Ensuring Productivity : Post Change and Restructuring

This afternoon, my colleagues were on-air. Just as the last time, the following is the Q&A for those who are interested. As more and more companies have already completed their restructuring and downsizing, I thought it is apt to share this. Next week it will be on how to manage your Redeployment for better results for which yours truly and a colleague will be on air.

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Imagine that you are leading the rest of your bloodied platoon to safety after a brutal battle. You are marching right upfront scanning the horizon, planning and strategizing. You are exhausted and your mind and body aches with anticipation for what lies ahead but you know you have to lead your men to safety and you are glad they are still with you after all that has happened. You are confident that the men appreciate all that you have done for them despite the high casualty. But, when you look behind…..and you find that less than half of your men are following you. The rest are standing still and digging their feet in the dirt, looking unhappy and undecided. They have put down their weapons and they don’t seem to have any more fire in their bellies. They whisper in each others ears while throwing suspicious glances at you. Imagine if that happens to you as a platoon leader in a war.

That is exactly what is happening in many organizations today and what we suspect is going to happen in many more very soon. Restructuring, downsizing, rightsizing, etc are all relatively easy to execute as they all revolve around the reduction of costs and head count but what is harder to do is to manage effectively those who are still with us to take the company forward. As we have been sharing with your listeners before, the reason a company downsize or restructure is to grow in the future. Now, the future is here or may be just around the corner. The question is, have we readied our people .ie. the survivors for the next cycle of growth and prosperity?

Q : What would be the most basic yet critical thing to do for managers now?

A : Keep the communication open, honest and motivating. In our interview with this station some time ago we shared how a manager should communicate during a downsizing exercise. It is time now to ensure that the communication looks into the future apart from clarifying current worries and issues. By focusing the communication on the future, the remaining employees will get the tacit message that they are needed and they are part of the company’s plans for the future.


Q : But no matter how much a manager communicates, there is still bound to be nagging worries and real or imagined fear right?

A : Yes that's bound to happen. That's why we advise our clients to hold ‘navigating change meetings’ in small groups where any lingering doubts and worries can be cleared in a more personalized manner. Some even call it ‘survivor meetings’! Here is where companies that were proactive enough to plan and execute their downsizing in a humane manner (such as providing outplacement services) will be able to use these as a leverage to show the remaining employees that the company is indeed a caring employer and that those who remain are valued and will be taken care off.


Q: One of the things that people may feel now is that their career is not at all secure….nothing to speak of their career development. What can one do about that?

A : This is where providing career management skills will play its role . Malaysian companies have a generally young work-force. This of course includes the Gen-Y employees for most of whom this would have been their first experience of a severe economic downturn. This is a good time as any to provide them with career management skills so that they are better prepared to take charge of their own career development and don't feel that their lives are derailing right in front of their eyes!


Q : How or what can a manager do to maintain employee motivation now that the major part of restructuring is over?

A : Show employees that they are valuable by taking the time to understand their different motivators. During the immediate aftermath of a downsizing, employees’ motivators will differ. Not all are motivated by stability…although it is easy to imagine that they are all only concerned about their job security. This may not necessarily be the case. Just as in the ‘good’ times, employee motivators are also different now. Some may actually be more worried about their career development opportunity as they can now see that many of the career ‘boxes’ they were aiming at are now eliminated, outsourced or reduced. Some may feel that their work-life balance that they have taken great pains to develop over the years is in jeopardy as now they will be required to take on additional job roles.

Also, Surprise them by sending them for training and self development. You will be sending a clear signal to your people that they are indeed part of your plans for the future and you are willing to continue to invest in them. This is a great motivator by it self.


Q : In terms of getting the people back to speed and productivity, what would be some best practices that you can share?

A : First, Clarify expectations. With all the changes that have happened to the company, it is vital that those who remain have a clear understanding of the things that they need to continue doing, the things that they need to reduce or change and also those that they have to stop doing.

Secondly, Revisit the company’s vision and value system and recommit to it and re-energize it. This will also provide a platform for all to reach an ‘agreement’ on what needs to be done and what kind of new behaviors will be expected out of them.

Finally, Focus on results. Many managers feel that if they focus on results, they will make their teams more stressed and feel more pressured in an already not so pleasant situation. This is not true. Just as in the case of the army, what motivates a soldier is an objective; even when everything seems to be so hopeless. As long as he can see the enemy fort, he will keep moving towards it and the mere act of moving and looking at that fort will give him hope and energy. Similarly, now is the time for the executive leadership team to provide clearly defined goals and targets. No doubt, these goals may be dramatically different than what was contained in the 5 year plan developed in 2005 but the mere action of developing and clarifying new goals and targets will energize and give hope to employees.



Q : And people may end up doing more than they used to or even play unfamiliar roles?

A : Absolutely and that's why it is extremely important to clarify roles. Help people to get comfortable with their new roles. Let me give you an example. Lets say a team supervisor has been retrenched. The team is still intact and somebody from the team may be required to take on the role of team leadership whether officially or unofficially. Now, this person has been thrown into the deep blue ocean whereby he/she is now suddenly in a position to ‘lead’ others who only until a few weeks ago were his/her equals. How fair or logical is it to expect that this individual will ease smoothly into the new role. People need to be trained and re-tooled when ever they are given new roles.

