Leading a Presentation

If you're like me in the corporate world, presentations are a boon and a bane. To date, I can't remember how many times I've sat thru unproductive hours listening to worthless presentations by competent technical people.

With puzzled look and wary thoughts, I always relish the cue when speakers blurt out the 'summary' or 'conclusion' or 'recommendations' words. It literally sounded Halleluiah to me!!

And I like what I dug below. It summarizes 10 steps in creating a winning presentation to sell an idea. Go apply yourself and see what happens!

1. Problem
2. Your solution
3. Business model
4. Underlying magic/technology
5. Marketing and sales
6. Competition
7. Team
8. Projections and milestones
9. Status and timeline
10. Summary and call to action


Comments are welcome!

Leaders and Conflict Resolution

I got this very insightful tips on conflict resolution: Worth the time in reading:
================================================

1. Act quickly. "Conflict is highly viral," Murphy said. "Each hour, day or week you avoid dealing with it, it will grow" as your reputation diminishes. "Leaders who don't manage conflict often find their own performance called into question."

2. Define the moment -- and yourself. Don't delegate responsibility for managing conflict. Use it as an "opportunity to establish (yourself) as a leader," Murphy said.

3. Clarify:Resolve conflicts in a way that "clarifies and reinforces individual and team responsibility," he said.

4. Never take sides. Correct individuals privately. Even if someone's clearly at fault, it does little good to say so publicly. You'll reinforce team anger toward the person, and damage your relationship with him or her. Addressing the conflict usually reveals ample blame.

5. Teamwork: Make resolving the dispute a group effort. Without pointing fingers, "sort out who should own what, and encourage each individual to acknowledge" it, Murphy said.

6. Big Picture: "Resolve conflict in favor of the (organization)," he said. Never "accord victory to one party over another."

7. Face conflict one at a time. "Acting on multiple conflicts dissipates your energy and focus," Murphy said. "The (public) resolution of one conflict can send a clear signal to other people as to how you'll handle their situations." They'll get the message -- and likely resolve the dispute themselves. When several conflicts have a common theme, get everyone together and hash the issues out. You'll save time -- and likely prevent similar disputes down the road.

8. Get to the root. Focus on the causes of conflict, not the symptoms. Doing the latter highlights surface issues and encourages discord.

9. Start with positives. When resolving disputes, begin with issues everyone agrees on, says communications coach Ronnie Moore, author of the just-released book "Why Did I Say That?" Example: "We've all worked here a long time and have achieved a great deal together. You're a talented group whose talents play well off each other." You've given a sincere compliment -- and provided motivation to resolve the conflict.

9. Apologize. If you've contributed to the problem -- perhaps by not addressing it sooner -- admit it. You'll set a conciliatory tone, Moore says.

10. Frame it. "Sometimes changing a word or phrase can communicate a more positive intention," Moore said. "Saying 'I can do this if you'll do that' is more collaborative than 'I can't do this unless you do that.' Too many times, we put a negative frame around a message that could be communicated positively."

Lastly, acknowledge without agreeing. Acknowledgment tells the other person you heard what he said. Until all parties "feel listened to," Moore said, they won't listen to you

Leadership and Climbing Ladders

The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but, only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher." By: Thomas Henry Huxley

Very Profound!

Job Promotion and Building Relationships

The higher you climb the corporate ladder, the more down-to-earth you'll become. Or you SHOULD become? Biblical? This time round, I think I found the connection. I am a personal witness to this cliche to being valid-both in the brotherhood and in the corporate world!

Why? Today, I was promoted to head the Global operations!

And with a stroke of divine coincidence, I just came out of a seminar organized by our local church. Topic is, guess what, about building MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP!

And now as I reflect in my quiet time-while writing this blog entry-I felt being moved into a divine scenario where the Almighty's hand is leading me to think about 'building my team anchored on solid grounding, and I'll do well.

More hardwork. But again, easier said than done.

Pygmalion Effect vs Leadership

Have we been robbed of our leadership potential due to exposure to 'bad' teachers?

The pygmalion effect defines that "if teachers were led to expect enhanced performance from some children, then the children did indeed show that enhancement. In some cases such improvement was about twice that shown by other children in the same class. The pygmalion experiment was to support the hypothesis that reality can be influenced by the expectations of others. This influence can be beneficial as well as detrimental depending on which label an individual is assigned."

