers!
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
Who would have thought that the COVID-19 pandemic would last for this long (and nobody knows when it will end?). Our country has gone into another full lock down. For sure there will be lots of businesses affected by it. With such critical times, many people (including myself) will be feeling uneasy, anxious, uncertain and to some extend, frustrated.
Past weeks, I have been working from home and it takes a lot of effort to balance work productivity and personal life all at the same location. Sounds easy and believe me, it is not. So, take a rest if you must and do your very best.
As a reminder to myself (and leaders out there who are reading this blog), learn to be kind, understanding and compassionate with your team members, colleagues, customers, partners, and your loved ones. The environment, situation and how they are handling their emotions are not easy. Why the need to add more negatives and problems to the people around us?
Let us focus on the positives and encourage the people around us. Provide emotional support and let them know that we care for them. Most of the people (based on my observation, myself included) will be triggered easily, i.e., to think negative or having the thoughts that the job done is not good enough. Instead of letting the feeling of negative to go down the spiral, put a stop by acknowledging them that they are doing all right or provide some pointers on how we can help support them to do better… rather than criticizing that whatever that they are doing is not good enough (people will always fall short; depending on who you are comparing with).
Focus on their strength and let them do more on what they do best. Collaborate or discover who has the talent to perform based on your expectation – unless the expectation is extremely or ridiculously high (also this depends on the expectations and standards of comparison). What I am trying to share is… be kind, caring and seek to understand, not condemn, question nor telling them that they are not doing a good job. Like what my mentor shared with me… “Talk is cheap… opinion is free… and actions speaks louder than words…”
“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” – Albert Schweitzer
I really need to work on being kind to others, especially to my loved ones and the people who are working with me. I look forward to perform my best to be kind, caring and understanding. I pray that God will give me the wisdom, patience and discernment to be a better leader.
Let us all enjoy our journey in life and spread kindness.
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.” – Bruce Lee
Hello there! How have you been keeping lately? As we go through this interesting times, I would like to share the second part of the “Questions to Ponder” series.
Here we go…
1) How are you spending your weekend?
Many of us will be looking forward to the weekend and the question is, how to make the most out of the weekend? Not sure about others, and as for me, I will be doing the activities that I love doing; going to the market (apart from buying groceries, it is a good place to observe all walks of life), have my cup of coffee, breakfast, relax, recharge and rejuvenate. Catch up with my reading, listening to podcasts and attend Sunday service. It is also a good time to plan for the coming week’s focus and priorities… then put that aside… drink some water and relax… slow down and get ready to speed up!
Everyone will have their own way to spend their weekend.
2) How are you using technology to help you?
The use of technology is a part of our lives now, whether we like it or not. The other day, I experienced a crisis at home… what was the crisis about (apart from the COVID-19 pandemic)? The WIFI router decided to die on me and there was no connection to the internet. My kids and I, PANICKED! I was going to do my project assignment, and my kids, their homework and studies online… I was trying to troubleshoot the issue for half-a-day, I even went out to get a new WIFI router! But it did not work… Felt really helpless and stuck for not having any connectivity to the world. Anyhow, I have to resort to my phone’s data personal hotspot… slower speed but at least connected.
Anyway, technology can help us in many ways, I use it for the following:
Online research for my assignments, projects and content ideas;
Online purchases (YAY! Shopping)
Order food and beverages
Make payments (utilities, bills, loans, transfers, etc.)
Virtual learning, workshops and coaching
How about you? What do you use it for?
3) How do you plan to serve others?
Everyone has their own strengths (let’s not focus on the weaknesses), talents and passion. How will you be using your strengths, talents and passion to help and serve others.
Having to discover my life purpose; “Inspiring and Developing Leaders to reach their highest potential for God”, I have decided to use my strengths, talents and passion to help people (leaders) to discover their potential via learning and development engagements.
