On Corporations & Constitutions

MH - Here We Go Again!

2011-08-09T08:44:00.000+08:00

I make it a point to fly Malaysia Airlines as far as possible. Apart from the occasional poor service and the usual delays and cancellations (if you travel enough you will know that this happens to every airline)I enjoy my MH experiences. Yes of course, I too notice that the Mat Salleh gets the whole can of beer without asking while I get a small plactic cup. But hey, who cares...I have switced to wine now anyway.

All in all, for some strange reasons it makes me feel at home on a MH flight. I have been on SQ, KLM,Garuda etc but MH always has a special place in my heart. It is a nice feeling to see a MH craft parked in all the airports of the world carrying the Malaysian flag. There, a piece of Malaysia staking its claim in this world.

My most recent MH experience was to Hanoi and previous to that was to New Delhi. The New Delhi flight (or any flight to India) is always an experience as my heart goes out to the cabin crew who wihout fail serve with a smile while being 'harrassed' by the demanding Indian passengers.I have personally come across many excellent cabin crews, pilots and senior managers who are all bravely carrying on the MH dream. In fact, I have a couple of positive stories from my MH experiences that I often share when talking about employee engagement and service level quality issues.

BUT, some politicians and some segments of our society are hell bend on ensuring that Malaysia Airlines remain as a corporate entity that is wrapped in political brickmanship inside misplaced racial pride within a whole lot of uncalled for demands on its 'national duty'.

While all these things happen....again....my heat goes out to the people of Malaysia Airlines who have had to come out of a very trying period a few years ago only to find themselves in the news again for all the wrong reasons. Unlike many who seems to be trigger happy to shoot down the national carrier, I have had the pleasure of delaing with many segments f its employees and I can vouch for their energy, love and passion for the company. It is the politics of this country that is killing the MH spirit.

Now we have an opportunity to put MH where it belongs. If the news reports are true than a synergy between MH and AK should be welcomed. Oh...yes...the other guy is an Indian but I believe he is a Malaysian citizen and one who has done more for this country than many of us. So, please stop this nonsense of racial rhetoric when a purely business sense needs to prevail.

For the sake of the people of Malaysia Airlines, I hope we hear some good news in the days ahead and the powers that be are able to leash in the wolfs that are out to gain political mileage at the expense of a national business legacy.

Malaysia Airlines need to be allowed to behave like a corporate entity if we dont want it to be the next Phillipine Airlines. As a busines entity all we can demand from it is to stay within Malaysian ownership. Apart from that, it should do what it needs to do with whomever it sees fit.

The Need to Convince and Influence

2011-06-23T12:48:00.000+08:00

Leaders need to convince. They need to also influence. In fact this is probably the most tiring aspect of leadership. The question is how much of it do they need to do? Note that I am not asking 'how well do they do that'!
Allow me to explain.
I am addicted to the life stories of great leaders. That includes not only corporate leaders but also those from the non-profits. Many of those whose life I follow are not those whom books are written about. Yet they are all leaders and they are all great influencers. A consultant friend of mine often says that a leader needs to do 2 things well: Build rapport and influence. These men and women I know do both extremely well. But when I look at their styles or when I feel that I have read enough about them (from multiple sources) I can usually divide them into 2 categories: Those who achieved great things by influencing others only on key issues AND those who achieved great results by influencing others on everything!
I think it must very tiring for leaders who attempt to influence everybody on everything. The results, if that is achieved must be great. However, what is the consequence on those who are influenced when this leader is no longer around? Example : Tun Mahathir and the Malaysian people?
The other group of leaders i.e. those who influence only on key issues perhaps are happy to shape the future but not put it into an iron cast. What does this do for those who are influenced? We will know when Datuk Sri Tony leaves Air Asia.
Me? I prefer to influence only on key issues. It’s more serene that way and helps to build long term capabilities in my team.

7 Ways To Lose Your Top Talents

2011-05-23T21:53:00.000+08:00

This will be my topic of discussion o BFM 89.9 in a couple of weeks time.
As the producer said, it is indeed tongue in cheek. Nevertheless the message is serious and one that people leaders need to be aware of.
Well, lets look at the 5 ways how you can, despite all your best efforts, still lose your top talents.

1. You don't treat your top talents in a differentiated manner
2. You think only more money is required to keep them
3. You think (like your dad and granddad) that a top talent is also automatically a loyal talent (especially since you do No.2 very well)
4. You don’t give enough challenging projects because you are afraid they will burn out
5. You keep secrets during bad times because you think that the less they know the better it will be
6. You fail to see that they have 2 kinds of employment contracts with you: the legal one and the emotional one.
7. You think that a top talent will always be one no matter what happens

I will elaborate more during the show. Watch out for it on 14 June at 1pm on BFM 89.9

The 20:80 Rule in Talent Management

2011-04-28T19:31:00.000+08:00

A couple of months ago, during one of my workshops, a young somber looking female participant asked me if she could have a few minutes of my time at the end of the day's session to discuss something that she needs advice on. In the end, 'a few minutes' turned into a solid 45 minutes and only hunger made me cut the conversation short. Part 2 of the conversation took place the next day for another 30 minutes and this time my rush to the airport cut the conversation short.

To keep a long story short (I am sure you will find this story familiar) this young and highly educated and 'decorated' women had a lost all 'connections with the company'. In the 3.5 years that she had been there, she had consistently won awards and commendations for excellence in performance.

And yet, she had lost the engagement that she once had to the company. The reasons for this are many; which I will not disclose here to protect confidentiality. But, what I do want to say is that: Her manager had no idea whatsoever on this dramatic and potentially disastrous change in behavior. This manager had no idea that this Star performer was no longer engaged to the company.

2 days ago, she emailed to say that she had left and joined a competitor.

Moral of the story: Your star performers need as much caring and nurturing as your mediocre performers. Remember that 80% of your results are produced by 20% of your employees. Invest your time and effort wisely.

A New Japan Possibly?

2011-03-25T18:28:00.000+08:00

The images horrific. The face of the clearly saddened Emperor on national TV. Helicopters pouring sea water onto menacing and smoky nuclear reactors The death toll mounting and the financial cost running into hundreds of billions of dollars.
Then we watch or read or hear of amazing stories of Japanese dignity and discipline. We see them reaching out a helping hand while shedding tears for their own kin’s who lie dead next to them. We see the youth of Japan rising to the challenge behind the scenes. We see how Americans scrambled their civilian and military assets in answer to the SOS from their post World War 2 ally.
Once the dust settles and the mud cleared and the dead buried, we will see a new Japan. Japan is like a Phoenix with 9 lives. You just can't keep her down. The 1923 and 1995 earthquakes ( I hate to name earthquakes/disasters by the name of the cities where it hits...Its not the way I would like KL to be remembered!), the great firebombing and nuclear bombing of World War 2 and many others similar disasters have not been able to keep the Japanese down. I doubt this tsunami will.
But, I suspect that the Japan that rises again this time will be different. Entirely different from what a whole generation of us have come to view it. We will see the 'silent' and 'indifferent' youth of Japan rising to a new world order. They will use their new-found respect and confidence to make Japan great once again. Perhaps the Japanese political and economic order will face a test of youth angst. Perhaps Japan will find new allies and soul-mates.
Perhaps, Japan will finally conclude that they have paid enough for the sins of their fathers (to the dismay of those hypocritical hawks and doves out there who are constantly reminding the Japanese of their military past).
The question that remains is: Which path will the new Japan take? I kind of think that the new Japan will be one that is nice to have in the region.
To all my Japanese colleagues and clients : Be brave….this too shall pass.

Economic Progress Doesn't Guarantee Freedom and Liberty

2011-03-17T20:36:00.000+08:00

American and Western conglomerates are probably working overtime with their PR spin-doctors right now trying to explain to their own countries how is that they have been investing so heavily in countries that today are killing its own citizens.
Allowing for and being able to build and host a Formula 1 race or hosting glitzy polo tournaments or turning desert lands into economic oasis are not by themselves a precursor to more freedom and liberty. Western companies that so gleefully justified their relationships with repressive regimes around the world on the premise that economic development will bring about democracy and the rule of law knew all along that this was just a big mumbo jumbo. They were there for the money because these countries were ripe for the picking.
So in that respect, I think China have been honest about its increasingly dominant economic presence in some of the most dangerous places on earth in terms of personal safety and freedom. The Chinese don't have any pretensions. They go in for the money and leave when things go bad. Not that I agree with this but at least they don't try to blow smoke over our eyes. Of course, China might be the next in line for some flowery revolution soon.
So perhaps, it’s time for business barons from around the world to say "We were wrong and we will not do business with these repressive regimes until they change their ways. We will not allow them to use the prosperity that our monies have brought them to buy weapons to kill their own citizens". This includes Malaysian companies.
Perhaps also we should invest and help prosper countries that have genuine democratic aspirations or have proven democratic records but are hampered by various socio-economic challenges. This will be good investment.

Are we forgetting something?

2011-03-11T13:19:00.000+08:00

I remember a chain email (the nice type) that I received not too long ago from my cousin sister. It was about a university professor trying to teach his students that 'everybody that they come in contact with are important and must be acknowledged as such'. So, the final question on his test was 'What is the name of the cleaning lady'. This question carries the same weight as all the other questions that were directly related to the course material. Doubtless, all the students failed to give the correct answer (name). But then, that peculiar question prompted them to seek out that cleaning lady to learn her name. From that day onwards, she 'became important and was acknowledged'.

Now, this little story has deep meanings. Perhaps not what was intended by the professor but nevertheless true.

Recent studies and surveys (including that of Manpower Inc, my parent organisation)shows that skilled and manual labour are the top most difficult positions to fill in both developed and emerging markets. This refers to the truck drivers, welders, brick layers, deep sea salvage divers, crane operators, lab technicians, chemical workers, steel workers, bus drivers, sanitation workers, gardeners, etc. You get the picture? The world is in short supply of those individuals who actually keep the wheel of commerce and our daily lives spinning smoothly.

Malaysians should be familiar with this story line. Just look at who are erecting our buildings and serving us our daily coffee at the kopitiam. Our bus operators just can’t get the good guys to the extent that they hire drug addicts and former cons. In fact our plantations too rely heavily on foreign workers. Perhaps, the recent call by the President of MIC encouraging Indians who desperately need a job to consider working in the estates should not be seen as something regressive. In fact, 'return to plantations' should be a battle cry to encourage people of all backgrounds to begin looking at these jobs in a new light. Perhaps, the government should also stop staying that RM900.00 a month is good money. Come on! As I am writing this, I have a tray of Burger King stuff in front of me that cost almost RM23.00. My parking fees will be about RM20.00 by the time I am done with my next client meeting. Even in rural areas, the cost of living is not as cheap as what our politicians would like us to believe. But that’s a story for another time....

This can be helped tremendously with the right support from our education system and the society at large. The over emphasis on white collar jobs and academic excellence have robbed us of many valuable talents who could have provided us the needed skilled labour. The disparity in salary and the continuous lethargy of the labour organisations in not fighting for a reasonable wage, worker protection and a social safety net have resulted in most people shying away from these critical jobs. In fact, our entire social eco-system is build on and around white collar jobs and middle class culture. We reward kids who earn 15As while we neglect the ones that don’t make the grade although they have a natural talent in agriculture, sports, wood work, mechanical work, etc.

So, yes we must have more doctors, teachers and engineers. Yes, we must have more bio-technologists and IT experts. But we also must have enough of those people who are needed to support these white-collar jobs and they need to be respected, paid well and celebrated as an integral part of nation building.

Blue collar skilled jobs must find a respectable space under the Malaysian sun or we shall face a growth stagnation as we struggle to find enough brick-layers while a room full of architects sit around wondering what to do next.

Welcome to the Career Psychologist

2011-03-09T12:01:00.000+08:00

Welcome to the Career Psychologist

The Human Age

2011-03-08T19:05:00.002+08:00

More than Work

2011-02-22T22:21:00.000+08:00

Being away from your known and familiar ecosystem is usually refreshing. But, if you are away often enough you will see that 'your' city and the rest of the world is not much different afterall. It's the same struggle for meaning. Don't get me wrong...I am not talking in some etheral religious sense but from a very mundane perspective - from the perspective of what a Job means to a man and woman anywhere in this world.

People spent so much time at work. In fact they spend a good deal of their lives at work. Surely for something as important and central as this, there is more than just money and survival involved.

Do people sense themselves while at work doing whatever that they are supposed to do? Do they feel alive at work? Can they see a larger connection and inter-relatedness of the work they do and the world around them? Do they feel that they are making a difference?

I suspect they don't. It seems to me that the more man becomes the focal point of industry the more distant he goes from feeling a sense of worth from his toils. Work de-humanizes. It degrades the natural energy and creativity inherent in a human being. It reduces a supreme creative being into a number.

The solution? A Job should not be work. It should be a calling. Anything less is a tragedy.

A manager should be a path-finder and a meaning-builder. Anything less is a catastrophe.

On Salaries, CEOs and Freedom to Lead!

2011-02-06T23:49:00.001+08:00

I was reading yesterday about how American regulators are working on making Wall Street bosses more accountable for bonus payouts. In other words, Wall Street barons are being reminded not to go back to the bad old ways of pre-2009. This got me thinking about something else.

