“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
“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.
“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.
“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.
“Be passionate and bold. Always keep learning. You stop doing useful things if you don’t learn.” – Satya Nadella
My ex-colleague from one of the training providers, who is based in Vietnam has introduced this book, “Hit Refresh” to me. The one that he read was in Vietnamese language. The last time he came to Penang, when we were at one of the major book stores… he said to me… “Dion, this book (where he pointed to at one of the book racks in the shop) is a good read… I read it in Vietnamese and I highly recommend it to you…”
Yup, I bought a few books that day and one of them… “Hit Refresh” by Satya Nadella. My ex-colleague was right… it is definitely a good book to read and I have picked up some key learning from the book; which I will share later in this blog.
If you are interested to know about the book review, please visit Amazon with the link below:
I have captured a few key learning from the book and I would like to share my favorites with you…
(1) Investment Strategy across 3 Growth Horizons
This model, I believe can be used by organizations to understand and strategize better. You just need a good facilitator to help with the session for your key leaders.
(2) Microsoft’s 3 C’s
Easy and straight-forward; covering three major focus for the organization’s sustainable growth. Can be a good reflection and discussion to test for readiness before implementing any new innovation.
(3) Satya’s Mental Model
How as a new CEO of a major organization focused on Value Creation. if we study the model, 3 out of 4 are focusing on people… I strongly believe that leadership is influence. How does one influence others to work with you and strive for excellence?
“Success can cause people to unlearn the habits that made them successful in the first place.” – Satya Nadella
Well, the key learning above that I have shared is important and another crucial learning that I have learnt from Satya is that, as leaders, we need to be humble and practice empathy; when we have the interest to seek to understanding others, we can build better trust that leads to strong relationship and influence.
Enjoy reading the book and let me know what you think. Looking forward to learning from you.
As I was going through some of my old short articles and collection of quotes (that motivates and provides me the wisdom), I came across this ancient Chinese quotes:
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
A lot of people (including my old self) want to be given the fish (if possible for FREE! anything that is free will be good… at least it’s provided for…)
Then the thought of this question came to me… “Why settled for limited fish?”
Isn’t it better to learn how to fish, therefore you can fish (catch) as much as you want, right?
We all have the choice to learn from successful people who have experienced in fishing and now turned professional fishermen/women. In fact, we should be paying them to learn from them.
Another quotes that I find relevant… “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear…”
What if, one day, a professional fisherman/woman offers to teach you how to fish and the secrets of catching fish abundantly… will you accept him/her as your coach/mentor?
Or will you give excuses that you are too busy, (no time), not interested, not in a hurry or whatever the excuses may be!!
Of course I am not talking about the real fishing… it’s a metaphor that I am using to represent opportunities.
“Life is short, once the opportunity is gone, it’s gone…”
Life is too short and it is better for one to live life to the fullest and not hoping that life will be better (sitting and waiting for things to happen…)
When we reach a certain point in life and look back… will we say to ourselves… “WOW! I’M GLAD I DID…” or “OH DEAR! HOW I WISH I HAD!”
“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” ~ Og Mandino
If we have not given our best, we have not lived!
There are many ways to learn “fishing”, please find some of the ways that I believe will work if you put some heart into it…
Look for a coach/mentor and engage him/her to UNLEASH the potential in us.
Find and make the time to read, we can start with 5 minutes and gradually increase it to more.
Attend training, workshops, seminar, conferences, networking events; get to know people and talk to them. A lot can be learned when our mind is open.
Have an inner circle of great friends (from different industries) having the same values. Napoleon Hill called it “Mastermind Group”. To find out more, you can visit Jack Canfield’s site: http://jackcanfield.com/blog/mastermind-group/
Be curious and have the hunger to learn… we can always do our own research via the internet, magazines, audiobooks, e-books and many more resources around us. We just have to make time to invest in this activity.
I strongly believe that, the more we do (and learn), the better we get.
My own definition of a LEADER is a combination of two words, LEARNER and READER.
The more we LEARN, the more we EARN(knowledge and skills).
Thank you for investing your time in reading. Please do share with me if you have some learning points and tips.