Please do not underestimate yourself, we may think that our strengths are not significant, I am certain that to some people, they will need help in the area that you are good in. Let’s have an open mind and learn how we can serve / help people, so that our world can be a better place.
4) What good habits do you want to form?
Haha, the meme above may seemed funny… however, the message may have some truth in it. We do not have to focus on cultivating a lot of habits all at one. Just focus on one main (key stone) habit (as per the learning from the book, “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg) and you will be discovering the journey of changing habits (as one behaviour that you change may affect the other areas of your lives).
“And once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom and the responsibility to remake them.” – Charles Duhigg
Some of the good habits you may be interested in to form:
Exercise, run, walk, sweat and move more than being sedentary
Plan, strategise, prioritize and take action
Read to add value on a daily basis
Sleep and have a good night’s rest
Eat right and in moderation
Be present and focus, not get distracted
Be kind, compassionate and practice empathy
Express yourself, via journal, blog, have a conversation
Invest, spend and do your own financial planning
and many more… let’s start with one first… when you get results, I believe you will be motivated.
5) How do you rejuvenate and restore yourself?
In November 2018, I have shared a blog regarding the same topic… the title of the blog is, “Reboot” and “Refresh” Habits
You may click on the link and enjoy the article.
Should you have anything to add, please do not hesitate to put it in the comment section.
“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise, we harden.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There you go… the next five -(5) questions to ponder…
“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.” – Eugene Ionesco
During the month of June, my buddy and I have done the TIK4TIPs chit chat show based on the daily questions that I have for reflection purposes. In this blog (part 1), I will share five -(5) questions for this part as the show was from Monday to Friday and we did total of 25 shows for Season 1. It was a fulfilling and meaningful journey.
Now that I am not doing the Live Show, I will put down my thoughts and answers based on my reflection. Thank you for ready and I look forward to all of us who read to get some ideas / wisdom to help with our lives’ journey.
Question #1: What is new normal to you?
The new normal to me will be doing most of my work via online platform. Since March 2020 until recently (beginning July 2020), all face-to-face training sessions were cancelled; a few changed to online / virtual training and mostly postponed until further notice (most of the multi-nationals still prefer virtual training).
Another will be wearing mask when going out to public locations, practicing social distancing… people will not be able to see your smile and not able to shake hands when meeting.
As a family, we used to eat out almost every weekend and with the movement control order (MCO), I cooked for my family for more than 90 days and have discovered new recipes, improved my cooking skills plus getting to know my family’s food preference better.
My wife also ventured into planting edible greens… our house porch area is full of pots and plants now… waiting to harvest and enjoy the produce of her labour, haha.
Question #2: How do you move to the next level?
“The journey is never ending. There’s always gonna be growth, improvement, adversity; you just gotta take it all in and do what’s right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment.” – Antonio Brown
What does next level mean to you?
To me, it simply means, better than yesterday. Have you improved, grown and being better that who you were before? Life is about continuous improvement journey and discovering what you are able to learn / do… a blessing!
It can be simply having better relationship with your loved ones or people close to you. A wider coverage of network; clients, partners, business contacts and opportunities.
Growing spiritually, understanding your own calling, serving the community, doing charity or helping people around you… do whatever that make you feel alive.
Depending on the priority of the individual, to some, next level could be the business / career, and to a few, it could be having the financial stability or overall wellness / lifestyle.
Which area in your life you would want to focus on right now to be better?
Question #3: What is your purpose in life?
“It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.” – Winston S. Churchill
In terms of purpose, it will be very subjective, different people will have different views and why they are living their lives.
I have discovered my purpose and it goes like this:
“My purpose is to inspire and develop leaders to reach their highest potential for God.” (I only discovered my purpose about 10 years ago when a good friend of mine were curious about my career, he sat down with me and started asking me a series of questions that triggered me, to realize my purpose in life).
Once I have decided and have clarity about my WHY, I am more willing to pay the price on the choices that I make (or will make). I truly believe that anything that is worthwhile pursuing, there will be a price to pay, when we are more willing to pay the price, the journey will be somewhat easier.