The salaries paid to the brightest and smartest in our corporations.

Most CEOs go to great lengths to hire the best people to surround themselves with. I know they do as I do lots of Leader Assessments for them. Be it the financial guys, the marketing team or the regulatory folks; these are usually the best the talent market can offer. Yet, how many CEOs feel they have the best assisting them in the day-to-day running of the company? Not many looking at how much time CEOs are actually free enough to spend time with their rank and file people.

If I am paying so much for my executive team, why am I having sleepless nights and not spending enough time on the ground with the rank and file? I remember a couple of months back when I was at a meeting. All of a sudden,there was a hive of activity which I could observe through the glass doors from where I was sitting for the regional HR director to meet me. I found out later that the CEO was coming for a rare visit to address the annual town-hall meeting. Well, I thought the Agong was making a surprise visit!

See? If every CEO 'appearence' is treated as a 'corporate event' then obviously the CEO is not spending enough time on the ground!

So, that begs the question : Why is he paying so much for all those other guys?

Note : This is my first trip to the USA. The US was never on my wish list. Europe was. I always felt that I already know enough of the US through Hollywood, novels, management books and popular culture. After all aren't we Malaysians Americans speaking the Queens English?!But, I didn't know something about Americans - they are friendly. They greet you.

And, I also found out that Vince Lombardi was also a succesful Basketball coach. That proves the point : Leadership qualities are universal. It doesn't matter whether its Silambam or Sepak Takraw. It doesn't matter whether it's a low cost airline or a plantation giant.

By the way, its Super Bowl today and America is edgy. Everybody is talking about it. The words 'world champion' and 'greatest show on Earth' can be heard often. I wished I brought along my World Cup magazine with me. The real 'world' tournament! But hey, let it be!

The Universality Employee Engagement

2011-02-03T23:13:00.000+08:00

It has been a frustrating week in Chicago. A snow blizzard of historic propotions put paid to my much anticipated session on employee engagement for a client. Sitting in the hotel room having nothing to do but read and catch up with old emails proved to be useful. It gave me time to finish a book that I bought before I left to the USA - Re-Engage : How America's Best Places to work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times by Leigh Branham and Mark Hirschfeld (McGraw Hill, 2010).

To be honest, the only reason why I bought this book was to be absolutely sure that none of my participants will say " yes...that sounds really good but here in America....it's different". I wanted to be prepared if indeed employee engagement drivers in America is different from Asia where I have been delivering this session extensively. I was not dissapointed as what the authors have discovered through extensive research on employee engagament in American companies are as universal as anything can be. The reasons why high performers in America become dis-engaged are the same as what you will find in India. The type of manager behaviors that promote employee engagement in America are exactly what I have been advising Asian managers. The kind of roles that senior American business leaders need to play are the same as what senior leaders in Asia based companies need to do.

I knew this all the while. All researches have shown this to be true. I just wanted to be sure. I would have waived this book like a priest on a Sunday morning if anyone had challenged the universality of engagement drivers! Too bad the snow storm had other plans. I could not deliver my all important sermon.

Well, since we are on the subject of employee engagement I might as well provide the 6 Universal Engagement Drivers mentioned in the book:
1. Caring, competent, and engaging senior leaders
2. Effective managers who keep employees aligned and engaged
3.Effective teamwork at all levels
4.Job enrichment and professional growth
5. Valuing employee contributions
6. Concern for employee well-being.

The Sun is up....the temperature is still way below zero. Much like employee engagement - even with all the benefits and infrastructure; cold and indifferent manager behavior will make no positive difference.

8 Qustions on Interlok

2011-01-30T14:19:00.003+08:00

1. To all Indians who are against the novel : How many times YOU have looked down upon another Indian due to his birth 'origins'? How many times you have allowed your children to marry out of your village ancestry?

2. To the author of the novel : What is your pedigree in inter-racial harmony? How many books have you written with an Indian as the 'boss'? Why should we believe that you have no hidden agenda? Have you done a Datuk Lat or Ramli Ibrahim?

3. To the writers and teachers associations : How well are your members known as the beacon of inter-racial harmony?

4. Politicians who support the novel : Do you have any idea how discriminatory our teachers are today in the schools? Do you know that for the most part they are as polarised as the Young minds that they are forming?

5.Politicians who are against the novel (especially Indian ones) : When was the last time you spoke or did something that showed without doubt, that you are skin-blind? How much intellectual and political leadership have you provided to enable the Indians to feel good and safe in their own skin?

6. For the political elite who are as always 'taking no sides' until a clear winner emerges : Do you have any idea what the Indians, Chinese and Malays are calling each other in private? Do you have any idea how many times race factors in the conversation of our children in schools?

7. The Cabinet : Why should a book unheard of all these years; written by someone who has no apparent history of building inter-racial harmony be chosen for the purpose of educating our young and impressionable?

8. To all Malaysians : Where are we after 40 years?

Note : The will be 2 groups of Indians in this controversy. The 1st in which I belong are those who don't care. We have proven our merit and we have risen to the extent that our skin colour no longer speaks louder than our skills. What ever you write or say does not matter much because we serve this country better than you do. The 2nd group will be those who on a daily basis are victims of ill-speak and discrimination. Alas, the latter is in the majority. That is the reality of Malaysian Indians. Everything else is political garbage!

Being Strategic

2010-08-25T20:41:00.002+08:00

At last something I thought worth blogging about. This morning I finally got down to analysing some survey data that I had collected recently. Can't reveal much here as it will first need to be published the Management and then shared on BFM 89.9 first before I can divulge more details here in my personal blog. However, suffice to say that most senior Malaysian HR leaders view their roles from a much more strategic perspectives in the future than they are currently.

That is good news as I often draw laughter when I ask in my workshops "If you were a CEO, who would you take out for lunch...the financial guy or the HR guy?" The answer is of course obvious and my participants know it too.

The not so good news, which was not revealed by the survey though but rather from my observation, is that most business leaders who are heading businesses now don't know how to and/or don't want to elevate the status of their respective HR departments to a more strategic position. They are content to make the HR deal with union issues, policing the workforce and organise annual dinners.

So then the question is what will it take to make the HR team in every organisation more strategic? Well, the question really should be 'what needs to change for HR to become more strategic?' The answer to that is until an unless Malaysian organisations believe that strategy should drive culture HR professionals real worth as a strategic business partner will never be realised.

Now, say that I am a CEO of a local MNC in the telco industry. One day I wake up in the morning and wield my CEO wand and decree that henceforth the international operations will be hived off into a separate unit while the Malaysian operation will be managed independently. I then wave my CEO wand again and say the magic words
"Now go forth and do your stuff".

And magically my people go forth and do their stuff. The same stuff!

What will happen here you think? The poor man or woman who is going to lead this 'international operation' will then try to find the best square pegs from among his or her existing team to fit into the new hole of international business. This picture will of course will be entirely different if I as the CEO had used my CEO wand and asked the magic mirror this question : "Dear magic mirror on the wall....who among the fairest should make up the team of my new international business team?" The magic mirror will then say something like this "Dear master with the CEO wand....the ones who should make the new team must have the following 6 core competencies; they should have the following 7 skills and the leaders among them must have the following...." Now, what do I do? Do I say "Fine...people go and do your stuff"? No. I will go and find the HR guys on the whatever floor they have been holed up and tell them " Hey you HR guys, my strategic business mirror on the wall says that I need people with the following core competencies and their leaders apparently need to be able to demonstrate among others a 'global mind set'. Now what should I do.....I mean what are you going to do about that? Huh?

There....right there...when that beautiful question was asked...dawns the era of Strategic HR in my organisation!

A fairy tale you think?

2010 FIFA World Cup

2010-06-11T18:26:00.003+08:00

What an apt time to get back to my blogging. Been travelling (on holiday) and working on 14 -16 hour-days lately and just so into what I am doing in my career that I just could not find the time to write although somehow I seem to find the energy to write for a business publication.

Anyway, today seems like a good time to get started again. World Cup Day!
In about 3.5 hours from now, South Africa will take on Mexico in the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. A football tournament that is used as a calender baseline for many including me. I look at things happening in my life in terms of 4 year time-blocks...when the World Cup is held. I measure years in that format. Its football and its THE World Cup! There is nothing grander or more passion inducing than the World Cup. And, it is indeed a 'world' cup. Unlike the 'world' series and championship played in certain sports in a certain country. This is the mother of all 'world cups' baby!

The 2010 World Cup is so imbued with meanings and messages that even those who are not particularly big fans of the game have to take note of. Firstly, it is being held in South Africa and the African continent for the first time. The fact that it is being held in South Africa is a symbolic thing all on its own and that God has been kind enough to allow Mr. Nelson Mandela to witness it is another matter altogether. South Africa had hosted and won the Rugby World Cup; so gorgeously illustrated by Hollywood through Invictus. It has also hosted the Cricket World Cup. But, the FIFA World Cup is to me the one thing that will change the image of the rainbow nation and the African continent forever. This is the moment for the dark continent to rise and show the world that Man and civilization began there. It is ground zero for humanity. And the one truly global and democratic sport, football (or as some call it, soccer)is the best way to welcome Africa into 21st century and to remind the 21st century that Africa will carve its place now. I remember blogging some time ago that I think the next frontier in human capital and talent will be from Africa. This is the beginning.

Right, lets get back to the tournament it self. I am Argentinian when it comes to football. Maradona is to me in football what MJ was in music. Pure passion. Red hot energy. All human. This time he is the coach. Many have dismissed him and this team's chances. Well not me. In the study of history and its methodology there is a theory called the 'great man theory'. I believe Maradona, as a man, will take this team very, very far. He will not do it as the coach. But, as Diego he will and I hope his charges like Messi and Tevez have realized that they have been touched by the 'hand of god'. With a possible 3-4-4 formation, it is going to be both nerve wrecking and exciting for me to see how he is able to gel together what is undoubtedly one of the best set of players on earth into a tournament winning team.

Let the party begin and let us remember, at least for the next 30-days that there are indeed things on this earth that can bring us together. Things that can make us nod in appreciation when the 'enemy' shows something sublime. Football is one of those things.

As for tonight's match, I will be rooting for South Africa. I have always liked the Mexicans as for me they are one of the more talented teams around but for some strange reasons have developed their own invisible limits. The Bafana-Bafana will have my support tonight. A win will give South Africans a night to remember regardless of how they do for the rest of the tournament. A win will be good for South African wounds.

All the best Boys!

No Drama Management

2010-04-24T11:53:00.003+08:00

Why all that drama?

Think about the following and allow the answers to surface at your consciousness level. "How much time do you spent at your workplace managing all the drama that unfolds around you?" "Are you a Leader/Manager or a stage co-ordinator/actor"?

Lets define workplace drama - A set of workplace actions, reactions,behaviors and mind-set that engulfs one self and takes him or her away from the core objective of a task or job".

Lets examplify this - A manager is tasked to downsize a particular business unit and she will be held responsible for the entire process. Now lets list a typical drama that will unfold:
1. The manager is worried about her own position and switches on her own survival mode
2. She refuses to accept oustide expert help to manage the downsizing fearing that she is only making her self redundant
3. The senior HR leaders try to play the good-cop role by deflecting all blame and anger towards the manager or the 'HQ in US"
4. The affected employees withdraw into a cocoon of self blame, anger and frustration
5. The non-affected employee attempt to play nice to both sides
6. The business leaders become apologetic and end up making promises that they will ultimately fail to fullfill
7. The drama continues....on and on.

Lets look at another example - The management team is divided in their opinion as to who should be promoted into a new critical Sales and Marketing role. The choice is beween "the well liked Kumar" or the "hard driving Razak".
1. The management team divides it self into 2 opposing camps where old grudges surface for a final 'score-settling"
2. Kumar launches his campaign
3. Razak launches his own campaign
4. Both sets of team members launch their campaigns too!
5. Somehow, in some amazing ways, this selection proces is made out to be "the indication of what type of comapany this is and the prospects for our future"!
6 The drama goes on and on...

Why the drama? The answer is simple. The leadership of this organisation had allowed for drama to flourish. In fact they have themselves practised 'Management by Drama'.

At the core of the first example is a simple objective : To downsize for corporate financial reasons. It has a simple truth too : There is nothing you can do about it as it is within the company's right to do what it takes to continue returning value to the share-holders.

In the second example, the core objective is to select the most suitable candidate for the job based on what is expected out of that role for the company. The simple truth in this case is : The expected outcome of the role should determine the choice of selection and not the other way around.

I find there is simply too much drama around us. Now, dont get me wrong. I am not proposing that we go about our business like Spock. No, we are not androids with a heart. Not at the least. We are emotional creatures driven by logic. What I am saying is that leaders should be aware not to set the wrong example by engaging or tolerating too much dramas in their organisational ecosystem. Allow for creative emotions, drama, politics even but always keep the script and stage time short and sweet. Go back quickly to the core objective to conclude the drama.

Here is where a clear non-dramatic communication style will come in handy. Compare the following 2 statements and ask your self which leader is the easier to read and align your contributions to.
Leader 1 : I am 100% a business man
Leader 2 : I am a give and take leader

Now the answer to that question is obviously will be determined by your own sense of being of course. You may not be a 'business is all' individual or you may not be 'live and let live individual'. But, whatever your style is, I think you will find it easier to deal with Leader 1 because his non-dramatic communication style has made it plain and clear that even if you are a 'live and let live type' you had better do it with a profit for the company!