By clarifying new roles and responsibilities, managers can ensure a successful post restructure strategy implementation, ensure the right people are doing the right job, and most importantly ensure an effective structure of responsibilities and accountabilities. Again to use the army as an analogy, no matter what happens, the reporting structure is always alive and kicks in instantaneously.


Q : Its strange really as many may feel that the toughest part is separating employees but here we are struggling to look after those who are still around.

A : Well, Yes and No. Separating employees is tough but only because it is most often done in a haphazard way. Similarly, maintaining the morale of those survivors is indeed difficult but it is made difficult by our matter of fact way of dealing with them. How post restructure people management is executed will determine how engaged the remaining employees are to the company. Right Management research shows that companies with highly engaged employees, have employees who are 50% more productive, enjoy 56% higher customer loyalty are 33% more profitable.


We should not take it for granted that those who survived will thank heir luck start and pull up their sleeves and get back to work. Don't underestimate ‘the survivor guilt’ syndrome. Basically, survivor guilt is a term used to describe the dejected feeling felt by those not affected by a downsizing. They may feel ‘guilty’ that they are the ‘lucky’ ones compared to some of their closest colleagues. Lets understand this clearly. I believe, survivor guilt may happen among the older group of the work force. They have a tendency to have worked together in the same company for many years and hence a sense attachment is developed with co-workers. They may feel downcast seeing their friends and colleagues being retrenched and may wonder whether they really deserve to be in the company. This is not a nice feeling to have and if not handled well will continue to affect morale and productivity. On the other hand, the younger work force may not have such a profound ‘survivor guilt’ syndrome as they are the generation that views all relationships as a means towards and end. It is difficult to say but the existence of ‘survivor guilt’ should not be over looked.



Q : So far we have talked about the role of managers. How about the Executive Leadership team? What should they do to get the entire organization back to productive ways?

A : For one, we believe that they should be visible and accessible. No doubt, this post-restructuring period is one where new strategies are being finalized and new decisions being made. The senior leaders are bound to be busy BUT that is no excuse to stay away from the people at large. They need to be seen and heard. They need to be seen mingling and listening to grouses and suggestions. They need to be heard saying kind and motivating things to those whom will be expected to make all their new strategies bear fruit! Isn’t it an irony then when the senior leaders lock them selves up in board rooms and have no idea of what is going on in the work rooms?

Secondly, they must now quickly institute other cost saving and waste reduction measures. Remember, the reason why a downsizing is carried out is to manage costs and reduce waste. But surely, that is not the ONLY way. So, the senior leaders must set the example by implementing other methods to achieve this too after the head count has been reduced. Otherwise the un-intended message being delivered is that ‘the management just found an easy way out at the expense of the employees’.

Leadership Development in Emerging Growth Countries

In all aspects, emerging growth countries in Asia Pacific, South Asia and Latin America has become a springboard of sorts. Not only have they become a springboard for big businesses from first world countries to gain a foothold in these markets but also gain access to their surrounding markets. At the same time, emerging growth countries have also become a springboard for new business ideas, talent management approaches and leadership development initiatives.

While previously, global companies originating from the developed world looked at emerging markets merely in terms of market space; this perception then changed to cost-management space and now to leadership talent-space. From a consumer of products, later to producer of these products (cheaply) and now as an innovation hub for these products, emerging growth countries have played various roles for the traditional global giants. Today, these companies are increasingly looking to tap into the talent pool available in emerging markets and while doing this they have also embedded their management & leadership styles into these markets. Hence, when we talk about Leadership Development in Emerging Growth Countries (EGC), we are not wholly talking something new but neither are we talking something that is entirely old practice. It is a sort of old wine in a new bottle except that the bottle .ie. the business ecosystem of these EGCs have influenced the wine (Leadership development) in many interesting ways.

So, it is interesting to compare this so called differences between leadership development between the first world countries and ECG.

It is now common to read and hear about the leadership successes of such companies like Infosys, Tata, Embraer, Lenovo and Haier. Only a few years ago, this is almost unheard off. So, how successful have these companies been in their leadership development and how similar or different is it with what we are all already familiar with .ie. a very much American/European/Japanese influenced leadership thinking and acting styles. Going by the kind of thought leadership and heartfelt pleas coming from the C-level suite of ECG companies, I believe that there is a genuine interest and effort to develop leaders at all levels. For example, the venerable Aziz Premji is quoted as saying “What you will remember when you retire, is not which quarters you exceeded your sales target or won large deals, but leaders whom you helped in developing. Develop leaders under you, not only because it is good for the business, but because it will give you tremendous personal satisfaction”. This echoes a similar sentiment from the doyen of the knowledge economy, Bill Gates who says that “Take our 20 best people away and I can tell you that Microsoft would become an unimportant company.“


Lets begin with a quick overview of some commonly understood (although dramatically changing) characteristics of business ecosystems in countries that are classified as emerging growth.
Leadership and leadership development are most often than not influenced by these business ecosystems. As the ecosystem changes, so does the intrinsic approaches to leadership development by businesses. In China for example, the long years of government controlled operations have produced an army of hard working and diligent managers. This control is characterized by a much regimented management style that is averse to risks. Failures are often considered as a disservice to the motherland. However, the Chinese over the years, especially after the full impact of their somewhat guarded ‘liberalization’ was felt, began to systematically look beyond their shores for business opportunities. Since then, places like Africa, Latin America and Burma have become the playground of Chinese businesses. What this means is that their business leaders have had to acquire new leadership styles and equip their management talents with the same. A couple of months ago, a colleague of mine from our Shanghai office mentioned that a certain case study in our Assessment Centre platform would not be culturally suitable for Chinese management and leadership style previously but not anymore as the lines of what previously thought of as a uniquely Chinese leadership style is blurring by the day; although much still remains uniquely Chinese but off less importance compared to the need to do business.