I would highly recommend for anyone to invest some time to reflect and find out the WHY?
Question #4: How do you free yourself from worry?
“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.” – Swedish Proverb
Just yesterday I had a conversation with a potential client (the client is looking for a life coach) and through our conversation, some how I mentioned that we worry and feel the pain due to we are alive to feel it. It’s part of our live journey and some will lead to more serious health issues (if not treated).
I used to be a worrier and I would be lying if I were to tell you that I am free of worry now. The difference now, I have ways to deal with my worries. Some of the methods I am using to be worry-free will be as below:
Write down my thoughts, all the issues and all that I am thinking off – that will help to clarify my thoughts. What are the resources needed to solve the issues? What are the priorities? If any of the issues are future related, what do I need to do to prepare for them? How can I prepare, to minimize the impact and get the expected outcome?
Have a chat / conversation with someone that I can trust, can be my loved ones, my coach or mentor… they may provide some insights and triggering questions. All that will be “gold nuggets” to me!
Pray and meditate… I believe that, when we are ready for something bigger, we will be presented with opportunities. We will have to accept the challenge and grab to opportunities – then the journey of discovery starts. Be thankful and practice the attitude of gratitude (instead of worry).
“Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere” – Erma Bombeck
Question #5: What are you doing to develop yourself?
“Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead.” – Morihei Ueshiba
Everyday is a learning and we learn (experience) in different aspects of our lives. What are the areas you would like to focus on to develop?
In most of my leadership workshop sessions, I will share with the participants that the word, “LEADER” comes from two -(2) words; “LEARNER” and “READER“… a leader is a learner and reader… then ultimately, the leader becomes an “EARNER” – earning knowledge, skills and learning perspectives from the resources.
There are many great resources that we can learn from… below are some of them that I am utilizing:
Books and E-Books – library, buy my own, from contacts or internet. My recommendation is to buy own book as at different times of our lives, when we read the same book, we get different learning (as we mature and have grown in wisdom, thus the learning we seek will be different).
Internet – Google, YouTube, Social Media – all the good and bad will be available, it will be up to us to filter what we want to learn and prioritize.
People, contacts, networks – by having conversation, coaching or mentoring session.
Reflection or feedback – we can reflect on our own experience or feedback from the people that we trust and respect (in my humble opinion, not all feedback is relevant to us).
Media – magazines, TV, radio… we will need to filter in accordance to what we want to learn and whether it is positive or not.
There are many resources that we can learn from, it’s a matter of our preferences.
“The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.” – B. B. King
Well, that is all for part 1 for now. Happy ready and let me know if you have any extras that you would like to share. I would like to learn from you too.
“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What’s next after the lock down? What is the new normal? What can we do moving forward? and many other questions…
More than 50 days have passed since the first phase of the lock down. Been thinking a lot of questions and also discussed with some of my friends pertaining to this interesting part of history that I am going to be in. I believe some will be more positive than others and also some who are suffering from this event.
In this blog sharing, the focus will be on preparing ourselves for what is coming, as a disclaimer, I am not a fortune-teller nor having any super powers to see the future. What I am sharing here will be my thoughts and what I feel is needed for myself plus my future generations. Please message me should you have any comments or thoughts about this article. Thank you.
PROBLEM-SOLVING I am drawn to believe that we need skills to solve problems. Be it creative thinking, critical thinking, design thinking, any models or tools. Which one is the best? My answer will be, “The one that you will use effectively…” Especially in times like this, a lot of people, including myself have problems that can be transformed into opportunities… should we know how to solve and turn it into solutions to help people (and the money will come 🙂 )
RESILIENCE “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” – Michael McGriffy M.D. Imagine if we learn how to be adaptable and build our strength, Working towards being flexible… a lot of the issues will seem easier and we are calmer, thus having the ability to see things clearer then come up with better solutions. In my opinion, resilience means practicing adaptability and flexibility.