( I just stopped a minute to browse the web on this issue and I was not dissapointed. Here is something that I just found at http://stopyourdrama.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/7-ways-to-stop-workplace-drama/)

Negativity is the number one productivity problem in the workplace. Signs of negativity include backstabbing, gossiping, power struggles and lack of teamwork. The end result is absenteeism, low morale and turnover. Here are seven tips for improving workplace relationships and reducing negativity.

1. Facilitate Regular Staff Meetings
When done properly, regular meetings provide a forum for listening, problem-solving and honoring peak performance. Meeting mistakes include lecturing instead of engaging the team, inconsistent meeting times, no agenda, and no fun.

2. Institute a DRAMA-Free Workplace
Make relationships a priority and support the relationships with a standard operating procedure and employee manual. Review at least once a year and let the rules be the “bad guy” when it comes to discipline.

3. Eliminate the Open Door Policy
The door should only be open during specific hours and preferably by appointment. This prevents casual visits to vent or tattle.

4. Stop Office Gossip
Sally comes to you and says, “Don’t tell Donna, I said this, but Donna is unhappy with…” Discourage hearsay with a calm question, “Why are you coming to me with Donna’s problem?” Send the message you do not tolerate “rescuing” behavior.

5. Teach Problem-Solving
When an employee comes to you with a complaint, acknowledge the complaint, then schedule the employee to come back with all the facts, and an idea or potential solution.

6. Require Rejuvenation
No rest and recovery equals irritability, impatience, rude behavior and more mistakes. Managing energy is crucial to peak performance and productivity. Make regular breaks mandatory at least every two hours if possible.

7. Be the Change You Wish To See
Master your communication and relationship skills. Set the example: Master your emotions, be fair, listen, have integrity, show respect and have fun. Remember the words of William Penn: “No man is fit to command another who cannot command himself.”

Go to www.stopyourdrama.us to get a more in depth discussion of the 7 Ways to Stop Workplace Drama.

Lets de-dramatize the workplace. Its the better way to manage.

Perform Meaning...Add Meaning

2010-04-10T16:52:00.003+08:00

Finally today I was able to experience a little of the magic of Deepak Chopra's philosophy and techniques. This was courtesy of Tony Pinto who is a certified Chopra Centre trainer. It was calming to be in his office which was furnished with furniture from my grandmother's era. I am sure your grandmother's too. Perhaps it is Tony's strategy to put me at ease. It worked on me wonderfully what with his soothing bhajans and incense. Who does not feel a sense of warmth and love when thinking of their grandmother. I surely do whenever I think of my late grandmother.

Anyway, my idea was to take a Saturday off for something other than work related stuff. So, for the first time in a long time since I joined my current organisation, I didn't switch on my office laptop first thing on a Saturday morning (I did so at 4pm after returning from Tony's office though...good enough for starters)or sit at the Starbucks at the Curve reading the Economist.Yet, as I was enjoying my conversation with Tony, I noticed a little poster on his wall that said " Perform meaning...add meaning" and my thoughts went straight back to work! So here I am blogging about work...I guess its an incurable disease but love it. In a sense your calling never leaves you and I guess I should not be complaining as some people spend a lifetime trying to find theirs. Tony found his after over 50 years of searching.I found mine when I was perhaps 20 years old.

That phrase on Tony's wall is powerful and I have seen its power. In fact just a few days ago, I delivered a half day seminar for a client and I witnessed how powerful it is when you spend some energy in determining what exactly the meaning behind what you are doing. Essentially, at least for me, what it means is that you need o find what exactly the meaning behind what you are doing and having found that meaning continue to add more of that meaning into your action so that it becomes filled with meaningful discovery, knowledge, experience, emotion, learning, etc for yourself and others. In my chosen calling, often times it is not what I have to say that is important but what my audience needs to know that becomes the key concern. I can be armed with the best research or equipped with the most advanced tool but they are of little use if they can't provide the meaning (read value)that my audience is seeking for. Sometimes we do great injustice to the product or service that we have when we think that the product by it self should be sufficient to attract a potential customer. In my experience the more sophisticated or cutting-edge your product or service is, the more you rely on the product or service to sell it self. In other words, you don't add meaning/value. You don't innovate, improvise, re-configure, change or adapt. You become the GM and Ford of the past (present too perhaps?).

Guess what? It is also very easy to find out what meanings you customers want out of your product or service. Just ask them. Tell them what you have and ask them what they need and end by telling how much of their needs your product is going to fulfill. Finally, suggest ways how you are going to help them meet their needs or requirements which your product will not be able to satisfy. Now, that's what I call adding meaning to what you do.

Someone once told me that people don't buy a Nike because they want shoes. How true.
They buy the meaning behind Nike and Nike has added lots of that into its products.

Game Over...in the Tunnel!

2010-03-26T21:12:00.004+08:00

Can anybody tell me how much money is going to exchange hands now that the US has finally decided to reform its health care system? Did you say about a trillion dollars? You are right I think. Can you tell me how much of this Malaysia is going to benefit from? Wait a minute you say. What does this first significant 'win' of the Obama presidency got anything to do with us? Plenty I say. In fact its going to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars and its not us who will get to enjoy that but Indian and Philippine outsourcing firms.

Think about it! Who is going to do the paperwork and data management that will be the first tangible result of this overhaul in the American health care? Not the Americans themselves that's for sure. They have gotten used to Indian doctors reading their x-ray images and I am sure they don't mind giving a little bit more paper work for Bangalore. And imagine all that financial transaction that needs processing. Dont forget too the demand for the whole range of medical professionals and its supporting industries.

So, there you go. We had lost the game in the locker room. We had lost before the race even began. Oh, we might get some of course. Maybe. A little as what we have gotten used since the BRIIC babes came along and carted away all our suitors of the past (the additional I is for Indonesia...read the financial papers, you will see).

Its funny how most countries and organisations look at 'competition' in terms of competing with other organisations and other countries for market space. They never consider that the real competition today is not in the market or in the R&D laboratories. The real competition is actually in the talent-space. Its in the
schools,colleges and universities. The most dire need for many organisations today is not about culture change, change management or team building. All these will come to nothing if you don't hire the right people. The most critical need now is to empower the hiring ecosystem of an organisation so that it is able to identify, attract, select, develop and retain the best and most talented.

Its sad really if you think that by just copying Google style 'campus' environment, you can produce the right people. You need the right people to benefit from Google style environment. Google, Infosys, 3M, IDEO, AirAsia,the Ritz know exactly the kind of talents they need. They then hire these talents after an exhaustive identification and selection process and along the way also provide whatever it takes to retain these talents. These companies start winning the game way back in the tunnel while their competitors are vigorously warming up on the pitch waiting for the game to begin. Its game over by then really.

I think it was last year or late in 2008 that I wrote about how Africa will rise soon. I have changed my mind since. Its not Africa that will rise but rather Africans who will rise and compete aggressively. Africans who are now forming a significant diaspora community in many parts of the world will form a critical mass in the next 5 years and will displace newly minted talents from the developing world. As a continent, Africa may take some time to threaten others but as a People, Africans will rise much sooner. The war talent will go up a notch.

So where does all these leave us; both as a nation and as corporate leaders. Well, lets not worry where it leaves us but rather think about where it will take us if we ride the wave smartly. We should now start thinking about competition as a far more overarching thing than just competing for market share. We should have Chief Hiring Officers or Chief Recruitment Officers who does nothing but develop and execute strategies to attract the best and brightest.

Plan Once...Review Constantly

2010-03-23T19:42:00.007+08:00

Whether you are leading a multi million dollar business or managing a group of 5 front desk operators whose work quality will impact directly on your own deliverables, you should remember to Plan your Plan and Review that Plan.

The mistake that we often make is that we get excited about how fool-proof our plans are and how well thought out they are to the extent that we actually believe that it will work it self out. But a plan will not work it self out. A plan will only work when you work the plan. The most effective way to ensure that you are working your plan is to constantly review it.

Once again, it doesn't matter what your role is or what your business is as the habit of reviewing plans will provide you with the following:

1. Tell you how far you have come (or not come) since you put the plan in place
2. Allow you to modify and alter your approach as although your plan may be water-tight the environment in which you function is always in a flux
3. Enables you to decide whether your resources are adequate and used efficiently
4. Helps you to stop doing the 'interesting' stuff and start doing the 'meaningful' stuff. Or at the least, with a proper balance of both. The meaningful stuff are essentially those things that give you a revenue while the interesting stuff are 'the nice to dos'.
5. Ensure a sense of urgency is maintained. Notice how the board-room air is thick with energy and enthusiasm while the plan is being debated and how it slowly ebbs away as the days go by. Well, that's natural. It is bound to happen. Frequent reviews will pump in that energy and sense of urgency
6. Creates space for team members to provide their own inputs to make the plan work better
7. A sense of direction that you are heading the right way towards your annual goal or budget.

A review doesn't have to be all formal and serious in the sense that you don't have to drag your team into the board room all the time. Quarterly reviews could be done formally but your mid-quarter or even monthly sales reviews could be done (in fact I strongly suggest this) over a cup of coffee or lunch. If you are going to do this over drinks at the pub, then I suggest you do the review first before you view the drinks! For obvious reasons of course.

I have an interesting experience with conducting a business review at a pub. This happened many years ago at a pub in the city of Sandakan, east Malaysia. My boss and I had just delivered a workshop for the first time for a particular client and wanted to discuss on whether we had pitched the first-day of the workshop at the right level. We discussed this over coffee at the pub and did in fact work-out some critical changes for the next day. Once that was out of the way, we ordered our favourite beers and soon enough, we had our ideas flowing freely but all within the parameters that we had already decided just an hour earlier. I am not proposing that you run off to the pub every time you do a review. But a relaxing environment does indeed help.

Now, I am emphasizing on the nature of review setting is because of the following reasons. For any review to be effective, it must be:

1. Free of threat and pressure
2. Free of blame game
3. Full of respect and ownership
4. Full of goal focus
5. Always friendly and motivating
6. Always inquiring and advocating

So, a relaxed and friendly environment will help with the above.

Remember. A plan is only as good as how effectively you review it.
Go review!

The New Economic Model - Old Wine?

2010-03-17T21:17:00.006+08:00

One of the things that I will certainly remember come December 31st 2010 is the fact that to the best of my knowledge my organisation was the first to talk about the New Economic model. I did this in a radio interview in early January on BFM 89.9 fm. To date, except for one or two other consulting companies, nobody has really spoken about the NEM nor provided any thought leadership on this matter. I am proud that I had done my part through my organisation. I remember telling my team that "the NEM is the thing for 2010"!

Since then I have been waiting eagerly for the NEM to be unveiled. It was supposed to be end February but now I am told that it will be in April. Why the eagerness? Well, I wil be 40 this year and I am very sure that the NEM will in one way or another determine my life for the next 40 years as a professional, as a Malaysian and as a world citizen. In fact it will largely influence me on whom I am going to vote against in the next general election. It will also, more importantly, determine the type of country, society and polity that my children will live in. For these reasons, the NEM is very important for me. So, they had better not mess this one up.

And here is my wish list that I hope the NEM will reflect:

1. It must be a workable and realistic plan to achieve tangible economic goals. It must be worded in objective and clear language and not in opaque politically expedient rhetoric
2. It has to be an economic model not a political model though I believe if it is well conceptualised, articulated and executed, it will also become a successful political model which will once again place Malaysia as model democratically Islamic country
3. It must be an economic paradigm that is aimed at quantum changes and not incremental changes. The world is too fast now for incremental changes. The NEM must take this strong sturdy ship that we know as Malaysia into the high seas instead of staying pitifully close to safe harbour
4. It must be a model that gives rise to real meritocracy
5. It must be an economic model that finally interprets the federal constitution both in letter and its spirit
6. It must be an economic model that hammers in the final nails on the coffin of downstream manufacturing as the life-line of the country
7. It must be (oh God!) it must be a Malaysian NEM and not a Peninsular NEM.
8. It must be the catalyst for a radical and revolutionary change in our education, employment and immigration laws.
9. It must be the catalysis for a a true managed-free market system and not a manipulated-free market system.
10. AND it has to be an economic model that rides on ASEAN, India and China. In fact, there must be a supporting and documented strategy for this last point. I have no doubt that the future of this country will be closely tied to the future of ASEAN,India and China.

My biggest fear is that the NEM is the new NEP!...old wine in a new fancy face-book laced bottle!
God forbid for the sake of Ahmad, Chong, Raju, Jack, Mojuntin and Pinto.

Pillars of Confusion

2010-03-14T18:32:00.006+08:00

I love ‘pillars’. I love them for the images that they create in my mind’s eye. I love them for the potentiality that they promise. A potentiality for continuity, stability and familiarity. Somebody once said that each ‘door’ is the pathway to a new universe…a new dimension. For me, ‘pillars’ gives me hope that things will be alright; that all will be well. When everything crumbles, there will still be some things still standing...thanks to the pillars. Strangely enough I often reflect on this as I drive on the MRR2.

Pillars are quite amazing really. You see, some of the world's most renowned buildings have awe inspiring pillars. From the temples of ancient Greek gods, to the buildings of mighty Rome to the magnificent Indian temples to the majestic Japanese imperial buildings – they all have pillars. In fact their pillars are what that strikes you the most.