Indian businesses, who for many years have been stifled by the labyrinthine bureaucratic processes and a system that tries its best to rein in entrepreneurism have learned to live in extreme ambiguity and hence produced leaders and managers who are creative and able to function in environments that are constantly in a flux The joke is that an Indian executive literally thinks about matters of life and death the moment he hits Indian roads to go to work. So, by the time he arrives at work, his adrenalin is pumping and he is ready to conquer the world! . Jokes aside, successive socialist leaning governments have made India as an almost self sustaining nation by protecting its industries and businesses from outside competition. You will remember the sagas involving Coke and IBM for example. Up to early 1990s, these companies have not had any reason to fear competition and hence their leadership development mirrored that reality. Today, fuelled by both need and latent talents, Indian business leadership is showing its capability to adopt global practices and adapt them to the Indian experience.

In Latin America, similar to the Chinese & Indian experience, years of government controlled business have produced inertia and an aversion to risk taking. Without any vision beyond their own borders, they have not had the need to develop a strong pipeline of leaders as a non-competitive business environment lulled them into complacency. Till today, Latin American thought leaders are saying that their quality of business leadership leaves much to be desired and their focus on industries that are related to basic materials are pushing them too far behind in terms of their ability and need to develop sophisticated leadership development programs.

Closer to home, Malaysia has had for many years a business ecosystem dominated by government controlled companies but at the same time, our historical and cultural traditions have provided ample space for private enterprises to take shape. In the early stages, these enterprises were mainly family owned ones and many of them are still family owned although as they expanded beyond their traditional businesses and later beyond our shores, they had to rope in professional managers to run the business. So, in the Malaysian context we have an amalgamation of leadership development experience involving the hard-fought battles of private enterprises (many of which are legendary rags-to-riches stories) and the relatively easy and protected business environment of government linked or controlled companies (GLCs). I must say that Malaysia is probably on the right trajectory as the lines between these two are blurring to the advantage of true-blue entrepreneurial spirit even within some of the GLCs being asked to show accountability. The people through their elected representatives are much more aware of the need to know of how a GLC is doing as after all they are technically the people’s concern. With this scrutiny, leaders in these organizations have had to think, behave and lead like private enterprises where a small strategic mistake may spell disaster; at least in terms of public relations disaster for the government of the day. This concern is now being translated into appropriate leadership development programs.

However, I must say, with mixed feeling, many Malaysian companies both big and small have very inconsistent leadership development initiative which not surprisingly produces poor results in terms of a healthy leadership talent pipeline.

Having said that, it is prudent to note that there is another underlying common denominator between all these emerging growth countries and that is their high regard for education and they have today, some of the best run business schools in the world; at least as much as the relevance of business education to the current state of world economy and industry is concerned. They to look towards this centres of education and training for insights into their leadership development.

I am excited to see where will leadership development in ECG countries head to in the next few years. As North American companies crawl out of their financial pits and as European giants lumber along, EGC companies will have the chance of a life time to stamp their mark on leadership development and talent pipe line.

10 Reasons Why We May Get Back on Track to Achieve Vision 2020

According to a minister in the Prime Minister’s department (as quoted by the Edge), Malaysia will need to grow at 7% per annum to achieve Vision 2020. In other words, we have to grow at a break-neck speed of 7% for the next 10 years to be able to call ourselves a developed nation, at least in accordance to its definition contained in the Vision 2020 master plan. I think it is do-able as a confluence of factors have prepared the groundwork for Malaysia to jump-start her stalling progress.

The rapid fire announcements of liberalization and new strategies being bandied about are a direct result of this realization and the fact that going the way we have been going and doing what we have been doing will probably send our beloved Tun Mahathir to his grave without having had the satisfaction of achieving or at least coming close to achieving Vision 2020.

But really, is this too little too late or is this the turning-point that is going to take Malaysia out of her middle-income curse? Time, as always will tell but here are some reasons why I feel optimistic (guardedly) :

1. Thailand is right now hovering in our collective consciousness as all and sundry can see how easy it is to spiral down towards economic and social oblivion.

2. Indonesia is pricking our hearts (the envious side) as Indonesia seems to be galloping ahead on all fronts and her economic, social, legal and industrial engines are firing on all cylinders while ours seem to be chugging along on Senandung Malam speed. Even as I am writing this, CNN and western media and leaders are appalled at the bombings of 2 hotels in Jakarta. If you listen carefully, you can detect a new slant to these reporting : Indonesia is no longer a backward third world country where terrorism is an ‘expected’ norm. The latest bombings in Jakarta are reviewed as if it has happened in Basel or Brussels…. ‘How can this happen in Indonesia’. That’s how far Indonesia has come since Sukarno, the Timor crisis and the Bali bombing.

3. We messed up our economic and social structures so much that, we can only improve for the better with these measures. Mahathirism and its accompanying policies and strategies have bled this nation to enrich a select few from all the major ethnic groups; Tun did what he knew he had to do and expecting him to be prefect on all fronts is giving too much credit to that man. He succeeded as much as he failed. During his time, continued economic prosperity was able to throw morsels of benefits to the under-class and they were happy. But, with today’s economic and financial limitations, the under-class produced by the decades of BN/UMNO/Mahathir led machinery refuses to be hoodwinked. They want a real piece of the pie and not just an illusionary piece. The old mandarins can no longer hold their credibility.