ELECTRONIC (Platforms) After talking with many friends who are in the same industry (even in different ones), and having to experience it first hand… there is a need to learn how to communicate, present, run meetings, talks, seminar, coaching, mentoring, team building… using VIRTUAL Platforms. Any platforms, apps, programmes, tools for that matter… there are a lot of information, tutorials and guidelines on how to use them online. We just need to put in the time and effort to learn. Believe me, we need to learn how to operate in E-Platforms, the future is NOW.
POSITIVENESS Being positive here in this article is being productive and generating ideas. That leads to creativity and innovation, another important traits for being a leader. No matter what industry we are in, there is a need to be producing new improved products and services. The best (and fastest) way is to be positive – transforming adversity / crisis into opportunities. Of course it is easier said than done. One tip I have learnt from one of my mentors… do not do it alone, work as a team, synergize and collaborate.
AUTHENTICITY “Authenticity is your most precious commodity as a leader.” – Marcus Buckingham By sharing this, it is also a reminder to myself. I need to be true to myself and others. No need to pretend, just be the unique and original self. Like the word “YOU” which can mean “Your Own Uniqueness”. Just be YOU, no need to be others. I truly believe that by being consistent, sooner than later, people can feel and sense your authenticity. We are all created to be one and only special person. Never let anyone tells you otherwise (another reminder to self).
REPORTING (Data) One of my friends said… Data is going to be the next phenomenon which is going to be more valuable that oil and gold. This is one of the areas that I really need to work on to learn. My data literacy still needs a lot of work. I believe that the future is going to be bright for those who are experts in this area. I have heard some companies hiring data scientist… and there are more opportunities similar to this coming soon.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EQ) Anyone who wants to lead a team (direct or indirect) will need this skill. Being high on IQ is important and if we want to lead in a longer term, EQ will be the focus. Of course, there are more than IQ and EQ, we will not be discussing that in this article. Should you are able to learn how to control / manage your emotions, more great happenings will come your way. There are many good resources out there that we can learn from on EQ.
DIGITAL+CODING This is something that I do not have patience for… when I studied IT many moons ago (oops… not disclosing my age!), I need to do it to pass my exams but now, with the dynamic change in technology… I can barely catch up with this. Well, a wise man used to share with me… if you are not willing to do the job, find someone that will do it but be prepared to PAY THE PRICE! Anyhow, I can imagine, in the near future, this skill will be easier to learn with more straight-forward interface and steps. As long as we are willing to learn, we will find a way to do it.
“I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.” – Ian Fleming
In this blog, I would like to share about wastage. When you do a search on wastage, there are a LOT, I mean a LOT of information about wastage. In fact, I will not be able to mention all of the wastage, I am only going to focus based on what I have learnt from Lean management; 7 wastes of Lean.
I learnt from a professor friend (I once attended his class) who taught me a way to remember the 7 wastes of Lean based on the diagram created below:
Apart from the 7 wastes (based on the acronym “PIT WORM”), I added one extra waste, Human Potential. Please allow me to share some information and examples on the wastes. The examples will be based on real-life and not in manufacturing or services industry. Please write to me, should you have any thoughts or feedback to share. Thank you.
Here’s my sharing…
Processing One of my mentors, a successful business woman once told me, “Dion, over thinking kills!” For me, over thinking is the processing that we are doing “Flexing our brain muscles…” to think, spending the time to design, putting the hours in planning. Hence the term, busy being busy. It will definitely be a waste when we only put our effort in thinking and planning with no action. Action speaks louder than words. What is stopping us from taking action? Let’s do what we can with the resources that we have… start doing and the results (big or small) will come.