But as grand, majestic and beautiful they may be, pillars are merely there to play a utilitarian function. They may look big and intimidating but with closer scrutiny (and maybe some reflection) we can see that they are nothing compared to the super structure they are supporting. They are puny in comparison to the foundation on which they are standing on. They are meant to do nothing other than support the structure of the building. Within that building there are wonders that need to be kept safe from man and nature and the pillars are an important component of the total ‘security system’. They are tasked to maintain and secure. They are given the responsibility to hold and protect. Everything within these structures owe their safety, security, and continuity to these pillars.

Pillars are never meat to achieve something new. They are there to protect what has already been created. Pillars also do not take us somewhere new by themselves. They don’t and can't give directions. They can't drive us to do anything new. They are majestically passive in just maintaining. Never attempting to change. That's what they are really good at and meant to be.

Pillars are static…lifeless…dead. But they look grand nevertheless for the uninitiated.

So now the question is : if pillars are not meant to take us anywhere, then does it matter that we have pillars be it 8 pillars, 600 pillars or 6000 pillars? Well, of course it does. It matters to those who want to keep things as they are. It matters indeed to those who want to protect and preserve the existing foundation and the roof on which it stands.

It will not and should not matter to those who hunger for change. For them, it isn’t the pillar that is the problem but it is the foundation that needs to be looked at. They want to have a new foundation. In fact they want to dig out the old foundation, break down the old roof and build a new structure : with even newer pillars to support this new creation because some of the existing pillars have become weak by neglect and corrupted by man and time. For them, pillars are just a hindrance towards what is possible. They never focus on the pillars as its the foundation that needs attention.

Things can get more confusing of course as you will find that one pillar sometimes looks exactly the same as the next. I leave it to you to make senseof it all.

Or maybe you are like me...more interested in the foundation and keenly aware that the roof is leaking.

Oh the glory of creation!

2010-03-12T21:12:00.002+08:00

Oh what glory it is
To create.
A song, a tale, an art.

Oh what glory it is
to be lost in the ecstasy
of it all
where time is of no essence
when the universe stills down
to a trod.

Oh what blessed souls
those who create.
Beauty and pureness
that lifts the spirit.
Through the rhythms and prose
for mortals who seek
a moment of oneness.
Always sailing around
Never into.

Oh what glory it is
to create.

Shame..shame..
scratching the surface
of it all.
Never feeling the throbbing flow
of what is could be.
Oh! What wretchedness!
Not to create
we those made by Gods to be Gods!

Oh! Where are you thou
Don’t forsake me now
I seek thou all my life
And I saw behind the stars
Fleetingly
Oh! Don’t forsake me now Goddess.
I beseech thou
open that window
let me soar.

To create.

Connect. Communicate. Collaborate.

2010-03-05T19:10:00.002+08:00

I saw a billboard recently with the following words : Connect. Communicate. Collaborate. Not sure whether I have got the exact sequence but the message is clear. The product being advertised (by a Malaysian telco)is meant to make it easier for us (the users) to communicate, connect and collaborate. Or maybe to make it easier for us to collaborate by connecting and communicating. Whatever. It got me thinking nevertheless.

I was in Jakarta recently to conduct a workshop for a fantastic group of regional managers of a client. Fantastic because they were on the pulse of things even though I pushed them from 8am to 8pm and also because I was amazed by the feedback that they gave about the program. It showed clearly that they were listening and digesting and figuring it out how to apply whatever that I was proposing to their workplace challenges.

That's not all. As much as they had learnt from me, I think they had learnt much more from each other. They came from different markets with different experiences and challenges. Each one of them came with a field of knowledge and perspectives that were fresh in the eyes of the others. As one explained about a particular people challenge, another quickly suggested an approach that had worked at her workplace. When one talked about a product related challenge, yet another shared his own experiences. In the end, I ended up playing my intended role : as a facilitator of discovery. Although that's how I often introduce my self in my workshops, I usually end as the 'teacher' instead. I guess some cultures are more comfortable to learn from teaching while others by discovery. I love to do both.

But imagine for a second here how much inherent knowledge already existing in your organisation. Then imagine how powerful your teams will be if each knows what the other is doing and is capable of doing. Also, imagine how much more effective your organisation will be if there is a seamless transfer of knowledge and skills from one to another; locally, regionally and geographically.

Now, I know what you are thinking! Knowledge Management right? Bah. That's a fancy word for something so simple : Sharing. Its an expensive word too. KM has its place. My own organisation has its KM system which I love BUT it is so effective precisely because there is genuine sharing between all members of my organisation. The KM system helps us to Connect. But, we are the ones who Communicate and Collaborate. The system can't do the latter; only the former. Let me give an illustration. Just a couple of hours before I began writing this piece, I was on the office communicator with my colleague. I didn't ask for any support. I was just updating her on a particular project. Before I ended our 'communisation' she had emailed me some stuff that may be useful to me later for this project. And, this happens even when I am talking to my colleagues who are hundreds and thousands of miles away. Interestingly, although even those I have not met before seem to share willingly, I do find that those with whom I have shaken hands or had a drink during our regional meetings or programs, seem to share much more and far more speedily. There seems to be more than just connection...there is also communication and collaboration too.

The thing is, I feel many organisations have forgotten that some of the most high return strategy are sometimes unbelievably simple. You want your regional teams to work more efficiently cross-border? Don't just invest in a fancy conference call system. Make them meet! Eye-to-eye. Body-to-body. Let them go for a dinner or two. Trust me, you will get better returns from your conference call hardware after that.

Then just this week, I was conducting a workshop for a group of Gen Ys. We were discussing a particularly difficult personal career management issue. Of course, I said everything that I had to say. I pleaded and cajoled them not to feel helpless. Nevertheless, I could see that they were not convinced. Who could blame them. A 40 year old (Yes! yours truly is 40 this year. I had trouble accepting that in January but I am over it now!)telling them that they are just worrying themselves silly for nothing. What would I know! Then, I remembered talking to one of them just an hour earlier during lunch and he was sharing with me how he had personally overcome that very particular problem we were discussing about! As I turned my head instinctively towards him, I saw his eyes shining with anticipation. He knew I was going to call him out to share his experiences. He came over to the front (I moved to the back) and he spoke a good 20 minutes on his experiences. And wallah...believers were in the flock.

Amazing...this connecting, communicating and collaborating. Go try it with your teams. Ask your CEO to invest some money into this.

Can You Be The Biggest AND The Best?

2010-02-12T08:15:00.002+08:00

I had just sent my Toyota in for its scheduled service at a local Toyota service centre; which I am told is the biggest in South East Asia. The people of Toyota have always been professional when dealing with me. So far, I have no complaints with the service I have received or with my car. In appreciation, I have taken the time to complete the relatively extensive customer service surveys that they have sent out. I have responded to two surveys so far. And, for each survey I am given an e-voucher valued at RM20.00, redeemable at the next service. In both occasions, I had also written some suggestions for service improvements.

As I was waiting for my service technician to take over my car for the next 1 hour or so....it felt like letting go off my baby. But, I digress.

As I looked around the service centre, I could not help but wonder what is going through the hearts and minds of these excellent employees of Toyota. With all the bad publicity surrounding Toyota these days, it must be difficult for those on the ground who have been thought and imbued with the DNA of Toyota : Quality.

The crisis of confidence engulfing Toyota stemming from a steady stream of vehicle recall must be heart-wrenching for this proud and storied Japanese giant and its well trained and loyal employees. My colleague in Japan wrote to me to say that it is suffering from a crisis of confidence even in Japan. Can’t be a nice feeling when your own homeland doubts your quality. I also read that Japanese newspapers, both from the left and right, are united in raising concerns that the Toyota debacle will seriously undermine Japan’s painstakingly built status as a high technology, high quality country. I suppose, if you can’t trust Toyota, you can’t trust much of Japan! And, you definitely can't trust Japanese made airline seats!

Now, let’s attempt to answer the question. I think the answer is NO.
Being the biggest car maker requires a set of behavior which may not necessarily prepare an automotive company to also be the best. You don't necessarily use the same mind-set that made you the biggest to become the best too. It seems that many in Toyota had already been voicing their concerns since the 1990s as Toyota set its eyes on loftier goals. In fact there is a conspiracy theory swirling around that, this is an engineered crisis by Toyota to NOT be labeled as the No. 1 car maker. According to this theory, Toyota executives have realized that being number one in this industry is not a joyful experience. Hence, an engineered crisis to knock it self off from the perch.

Conspiracy theories aside, there are many lessons to be learned from the Toyota Experience….there you go…the title of the next hit book to replace the Toyota Way. Once again, you read it here first though I am sure somebody else will write it!

Toyota is a company that relies on quality improvements. To be precise, incremental quality improvements. Toyota, for many years behaved like a gifted child embarrassed by her own abilities. She progressed by leaps and bounds but always incrementally; a slow and steady evolution if you like. Or at least that's what they believed they were doing. But somewhere along this incremental improvement approach they managed to introduce the Prius to the world which today commands a premium for its category.Then, its Lexus was spoken in the same breath as BMW and Merc. Then, it became the biggest car company in the world. Wait a minute! You did all that by being 'incremental'?

I don't think so. Something had to give. In this case it was the inability to manage the quality of its vendors and parts makers. So far, this is where I will put my money on if you ask me where exactly Toyota had messed up.

While we wait for more details to distill our learning, I hope our very own Proton and Perodua and to a certain extent Naza will take notice of this. You can screw up in the domestic market and somehow get back to your feet. After all we Malaysians have a short memory. But if you mess up in the international market; you have very little chance for a come back. And PLEASE don't ever think that since even Toyota can make such mistakes, it is therefore forgivable for you to do so!

On the sidelines, I am also wondering how the problems facing Toyota and lately Honda too will benefit the Tata's and Hyundai's of the world.

Wishing all of you a Happy Chinese New Year. Remember : We have only one natural resource and that is Unity. Spread the cheer of unity in this festive period. Be careful of what you say about others in front of the young ones.

Investor-Employees

2010-02-05T21:28:00.005+08:00

Your employees are your investors. I am not referring to those who have share options and other type of ‘ownership’ of the company. Even if your employees are like my self – those who work for a salary and has no real ownership of the company they are still your investors. You will be in trouble if they realize that and behave as such while you go about treating them like...well...workers.

I am an investor in my company and I behave like one. So, I bet the serious ‘investors’ among your employees will do the same and expect the same.

How do your employees qualify to be called your investors. Well, its pretty obvious isn’t it? While your share holders pay money to own a piece of your company, your employees pay with their Time, Energy (physical, mental and emotional) and their Knowledge (which includes such payments like creativity, innovation and loyalty). In return they expect hefty profits in the form of equitable salary, increments, bonuses, and other benefits. Their investment is usually with the intention of long term staying aspiration unlike your other type of investors.

An investor-employees in this context, they will exhibit the characteristics of your typical share-holding investors. They watch your stock price, they keep a look out for good news and bad news especially if you are a global company, they keep pushing to get that one bit of extra value more before they finally give up, throw in and sell out. They are also increasingly concerned whether you are doing your business ethically and possess genuine awareness of your social and environmental responsibilities. In fact, you may hoodwink your share-owning investors with glib PR driven ‘social campaigns’ but not your investor-employees who knows exactly who you are. Are you green enough? Are you promoting equal opportunity? Are you diversity friendly?

Now, I suppose not many organizations would really want their employees to be walking around like investors. Smug with their knowledge of power and authority. That would not be very palatable for many CEOs I guess. But, imagine for a second that your employees do indeed behave like investors. Let me share an example here. A hilarious one, at least to me, but one that should get the point across. Many years ago, I was a consultant for a 3- man boutique consulting company. I worked for this company as a consultant and got paid handsomely with car and housing allowances thrown in as the business grew and in between many other benefits and support. Years later, when I called my clients and friends to tell them that I will be leaving this company but that I will still be doing work for it on an independent basis, on more than one occasion during this calls; I was asked how much I was making by cashing out. It was only after the first two explanations, did it dawn on me that these people actually thought that I did in fact own part of the company. Now, how did they get that impression? Simple – from the way I behaved when I was representing it to them. Yes. I must have walked and talked as if I owned it. I must have done work for them as if it was my business. In fact, I did. And that was entirely because, my employer knew the power of ‘ownership’. How much return did I get from that company for my investment; which was substantial in terms of my output, I must say that it was very good. How much value did that company derive from me? I must say that it was many fold as I left behind quite a huge amount of intellectual property.

I am now with another company and one, through enlightened leadership, allows me the space to strut my ownership stuff. My breakfast shop guy asked me today why is that I am always doing work during my breakfast ( I am usually drafting important emails or proposals while I am having my First Coffee!)? I wanted to tell him – Why not? After all, I just opened for business. Although the official opening time for my company is 9 am, I am more than happy to get going an hour or more earlier. But I just smiled to him and said – banyak kerja lah! Well, I have invested in my company and I want to make sure every minute of the market opening hours count. As all investors, I want a guaranteed return for this month and for many more months. And some more.

Sounds too idealistic to strive for in your 30-employee or 3000 or 30,0000 employee company? It may be.

But imagine all these investors waiting to invest in you more?
What have you done today to attract their investing sentiments as they clocked in today?