4. The current financial crisis was the impetus that we needed to shed archaic policies and arguments. To break away from the shackles of old paradigms which has long ago lost its relevance, Malaysia needed a set of circumstances beyond and neutral of her self that can compel her internal stake holders to come together for the good of all. Although previously there were honest and heroic voices from within that demanded dramatic changes, these voices could not break through the racial and vested interests which are an integral part of Malaysian society. Today, with the pressures of a globalized economy and the threat of continued financial meltdown, Malaysia will get its acts together. There is just no other alternative.

5. Najib. What can I say. The man is doing IT and doing it FAST. I just hope it lasts beyond the 100 days hoopla. I hope there will be more tangible action. I was browsing through a teenage life-style magazine at Starbucks recently and there was a poll conducted among this generation on how they would grade Najib’s performance so far. Most of them scored him As and Bs on policies but Cs and Ds on execution. But, I have a feeling concrete actions will come from this administration.

6. The return of our prodigal sons and daughters after years of being away from the motherland. This financial melt-down has forced them to return. And, they are not returning with only clothes on their backs (some of them are) but also with valuable skills, knowledge and experience. Hopefully they speak better English too and I am praying that there are not that many road-blocks put in their path. Don’t tell me that a Malaysian-born dentist who has studied and worked in the UK can’t get a job here just because he doesn’t have credit in Bahasa Malaysia (although he damn well better speak the national language soon. I am a firm believer that it is a shame when a Malaysian can’t speak in the national language. I don’t care about SPM grades though!).

7. Singapore will loose its shine and by default, we stand to gain. Or, Singapore may move up higher in the value chain and we gain from the vacuum she leaves behind. Increasingly, I think Singapore may one day find it self as an unworkable ‘idea’ and she will learn to work more closely with her neighbors especially Malaysia to stay relevant ideologically, politically and economically. There will be genuine partnership now.

8. I have my doubts about China’s long term viability. Yes! You read it here first and I am not interested to be right or wrong. It’s just a gut feeling. China is a miracle wrapped in a mystery buried in enigma. We hear their numbers. We see their cities. We watched their Olympics. We know their financial prowess. But that is not China….or at least that is not the whole of China. Until we are allowed to know more of that wonderful land, I will be a skeptic. The recent Uighur up-rising and China’s super-secretive military spending are warning signals that should not be taken lightly. So, in the event things don’t go so well there, we are better positioned than most others to fill in the gaps. But, if China is indeed a the next global economic super-power, we will not loose out either. A nice position to be in.

9. India too. Although a democratic India will not throw up too many surprises. But, 600 million strong non-middle income group is a force to be reckoned with. They could swing either way. Our hope is that the other 400 million middle-class power house will be generous enough to spread the wealth enough to create an equitable society which will be good for all. Again, a stable and prosperous India will be good for Malaysia.

10. Political maturity. Malaysian politics may not experience the kind of stability (some will call it predictability) as before but as each day passes, we are becoming more mature in the way we view our nationhood and the relationship between the sums that makes the whole of this blessed country.

We will make it and we must. There is no other options.

2 hours and 21 minutes

“Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
“Roger, Tranquillity. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again.”
With that exchange on July 20 1969, almost a year before I was born, Man lands on the Moon and the millions who watched sighed in relief and wonder. I suppose even the most nationalistic of communist Russia would have said a silent prayer for that safe landing. For the first time since God (or chance chemical reactions or whatever) put us on this piece of floating mass of earth and water, man experienced ‘Earthrise’. For the first time, 40 years ago come this July 20th, we knew deep inside our hearts that the heavens are indeed part of us and us part of it.

I can’t really appreciate that momentous moment as by the time I read about it, it was just a text book stuff but my interest remained and until today, I make it point to look at pictures of Space (courtesy of Nasa) to remind me that…well…I am indeed small and in the end nothing matters here as there is a far more glorious and mysterious realm out there. I suppose my readings of ancient Indian scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Srimadbhagavatam and the Mahabharata to a certain extent takes away the mystery of the universe and space. For the Indian (especially Hindu) mind and culture, space travel is not an impossibility as we are told that thousands and even millions of years ago, munis and rishis have travelled across space and time as easily as we drive our cars to work today. Narada, one of the celestial beings, is often cited as an adviser to the kings and queens of this earth and also of those who rule the heavens. So for me, whether Man can travel further into space is only a question of when.

Regardless of which cultural tradition you happen to be born in, when you truly appreciate the mystery and vastness of Space, you will not brush off ideas and opinions so easily; no matter how crazy they may sound. The idea of us floating in this unimaginable space by it self is so ridiculous. The fact that a mere fraction of an inch difference in the distance between the earth and sun can spell catastrophic consequences is so mind boggling. What makes us think that it is ridiculous for the Pyramids to be build by an alien race or that mystics can levitate and be in two places at one time? Or that, crystals can have energy or that gem stones can protect you from the effects of the planets? We hardly know about ourselves and we have hardly scratched the mystery of our planetary system to be able to have pompous self-proclaimed truths.