“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.” – Tony Robbins
A lot of us, myself included… tend to wait for the right moment to make decision – the right decision… is there really a right decision?
What I have learnt from some of the audio books, we have to just make the decision and manage the decision we have made… fine-tuning it along the way – to make it a good and sound decision (at the time we made that decision with the resources that we have). We have to learn to be resourceful and have the grit (persistence) to pursue what we have decided upon (as long as we can).
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
At times we have the fear to make the wrong decision… well, if we do not make that decision, will you be able to know whether you are able to achieve it?
Discuss with the people that you trust (to bounce off some ideas) and you will have to make the decision, anyhow.
This is the time when you know, having a mentor and / or a coach helps (let me know if you need any help, i will be more than willing – if both our schedules permit).
Do your research, write down the possible outcomes (depending on the goal that you have set), “sleep on it” for a few days and refer to item #2 or #3.
Just Do It… NOW! (If you do not, will you regret it… at a later stage in life?)
In my humble opinion, it is not how you start, it is the journey of learning, to keep going and persist until you finish what you have started.
So what… if you made a mistake? Evaluate the experience and move on…
I am sure there are a lot of good reading materials you can get pertaining to making decisions. You can read as much as you can or want… ultimately, you have to make that decision to either start or not.
Opportunity does not come to you… You have to SEIZE IT!
Let me share some quotes that I like on making decisions:
“A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.” – Grantland Rice
“When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” – Roy E. Disney
“I made decisions that I regret, and I took them as learning experiences… I’m human, not perfect, like anybody else.” – Queen Latifah
“Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.” – Keri Russell
“Our daily decisions and habits have a huge impact upon both our levels of happiness and success.” – Shawn Achor
I look forward to your success and please share your story / journey with me.
I have been thinking of what to write… something that can benefit people who are reading this article. There are a lot of things that can be written and suddenly I thought of this question…
“What can my past jobs (the work, projects, people) teach me to be a better version of me today?”
To some of you who has changed a lot of jobs, please do not feel bad, times have changed and we do our best to be in that job as long as we can to serve the best we can.
I strongly believe that the outcome is a win-win when we put our best effort in the job that we are doing. The company gets the results and we get to learn from the experience, preparing ourselves for something BIGGER that is coming our way.
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”~ Pele
Please take note that the sharing is for learning purposes, contact me should you want the long version of the story as I will be putting the learning in bullet points…
Keep going and one day, you will achieve what you want to achieve.
Well here goes…
1st Job: Part-time college lab assistant which later got promoted / changed to be an IT Trainer(by accident)
Lesson 1: Never underestimate yourself, you can do GREAT things!
Lesson 2: Have the courage to speak up.
Lesson 3: As a people manager, fight for your people.
Lesson 4: Never ever condemn other people’s religion.
Lesson 5: Work hard before working smart!
2nd Job: Computer Instructor with a USA Franchise Computer Learning company(in Kuala Lumpur)
Lesson 1: Tell them what you are going to teach them, teach them and tell them what you have taught them.
Lesson 2: Practice integrity at all times.
Lesson 3: Communication skills are very important, no matter who you are.
Lesson 4: Never exploit people who are working with / for you.
Lesson 5: When you start to get greedy, you start to fall!
3rd Job: IT Officer and HR Training Executive in a Japanese Steel company
Lesson 1: Always have a backup plan.
Lesson 2: Never rush into making important decision.
Lesson 3: Listen to people who are reporting to you, all ideas are good ideas.
Lesson 4: Never get comfortable, always be improving yourself.
Lesson 5: Understand the culture of the company.
4th Job: College IT Training Sales and Trainer
Lesson 1: Change is good; if it improves the situation.
Lesson 2: The more you do, the better you get (provided if you fine-tune).
Lesson 3: You need a team to work on bigger things.
Lesson 4: Never fear of taking risks (manage the risks).
Lesson 5: Motivate your people, never wait until they are leaving.
5th Job: IT Head of Department with a Taiwanese forwarding MNC
Lesson 1: Respect needs to be mutual and earned NOT forced!
Lesson 2: Creative thinking helps to solve a lot of challenges.
Lesson 3: Never play favouritism!
Lesson 4: Office politics can cause problems.
