Reflections... reflections

As customary, Im back to my old self reflecting on the past 4 Decembers of my life. But before I outline, i would like to make a laundry list of the blessings I have received all these while.
- Decent house
- Family sedan
- Healthy kids
- Safe travel for my 1st son outside the country
- Secular job promotion handling global affairs
- Social duty of the highest order!

But unlike most reflections,what I would do now is to look back at my thoughts every december for the last 4 years and determine if there is any trend or pattern. Here they are:
1. Why is there a countdown service at the church? And does it matter?
2. On the importance of leaders behavior -both on and off work - seeing is believing.
3. Certainty in an uncertain time - of the turbulent 2008 that saw the demise and collapse of the biggest bank in history.
4. Social duty (2nd career) of the highest order - on this years assignment at our religious order!

Hmm, pretty decent accomplishment. Not without a help from my maker!!

Homestretch

Whew! It IS December 29. Two more days and its the end of a tumultous time period in the history of my working life. Consider this-

We lost as many as 25% of our department 'old timers' due to the 1Q 2009 recession. This alone resulted in roughly 1500 years of experience!

Imagine the wealth of wisdom that can be mined! Sadly there is no technology in the world today that can concisely summary, put into context or even make sense of all those years of experience.

If there is just a way for us to 'download' all those informations? Then we would not be condemned to repeat the mistakes made by our forefathers because we have learned from history.

Hmm, possible business idea? Takers anyone?

Leadership in Turbulent Times

DISPATCHES from the NEW WORLD of WORK
I Repeat Myself ...
Leading yourself in really weird times:

1. Be conscious in the Zen sense. Think about what you are doing more than usual. Think about how you project.

2. Meet daily, first thing, with your leadership team—to discuss whatever, check assumptions. Perhaps meet again late afternoon. Meetings max 30 minutes.

3. If you are a "big boss," use a private sounding board—check in daily.

4. Concoct scenarios by the bushel, test 'em, play with 'em, short-term, long-term, sane, insane.

5. MBWA. Wander. Sample attitudes. Visible but not frenzied.

6. Work the phones, chat up experts, customers, vendors. Seek enormous diversity of opinion.

7."Over"communicate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8. Exercise—encourage your leadership team to double up on their exercise.

9. Underscore "excellence in every transaction."

What Makes an Effective Executive!

Posting a Peter Drucker thought process on leadership:

Peter Drucker asked: "What Makes An Effective Executive."

- They asked, "What needs to be done?"
- They asked, "What's right for the enterprise?"
- They developed action plans.
- They took responsibility for decisions.
- They took responsibility for communicating.
- They were focused on opportunities rather than problems.
- They ran productive meetings.
- They thought and said "We" rather than "I."

13 Fatal Errors to be avoided for Leaders

Take it with a pinch of salt:
=============================
1.Failure to accept personal accountability
2.Failure to develop people
3.Trying to control results instead of influencing thinking
4.Join the wrong crowd
5.Manage everyone the same way
6.Forget the importance of Profit
7.Concentrate of problems rather than objectives
8.Be a buddy, not a boss
9.Fail to set standards
10.Fail to train people
11.Condone incompetence
12.Recognize only top performers
13.Try to manipulate people

Practical yet powerful!

3 things

Now what?

Saying NO!

This is the first time Im posting a you tube clip. For a very important message on how to rear kids, and possibly tomorrow's leaders. It is called "the marshmallow experiment:.

The lesson? Plain and simple delayed gratification. In Asian context, we call it, PLAY NOW, PAY LATER.

Watch and learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0oPuAO3M8c&feature=player_embedded

The WORLD needs MEN who..

cannot be bought;
• whose word is their bond;
• who put character above wealth;
• who possess opinions and a will;
• who are larger than their vocations;
• who do not hesitate to take chances;
• who will not lose their individuality in a crowd;
• who will be as honest in small things as in great things;
• who will make no compromise with wrong;
• whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires;
• who will not say they do it” because everybody else does it”;
• who are true to their friends through good report and evil report, in adversity as well as in prosperity;
• who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning, and hardheadedness are the best qualities for winning success;
• who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular;
• who can say “no” with emphasis, although all the rest of the world says “yes.”

RPM For Leaders

Tony Robbins spoke of these principles. The RPM of powerful and successful people all have something in common - the RPM!