I am not sure what and how Yuri Gagarin or Armstrong or since them, many more Americans, Russians, Chinese, Indians, Japanese, Europeans , a Malaysian and others felt when they ‘left earth’. But I think it would have been Beauty and Wonder that they would have seen and it would have been God (in whichever form or concept) that they would have felt. The learning and appreciation of Space as our larger ‘habitat’ should be made a subject in schools and colleges. One can’t go on feeling self-important when he or she looks at the vast Space and the billions of things that we hardly understand about it. When you look into the sky and point out a particularly beautiful cluster of stars to your children, those stars may have already been dead and broken into pieces and turned into stardust. The light that we see on earth today could have been sent billions of years ago. The ‘senders’ long dead since then. Isn’t that mind boggling?

The Divine is indeed all around us and I suppose you can’t miss it when you are in space. For that reason alone, I wouldn't mind going there even if my return can’t be guaranteed. Anything is worth for that fleeting moment of experiencing who I truly am – a stardust. Nothing more and nothing less.

Perhaps for the duration of 2 hours and 21 minutes than Armstrong and Aldrin were messing up the Moon surface with their eternal footprints and metal garbage, that was what they were feeling. A sense of oneness with the Universe/God/Spirit/Energy (whatever). A feeling that we on this time and space bound Earth can only ‘imagine’ to experience with our pompous meditation, religiosity and superiority.

But, let me remind you readers that we humans were not the first earthling to ‘experience’ space. It was a far more humble creature that had that honour. That by it self should be a humbling realization for us ‘superior’ humans. And one more thing….many of the news reports the day after the first moon landing said ‘ Man have landed on the Moon’. Interesting…it was the Americans who did it but for that one fleeting moment…something was able to unify us.

There is divine beauty in this world but that glory is not out there but all within us. We are just so divided to feel it and I suppose those of us blessed to leave this earth and free our selves from the competing demands on our loyalty, we may experience that inner beauty and oneness with everything that is, was and will be. Maybe, that is what it takes to experience our Spirit.

Next time…look up into Space and take your eyes away from terra firma for a second. Be aware by its vastness and grandeur . And, come this 20th July…remember that we are but a speck of blue dot…dust of the heavens.

Ensuring a Sustainable Future : A Leadership Imperative

Jim Collin’s How the Mighty Fall – And Why Some Companies Never Give In can easily degenerate into a depressing read. It was like a reading a catalog of corporate 'list of the dead' with very morbid details on why and how they died. It tells stories of how ‘healthy’ and ‘happy’ these companies were before their sudden death due to diseases of the corporate kind . In fact, he tries to understand why great companies fail, sometimes so suddenly, in the light of his very own personal experiences. His wife was diagnosed with a serious ailment just months after racing him up a mountain and exhibiting all signs of a fit and healthy person. He makes the conclusion, with a tinge of sadness, that while his wife looked hale and healthy, the disease has already taken root in her. It just didn't show until some months later.

That is the parallel he draws to why great companies fail.

The decline of companies begin long before visible signs appear. I would say that if you are a neutral observer, you can detect these subtle signs that shows that all is not well with a company. Here lies the challenge…you need to be neutral .ie. observe without your pride and ego getting into the way which is naturally, a difficult thing for many CEOs and board members to do. In a market system that is dominated by share price movements, it is just so tempting to proclaim that a company is in a position of strength. Why create jitters when you hardly have any tangible reasons to believe that the company is heading downward; save for perhaps you gut feel as the CEO? Just say the good stuff and maintain the share price.

I would also say that if I am a CEO, I would rather prefer my products to fail spectacularly, or for my services being clearly out priced by my competitors, or even for my top talents to leave me. These problems I can see; no doubt big problems but visible problems nevertheless. I can remedy what I can see and measure. It's the hidden and non-visible problems that will keep me awake at night for I will not know where the final blow is going to come from.

I remember conducting a workshop for a company some years ago. Over a period of 2-days I conducted a similar workshop for two groups of employees. On the 1st day, I met the sales personnel while on the 2nd day, it was their managers and regional sales heads turn. At the end of the 2nd day, the CEO of this company dropped by to give out the certificates and say a few words. I walked away from that session thinking “Poor man…he doesn’t know!”. In the 2 days I was with them, I knew there was a huge mis-alignment between what the employees and the leadership of the company thinks the way forward is. Unfortunately, I was an independent trainer at that time and the training company that arranged for the workshop was not interested in doing anything more. If I am in a similar position today (with the kind of support and tool that are available to me), I would have pulled the CEO aside for some teh-tarik and told him what nobody seems to dare tell him or he himself can’t find the courage to admit. Today, this company is struggling to regain its lost ground and the recent liberalization that has occurred in this country will affect its business to a great extent. But, the point here is this – this company is not yet dead and gone. Its just not able to get back to its pinnacle. One day, I am afraid, it will just lie down and die without a whimper and everyone is going to feign surprise.

It is common to find leaders basking in the light of his/her team’s success and nudge them to keep doing what they are doing. It is indeed extremely uncommon to find a leader who continuously admonish his team not to repeat a success the same way twice! Because , this just means that the team has run out of ideas and they are now well into the ‘comfort zone’. Sam Walton, it seems, is one who continuously agonized on ways how to ensure that his managers don’t get complacent with their success and winning strategies.