In hindsight, I tend to believe this behavioral correlation exist. But we might argue there are other influential factors such as environment. Obviously yes. But other than the parents, the single biggest influence on children, remains rooted on teachers.Comments?

Leadership and Relationships

Browsing thru a bookstore led me to open one inspiring book on leadership (yet again!). The author goes on to define the basic tenets of 'improving one relational skills'. His objective is to survive in a higly hostile leadership environment.

Here are my realizations as I reflect on the topic on RELATIONSHIPS:

Relationships are:
1. Fragile - meaning we need to handle it with care.
2. Essential - you can't live without it.
3. Valuable - very precious and delicate as in a glass jar.
4. Requires Effort - it is no laggard and we need to work on it.
5. Diverse - varied and variety.
6. Changes you - very dynamic and never stagnant.
7. Risky - prone to problems, challenges.
8. Ends, not the means.

All are self explanatory. Except the last bullet which I find perplexing. Do you see relationships as ends of means?

Working Hard vs GDP Growth

One unassuming guy apparently installed a videocamera on a sidewalk to observe how fast people move about. This he performed in many top notch cities all over the world, from New York, London, Paris to Tokyo to Singapore. Soon after, he plot the data he gathered from this experiment into a graph.

Lo and behold, there is a significant correlation between GDP growth of the country to the pace in which people move about.

Can you believe that?

Is Leadership Learned or Taught?

I am re-posting my comment to another excellent blogs I frequently read - for posterity measures!

==================================
JFK uttered these words - “Each time someone stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope”

True enough, many a great men, ancient and modern leaders alike, of human history share this trait-to inspire men and move against insurmountable odds! From Alexander the great, to Churchill, Clausewitz to Colin Powell, most are icons in their own right. Napoleon is one classic example. Despite his physical stature, he commanded the utmost respect and deadly loyalty of his army. It is not because of any other attributes, but simply, because of his ability to inspire men and win their hearts to overcome all odds.

Closer to home, historic leaders such as Jose Rizal, inspired the multitude of revolutionaries to spark the great Phil. revolt of 1898. Such action eventually gained the Phil. independence over Spain. On the business side, Jack Welch and Lee Iacocca, to name a few, are great examples of business giants who did extremely well in inspiring their men to innovate and push business goal to the limits. Bottomline, their can do attitudes and rock solid characters shaped their destiny and their success. Simply put, their Being preceeds their doing.

I will not end my comment without a passage or two from scripture. And I quote “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” - Matthew 5:15.

Keep these blogs, and thoughts, coming Wilson. It’s inspiring to say the least!!

Leadership Quadrant

I was reading a leadership book this past few days. One principle that struck me is the illustration which I took the liberty to name as the "LEADERSHIP QUADRANT".

Very profound matrix!! See for yourself!

Sin or Saint

Up until now, I was caught totally unaware that the '7 deadly sins' are in fact scriptural. In one quotation, it says:

16 There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

To balance the negative side, the positive aspects is hereby compared:

Vice Virtue
==================== =====
Lust (excessive sexual appetites) Chastity (purity of soul)
Gluttony (over-indulgence) Temperance (self-restraint)
Greed (avarice) Charity (giving)
Sloth (idleness) Diligence (zeal/initiative)
Wrath (anger) Forgiveness (composure)
Envy (jealousy) Kindness (admiration)
Pride (vanity) Humility (humbleness/modesty)


Think again!

Static vs Dynamic Variables

I remember a university professor telling us that in engineering: "dynamics" of rigid bodies is a more unforgiving subject to handle compared to "statics". (Dynamics, a word denoting movement and change vs statics, which connotes something steady and stationary.)

Put simply, how can we measure let alone solve something that is constantly moving, changing and unstable? True enough! In real life, the same principles holds true!

My observation is that people who have mastered the art of recognizing and adddressing the impact of both will surely be successful. Specifically in the corporate world where a typical high profile manager's job involves running the gamut of dynamic variables i.e human emotions of customers and employees, and in the same spectrum, machines, production processes and systems etc.

Trained as an engineer, with a knack for anything 'mechanical' and honed outside of work as a leader-servant, with a good dose of handling the whole spectrum of human emotions, I think I'm being prepared to handle more...to come?...