I recalled this as being the RESULT, PURPOSE and MASSIVE ACTION PLAN. These 3 areas seeks to answer the questions (1) what do you want to achieve, (2) why do you want to achieve it and (3) how are you going to achieve it.

A good framework to assess your life. How can I apply this today? May need to find a venue to do so.

Nothing New Under the Sun

Scripture said in Ecclesiastes 1:9-14 and I quote , "what has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun".

Hence, from this day forth, I am attempting to chronicle, with due diligence as I can be, 3 things to shape my day;

1. What 1 novel idea I have learned today.
2. What 1 new idea I have contributed to work/society that made people's lives better.
3. What 1 story I can take back and share to my kids/wife.

So help me GOD!

Second Wind

Wikipedia defines it (second wind) as a phenomenon in distance running, such as marathons or road running (as well as other sports), whereby an athlete who is too out of breath and tired to continue suddenly finds the strength to press on at top performance with less exertion.

This I now need to find. Sometimes as a leader, it can take its toll on someone who's balancing career growth, teenage boys, maturing marriage, growing extended family and social commitments.

Burnout is near the corner if one is not careful.

I now need to find rest by focusing my eyes on the ONE that gives...My savior!

Whose Slave are you?

This is a powerful verse that lingered in my mind and heart this weekend. And to my utter amazement, little did I know I would soon use it to remind brothers of ours on the importance of placing priority time of family over work, of kids over self.

Scripture says : DONT YOU REALIZE THAT YOU BECOME SLAVES TO WHOM YOU CHOOSE TO OBEY". One liner, powerful implication. Office, workplace, home, social circles, they all apply.

I love the LIVING WORD!!!

Universal Laws

While rummaging thru powerful speeches in the history of my country, I was reminded to refresh myself on the power of Universal laws that governs any relationship or dealings. First pass research result is here:


1. Law Of Cause and effect. (For every problem there is a cause and a solution)
2. Law Of Increase. (Sowing the seeds and reaping the fruit.)
3. Law Of Attraction. (Like begets like. Opposites attract?)
4.

And to cap it all, I like the "Be" Attitudes elaboratin the principle of sowing and reaping here.

BE HARVEST
loving love
gentle gentleness
patient patience
friendly friendship
merciful mercy
truthful truth
hopeful hope
faithful faith
good goodness
joyful joy
peaceful peace
humble humbleness
harmonious harmony
content contentment
honest honesty
appreciative appreciation
just justice
forgiving forgiveness

Long or Short?

Are You Living for the Short Term or the Long Term? A fulfilling life—personally and professionally— is a balance between short-term satisfaction and long-term benefit...thus challenged Marshall Goldsmith, an author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Succession: Are You Ready.

What about you? Read his article below..

=================================
In analyzing how we spend our time, whether personally or professionally, it can be helpful to consider two dimensions: short-term satisfaction and long-term benefit. Both have value. It can be disappointing to live our lives with no meaning or pleasure in the here and now, just as it can be unfulfilling to live only for today.

Questions like, "Does this activity make me happy?" or "Do I find meaning in the activity itself?" can help us gauge the degree of short-term satisfaction that we get from any activity. Questions like, "Are the results achieved from this activity worth my effort?" or "Is the successful completion of this activity going to have a long-term positive impact on my life?" can help us gauge our expectations for potential long-term benefit from any activity.

The accompanying graph shows five different modes of behavior and how they can characterize our relationship to any activity—either at work or at home. (See above)

Stimulating is for activities that score high in short-term satisfaction but low in long-term benefit. An example of a "stimulating" activity may be the use of drugs or alcohol. While the activity may provide short-term satisfaction, it may be dysfunctional for long-term benefit. At work, gossiping with co-workers may be fun for a while, but it is probably not career- or business-enhancing. A life spent solely on stimulating activities could provide a lot of short-term pleasure but still be headed nowhere.

Sacrificing is for activities that score low in short-term satisfaction but high in long-term benefit. An extreme example of sacrificing could involve dedicating your life to work that you hate because you feel like you "have to" to achieve a larger goal. A more common example might be working out (when you don't feel like it) to improve your long-term health. At work, sacrificing might be spending extra hours on a project to help enhance your career prospects. A life spent solely on sacrificing activities would be the life of a martyr—lots of achievement, but not much joy.