Lesson 5: There are a lot of ways to solve issues.
6th Job: Sales Executive with the same Taiwanese forwarding MNC
Lesson 1: “The sky is NOT the limit…”
Lesson 2: Building relationship works!
Lesson 3: Be consistent (and congruent).
Lesson 4: Sales is a good platform to learn how to run a business.
Lesson 5: Customers need to be treated right! (they may not be always right)
7th Job: Branch Manager with a Systems Integrator
Lesson 1: there are no forever friends nor enemies in business.
Lesson 2: People are willing to do anything to earn big bucks!
Lesson 3: Coaching helps to build people.
Lesson 4: Follow up! Follow up! Follow up!
Lesson 5: Transparency is one of the success factors in business.
8th Job: Sales and Operations working partner
Lesson 1: Whoever that drinks with you, may not be your friend.
Lesson 2: One of the business focus and branding can be on premium markets!
Lesson 3: You always have a choice and the choice made you.
Lesson 4: Be truthful and be your true self.
Lesson 5: It is never too late to turn over a new leaf, to be a better person.
9th Job: Team manager for a USA computer MNC
Lesson 1: Motivate your people; recognition and rewards.
Lesson 2: Find out the root cause and NOT fire fight!
Lesson 3: You need to give some time to see improvement.
Lesson 4: Complete and NOT compete!
Lesson 5: 1×1 coaching and constant communication with people, helps!
10th Job: Sales Trainer with the same USA computer MNC
Lesson 1: Make learning FUN!
Lesson 2: Never give empty promises.
Lesson 3: Give recognition when it is due.
Lesson 4: Listen to both sides of the story.
Lesson 5: Dare to take risks!
There were a lot more lessons learnt from the past experience… I am just sharing 5 learning points for each job experience. Enjoy reading and select those relevant to you to apply.
If you need any help, please do not hesitate to contact me.
And if anyone of the above learning triggers you to change… for the better… WHY NOT?
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” ~ Colin Powell
One of the books that I enjoyed reading, a fable-based book and great learning as well.
The book titled “Our Iceberg is Melting – Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions” by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber. The book is available at Amazon.com…
The synopsis from Amazon:
Our Iceberg Is Melting is a simple story about doing well under the stress and uncertainty of rapid change. Based on the award-winning work of Harvard Business School’s John Kotter, it can help you and your colleagues thrive during tough times.
On an iceberg near the coast of Antarctica, group of beautiful emperor penguins live as they have for many years. Then one curious bird discovers a potentially devastating problem threatening their home—and almost no one listens to him.
The characters in the story—Fred, Alice, Louis, Buddy, the Professor, and NoNo—are like people you probably recognize in your own organization, including yourself. Their tale is one of resistance to change and heroic action, seemingly intractable obstacles and clever tactics for dealing with those obstacles. The penguins offer an inspiring model as we all struggle to adapt to new circumstances.
Our Iceberg Is Melting is based on John Kotter’s pioneering research into the eight steps that can produce needed change in any sort of group. After finishing the story, you’ll have a powerful framework for influencing your own team, no matter how big or small.
I believe different people will learn differently from the book. Depending on the different states we are in, at the time reading the book.
As for me, I have gathered good tips in practicing a successful change. In my own understanding (adapted from the book), the steps are shared as below:
Making it Possible
Identify a trigger to make it urgent and important; what needs to be changed immediately?
Setup a support team (inner circle); the power of group with the ability to lead, communicate, good branding, skills to analyse, decisive, proactive and focus on priorities.
Make a decision
Decide on the well formed outcome; with the right vision, goals, strategies and tactics. Journey to making a reality for yourself.
Massive Actions
Understand what is needed and the price to pay for embarking on the change project…
Overcome and remove the barriers stopping or slowing you down.
Go for low hanging fruits and get results as soon as possible in the short term.
Be aware of initial success and keep going(do not be distracted). Do it until you get the desired results…
Sustainability
Make it a habit culture… keep repeating the right action to produce the desired results (repeatedly).
Rest if you must… keep going and you will achieve the results that you want.
I have been thinking of what to write… something that can benefit people who are reading this article. There are a lot of things that can be written and suddenly I thought of this question…