It dawned upon me one day that most senior managers ( defined as those who report directly to the CEO) whom I have come into contact with can and are quite able to run business profitably. They are well equipped with technical and soft skills to lead and manage. So, why then does a company need a CEO? For me, the answer is that the CEO is supposed to be able to do something that not many will be able to accomplish; even the best among his team. The CEO is supposed to be able to find and live in that fine balance between short term profit and long term profitability. This long term profitability is what gives a company its sustainability edge. Ensuring the success (in whatever way that is defined by the company) is a given as far as a CEO is concerned. What he is paid for and trusted upon is to ensure that the company endures and that what is done today not only produces the desired results today but prepares the company for future growth. This is where the concept and practice of innovation comes in as the one tool a CEO has at his disposal to ensure that he is developing a sustainable company is the innovativeness of the company. In my model of the 4 Dimensions of Leadership & Management Excellence, I have in fact identified ‘innovativeness’ as the inherent characteristics of companies with leaders who have a Knowledge Edge (the 1st of the 4 dimensions). Knowledge here is not only of the current market trend or pricing strategy but also of future trends and market movements. The history of the business world is littered with names of companies who were deemed as impossible to fail but yet fail soon after simply because they did not nurture ‘innovativeness’ for sustainability. They may have had innovativeness to begin with but only towards short term results and profits. The blame for this should fall squarely on the CEOs.

So, Jim Collins was quite right to dig into this subject. He should be praised for his endeavor as some of the big names he researched on are the ones that he used as exemplary case studies in Good to Great. It takes intellectual courage to do that and he has done right with that.

The point is….no matter how great you are, you can fail. Your only salvation : Focus, focus and focus always on long term sustainability. Are you giving life to the doom loop or developing a flywheel of a company?

All Men are Created Equal; Some Just Speak Better English!

It is that time again – time for me to divert from my usual staple to something that I carefully avoid – political stuff. Once in a while, when something stirs in society which I feel has far deeper repercussions than your everyday Malaysian-styled politics, I can’t help but ponder about it.

Yesterday was one of those moments. The cabinet has decided to revert back to the ‘old’ policy of teaching Science and Mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia. The reasons given was that the ‘new’ policy which was ‘tried’ for a full cycle was found to be ineffective in improving the standard of English among students. Also, it seems that students’ grades too have fallen dramatically compared to before the policy was implemented.

I will be blunt, the present administration has done nobody any favours although it may have earned some votes for the coming by-election in Manik Urai. It is a huge miscalculation and misinformed move to mothball a policy, with all its defects, had a fair chance to improve the command of English language among our new generation of school children.

When Tun Mahathir pushed through the policy of teaching English and Mathematics in English, I thought it was crab! I just could not see what exactly was the intended outcome. Some parrots (then) of the government said that it was the best way to improve future Malaysian’s command of the language (today, the same parrots say that the best 'policy' is to revert to the 'old policy'). Others claimed that it was intended to enable Malaysians become more knowledgeable and able to acquire the latest in terms of science and technology as most of these are written and communicated in the English language. Now, I am confused. Is the whole idea to improve the command of the language or was it to be used as a specialized tool to acquire knowledge and information. I am not a linguistic expert but I believe that the answer to this question will determine how the language is taught and how the policy is implemented. Just ask those who teach Business English and English for Business; they will tell you that there is a world of difference. Anyway, I was just glad then that finally the administration had the political will to push through something that was understandably not popular among the race and cultural ‘champions’ of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan and Iban groups. I just thought that, no matter how you look at it, our kids will be forced to spend a little bit more time learning and using the English language and our teachers will be forced to lead by example by becoming more proficient in the language. That can’t be bad.

Language acquisition is a complex issue in it’s nature and a complicated matter in its cultural context. But, as a man on the street, I will say this : One will not learn and master a language without a strong reason to do so. Yes, there are those who are able to and want to learn a new language for the fun of it. Unfortunately there are very, very few of them among us. For most of us, we are moved to learn a new language when there is a compelling reason to do so. This could be economic, cultural adaptation or simply for survival. The multitude of foreign workers who seem to be able to converse in Bahasa Malaysia is not a surprise really. They have an economic/survival reason to do so. Would you learn Swahili for the fun of it? Probably not. But what if your next promotion depends on you being able to go to Africa and close a oil-drilling contract with a bunch of local chieftains? There is a reason right?

Now, making it compulsory for our SPM students to pass their English paper might be too little too late as the best years for 2nd language acquisition is during the early years...or at least that was what I learned in my Language and Culture paper back at the university.

So, our kids are not going to go the extra mile to improve the command of their English language if we don’t ‘give’ them a compelling reason to do so. As I read the news reports today, I find that there are so called new measures being planned. One of it is an emphasis on English grammar! Come on! You got to be joking. This is a NEW measure? Oh yes…Gapena is so kind to offer the government free service to help set up English language clubs in schools and they have made this offer as if this is a panacea. More foreign English language teachers will be imported. As I recall from my days as an academic staff of a local university, our kids can hardly understand our very own TESL graduate teachers. I wonder how they are going to manage native speakers. And, most of the reasons given by the minister to justify a change in policy, at least to me, seems to lie in its implementation NOT in the idea of teaching more subjects in the English language.

In all honesty, how many of us would have taken the trouble to learn Bahasa Malaysia for that matter if not for some real strong reasons to do so…like being unable to get a full school leaving certificate or being accepted into a local university? If not for this ‘compulsory’ requirements we all will be in our own linguistic cocoon speaking in our mother tongue to death. So, the same applies for English. Make it compulsory. Make it mandatory....but make it so from Standard One. That is the only way to make our kids learn the language. That is the only way to gain back our lost grounds to regional competitors.