Surviving is for activities that score low on short-term satisfaction and low on long-term benefit. These are activities that don't cause much joy or satisfaction and do not contribute to long-term benefit in your life. These are typically activities that we are doing because we feel that we have to do them in order just to get by. Charles Dickens frequently described the lives of people who were almost constantly in the surviving box. These poor people had countless hours of hard work, not much joy, and not much to show for all of their efforts. A life spent solely on surviving activities would be a hard one indeed.

Sustaining is for activities that produce moderate amounts of short-term satisfaction and lead to moderate long-term benefits. For many professionals, the daily answering of e-mails is a sustaining activity. It is moderately interesting (not thrilling) and usually produces moderate long-term but hardly life-changing benefit. At home, the day-to-day routine of shopping, cooking, and cleaning may be viewed as sustaining. A life spent solely on sustaining activities would be an O.K. one—not great, yet not too bad.

Succeeding is a term for activities that score high on short-term satisfaction and high on long-term benefit. These activities are the ones that we love to do and get great benefit from doing. At work, people who spend a lot of time in the succeeding box love what they are doing and believe that it is producing long-term benefit at the same time. At home, a parent may be spending hours with a child time that the parent greatly enjoys while valuing the long-term benefit that will come to the child. A life spent in succeeding is a life that is filled with both joy and accomplishment.

The perception of both short-term satisfaction and long-term benefit is dependent upon the individual engaged in the activity. Consider an immigrant who leaves a poor country and come to the U.S., where she works 18 hours a day at two minimum-wage jobs. She may have a great attitude toward her work and be saving every possible cent for her children's education. She may define her life as being largely spent in the succeeding category—filled with short-term happiness and long-term benefit.

At the other end of the professional scale, one CEO could feel resentful and grumpy about her work (and feel trapped) because a drop in stock value means that she will have to work another couple of years to have the $10 million she told herself she needed in order to retire. She might see herself in the surviving category. Another CEO in a similar situation could feel happy and fulfilled at the prospect of leading a major organization through challenging times and see herself in the succeeding category.

The point is two people could be engaged in the same activity but have completely different perceptions of what this activity means to them. It's because no one can define what short-term satisfaction or long-term benefit means for you but you. My suggestion for you is simple. Spend a week tracking how you spend your time. At the end of the week calculate how many hours you spent on stimulating, sacrificing, surviving, sustaining, or succeeding. Then ask yourself what changes you can make to help you create a life that is both more satisfying in the short-term and more rewarding in the long-term.

While the activities that take up our time can be one factor in determining our happiness and achievement, our attitude toward these activities can be an equally important factor in determining the ultimate quality of our lives. If we cannot change our activities, we can at least try to change our attitude toward them.

ABC's to Achieve your dreams!

1. Avoid negative sources, people, places, things and habits.
2. Believe in yourself
3. Consider things from every angle.
4. Don't give up.
5. Enjoy life today, yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come.
6. Family, friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches.
7. Give more than you planned to.
8. Hang on to your dreams.
9. Ignore those who try to discourage you.
10. Just do it.
11. Keep trying no matter how hard its seems, it will get easier.
12. Love yourself.
13. Make it happen.
14. Never lie, cheat or steal, always strike a fair deal.
15. Open your eyes and see things as they really are.
16. Practice makes perfect.
17. Quitters dont win and winners dont wait.
18. Read, study and learn about everything important in your life.
19. Stop procastinating.
20. Take control of your destiny.
21. Understand yourself in order to better understand others.
22. Visualize it.
23. Want it more than anything.
24. Xcellerate your efforts.
25. You are unique creation, nothing can replace YOU!
26. Zero in on your target and go for it.

Powells Leadership Insight

Here's Colin Powell Leadership Guidepost

1. Being responsible means sometimes pissing people off.
2. The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
3. Dont be buffaloed by experts and elites. They often possess more data than judgement.
4. Dont be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.
5. Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.
6. You don't know what you can get away with until you try.
7. Keep looking below surface appearances.
8. Organizations doesnt accomplish anything. Plans dont accomplish anything either. Theories of management dont much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish a great deal.
9. Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.
10. Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.
11. Fit no stereotypes. Dont chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the teams mission.
12. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
13. Look for intelligence and judgement, and most critically, a capacity for anticipate. To see around corners. And look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done.
14. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt. Offering solution everybody can understand.
15. Use formula P=40 to 70. If probablility of success is > 40, then go for the decision. Decision delayed is decision denied.
16. The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proven otherwise.

Thoughts?