“The ONLY impossible journey is the one you never begin.” – Tony Robbins
Inventory In this time and age, there is a lot of marketing… digital marketing, social media, on-line shopping and many more. Whether we like it or not, we are constantly being bombarded by things to buy and own. When talking to some of my friends, they are buying a lot, especially during sales (offer) period; some examples are keeping stock of shampoo, toilet rolls, food stuffs and etc. Just yesterday, my wife cleared the pantry and discarded a lot of expired food (some are gifts from friends and family members); lesson learned, to give away and bless others than to keep until expire. Learn not to be a hoarder… my opinion… no point buying to keep as it will get old or spoiled and it’s a waste.
Transport I will relate this to driving, especially when we keep our engine running waiting for our kids to dismiss from school or for someone buying something. The wastage will be on petrol / diesel and emission of carbon harming our earth. One case to share will be, last Saturday, I was supposed to meet my cousin sister from the train station (in the morning), I live in the island and the train station is situated in mainland. I received a call from her that due to not being able to purchase the ticket, she will be taking the next train and arriving the station that afternoon. Lesson learned from the case, when we did not do proper planning and scheduling, delay like this is unavoidable. Another example off my head will be road closures (when we are not in the know about it), because of that, we might be late and need to take a detour taking the longer way. Best is to just do some planning and prepare for any circumstances.
Waiting Experienced any long waiting time, queuing to get something done? Last week, I went to Touch “N” Go customer service office wanting to settle my expired cards and get my refund. The moment I walked in the office, the place were like “packed sardines” and I press the queue number, there were more than 15 people before my turn! Can you imagine the waiting time? At first I waited and the average time taken for one person to complete a transaction was about 10 minutes… after about two people done… I was looking around the office and something caught my eye. The refund can be done on-line, so I scanned the QR code and access the website, registered myself and got everything done (on-line) in less than 10 minutes. I passed my queue number to the person who walked through the entrance, smile and left the office. Another example will be on-line banking… it definitely helps to save some time than waiting for the staff to serve us.
Overproduction The example I would like to share on this will be something that I am passionate about… COOKING! At times when I am over excited about a new recipe, I tend to cook too much; especially food that may not taste good once keeping it overnight and best eat fresh. Apart from that, in my line of work… having the mentality to have spare copies of notes, handouts and materials… not planned properly leading to wastage. Another classic example when eating out… ordering too much because everything looks delicious and greedy wanting to try everything!!
Rejects When it comes to this topic on rejects, I would like to relate to making mistakes resulting to rejection. How does one make mistakes? Lacking of sleep, focus, planning, information and making assumptions, thinking that we know or having sufficient information to make that decision. When using the wrong tools or applying the wrong skills may lead to being rejected… not having the trust or rapport when working with others as well. The key to having minimal rejection will be preparation (perfect practicing the skills, obtaining enough information, rest well and focus.)
Movement Work hard or work smart? For me, initially, we have to master the work (knowing the steps) by working hard. Once we know the details, we can then analyse how we can improve the task. What are the steps that we can eliminate to save time and effort (not compromising quality)? Another sound advice given by one of my mentors is to ask for directions (or help) when you are not familiar, never assume. A simple example I can think of, preparing for the next day’s exercise clothing (to bring down with me when I wake up), to save some movement from going up to the room to take the clothing. Saving a bit of movement, here and there will lead to a LOT!
Human Potential In my opinion, human potential is endless. There will be lots of opportunities, provided if we want to put in the work to action. Of course, we have the talents that we would like to work on, just that I truly believe that when it comes to potential, “the sky is NOT the limit, our mind is…” we are our own biggest enemy. My own example that I can share is that I know every morning, I have the potential to run at least 5 kilometers or more (depending on the time that I am willing to put in)… and after running about 3 kilometers… I tend to tell myself that… “Hey! that is good enough… you have sweat and that’s it… stop and go home…” The potential is there and I have just limit myself once I think it’s good enough. Not sure about you… this is just one of the examples that I can share with you. How about you? What is stopping you from reaching your highest potential?