I am not sure if I have blogged about this but I think it is worth sharing here about a documentary that I watched recently on YouTube about Thomas Friedman researching his concept of the flat world. Apparently it was Aziz Premji who first got him thinking about the ‘flat world’. So he went back to India to research on Indian IT and outsourcing workers and their bosses. I am not kidding here but I actually had tears in my eyes as it dawned on me that we Malaysians have been left so far behind that we can’t even see our nearest competitor so much so that we are deluding our selves that we are actually up front! Guess what...all men are created equal...only their command of the English language differs and that's why countries like India, China and the Philippines are surging ahead in the knowledge economy.

Well, as the decision is apparently final and not subject to appeal, let me just say that I am devastated by the shortsightedness of it all.

We have dug the 1st feet of our national grave. To all those ministers and decision makers who are 'loyally' behind this new move, let me ask you this : " Where are YOUR kids schooling?"

To all those Malay, Chinese and Indian educationists who have championed the 'mother tongue', let me ask you this : " How many bio-technology and bio-medicine related books can you translate in a year?"

Peaks & Valleys : How We Manage the Good Times Will Determine How Long We Stay in Bad Times!

Spencer Johnson, M.D; has come out with another gem of a book called Peaks and Valleys (Atria Books, 2009). Just as his bestselling Who Moved My Cheese, this time too he uses story telling as the preferred method to get the message across.

In a nutshell, he talks about how one needs to look at the Peaks (good times) and the Valleys (bad times)as a natural order of being human. More importantly, how one manages the good times will determine how long he/she will have to endure the bad times; which will inevitably come. And of course, just like the natural peaks, valleys and plateaus that we find on our physical landscape, there are also Plateaus in our lives, which may not be that bad after all as these plateaus can be used as a time for rest and reflection.

The book centres around a young man who sets off on the proverbial journey to the mountain top (the Peak) to finds answers to life's most intriguing questions. In this case, the question was 'Why was he feeling so down and out in the Valley?' Having reached the Peak, he meets an old man who himself being a very successful business man and having had experienced some pretty dark moments in his life, who seems to have a whole new perspective on Peaks and Valleys and how to navigate both. In their subsequent conversation (in very Aristotelian question & answer type), the young man discovers some truths about how he should change the way he views his ups and downs. He then returns to the Valley and goes back to his work life full off new found confidence and energy. Soon, he makes some good progress at work and in his personal life but along the way, he unwittingly alienates his friends, family and his lady friend due to his over-confidence which bordered on arrogance. In no time, the bad times (Valley) arrived for him at work and in his personal life. After spending some time at the Plateau which gave him some rest, he embarks on his second journey up the to the Peak in the hope of meeting the old man to find answers to why his Peak didn't last long enough and where he went wrong.This time he discovers the secrets to managing the good times in preparation for the bad times. He soon realizes that 'fear' has played an important albeit subversive role in his Peaks and Valleys.

And one of the best phrases I learned from this book is 'truth bumps'...what we commonly refer as 'goose bumps'. We have goose bumps when we are in the presence of great and moving 'truths' or 'truly' beautiful moments or when we are ourselves 'truly' in the present.

Yes! Simple truths...as all truths are!

Now, what can people leaders/managers learn from this? Are you currently downsizing? Planning to? Just downsized and those who survived it have gone to the plateau (not to rest but to switch off!)? Everybody (including your self) feeling uncertain about the future of your career and company? Some of your people working hard while others hardly working? Maybe this is indeed a good time to stop and reflect.

Why are you feeling down and out? Is it because the way you had to ask some of your employees to go? Maybe the whole process of downsizing was not done in accordance to your company values which proudly says "Our people are our greatest asset..." or "We care..." or something lofty like that? Maybe...just maybe...you did not do enough to lessen the pain of those separating. Things that were entirely in your power and not linked to your internal systems and processes. Or maybe, for the last 6 months or so, everything said and done or left unsaid and undone within your organization were on the opposite end of what the organization has made the employees believe all these years of Peak time. Or, could it be that you and your fellow managers have all been very well trained to manage the Peak times but not the Valley times?

Are you one of those affected by the downsizing? Are you feeling despondent and victimized? Do you find your self hearing from others that there are plenty of opportunities out there yet you can't see any? Feeling that the bad times seem to bring nothing but devastation?

You might want to get hold of Spencer Johnson's latest to get some valuable insights. It is a easy flowing reading. I read it in one sitting this morning over some coffee at the Starbucks.

Cheers.