The weekend is here and I will be working through it for my business as I need to get a proposal out by Monday. You want your employees to do the same? Make them your investors.

Fears and Aspirations

2010-02-02T21:47:00.004+08:00

It never fails to amaze me to hear how even the most seemingly beneficial and well intended plans in an organisation can be read with mistrust, trepidations and even anger. Take for example, Coaching.

We, in the world of talent development will swear by how impactful a well designed and thought-out organisation-wide coaching initiative can be. We know that it is a win-win proposition for managers, their team members and ultimately the organisation. But hey, wait a minute! Not everyone may see it that way. Rightly or wrongly, some may actually feel that "...this new thing called coaching in my organisation is nothing but a new way to make me work more for less pay"! They may sit around over cups of coffee and justify their 'argument'. In the end, the well intentioned OD team or the HR team will be flabbergasted and just scrap the whole idea in disgust.

Sounds familiar? I bet it does. But, here is the thing : It doesn't have to be that way.

A colleague of mine told me recently that when someone resists change, you can take it that this resistance is not merely in some nebulous mental capacity or at some subjective attitudinal level. Such resistance may actually be physical in the sense that there are physical parts of their brain that just cant assimilate this new information. It is almost like there is a physical clash of some parts of the brain which refuses to work or think in new, un-familiar ways.

So, don't take things for granted. Accept the fact that good intentions are not self explanatory. They still need to be :

A. Communicated,
B. Debated,
C. Deliberated, before being
D. Executed.

The time taken to transit from one stage to the next as I had proposed above, will be determined by how important the new initiative is and how much 'the way we do things here' need to change. The more change is needed, the longer the first 3 stages will take before you can finally execute your plans. Similarly, the more importance is given to the plan by the stake-holders, the longer it will take.

In this respect, it is absolutely exciting days for me now because a distinguished client organisation is taking a very deliberately planned approach to begin stage one of my 4-stage process above. I have faith that with this approach, the plans in place will be well received by all the stake holders.

The Chair by Any Other Name.

2010-01-16T18:44:00.000+08:00

I saw this message at a quaint little cafe called the Haroo Cafe and Bar on Langkawi island last year and copied into my hand set and forgot all about it until last night when I was reflecting on what Malaysia's New Economic Model is going to look like. It read " A comfortable chair isnt revolutionary. But it gave people a place to sit, read or strike up a conversation. Something as simple as a chair changed the way people drank coffee...".

I was thinking about the new darling phrase of Malaysian policy makers : Creativity and Innovation. The New Economic Model is supposed to take us out of the middle income trap and move us up unto the stratosphere of high earning developed nations. And, the engine that will drive this transformation is the services industry with creativity and innovation as it's fuel. That's as much as I can understand from the little pieces of information that are availbale on the NEM so far.

My colleague told me that there was already a forum held to discuss this issue. The meaning of what exactly 'creativity' and 'innovation' are were apparently discussed. I am no expert on this and I will leave the semantics out and just focus on what I do know .ie. the workplace ecosystem and by extension, the business ecosystem.

For me, innovation is the ability to find new uses to existing creation (a result of creativity). It is the knack for fnding new uses for established processes. It is the capacity to look at things (already existent)inside out. It is not about constantly inventing new chairs but finding new uses for them.

It is easy to rattle of examples of innovation (and creativity). It is also quite nice to hear these examples as it gives us a warm feeling to know what unimaginable power exsits among our employees. Stories of how 3M came up with the post-it, anecdotes of how Google'ians develop new ideas, the feats of engineers building structures at locations not 'designed' for such structures and others are testimony to the inherent innovative ability of people. If you go to the jungles of the Amazon and the villages of India or to the remote hamlets in central China, you will see how indigenous innovation have long been a hallmark of the people's ability to live in and with their natural environment. Everything from cheap flood mitigation, pest control to traditional medicine are in essence a result of innovation The things needed for these efforts were already there. Somebody just found a new use for them.

Herein lies the enigma : Why is that some companies (and socities) seem to be more innovative than others? What makes them so?

This is my attempt to answer these questions. I believe the following must be present before a company or for a group of employees can become innovative:

1. Freedom of thought AND action
2. Generosity with knowldge sharing
3. Free flow of information
4. Dedicated experts within the organisation (something like Chief Innovation Officer)
5. A reward system that recognizes creativity and innovation regardless whether it has immediate returns for the organisation
6. Dedicated experts within the organisation who are trained to bring together the various generations in the workplace. Say, a Chief Inclusivity Officer! Her job is to facilitate the interaction between the Gen Ys with the rest in the organisation. I believe there are critical untapped competitive edge in our Gen Ys at the workplace. Unfortunately these are drowned out by the noise from the 'this is how we do it here' generation.
7. Leverage on technology. When Gary Kasparov was defeated by the Deep Blue in 1996, we thought it was only a fluke. A machine can never be superior to the human intellect and intuition. Then, the machine beat the grandmaster again. It has been doing so since then and today we play chess with AI for fun. The ability of some of the more advanced chess AI is mind-boggling. So, technology is a tool for innovation.
8. Innovation culture requires a Leadership that is 'innovation-friendly'.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best, I will give Malaysian organisations in general as score of 4 when it comes to having a suitable workplace evironment that can foster innovation.

There is much work to do to realize the promises of the NEM and I hope I can play a role in making it a reality.

NOTE : A few postings ago, I questioned whether I am keeping true to the essence of this blog. After much thought, I have come to realize that I have been. As I reflected back on my previous postings, I realized that I have not been as 'blinkered' as I thought I have been. I have indeed commented on the social and political set up of this nation and how it helps or hinders our business ecosystem. After days of observing, reading and listening from others I have made this conclusion : Prosperity begets peace. Poverty begets bigotry. I am on the side of prosperity. So, for me the NEM has a far deeper importance to the future of this nation. As a consultant, I will do my part: Thinking Fresh, Being Real, Doing Right.

Surprise…Surprise!

2010-01-11T22:30:00.000+08:00

Not all Indians are Hindus
Not all Hindus are Indians
Not all Christians are whites
Not all whites are Christians
Not all Muslims are terrorists
Not all terrorists are Muslims

Not all Indians are poor
Not all poor, are Indians
Not all Chinese are busineness men
Not all businesness men, Chinese
Not all Malays are emotional
Not all emotional,Malays

Not all who shout are pious
Not all who are pious shout
Not all who preach are godly
Not all who are godly, preach

Not all reasons universal
Not all universal reasons, reasons
Not all truths are self evident
Not all evidence, truths
Not all honour, victory
Not all victory, honourable

Not all kings wise
Not all wise, kings
Not all fair, good
Not all good, fair

Not all history, true
Not all truths, history
Not all laws, just
Not all just, judge

Not all patriots, kill
Not all who kill, patriots
Not all loyalties, endure
Not all that endures, loyalty

But…
All that we are…
All that we were
All that we will become
Are but a lump of earth!

Till then though…
We are brothers.

Malaysian 9/11

2010-01-09T12:46:00.001+08:00

Twice since yesterday evening, I wrote something and deleted it.Twice I could not decide whether I should publish it. Twice I grappled with a simple question : what is the essence of my blog? Why do I write this pieces. The answer to the latter is quite a straight forward one. I write to release the multitude of ideas,thoughts and strategies that swirl through my mind every waking moment. I write to release my creative energy. The question of what is the essence of this blog is becoming a little more difficult these days though. My ideas and thoughts are almost exclusively related to my passion for leading, managing,business and commerce in general. I view everything else in this light. So, you can almost call me a communist ( I did read Marx when I was 15 much to the displeasure of my English teacher!). I view everything that happens to man on this planet from the perspective of supply and demand. I interpret everything from the fact that man needs work and fulfillment from the work he does. I have very few other passion in life. I am not a passionately religious person. I know my relationship with the Universe and I know for a FACT that there is a power greater than mine. That is all I need to know and I am not interested in convincing others. I am not a passionately nationalistic person. I am in essence a global citizen and for me a human being is meant to be borderless both in action and spirit. For me, the idea of nation states are no longer applicable. I function on gratitude and loyalty to what is fair and just regardless of where, who or what. So, anything other than the world of supply and demand (in all is forms and functions) does not interest me much.

This is the reason that I have always kept my postings as close as possible to business and management. In the few instances when I did write on other matters, I viewed them as 'events'.

In my previous posting, I wrote about the dangers of this country heading the way of Myanmar. Yesterday, we effectively took the first steps on that journey. But, when I wrote that 'Myanmar' piece my hypothesis, if you can call that, was very much based on our failures or potential failures in economic and business strategies. Yes, I did consider the fact that the continuous functioning of our relatively harmonious social structure will be critical too but I didn't really think that that will become a serious problem. Despite all we are not a nation that are militant. We don't burn each others places of worship. We should be fine in that respect. So, I figured that the only reason we may end up like Myanmar is if we mess up our economic and fiscal policies.

I may be wrong.

Maybe, far more important than getting our economic strategies correct, we need to get our social structure correct. Maybe, before we begin a New Economic Model we need to have a New People Model. A new model where the people of this nation are re-oriented to who we are and what is the REAL and TRUE relationship we have with each other. We need to understand, all over again, who our neighbors are. We need to fall in love with each other all over gain. Then maybe after that, we can begin the New Economic Model.

But, that is day dreaming I know. It will be nice but next to impossible. In reality, the New Economic Model and the New People Model need to happen simultaneously as each will influence and play a critical role on each other's success or failure. They must happen con-currently. They must be dissected and debated and strategised together; not in different and separated pieces.

If that is true, what then should the essence of this blog be. Can I, as a consultant and trainer, continue to think and behave exclusively on management and business terms. Or, should I now also become a New People Model strategist (activist?). If the latter is one that will bring the best results to my clients and this country, then I will have to delve into much more than the safe and sanitized world of management and corporate business. I will need to look out of my window of corporate mind-set and comment on the repugnant landscape of the bigotry and social breakdown. If previously I can comment that the past failure of Proton was due to its poor leadership quality, now I will have to say that the many things left unsaid; many of which had nothing to do with the management per se. I may also have to say that Proton was almost a mono-culture company and hence did not enjoy the full benefit of a creative citizenry. If previously I can talk about the brain drain as the cause for our lack of young talents and do it in an almost clinical manner, now I will have to say that the reason why the brain drain is occurring is because of the unfairness inherent and embedded in the very fabric of our systems.

Do I want to do this? There can be a separation of the church from the state (it feels strange using this phrase under the circumstances!). But, can there be a separation of the social ecosystem from business and management?

I am not sure. I am taking a break to ponder this. Whatever it is, the only question that I will ask of my self is : How best I can add value...REAL and TRUE value? And, stay true to the motto of this blog : Thinking Fresh, Being Real, Doing Right!

The Myanmar Effect

2009-12-25T13:56:00.002+08:00

10 years from now, Malaysia will go the way of Myanmar economically and socially. We will become a poor nation. This will be the worst case scenario. At best, we will be prodding along aimlessly amidst a region of up and coming super-powers and secondary-powers. We will survive and that will be just about it. If we are that lucky.

In this age and time, it will not take a generation for a nation to be reduced to economic and political insignificance. Even with the best intentioned government of the day, it only needs less than 10 years for a country to go the way of Myanmar or Brazil in the 1980s. I fear that this nation of ours is also on this perilous path.

Not such a nice thing to say especially in this season of festivities and merry making but it needs to be said. We are in deep trouble and the government and us the people need to sit up and take stock of what we are up against. Forget whatever you have been fed with in terms of how advanced we are in this or that. Forget about what the official media tells you about how attractive we are for the investors. We are no longer the shining star we used to be. Of course we are still surrounded by the relics of our golden age, just as the Italians are probably constantly reminded of their glorious past; but that doesn't mean a thing. So, forget too that our relics are a sign of our greatness. It was past greatness (if at all it was one). By next year, China will be the 2nd largest economy in the world. By 2050, India will rival China. Between these two powers, there will emerge a form of modern day tribute states whose sole function will be to manufacture goods and provide energy and resources to these two countries. By 2050, today’s developed countries will be at an economic plane that is higher and more advanced and they would have, by then, entirely divorced themselves from the 3D jobs (dirty, dangerous and difficult). I think it is not science fiction to say that the day will soon come where the western countries (and Japan, Korea) will be managing the ‘knowledge of the world’ while countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Nigeria and Indonesia will be so well positioned that they will do everything else.

Where will we be in this scenario? A tribute state or a leading knowledge driven economy given due respect and recognition by the ‘knowledge super powers’?

As alarmists as my statement may sound, it is nevertheless not something that has missed the more discerning Malaysians. Take Datuk Seri Mohd Effendi Norwawi. On Dec 20, he wrote a piece of enlightening and bold piece of opinion that I hope will be translated into the Malay, Tamil and Mandarin languages and published in the respective papers. For one, this may kick them into sobriety and realization that while they are busy condemning each other, this motherland of ours is going deeper into oblivion. Next, it may jolt the man on the street to demand more than just temples, suraus and churches from their elected representatives and ask what on earth they are doing to prepare us for the next 10 years.

The respected Datuk Seri says that The New Economy Model (something I will touch on later here) will not succeed unless it is supported by a new implementation model.