“How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them.” – Benjamin Franklin
2019 seemed to be passing us fast and 2020 is just around the corner. As new year is approaching, lots of people will be looking into their new year’s resolution. As for me, yes, I do have my 2020 goals and this blog today, is not about my goals.
Recently, I have sent out a survey with the three -(3) questions below:
What is the one habit change goal that you want to achieve in 2020?
How do you plan to achieve the goal? What strategies and action steps that you are going to take?
What challenges do you foresee in your journey to achieving the goal?
I have to thank my group of friends who have taken their time to complete the survey. I will not be sharing who they are to respect their identity and I do believe that it will be good to share their response for others to learn from it. My sincere gratitude and please find the contribution to benefit the readers as enclosed.
(1) What is the one habit change goal that you want to achieve in 2020?
– Daily light exercises and swimming at least once a week. – Taking time for daily prayer. – Overcome procrastination. – Waiting for the right time Habit —-> Just do – read more books – Be empathic leader – To wake up at 6am – procrastination – More exposure – Conscious choices: With eating (vegetarian), Active lifestyle (workout weekly), Education ( leadership courses/studies), Community (volunteering) – Remove self-doubt – Breakthrough business goal and keep doing exercise to maintain good health.
(2) How do you plan to achieve the goal? What strategies and action steps that you are going to take?
Note: the answers below are related to the response from question #1.
– Involve my spouse for support and as an accountability partner. – Awake early in the morning, and start my day in prayer. I’ll need to go to sleep earlier to be sure to get enough sleep. – breaking down bigger tasks to smaller ones that are achievable and focus on now instead of tomorrow. start with smaller ones.. even a simple task. – Forget everything, just do and learn from mistakes – to wake up early to finish books. – 1. Involve myself in CSR allow me to slow down and give space . 2. Listen empathically and understand message behind – To wake up earlier than usually, I need to sleep earlier (11pm) – setting deadlines – Training & Development. Enough time to speed out the internal & external. – Accountability Partners, sign up for courses, go to group workouts, sign up for volunteer work. – Track my past records, list it down and place it where I can see it. Do self-reflection on the records, have a sense of gratitude and thankfulness on how God has blessed me all this year. Reaffirm that in my mind and remove any room for doubt. – Remind myself should do all things with the best effort, learn from books, experts, and discipline
(3) What challenges do you foresee in your journey to achieving the goal?
– Procrastination, loss of momentum. – Being consistent and not being disrupted by travel. – this habit is 20 years old… it’s gonna be quite a challenge – Lose some gain some – not waking up early – 1. Patience – Sometimes there will be dinners and possibly late meetings that might prevent me from achieving this goal. – other issues coming in – Limitation of internal capable staff. – Influences, time management, commitment. – Self-demonising and sell myself short – VUCA WORLD, AI & technology can change to the way we work, change the customer habit on buying and using services (can be online learning, more practical, short training – 1/2 day and doing quarterly). Companies can cut down working time of HR, using more automation, work from home, so skills for employee can be shifted to adapt to virtual interaction, …
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There you go… it is never easy to work on the goals that we want. It makes it more meaningful when the goal is hard and you achieve it. The key here and a reminder to myself, I need to keep going, do it until I achieve what I need to and rest if I must but keep moving forward…
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” – Soren Kierkegaard
Last year I did a survey (for fun) to get some inputs from my friends who are in the professional development industry. Their experience as a trainer, facilitator and coach / mentor are ranging from two -(2) to twenty five -(25) years. I have a lot of respect for them and I am glad that they are my friends. Thank you for all your inputs… you know who you are!!
At times, I received some questions on how to be a trainer or coach and I look forward to this sharing to answer some of that questions that one has pertaining to this industry. Well, you can always invite my friends or me for coffee to discuss or brainstorm further…
Without further delay, please find outcome of the survey…
(1) Why are you doing this?
To leave a legacy behind that I have touched and transformed people positively worldwide.