The Passion that was Michael Jackson : The Artist Who Was the Art

My earliest memory of Michael Jackson is of me and two of my best friends during my primary and high school days lying on the cold marble floor of my friend, Hari’s house and watching MJ’s music videos on VCR. Between the three of us little musketeers, Hari was from a much better to do family and could afford a VCR and later a CD player which he dubbed the ‘laser player’.On that marble floor, we were introduced to the sounds of Lionel Ritchie, Sheena Easton, Billy Joel, The Police and Prince. But among these, Michael Jackson was and still is my favaurite. We would have watched MJ moonwalking and sliding effortlessly from one ‘light box’ to another (if you are an MJ fan, you will know which video I am talking about!) a hundred times. We would squeal with glee each time MJ makes one of his famous moves. I remember my school mates imitating him in every school concert. During MJ’s 1996 concert in KL (the ONLY concert that I have paid to attend), I even saw some pretty impressive MJ impresarios and I knew that they must have spent countless hours to ‘perfect’ those moves and they did that because MJ was worth the time and effort. In later years I remember debating vehemently that Dirty Diana was not about Princess Di as MJ adored her and you could see that in the way he treated her when they met. And, to this day I believe that his Invincible album would have been a chart topper if it was from any other singer. We just expected too much of him. We threw this collective subconscious challenge at him : Go do better than Thriller if you can!”….Go sift through another 700 songs and make an album that can out sell Thriller!”. The man died trying. You see, MJ had this passion and what he wanted was to produce albums that have winning songs....ALL of them. No fillers for one or two hit songs. He wanted all of his songs to be hits!

There is no other entertainer on the face of this earth who can make every single mundane movement of the body so sublime and stylish and so full of emotion that you tend to wonder if he is sending a message or some deep meaning that we dense souls just don't get it. There will never be another one who can move his fingers so exquisitely and so much infused with energy and passion. There will not be another album so culturally significant that the Library of Congress will be moved to preserve it at it did with the magnificently arranged and delivered Thriller (kudos to Quincy Jones for allowing MJ to go with his heart as otherwise we would not have had the pleasure of that hauntingly beautiful base guitar in Billy Jean). There will not be another song that captures the essence of an age as deeply as the Earth Song and there will never ever be a rhythm as hypnotic as Billy Jean. And, there will never be a talent such as his that will be so devastatingly beautiful and imbued with such character. There will also not be another so paradoxically tortured soul : Man- child, black-white, male-female, sexy-sexless.

And he is now gone forever. His death moved me enough to bring me back to my blog. The universe has a strange way of colliding and send meanings to you when you least expect it and this morning it happened to me. I have been thinking and reflecting on MJ and his body of work since I first heard of his death last Friday while still enjoying my breakfast at the Conrad Hotel in Hong Kong. I rushed back to my hotel room to switch on the CNN and there it was. MJ was dead! On my flight back and over the weekend, I reached back into the recesses of my memories to pay homage to a man who changed culture, broke racial barriers, defied the odds and finally became a prisoner of his own fame and talent. Despite the controversies, I have been a fan of MJ as I am a fan of Maradona or Dustin Hoffman or the late Pramoedya Ananta Toer because his passion for his work reverberates with me. I love these people who have made a difference in our lives through their passion for what they do and I have often written about it and only last Wednesday, I spoke about being passionate in leading and managing to a group of 19 managers/directors.

The truth is… I have been berating my self these last couple of weeks for not updating my blog. Though many ideas and thoughts have come to me, I have just been too busy to put them into coherent thoughts and then into writing which gives me the most pleasure. Then, this morning I was at the Starbucks near my office way before the usual morning crowd came in for their caffeine fix, and my thoughts once again drifted to MJ. I was just nostalgic and Louis Armstrong playing in the background was a perfect tonic for the soul. I was flipping through the pages of NST while thinking of my collection of MJ’s albums in cassette format which seemed to have been faded by age and use, when I came upon an article written by Mr. Ahmad Izham Omar, CEO of 8TV who shared his thoughts about how one needs to do everything with his entire heart and soul and that ‘where ever you go, go with all your heart”. MJ did everything in his music with all his heart.

That's when I realized that I need to get back to my writing. Writing has always given me the greatest pleasure but work and the usual time-stealers that I sometimes find incapable of battling have made me so tired and weary that I have done less and less of the one thing that keeps me the most grounded. I have used extremely trivial excuses to not do what I am most passionate about. I have also realized something else about my self. I write to become creative although I have always thought that I write when I am feeling creative. I think, it is work that you do when you feel creative. But if you do something for its own sake…then it’s your passion.

So, when we are managing others – it can either be our work or it can be our passion. The difference will be obvious to those whom we are leading and managing. And that difference will not be quantifiable yet tangible. In Hong Kong, I know that I had a group of passionate current and future people leaders and I know this through their sheer concentration on the best practices that I was sharing and the probing situational questions that they threw at me.

So here is what I think it will take for you to be a ‘Michael Jackson’ in your managing and leading :

1. Be passionate….show your passion – in everything that you say and do
2. Consider every single interaction as a showpiece to leave a lasting positive and empowering impression
3. Innovate, change and be creative to keep things exciting
4. Break new grounds constantly….and break some more
5. Be humble, show compassion but don't be a weakling on your stage of leadership
6. Your Team is your concert…you are the director and the superstar. Make them a success by you becoming a huge success
7. Reach out to all and show genuine interest in all
8. Collaborate, synergize and take the best that others can offer
9. Have fun; don't loose the innocence of childhood
10. Be inquisitive


Every time you feel tired, reach out to your passion, and that will make the difference. Nothing meaningful have ever been accomplished without passion. You can’t take your team anywhere worthwhile without your passion. You see, passion is contagious and it energizes others. It adds value far beyond what can be measured today. The difference between great managers and average ones is not in the skills or strategies or knowledge - its in the passion.

Rest in peace MJ. You have done more than we could have ever asked from a single gentle soul as yours. ‘This will not be it’ as your music lives in the hearts and minds of those who can recognize the passion of your work.

Thank you. You were the Artist and the Art.