Tag: leaders

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This is Kampar!

I arrived in Kampar, Perak on the 8th November 2020.

Why? I have been given an opportunity to serve and work with young leaders.

Part of the reasons why I did not update this page in November 2020, I was busy settling in and doing what I need to do to get myself started with this new journey that I am venturing.

Frankly, there are a lot of things to do and doing my best to learn as much as I can to shorten my learning curve… so that I can start getting some small wins and outcomes.

Anyhow, it is going to be an exciting journey and looking forward to transforming minds and changing lives… of the people that I am working with and the leaders of tomorrow.

In the midst of this COVID-19 crisis, there are potentials to be unleased and opportunities to work on, I believe it depends on our perspectives – whether we see it as positive or negative… even if the event is a negative one, how we respond / react to it will lead to the outcome.

Come join me in this pursuit of excellence.

Catch up with all of you… soon.

“Your habits, your future!”

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Leadership branding

“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 Steps by 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.

And my final thoughts,

Consistency is key.

“Your habits, your future!”

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12 Weekend Habits of Highly Successful People

Have you ever thought of what successful (depends on what success means to you, in this case, people who are busy and had made a name for themselves in the business world) or we can identify them as effective leaders (people who get results)  do during the weekends?

I have come across these twelve leaders and what they do during weekends;

1. Robert Iger (CEO of Disney) – get up early (and never experience “Monday Blues”…)

2. Benjamin Franklin (Founding Father of the United States) – have a plan (fail to plan and we plan to fail)

3. Timothy Ferriss (Author; one of his books, “The 4-Hour Work Week”) –  do not multitask (focus to get better results)

4. Anna Wintour, OBE (Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief) – stay active (and gain more energy to achieve more)

5. Steve Jobs (Apple) – prioritize what’s important (clarity on what gets you closer to your goal and breakthrough)

6. Warren Buffett (CEO of Berkshire Hathaway) – make time for hobbies (life has more meaning in doing what you love)

7. Oprah Winfrey (Media Proprietor) – practice stillness (meditation for 20 minutes a day will improve your mind)

8. Randi Zuckerberg (Businesswoman) – forget FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and embrace JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) 

9. Bill Gates (Microsoft) – take time to reflect (this is how humans improve themselves and learn more)

10. Richard Branson (Business magnate) – give back (release oxytocin and feel happier)

11. Jack Dorsey (CEO of Twitter Inc.) – get ready for the rest of the week (plan ahead and expect the unexpected)

12. Jay-Z (Rapper) – keep up the momentum (once you get going, it’s going to be tough to stop… keep moving forward)

There you go… some great tips and sharing on what we can do with our weekends. Enjoy your weekend.

“Change Your HABITS, Change Your World…”

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Top 7 Habits of High Achievers

Why are some leaders effective and are able to achieve more than others? Have we ever thought of that question before?

What made these high achieving leaders successful? As my mentor and I are working on our new book, I have the opportunity to do some research on this topic.

Here are what I have discovered and of course there are a lot of other habits, let me focus on the critical few – top 7 – for your reading pleasure…

1. POSITIVE THINKING

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”  – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

What do you gain by thinking negative? In my humble opinion, please save your mind energy and think positive – do it every day and one day, positive thinking becomes your habit.

A great day starts with positive thinking. Also shared by Zig Ziglar, positive thinking is like taking a bath… you need it every day NOT once in a while.

2. HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

“The greatest wealth is health.”  – Virgil

As humans, we have been given the power to choose what we do with our mind, body and spirit. How do you take care of your health?

To exercise or NOT? Sleep? Diet? Choices… Choices… the choice that we make, we have to learn how to pay the price.

We do not have to start with a lot, just focus on starting… bit by bit, step by step… as long as you keep doing, you will see the results. Results will give you the motivation and change in attitude.

3. FOCUS

“So rather than trying to do too many things at once, switch over to a mindset of focusing on just one thing while you are working.” – Timo Kiander

My mentor once shared with me, “if you chase two monkeys at the same time, you ended up with no monkey!”

I trust that if we really want to excel and get results, we need to focus. Like what Robert Kiyosaki mentioned in one of his books, FOCUS means “Follow One Course Until Succeed…”

What are you focus on today? How are you prioritizing your activities?

All of us have 24 hours a day, what would happen when you start to focus?

4. LEARNING

“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.” – Leonardo Da Vinci

How do you plan to learn for the rest of your life? It is my belief that from our cradle to the grave, we have a choice to learn and I will make the choice to learn as much as I can. There is a Chinese saying… “We learn as we grow with age…”

Learning is one of the ways to make ourselves smarter. What do want to learn today?

5. START YOUR DAY RIGHT

“Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden

How would you start you day right? Let’s do a 30-day challenge to start your day with the right, “Intention, Gratitude and Appreciation…”

Intention – what are the 3 things you would like to achieve today?

Gratitude – what are you thankful for today?

Appreciation – who are you going to appreciate today and how?

I once read in a magazine article, if you start your day right, the whole day will be fantastic and fruitful.

6. REST and RELAX

“If you do what you love, it is the best way to relax.” – Christian Louboutin

What will happen if we keep working non-stop without rest and relaxation? We will definitely experience burn-out and time will be wasted for us to get back in shape to be productive.

Dale Carnegie said it right, “So, to prevent fatigue and worry, the first rule is: Rest often. Rest before you get tired.”

Find time to do activities that you love and enjoy. Imagine when you find the career and business that you truly love and enjoy doing (to learn and earn)… it would be a bliss.

How are you enjoying your down-time to rest and relax?

7. CONNECT with OTHERS

“If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.” – Chinese Proverb

I have an author friend who encourages me to talk to strangers. In fact, I can learn a lot of things from strangers. The insight you can get from people is incredible when you listen closely to their stories.

It will also be good to constantly be in touch with our clients / customers / partners / colleagues…  get feedback and for them to feed-forward their expectations and requirements to us. By constant communication, it will help bond all of us.

How do you plan to connect with others? What questions will you ask? What information will you share?

I trust that, there are more habits that high achievers have and I am sharing this Top 7 Habits of High Achievers, so that we can benefit by perfect practicing them.

Have fun and the journey is the reward!

“Change Your Habits, Change Your World!”

“Your Habits, Your Future!”