As a Coach I can support young people to find their life purpose and develop their competency to success in VUCA World.
I love doing this because my passion is to impart knowledge in the most simple, engaging and connected manner.
Doable Business
My passion and helping people
Passion
Self-satisfaction, Giving Back to Society
Is something I am passionate about and a journey of learning for both.
Out of passion
To inspire people to do their best to strive
it fulfills my passion of helping people think better
As for me, my life purpose is “To inspire and develop leaders to reach their highest potential, for God.”
(2) What is the most memorable experience in training or coaching? (feel free to share more than one)
After more than 15 years people still remember on the impact I created in their life When people say that I make them feel great about themselves When people say that they become better because of my teachings
I helped an entrepreneur of a construction company to turnaround his business by just developing the leader inside him (learn how to lead self, influence people, listen more and treat employees the way they want by learning their love languages). And this is a volunteer project for SME community.
When your participants give you a round of applause not only at the end of the training (usually 2 days) but at the end of the first day! Nothing beats that feeling of satisfaction.
The feeling of HIGH @ the end of program
When participants/clients change for the positive, and appreciative of our coaching/training
Seeing lives transformed for the better
Your participants remembering you , when it has slipped your memory
When I know I have made some difference in the organization striving for betterment
I remember the first time my participant told me that it made his life better, at work and with his family… the joy I had to continue my journey as a trainer/coach/sharing/mentor was a breeze.
1. The person coached performed outstandingly and received a double promotion. 2. The whole branch performance turned around from red to black within 3 months when the HQ management gave them 1 year. 3. 14 bank branches increased sales in all their identified weak portfolios in less than 2 quarters with a minimum increase of 25%. The list goes on……..
Participant remembered what you taught them and applied practically in life and workplace
When I got feedback from a participant how she applied the insights and also share the insights with her colleagues who also benefited from the learning
As for me, all of the above and more, when you know are able to make a difference in lives… every session is different and not everyone in that session will apply what they learned. I am just looking for one person, one life to inspire… I trust there will be one every time!
(3) What is your favourite quote?
Choose to Lead, once a while learn to follow
“Live a life you want. Do not care too much on how people think about you”~ my quote:)”
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment” Jim Rohn
Knowing is not doing
For things to change for you, you have to change first yourself.
The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose.
“We are all learners, and that is the way to grow positively”.
Too many to recall. 8 truth of life by Abdul Kalam is a good guide for me
All that is not given, is lost!
Follow Your Passions And Success Will Follow
The purpose of the body is to carry the brain
My favourite quote will be the quote I share with everybody… “Your habits, your future!”
(4) Who are your role models?
Jesus Christ, MGR, Konosuke Matsushita, My Parents, My wife
Jeff Bezos; Warren Buffet; Steve Jobs
Barrack Obama – His Leadership Traits Anyone with patience and perseverance
Myself
Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jack Ma
Jack Canfield, John Maxwell, Robin Sharma, Marshall Goldsmith, Dr Peter Chee and others.
My First Head of Department (1977)
My prophet
I am my own
Tony Robbins
My parents
I have many role models, Jesus Christ, my parents, my mentors, coaches, my wife and even my kids… I am really learning from them!
(5) What are the titles of your favourite books?
How to win friends and influence people How to stop worrying and start living Think and Grow Rich
Coaching & Mentoring for Breakthrough Success; Value Investment; The Power of Think Difference; Sapiens.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life – John Maxwell
Purpose Driven Life
Simplify, The Power of Habits, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Mindset…etc
Too many to recall….To Kill A Mocking Bird . My Family & Other Animals.
Quran A balance life Nutrition immunology by Dr Chen Art of war
You’ll See It When You Believe It.
Change your habit Change your world
Mindset, Start with Why, Leaders Eat Last, Rewire
Mine will be… easy… all of the above, haha!
(6) Any advice or tips for one who wants to start as a trainer or coach?
Pursue excellence in training by being a role model
You must love what you do and do what you love.