Liking oneself as first step in liking and leading others

Do you agree? I heard or read this somewhere that the beginning to a truly nourishing relationship is to begin liking oneself. The logic goes that if one likes himself or herself, there is radiance or glow that emanates from the person's heart.

And that same person is able to share the inner stability, sensitivity to capture the hearts of other people. No wonder optimist people are usually leaders in their own right. I remember a cliche when it says,

If you are enthusiastic for 3 min, it will last 3 days.
If you are enthusiastic for 3 days, it will last 3 weeks,
If you are enthusiastic for 3 weeks, it will last 3 years
If you are enthusiastic for 3 years, it will last 30 years!

Enthusiasm, positive attitude and right frame of mind can indeed lengthen one's life.

Agree?

Ten Commandments of Continuous Improvement

I was intrigued by this very straightforward yet powerful principle I watched on continuous improvement. It is called the 10 commandments of Kaizen. Read along...

1. Open mind to change.
2. Think yes we can, if.
3. Attack process, not people.
4. Seek simple solutions.
5. If its broken, stop to fix it.
6. Use creativity, not capital.
7. Problems are opportunities in disguise.
8. Find the rootcause-why why why.
9. Wisdom of the many, not knowledge of one.
10. There is no final destination on the improvement journey.

To sum, perfect practice daily is key.

Someone said it takes 10,000 hrs of practice to perfect one craft. So if we practice daily (8 hrs) to learn one craft, it takes total of 3.5 years to master it. Wow! Is this the reason why average effectivity of a job is pegged around 3.5 years. Beyond that, a person is just cruising?

Corporate Politics - scribbles

I stumbled upon my old notes on a corporate politics seminar I attended. This talk is organized by our Alumni group. Read on. And I hope you can pick up a line or two and apply in your own company.

Speaker#1: Rule of ThumbRule #1 - the boss is always right.
Rule #2 - if the boss is wrong, refer to rule#1.

Speaker#2: 7 habits of a corporate politician
1. Fight or flight.
2. Achieve goal (WIIFM)
3. Focus on circle of influence.
4. Don't take sides (elephant analogy)
5. Don't get personal.
6. Seek to understand.
7. Think win/win.

Speaker #3: Affable Politician
1. Focus on your job orientation - are you eyeing a job or career?
2. Put CV friendly words i.e dollar value of project, make it marketable.
3. Learning from other peoples mistakes.
4. Visible and escalate up.

Speaker#4: The paranoid politician
1. Anything can be used against you.
2. You can't trust anyone.
3. Champion accomplishment.
4. Learn and boast.

AIG saga

I can only mutter the words as 'double standards". "Unacceptable yet reasonable". Duplicity in action. Two face. "While we say this, we do that." These are words that come to mind as I listen to the congressional hearing on AIG, the largest american insurer who allegedly paid staff bonus over govt bailout money.

The contention of its chairman and CEO is that 'these payments are effort to boost the earnings of staff thereby paying their taxes back to the govt". In his own words - "This is the only way to improve AIG's ability to pay taxpayers back quickly and completely and the only way to avoid a systemic shock to the economy that the U.S. government help was meant to relieve."

In fairness to its CEO, apparently he is in fact receiving 1 dollar compensation a year, no financial stocks, no monetary rewards for his accomplishment. Commendable? Perhaps. However, his actions and decisions of late spur many questions.

Is this a leadership failure? Your thoughts?

BHAG

Do you have a BHAG? Meaning do you have a "Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal". A recently coined term for anyone who has the ambition of turning things around.

I think this is a good supplement for S.M.A.R.T goal (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) goal.

Only One Life

I remember one author who wrote:

Only one life, and it will soon be past,
Only one life, and only what's done for God will last...

Recently I have have been asked to lead on a different level this year (2009). Never in my wildest dream have I imagined I would be singled out. But I did, along with my wife.

And so for the next series of my blog entries, expect differing thoughts, opinions and contents - all geared to the divine. After all, when this one life is through, all that is left of a person is what's done FOR the creator.

Enjoy...

Lifes Paradox

As leaders, it is important to develop a keen sense and deep understanding of this paradox. It makes for one very good reflection this weekend.