Then on 24th December, the shining star of Malaysian intellectual and principled discussion, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam (one of the original drafters of the NEP in 1970, the year of my birth) wrote in the same paper that not only do we need an implementation model for the New Economic Model, we also need to ensure that the model is not flawed to begin with.

The statistics that are being churned out are not pretty. Vietnam for example had overtaken us in many areas especially in terms of attracting FDI. We are also loosing out in the knowledge economy as we didn’t continue the initial push and investments in this area. Our biotechnology and our multimedia are doing a great job despite the odds stacked against them. It's a wonder how they are doing as well as they do considering that they have to answer to a bunch of bickering and obnoxious politicians who for some strange and peculiar reason inevitably become the masters of these areas of utmost importance to our survival as a nation.

Come February, we will know what our New Economic Model is all about. The fact that we need a new economic model and the fact that the current administration had seen it prudent to develop one is a testimony to the fact that our Vision 2020 is not achievable under the current circumstances. Of course we can always point our fingers at the sudden and unexpected economic downturn for this but if we look carefully, we could see that right from the beginning, Vision 2020 was doomed to fail as it so entirely depended on external factors i.e. the global economy staying bullish AND it was based upon the fact that the failures of the NEP could be whitewashed by the sheer prosperity of the economy (read the size of the economic pie). Very little of Vision 2020 was dedicated to develop a framework for organic growth and innovation to sustain us regardless of how the global economy was performing. Although it’s true that, as Bill Clinton says, this is an interdependent age where there is no way we can on our own ensure our growth and prosperity. We will have to and must depend on the wider global scheme of things. Yet, we must also surely have some gumption to do things that gives us some form of insurance against being totally dependent on the ebb and flow of world economy.

Hence, it seems to me that finally our policy makers have come upon the one thing that we have been paying only lip service all these while: Innovation. So, the new economic model will apparently drive us towards an innovative economy. It also seems that we are going to become an innovative economy and we will be capable of emulating the innovativeness of the Americans and the Europeans.

So far, from the little snippets that are being leaked out on the new economic model, I must say that all the right things are being said. However, whatever the final look and feel of the new economic paradigm is going to be, I anticipate the following 7 factors will play a critical role in determining its eventual success or failure:

1. All stakeholders in nation building MUST accept that this will be a long term drive. All political parties, racial champions, NGOs and the intelligentsia must acknowledge the fact that a new economic model is not a quick fix but rather a slow and potentially painful recovery process. It's a total re-alignment of what we need to do to our economic engine.
2. Everybody….absolutely everybody needs to realize that American innovation in the past was a direct result of her willingness to allow for differences of opinion and respect for differences. She welcomed all. She embraced all. Malaysia needs to do that. Let’s begin by tapping into the creativity and innovation latent in the hearts and minds of our minority groups whose talents are being wasted due to the stifling social infrastructure which has long lost its usefulness. The time is now to revolutionize our thinking and this revolution should begin with the idea that “Malaysian innovation lies in its people…all her people”. We can’t say that we will have an innovation driven new economic model by merely inviting global companies to set up shop in Iskandar. Even if Steve Jobs takes up our ‘Malaysia, my second home’ offer, we will still not become an innovative economy. The reason for this…my next point…
3. Go for the jugular of our education system. Kill it. Allow for a rebirth. Anything less will not work. The killer of innovation today is our education system. As it is now, not only does it block true and meaningful integration, it also stifles innovation at the most fertile ground: our children. As long as our education does not produce a generation of people who can ask the right questions, we will not become an innovative nation in any meaningful way.
4. The BEST minds should get the job and do the job. Regardless in what skin colour that mind may be wrapped in.
5. All new economic initiatives must be designed to take us out of the middle –income trap which means that by merely attracting manufacturing related FDI will not be sufficient.
6. The Iskandar region must be de-politicized and made into a model for the implementation of the New Economic Model.
7. Our institutions of higher education must be governed by a fully empowered board of governors who must have the power to hire and fire. This board must be comprised by people of the highest social standing and achievements; regardless of their racial and cultural background.

The future of our country lies in what exactly the New Economic Model is. Will it be a true and honest policy with equally honest and robust implementation focus? Or, will it be another ‘flavor of the administration’ and as vague as the 1Malaysia concept?

I have hopes that our current Prime Minister (if he can keep the humbugs of our political landscape at bay), will do things right and do the right things. He has that pedigree. But maybe, he needs more than just his political power. He may end up needing a referendum of our collective support to ensure that we don't go the way of Myanmar.

The World of Work - On the Ground Level

2009-12-12T22:01:00.000+08:00

As I sit here at the spanking clean departure lounge of the Senai Airport (officially its Sultan Ismail Airport but my security-check label says its Senai Aiport and I too prefer the latter), I am observing a cleaning lady going about her work. For the past 35 minutes or so she has been going up and down the aisle where I am facing, cleaning it to a shine. First, she cleaned it from dust, then it was a wet mop and finally (I thought) a dry mop. No. She was not finished. She came back again one more time to make sure she had not missed a spot.

This morning, I was served my first coffee of the day by a young man at the Crystal Crown hotel. He was smiling and courteous. As I was one of the few there so early in the morning, he greeted me and asked whether I was heading back to the airport. I said no and that I was actually getting ready for work at a client’s place (without telling what exactly I do). I then asked him what time he will go off and he replied “In about 30 minutes”. Which meant, it will be 7 am then. Then it dawned on me that he had been working the night shift which typically in a hotel means : 7pm – 7am. Yet, he was smiling and having a friendly chat with me. Doing things that were not probably expected or required of a 3-star hotel waiter in Malaysia.

My taxi driver, whom I used for all my running about the last 2 days was a jovial and cheeky guy. He had something cute to say to all the toll booth girls and they responded with a smile or laugh. He had scars on his face and looked like a possible ‘gangster turned good” type. Even after driving around the madly crowded JB city, he still had that cheerfulness about him. He made me relax on the way back to the airport a little while ago although I was drained after an excuriuatingly difficult session with a group of people who took me on (unofficially) as their therapists!

Coming back to the cleaning lady; I don’t see her anymore. Probably cleaning another spot somewhere else in this building.

What I am thinking is : how many times had her supervisors said ‘thank-you’ or ‘good job’ to her this past one week? How many ‘pats on the back’ did that young man get or how many thank you’s did my taxi driver get?

What is it about us humans and our world of work? What is it that absorbs us into it?. It takes our life. We want to work. We want to contribute. We want to envelope ourselves with meaning and we use our work to provide that meaning. Without work, life has no meaning. Yet, we have not mastered this magic and use it to lead our people. We hardly understand the meaning of work in our own lives. Its amazing that we understand so little of something that takes up our entire lives.

On my study table at home, I have a little post-it-note with the words “ Every little act of work can become creation – beautiful and holy. Worship through work”. Krishna told Arjuna to act. When Arjuna sat in despair and threw his armour and weapons to the ground, Krishna had basically said “ Get up you fool…do your job. You are a soldier. So, fight you lazy potato”. And so Arjuna fought.

There is magic in work. But, there is miracle in those who work for passion. Its a tragedy when they are not recognised.

2009 : The Year That Was

2009-12-10T09:13:00.002+08:00

The following was what I had predicted for 2009. Lets see how I had done this time (in italics)!

Global Trends and Changes (Business)

1.Mega mergers of financial institutions. Probably involving North American and European banks. American law makers will pass a slew of new acts to allow the Feds to keep all forms of financial institutions under close scrutiny. Been there and done that.
2. Chinese manufacturing may not recover from the current slump and this vacuum could be filled by India, Mexico and the former Soviet block countries. In India especially, manufacturing will loose it’s ‘dirty’ tag and become a profession of choice just as IT and services related jobs. I know Chinese manufacturing had lost some of its luster and the millions of workers who were forced to return to the villages were partly blamed for the sporadic violence against government officials and institutions. Indian automotive players made some news (local and foreign) but not much else. I have blogged on what the Nano is going to do for India and by default for the rest of the world.
3. Chinese and Indian firms will aggressively buy into ailing companies at fire-sale prices. Possibility of Indian, Chinese and Middle Eastern investors gaining a foot-hold in Detroit’s automotive industry is quite high. The talk is that Chinese players like Shanghai Automobile Company are getting into Detroit. We all know that Land Rover and Jaguar is part of the Tata brands now.
4. More mergers in the airline industry with Asian flag carriers being the target this time. Asian airline have decided on status quo but British Airways had bought Spain's Iberia
5. The birth and widespread use of extremely affordable note-books which will change the industry inside-out. This will most possibly be spearheaded by giants like IBM and Microsoft with India, China and Latin America as the target markets. Not sure about this. Over the last two years I have been noticing a steady announcements on companies developing affordable computers including laptops. I was hoping that 2009 will be the year for this.
6. Mega mergers of auto manufacturers. Yup. Fiat had a field day in Detroit.
7. Reconfiguration of air-line industry. As above. Though I have forgotten why I have two inputs on the airline industry?!
8. Hostile take-over of Yahoo by Microsoft! They tried. God knows they tried!
9. Mergers involving the world’s three biggest pharma companies with GSK leading the way. Some happened. Pfizer and Wyeth for example.

Global Trends (Politics and Social)

1. 2009 will be defined by Barrack Obama. He will have to manage the unbridled expectations placed on him and the payback that the various interest groups will be clamoring for. The world will begin to see more and more of America’s soft power. As of this week, Obama’s approval rating was hovering around 47%. The honeymoon is over. But, he did indeed make news. From his ‘bow or not to bow’ to his so called multi-tasking are becoming ‘Oprah’ish stuff.
2. Russia will flex its muscles further much to the chagrin of the hawks in Washington. A proxy war of sorts is in the cards. Russia’s dominance in gas supply to Europe will once again become the point of contention. Remember Ukraine?
3. Japan will edge closer to end its pacifist constitution which will anger China. A new schism is quite possible in East Asia. Nope. Japan is as insular and as boring ever.
4. Chinese social revolt will finally come onto international radar screen. The Uighurs were in the news! Amazingly, as I followed the unfolding of this tragedy, I realized how new technologies have enable us to conceptualize, launch and manage an uprising (for whatever reasons)…remotely. I suppose today you can ban someone from staying on your soil but that doesn't mean you can stop her from holding the heart-strings of her followers. Thanks to the internet.
5. India’s relation with Pakistan will worsen and a war between these nuclear powers should not be ruled out. Unless of course, America and the international community decides to avoid an all-out war between these two countries by waging a managed war on Pakistan’s terrorist sheltering regions with UN blessings. As always and as what many believe, Pakistan’s semblance of governance exists only because it is anti India. Take that away and we have a full-fledged rogue nuclear nation. However, things may not be rosy for India with its national elections looming. A hung parliament is likely with the Congress and BJP loosing ground to regional parties. Economic and business wise, things should be quite predictable with the Indian Century continuing its progress. Well, I was way off on the hung parliament stuff as the Congress against all odds consolidated its powers and wiped out many of the regional pests. I know you are laughing….who can ever go wrong by predicting that Indian-Pakistani tensions will rise?!
6. Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear facilities while the Palestinians will look away from America as their peace brokers. Barrack Obama and his team will not have the same kind of self-proclaimed importance for the Arab-Israeli peace process. Hasn’t happened yet but the talk was serious last month and is still a possibility. Maybe a little Christmas present from the Israelis and plunge the rest of the world into despair perhaps?
7. The consolidation of institutions of higher education in the form of branding and marketing. Nope. Proud ivory towerians they are!
8. Protectionist policies and rhetoric will trump free market and liberalization. China will do all it can to protect its economy for anything less will create an unprecedented social calamity. This shift back to ‘hermit economy’ will put the Chinese and the Americans on a loggerhead. Europe will gravitate to more conservative policies spearheaded by France. All over the world, proponents of globalization and free market economy will find themselves hard pressed to explain that globalization is the way forward. Well….just read the news and you will know I was bulls eye on this! When the US announced its almost 800 billion dollars stimulus package, it also made sure that construction projects only used American made steel and iron. This blocked out China, Brazil and Russian made materials. Similarly a recent row broke out over Chinese made automobile tyres.
9.A major military conflict in Africa with Mugabe playing a key role. Nope…but who is keeping track of conflicts in Africa?
10.China will be less tolerant of North Korea. We may see some real breakthrough with the Hermit Kingdom but not before a huge nuclear scare in the Korean peninsular. Yes. China was less than thrilled with the North Koreans hurling spare missiles over Japan.

Malaysia (Business)

1. Datuk Tony Fernandez will sell down his interests in Air Asia. More active participation from Middle East players and Bumiputera centred institutional fund managers in Air Asia. Nope. Not yet!
2. Labu LCCT project will not take off. Oh yes!
3. The merger of two or more banks to form a mega bank positioned to compete at regional levels. Nope.
4. Major changes in the railway industry beginning with KTMB and a possible second operator finally taking shape. Sad. Nothing.
5. The establishment of unit trust funds specifically for Sabah and Sarawak in the likes of the current ASB. Nope.
6. Proton will move beyond Mitsubishi to form a business partnership with a European car maker most notably VW or Peugeot. Talks of merger with Perodua may also surface and be taken seriously. Both are in the news. Something is simmering.
7. Malaysia Airlines will form a ‘partnership’ with SIA. Nope.
8. AK will make some major moves in the market with probably institutional investor support. ASTRO may be taken private. He did make a move…by bringing back Maxis into the public domain.