Be genuinely passionate about everything you do… and you will see the miracle happen.
Be transparent and creative
If you aren’t passionate enough, and wanting to be a coach or trainer because you see/admire/envy others having the income or the lifestyle, then don’t do it. You must have the love for people in order for you to go far in this industry. Also, it starts from yourself. You need to keep learning, improving and change. Role modeling and walking the talk is very important.
Educate yourself first.Open Minded, Live Long Learning
Match it with your passion. Training can be in many areas
Have a whole lot of passion. Love what you do and do what you love!
Doing what you are passionate about is more important
Know what you want to focus and excel in and why you want to do it
If you do it as your work, it will be tedious… if it’s play… everyday is a fun day!
“Difficult and meaningful will always bring more satisfaction than easy and meaningless.” – Maxime Lagacé
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” – Warren Buffett
How do you want people to remember you?
This question will be one of the many questions I asked in the leadership workshop. The moment someone mentioned your name, what will be the first few traits or identity that come into their minds? More positive or not so positive?
I believe that building your own leadership branding will take time and it’s a journey to be consistent and maintain a great brand. It also serves as a good reminder for us to ensure we are practicing what we are preaching. It all boils down to integrity.
“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” – Henry Ford
Yes, another profound statement by Sir Henry Ford, intention alone may not be enough, we need to put into action should we choose to build our leadership brand.
The key areas to a great leadership branding, based on numerous interactions with leaders from around the region are as listed below;
Self-Leadership, leading others, emotional quotient, communication with others (the manner), how we make people feel after they have interacted with us…
One of the videos I have watched (introduced by one of the MNC leaders) mentioned the following process…
Character —> process —> results
Based on the process, the gain results and to sustain is to focus on the process. Once we get the process right (mastery and habits), the results will come automatically. Thus, to build our leadership branding, we need to work on how we are being, doing and getting it…
Our reputation and how we carry ourself when dealing with people (best is to stay true to ourselves), to strife by living your own brand (be comfortable in your own skin) and build good mindshare of others on you, and that is how I believe we can practice our differentiation (any how, we are unique).
How can we then work on building our leadership branding? We can make use of Deming’s PDCA model…
Plan, do, check, act
Plan; to me it means plan your own strategy and goals on your leadership branding.
Do; action and execution of your strategy and goals…
Check; what is the outcome from your action? How do you feel and what is the learning?
Act; fine-tune on the outcome and learning. It’s all in the details… a little bit goes a long way… the back to planning – setting your sight on your own improved version. Bigger and better… continuous improvement; Kaizen!
Recently while working on this leadership branding topic for my blog… I came across an article from Harvard Business Review;
The title of the article is as follows;
Define Your Personal Leadership Brand in Five Stepsby Norm Smallwood
After reading it, I have picked up some good points that I would like to share with you… also my answers as example ?
1. What results do you want to achieve in the next year?
In the next 12 months, what would you like to see and experience with…
clients and partners;
My answer: Value in new approach, new topics, improved delivery
Own organisation;
My answer: Additional clients, new products, certification, partners
Community;
My answer: Serving with more CSR, charity,
Inspiring and developing leaders to reach their highest potential for God.
2. What do you wish to be known for?
Willingness to share, genuine and reliable
Innovative, ethical, fast and accurate
3. Define your identity
Dynamic, Integrity, Ownership, Nurturing
4. Construct your leadership brand statement, then test it.
“I want to be known for being ______________ so that I can deliver __________.”
I want to be known for being generous, ethical, dynamic, accountable so that I can deliver value to people that I served for the best memories of my life.
• Is this the brand identity that best represents who I am and what I can do?
• Is this brand identity something that creates value in the eyes of my organization and key stakeholders?
• What risks am I taking by exhibiting this brand? Can I live this brand?
5. Make your brand identity real
Being true to myself. Living my own legacy. Designing my own life as my leadership branding.