==================================================
PARADOX OF LIFE.
The paradox of our time in history is that:

We have taller buildings but shorter tempers,
Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.
We spend more, but have less
We buy more, but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families,
More conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees but less sense
More knowledge, but less judgment
More experts, yet more problems,
More medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little,
drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too
little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too
much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a
living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've
been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street
to meet a new neighbour. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've
done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but
polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write
more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to
rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to
produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods, and slow digestion, big men and small
character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of
two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are
days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night
stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to
quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and
nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to
you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just
hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going
to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to
you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your
side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is
the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but
most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from
deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for
someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to
speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Hierarchy of Needs

I have observed that people normally look up to leaders who have already gone past the 2 bottom hierarchical needs.

If so, does the argument stands that unless one has the 2 needs taken cared of, then one cannot be an effective and efficient leader?

Thoughts?

Guideposts

These are the basis of our parenting style. I believe each parent has their own, hinged on a few but powerful principles either taught or caught in life. Read along and comments are most welcome...

1. Scriptural Basis: Proverbs 22:6 says " Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Amen!

2. Civility Basis/Code of Conduct: Recommend George Washington's "Rules of Civility". This is a set of 100+ maxims he copied by hand, word for word, as a 16 yr old lad from the book "Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior In Company and Conversation". Hence, all throughout his military campaigns, diplomatic ventures and presidential politics, he demonstrated the civility, bearing and manners befitting a leader. And most of the rules are concerned with details of etiquette, offering pointers on such issues as how to dress, walk, eat in public and address one's superiors. The rules likewise address moral issues, but they address them indirectly," according to one writer. They seek to form the inner man by chiseling the outer. I think this is a great supplement to scripture.

3. Historical Basis: lets face it, the way our parents treated us when we ourselves were young shaped our way of thinking, filter and view of the world. We are what we are now largely in part because of how our parents corrected, rebuked and disciplined us. It is the same set of invisible voices and pattens we consciously or unconsciously conduct ourselves in front of our kids. Of course, one could argue that he/she is not treated well by his/her parents. And therefore his/her way of 'disciplining' the kids are the same.

But I believe that people who are relatively 'successful' as adults would probably have relatively 'successful' parents. The success word used is in the context of developing working habits, exercising values and principles, learned from generations past.

PAL (Parents As Leaders)

Spirited! Yes, this is the best word I would use to describe what was just concluded meet-the-parents session held at our local community. On reflection, I think below are 3 principles which has shaped my personal conviction and philosophy how parenting should be founded on, namely:

1. Scriptural Basis: Proverbs 22:6 says " Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Amen!

2. Civility Basis/Code of Conduct: Recommend George Washington's "Rules of Civility". This is a set of 100+ maxims he copied by hand, word for word, as a 16 yr old lad from the book "Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior In Company and Conversation". Hence, all throughout his military campaigns, diplomatic ventures and presidential politics, he demonstrated the civility, bearing and manners befitting a leader. And most of the rules are concerned with details of etiquette, offering pointers on such issues as how to dress, walk, eat in public and address one's superiors. The rules likewise address moral issues, but they address them indirectly," according to one writer. They seek to form the inner man by chiseling the outer. I think this is a great supplement to scripture.

3. Historical Basis: lets face it, the way our parents treated us when we ourselves were young shaped our way of thinking, filter and view of the world. We are what we are now largely in part because of how our parents corrected, rebuked and disciplined us. It is the same set of invisible voices and pattens we consciously or unconsciously conduct ourselves in front of our kids. Of course, one could argue that he/she is not treated well by his/her parents. And therefore his/her way of 'disciplining' the kids are the same.

Lastly, people who are relatively 'successful' as adults would probably have relatively 'successful' parents. The success word used is in the context of developing working habits, exercising values and principles, learned from generations past.

Thoughts please?

Black Leader in a White House

I'm sure millions, or billions?, watched the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States of America last night.

In leadership parlance, this is simply one, if not THE, most anticipated transition of power ever recorded in American history. One that involves not only the re-affirmation of American ideals such as liberty and democracy, but more importantly, records the preceeding events that shaped the person's ascent to power.

Simply put, the new president IS the right man for the right hour. The country's fundamental processes is in shambles, judging from the current events as published publicly. Even more exciting is the fresh ideas that the person brings to the table.

Perhaps it is in times like this that the country, may even be the world, needs a visionary president, capable and bold, charming and articulate, whose prowess transcends color and creed.

Let's observe how such a force can uplift a nation so emgulfed in an eco-socio-political turmoil. Change and hope. Two words of such an impact!

Your thoughts?