Malaysia (Politics and Social)

1. Will be a defining year for Malaysia. What Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak says and does immediately after taking over the reigns of the administration will define Malaysia for the next 50 years. He has 2 options : Go back to Mahathirism OR push forward with the reforms set in place by the Abdullah administration. The BN convention slated for early next year will be a watershed in Malaysian politics. The aftermath of this convention may see some BN component parties striking out on their own. Well...Najib has not done anything earth shattering but neither has he reverted to Mahathir style leadership; except perhaps in Perak.
2. The Pakatan Rakyat will be severely tested. But, Perak Penang & Selangor will go further away from BN’s grip. Yes on all counts. At least to me except for Perak. That was a rabbit out of BN’s hat.
3.Radical Indian activism will take root. Yes. The struggle has gone underground. Again. I have said it many times before : the Indian dilemma needs solving. Otherwise, a huge, violent underclass will bring our urban areas to its knees. Lets not forget that the Indians have a collective history of resistance and ‘nationalism’ towards a cause that they can draw lessons from. Besides, the latest round of protests are lead by the Indian intelligentsia which knows how to use all modern political and avenues open to them. I was going through some of my old letters to editors and I came across a letter that I wrote to the NST almost 10 years ago. I wrote then that if the MIC did not change, it will be one of the major cause for BN’s decline.
4. Samy Vellu will not last the year as MIC president. This was a close one. But, who knows. But then, the man had always beaten all predictions.
5. MCA will face its most serious leadership struggle in decades. Amazing right? I just felt it in my coffee fueled guts then.
6. The return to active politics of certain questionable people. The man they call Isa is back by popular demand! Sad.

In summary, I anticipate 2009 to be an exciting year which will define how future generations look at this generation. The world of business will witness a total reengineering with substance finally getting its deserved due over form.

All in all not too bad for some predictions done at the Starbucks at Borders, Curve. The wonders of an Americano grande and some quite time!

Got to do that again soon for 2010.

The Middle Eastern Korean

2009-11-27T20:42:00.001+08:00

It has been a very busy 2 weeks. I was so busy that I did something that is extremely uncharacteristic of me : I forgot to inform somebody I respect that I will not be able to make it for a conference call. It may sound like something small but not for me. If you can’t make it for a meeting or a call; you HAVE to tell the other party/parties. I apologized and this person graciously accepted it and brushed it aside as a non-issue. It is to me.

I have been itching to write of course. And, I was actually planning to write something on how employees will be viewing the state of affairs in 2010 and what business leaders should do to manage, what I suspect will be, very high expectations. But that will have to wait because I heard something from somebody recently which I just had to put in writing. I am being vague here…with all these ‘something’ and ‘somebody’, I know. But, you know the reasons for that. And, this IS a true story albeit all the names and characters changed.

Imagine a Korean couple adopting a middle eastern child when he was only a few months old and this child growing up so oblivious of the fact that he is, by all accounts, not a Korean. He eats, sleeps and plays Korean. He thinks like a Korean and chooses Korea and all that it stands for just as passionately as a ‘genuine’ Korean child. He thinks Korean girls are the most beautiful and he loves Michael Jackson just as all his compatriot Koreans do. The only thing is, he is NOT a Korean. He is of a different stock. He comes from an entirely different civilization and in his veins an entire cultural genome is running freely as that of his ‘people’ in the Middle East. Yet, he is Korean. At least for him and for those who love him, he is.

Being a Buddhist Koraen, he shuns beef. He goes vegetarian on most days. Now that he is a teenager and can understand his unique situation, he goes about his life as if nothing has changed. He still behaves like a Korean. He still avoids beef products and he is still a Buddhist. It seems like the ancient blood of his ancestors just can’t fight a far more superior force in this world. You can be born of any race or religion. You can come from any proud clan or genetic pool. Yet, there is one powerful force in this world that you can’t fight. That is the force of Socialization.

Not too long ago, I posted a poem that I was inspired to write after listening to an extremely myopic, close minded and homophobic individual. It frightened me then that there are so many of us who by all accounts are kind and good hearted but deep within us we fail to see and appreciate that this world was never created to be of one colour. It was always intended to be a tapestry. The message that I wanted to get across in that poem was that “ don’t be so damn sure of your self and your beliefs”. The gods and prophets you worship may not even want you in their presence as your belief was one of self aggrandizement. Not one of Faith. And, what we think to be true and honorable are nothing but the results of mankind’s socialization over the millennia. I am going reproduce that poem here as it brings new meanings to me now after hearing this story that I have just illustrated above. In fact I feel vindicated as I have always believed that what we are is nothing but a chance happening determined by where we are born and brought up.

The following was what I wrote then:

There are as many colours as there are words to describe them
There are as many stars as the numbers can count them
There are as many truths as the hearts that believe them
There are as many Gods as Man can worship them
There as many rhythms as the sounds that make them.

This is a world
nay
a universe of differences
of every imaginable kind.
The colour of your skin.
The language of your ancestors.
The choice of your tastes.
The pleasure of your love.
The height of your intellect.
The 'truth' of your convenience.
The God of your birth.

But
when compressed
all of these is as big as a green pea.

Thats how big we are.
A green pea!

Don't kill for that
Don't hurt for that.

Atoms, protons and bosons maketh us
The God particle forms us
But its us....just us
maketh hate!

We are separate
but we are one

I will wait for you
my brothers and sisters
at the gates of heaven
and I will welcome you
into my home as if we were born of the same womb

But, indeed we are.

What we are right now is not WHO we are. It was nothing but a result of our socialization with the world around us. What we consider to be truth is nothing more than just a ‘truth of our convenience’.

Who are we then?

Nothing. Just dusts of the universe. A very Conscious dust though.

Krishnamoorthy…if you are reading this, remember that you are the Universe's way of reminding us that we are not whom we are so proud to say we are. You and those who have similar histories like you are living labarotaries that constantly reveal the REAL truth of this world.

God bless you.

Note : Krisnamoorthy was somebody I knew when I was doing my undergraduate studies. He will know what I mean though I doubt he will ever read this. But then the world is indeed small and stranger things have happened.
AND....I am loosing my patience with those who can't see further than the courtyards of their temples, churches, mosques and synagogues. I literally feel repulsed by their words and deeds. The only thing that helps me tolerate them is the fact that they are also part of this tapestry that makes up this world.

Farewell Enke

2009-11-15T19:26:00.002+08:00

The pain is gone
no need for justification
no clarification required
be happy now
with your little princess.

I know...your kindred souls
weep
for if only you paused.

But then again
You are happy.Now.

Farewell Robert Enke.

The Wall

2009-11-08T20:37:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow marks the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Though I would prefer to call it as the ‘dismantling of the Berlin Wall’ lest future generations think that the wall just came tumbling down by it self due to poor construction materials used – Malaysia style. No. It was dismantled by the Germans who years earlier plunged the world into a war and then with this single act brought it together again; of sort.

Thomas Friedman identifies the fall of the wall as one of the 10 or so global movements that brought about the flattening of the world. It was indeed a momentous event. At the very least it removed a monstrosity from the heart of Berlin and at its very best, it heralded the end of the cold war and the demise of the Soviet empire and with it its Communist apparatus. The world was indeed a different place then.

I remember words like ‘glasnost’ and ‘perestroika’ which were probably the most loved and used words coming out of the old Soviet Union. The other was probably the Red Army and of course for the wrong reasons. The fall of the wall not only reunited Germany, ended the cold war and unleashed a new economic dynamism, it also brought forth a new Russia. I can only imagine what the Russians would have felt as they watched their empire crumbling before their eyes. Suddenly the Kremlin was not that imposing nor the communist menace that dangerous – if at all it was a menace. I remember reading some years back where, this was one of the busiest and exciting time for the world’s secret services. Every intelligence organization in the world was on tenterhooks as they just did not know what was going to happen to Russia. Nobody could say with any level of certainty what will the fall of the Soviet Empire bring about. One thing was sure though : The architect of this amazing change – Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev was well protected and the governments of the free world headed by the United States had probably readied a small army and armada to whisk him away from the Kremlin if things had gone out of control. Such was the man’s importance to what Americans had been dreaming for decades. To see the end of the ‘evil empire’ of the Soviet Union. Interestingly, there are also reports saying that Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterrand were not that happy about the re-unification of Germany. I suppose it brought some bad memories to them. They can be forgiven because Germany has a habit of getting the world into disorder. But then again, Margaret Thatcher could also have found her match in the towering figure of Helmut Kohl. Strange names indeed in the era of Obama-mania. But these were the ones ruling the world at one time. With Bush the senior of course.

As the world celebrates this event tomorrow, I am hoping that we are also conscious that as leaders in our respective organizations, we are tasked to bring down walls too. We need to break down the walls of indifference, apathy, lack of focus, disregard to customer value, meltdown of organizational values, misalignment of vision and mission and a general disregard for good corporate governance, the deadening dearth of innovation, the stupor of complacency and the paralyzing short-sighted and myopic corporate planning and strategy. Indeed, we have these walls to break down by not shovels and metal roads as the Berliners did 20 years ago but through our determined and honest leadership practices. This is the time for courageous leadership and it is the responsibility of every CEO to allow for this type of leadership to emerge at every level of the organization. And, this is the type of CEOs that the corporate boards need to have in place. 2010 will be a defining moment for most of our organizations as we will come head to head with a single choice : Do we change the way we did business or do we do things the way we did? If the answer to this is change than we have multiple walls to break down fast.

And as citizens of this country, lets also remember that over the last 20 years, as the world came together politically; we have grown apart internally. There are invisible walls running through the very fabric of our society. The tapestry that once made us strong is being strained at the seams. All the while divisive walls are being erected by both words and deeds. As one columnist said in a local paper, its hard to imagine that a wall can running through in the heart of our beloved KL. But I think there are many already dividing us.

Remember that one young man died bleeding in no man’s land while trying to escape the former East Germany while the West Germans just stood by and looked helplessly. Such are the consequences of a wall. Whether one in our political landscape or one in our organizations.

The question is : Are we breaking down walls or are we erecting more in our daily interactions with our people and stake holders?

Happy anniversary Germany!

Save the People's Company!

2009-10-27T08:33:00.000+08:00

It is ironic that when our national car company was in dire straits and was contemplating a new ‘strategic direction’ by going into partnership with an European manufacturer with an established brand name and R&D capabilities, a hue and cry was raised by certain quarters. They argued that Proton is a national asset and it should not be ‘given up’ so easily. The same people brought forth the argument that Proton is the people’s company and thus it should be protected. It mattered little to them that in business, having a strategic partnership is not the same as selling out. Nevertheless, the din that they raised was loud enough to scuttle those plans. At least temporarily.
Strangely lately, as a behind the scene battle is raging for control of Proton, these very same people have not argued for the ‘independence’ of Proton as a people’s company! One will have to be an avid reader of business publications to put the pieces together but suffice to say that there is an intense jostling by certain individuals and their companies to buy over the government’s stake in Proton which is currently held via Khazanah and the EPF. The asking price by these individuals for this stake is way below the real value of Proton currently; at least that's the impression I get by putting together the bits and pieces that are trickling out. I will not be surprised though that the offered price is obscenely low as such things have happened in corporate Malaysia before.
I have been critical of Proton. In fact, I used to just hate reading every move that Proton used to make. I used to wonder for whom exactly was Proton building its cars for? And what was all that raving about Proton’s export capability? And yes, the Islamic car! That too. But of late, Proton has shown it self to be a savvy company (the pun is intended). Like our national carrier, left alone to decide what is best for its business survival, Proton showed a remarkable ability to be creative, strategic and market savvy. Something that many pundits thought were no longer within Proton’s competencies after years of proxy wars and un-fair protection given to it by those who used its existence for their own political mileage…and empty nationalistic rhetoric and chest thumping.

Now that this venerable company is rising and recovering from an extremely bad patch in its history, there are those who are jostling for some low hanging fruits at the expense of Proton’s true value. Lets face it, Proton’s true value lies in 3 areas : Its land bank located in the prime area of Shah Alam which I reckon could be close to half a billion ringgit in value, its under utilized manufacturing facility in Tanjung Malim and; its new found sexiness among global automotive players. Also, as was one my wishes at the beginning the year, Proton is making serious inroads into the future of automotive market : India and China. Especially India where the market is less crowded although probably with more entrenched interests; but nothing Proton can’t handle as Malaysian companies are regarded highly in the subcontinent. Add to these, Proton’s successive hit models in the form of Persona and the new Saga (and I suspect the Exora too very soon), Proton has added a couple of hundred millions to its value by showing a strong future value proposition. The market is also enthusiastic with the planned arrival of the Mitsubishi Lancer as a Waja replacement model in 2010. Don’t forget that Proton has Lotus in its stable too. All these are surely mouth watering prospects for wily businessmen, their cohorts and their sons and daughters.
Hands off gentlemen! The Malaysian people suffered with Proton. We bought its cars despite its poor quality and horrible delivery time. We put up with its declining brand name. We stuck with it and now we should have a say in its direction.

Unless the offer being made to the government is something that is totally fair value for Proton’s current and future potential and unless the whole transaction is transparent and above board, the Malaysian people should send a clear message to the government that we will no longer tolerate the corporate musical chair of the past. We may yet see a new champion to be proud of. The current management team of Proton has done a remarkable job doing an almost thankless job. Lets give them time and see where they can take this company. The global automotive market is a largely transformed one today and Proton may yet find a lucrative niche for it self.

After all, those stalking Proton are also loved by the Malaysian people for their respective successes and charisma. Don’t get greedy now and loose that goodwill.

If ever, now is the time for Proton to be saved. It is a people’s company.

Paris of the East

2009-10-22T09:46:00.000+08:00

“Where is the soul of this city”?

Someone asked me this of Shanghai recently as we both admired this city that acquired its importance and status since 1297. As the morning mist and pollutants gave up the fight against a brilliant autumn sun, and as the hustle and bustle of the most fashionable city of China began, it is easy to forget that you are in China with her more than 1 billion souls where a huge portion of this are too far away from the modern cities lining its shorelines. China is not one country. There are two. Each feeding on the other. One of peasants and one of merchants. Shanghai is without doubt the lair of the merchants and the bourgeois. In the same breath as the question was asked, this great city was compared to the mega cities of India where despite great leaps into modernity and progress, Indian cities have maintained their ‘Indianess’. For many, India is seen as not having sold its soul for modernization…unlike cities like Shanghai. But then to me, Shanghai is not any other city. It has never been.In fact it is unlike any other city in the middle kingdom. Even the communists could not keep it’s spirits down. The Japanese tried before that but Shanghai survived. Long before the Japanese, the imperial powers of old Europe carved out little plots of the city to themselves. The hotel that I stayed in is in the French concession and I could have bluffed you by saying that I was in France by showing an early morning photo taken from my hotel room’s balcony. There is no city in Asia that embraced western mores as wholeheartedly as Shanghai. There is no city as full of intrigue and romance as Shanghai too. One needs to know a little bit of Far Eastern history to appreciate this. Shanghai is different. Historically, she is incomparable. To appreciate this great city, you need to see beyond the sky scrappers that had mushroomed in the last 15 years or so. Chinese history is far more colourful than what we know by reading western sinologists works and in any narration of Chinese history, Shanghai will always get a special mention. People say that China had become a confident country in the last few decades but they forget that long before the rest of China became comfortable in her own skin, Shanghai had already proclaimed it self as the mother of all cities. The place to be. The place where high fashion lived side by side with third world poverty.

They say that the world that you see is determined by the lenses that you use. In my case, the world that I see is very much influenced by my search for the similarities and the universality of us. Not the differences. Without fail, as I prepare to board the plane home from another strange land, I often think to my self that it was not a strange land after all. In the end, we are indeed the same. Human greatness and its inherent weakness are abound everywhere. A perfect example of this was illustrated by an experience I had in the Old Town of Shanghai. As I waited in line at a designated taxi stand, I noticed that some of those who were in the line became impatient and walked a couple of metres ahead to hail a cab (which means that they are ‘hijacking’ a cab away from whoever was the first in line at that moment). For some strange reason the cab drivers seem to be more than willing to entertain these ‘line breakers’ although they know that there is a lot of would be passengers waiting just a few metres down the road at the designated taxi stand. Things were made worst by those who just pop in and stop a cab from nowhere leaving the 6 or 7 of us lining up looking bewildered. As the evening wore on, I noticed a remarkable thing. Those who lined up were essentially made up of two kinds of people although we were of different colours and nationalities: 1. Those who kept to the principle of waiting for their rightful turn; and 2. Those who took a shortcut to the detriment of others. The former stood their ground and refused to take the shortcut while the latter thought and behaved otherwise.

While I was contemplating this, an African couple came by and stood behind me and moments later a group of street vendors surrounded them with all kinds of wares; from laser pointers, fake LVs to fake Omegas. I heard the man telling one of the vendors that he needs a taxi not a watch. At this, one of them said in broken English that he will get him a taxi for a tip. My fellow African traveler agreed and off the street vendor went. He walked a few steps ahead to highjack a taxi that was approaching the waiting would be passengers! This time it was me who was at the head of the waiting line of people. As the taxi pulled up at the curb this vendor just ran along and asked the taxi to stop at where we were waiting. You get the picture? He is not doing anything. He did not cross the street or go any distance to find a cab. He just took an easy way to make a few bucks. When the taxi stopped in front of me, the street vendor blocked my path with one arm and ushered in the African couple with the other. At that exact moment, I had another reason to believe in my fellow humans. The African guy refused to take the taxi as I was up next. I suppose he had the same idea as the rest of us when the street vendor offered to find a taxi….to actually go out of his way and look for a taxi. Not steal one from those who had already lined up for close to 45 minutes. His refusal was met with English curse words. I looked up at him and thanked him. He just smiled and said “ no problem bro”. As my taxi pulled away, I looked back and saw the street vendor venting his anger with more verbal assault. I thanked that African guy again. This time silently and for his action that once again affirmed my belief that left alone by priests and politicians; we can do what is right. We can make this world a better place. Kinder and perhaps a little bit more happier. We can live harmoniously and keep the extremists and the vulgar among us in check. We can live the middle path and keep the liars and manipulators at bay.

Little did I know that as I was considering these thoughts, the supreme leaders of our very own leading political party, UMNO, were giving inspiring speeches back home to pull this great political party to the middle path. UMNO has the ability to bring the best out of this nation. It has the ability to play the middle ground and do what is right. Left alone by racial zealots, the Malay masses who support this party will allow the middle path to blossom and the non-Malay components of this great land will willingly allow this party to lead. But I digress…

As I boarded my plane I took one last breath of this ancient land of emperors and great teachers and I mentally separated this nation from the Chinese Communist Party and the recent economic prowess it has enjoyed; and what was left behind in my mind’s eye is the Middle Kingdom. A nation that was at peace with it self and one that was self sufficient and willingly thought and learnt from others. After a long, long time this country has awaken to do justice for a gorgeous historical city like Shanghai. China has now earned its right to host this great city! If China is ever to lead the world, that is the past that she has to rely one. Not, her current superiority as measured by western matrices. Rome’s greatness was not in its empire but in it’s legacy of knowledge and honour. China needs to reach out much further into her history of wisdom and balance than the mere 60 years that has been celebrated recently. Paris of the East was what I imagined it would be and maybe we all can learn a thing or two about survival and dogged determination from her.

Her soul is there for all to see. If only we knew where to look.

People Management in the Upturn

2009-10-05T08:13:00.004+08:00

According to psychologists, déjà vu (yes, Denzel Washington experienced this big time on one of his movies too !) is an intense feeling of familiarity although the situation or experience seems to be the first that you can recall. But somehow you feel that you have been there, said that, or did that. The faces that you seem to have seen somewhere before, the utterances that seems to be said at a time and circumstances not entirely the first time. Jamais vu on the other hand is an experience or situation which you find strange although by right you should be familiar with it as you have indeed experienced it before. A name you should know, a response you should be familiar with.

As we move into 2010, there will be two kinds of people managers; one who has a déjà vu and one that has a jamais vu. Which one are you? You have been there before haven’t you. Or, have you forgotten? For those of you who have gone through a period of downturn before, you will find all these strangely familiar while for some, you might be scratching your heads to remember what exactly you did the last time you had to manage people during an upturn.

The economic crisis has blown over. I bet my money on this. But I must tell you that I don’t have much money. Still, my bet is that 2010 will see a definite bullish market. Though I was not planning to argue my case why I think so (as you can see, the title is on people management), I think it is prudent to do so just in case you are still using the ‘downturn’ as an excuse to push your usually excellent people management skills to the back burners.

Here are some reasons why I think the economic crisis is over and that there will be a definite pick-up in 2010. BUT…this will be true only if Israel doesn’t attack Iran, India doesn’t attack Pakistan, North Korea doesn’t attack the South and/or Japan, China doesn’t attack Taiwan/Tibet and Russia doesn’t throw a nuclear missile into Georgia and a few hundred other former Soviet block nations bent on humiliating Vladimir Putin and the other guy who is supposedly to be running the country. Other than that, the reasons are clear why 2010 will be a robust economic year. Now, for my reasons to be optimistic:

1. This was not an economic crisis. It was a financial fiasco. The big fat financial manipulators are out of the way (or so they tell me).
2. Indian and Chinese banks have been pretty much protected from the devastation thanks to their conservative lending policies. So are most of South East Asian banks.
3. The African economic potential will begin to be felt and once again we must thank the Chinese and Indians for this as they are re-igniting the dark continent long forsaken by the west and by default by much of the free world.
4. World Cup 2010 in South Africa. It will not be the grandest but the stock market in the FTSE is going to hit the ceiling especially if the English team is doing well and the ripple effect will be felt through Europe. South Africa will make this an African dream and the whole continent will stir from its slumber. We will know more about South Africa and the African Continent than we did for the last 100 years. Advance thanks to ESPN, BBC, FIFA and the SkySports.
5. With the awarding of the 2016 Olympics to party town, Rio, the whole geo-politics of South America will be more business driven. Just like South Africa’s World Cup, Rio’s Olympics will be a South American event. Good for business I tell you as maybe finally the world will remember that there was a time when the Brazilian economy was bigger than the United States and that Argentina were the India and China of an age long gone by.
6. Barrack Obama – conservative whites-Iran-Russia-China-Europe- Israel. I can’t explain this but whatever he does will flow in this continuum and somehow I feel he will not loose which will be good news for the stock market. The fact that he couldn’t swing votes to Chicago at the IOC voting should not be an issue. Please!
7. The Japanese is stirring from their extended sake fueled slumber. Can you feel it? I can..and that is going to be good news for world business. Imagine all that money saved by Japanese housewives flooding the market. Imagine the purchasing power.
8. The Ikeas, Nokias, IBMs, GEs, Fords, VWs, Samsungs, Philips and Sonys of the world will do more of their business in Asia which will help them reduce their costs and open up more markets in Asia, Africa, South America AND parts of Europe that will enjoy a dramatically lowered pricing of goods and services. There is a huge slice of the Eastern European market that is under served as they are unable to enjoy the same purchasing power of their more affluent cousins in Western Europe. I have a feeling this is the market Ratan Tata is eyeing with his European version of Nano.

Now that you are convinced with my scholarly arguments for the recovery, I am sure you are eager to hear my expert advise on how to manage people in the upturn. Thank you. Here it goes :

1. Remember that your people are damn angry with you. In fact, they have sharpened their knives. Your situation will be worst off if you had downsized, froze promotions, cut budgets, reduced employee welfare, closed plants, etc. Don’t expect any love. Your survivors didn’t stay around and keep their knives in their pockets because they love you. They just knew better. But with things getting better and with job opportunities opening up, you are in trouble buster. Be closer to your people than you have ever been or you are going to loose valuable battle hardened talents to your competitors. Find out what they are planning to do in 2010, how they feel as we move into a new financial year, how did they take the whole downturn and its effects.

2. Whatever credibility and good-will that you had accumulated over the years have evaporated. You have to begin all over again from ground zero. You have to win over your people again. Your soldiers are wary and battle scarred. They are also questioning your loyalty to them. This is the time to use your personal power more than your expert power. Win them over (again) with your heart. Huddle together with them while waiting for the sun to rise over the horizon and allow the old familiar warm feeling of trust and security to emerge.

3. Your carefully and lovingly developed talent structure, power base, chain of influence, and internal sponsors are all gone or dramatically re-configured. You are back where you started when you first began. You will not wield the same kind of influence anymore. Your wise words and motivational advise will not have the same kind of effect. You will have to slowly develop new relationships. There are bound to be those who had to take the plunge into new roles and responsibilities when you downsized. Nurture them as you did their predecessors. Take time to build new relationships. Give all, expect little for the next one year.

4. You probably broke every promise you made to your people – with the board’s blessing. The board had probably covered your back these last 12 months or so. Now, they want to see results and they are no longer going to protect you. Ironically, the ones that you will depend on again are your people. You will have to dig deep into your people management skills to re energize and reignite the team. Go for refresher courses. Take your team to team-bonding sessions. Allow time for venting and get all unresolved issues out of the way. Remember, your board is impatient for results. Your results, as always, depend on how well you manage your people.

5. Take some time off. If you are like most of the people leaders that I have met in the last 15 months, you have probably worked non-stop with total disregard to your physical and emotional health. Go refresh your self. You need to allow that punching-bag body of yours time to heal. Enjoy your family and friends. The storm is over. Time to dust your self, pull up that tie, put that lipstick on and face the new year with renewed hope and energy.

Remember : Give it all you got, expect little in return.
Good luck.

Called to Lead

2009-09-25T08:06:00.004+08:00

I don’ think you can train just anybody to become an effective leader. You can assist him or her to manage ‘a position’ that requires leadership qualities or even competencies but not a leader in the true sense of the word (I know I am going into contentious grounds here by saying that). A true leader is one who just leads. He doesn't try to lead…he simply leads. And, I am not even talking about charisma; though that helps too. Those who have a calling to lead don't stay in a 'position' of leadership although this may be bestowed upon them in many ways and forms. Rather they stay in a 'state' of leadership.

You can only make a leader out of someone who has a calling to become one. The challenge is – how do you measure a ‘calling’? Well, instead of worrying about how to ‘measure’ or in essence how to identify someone who has the calling to be a leader; it could serve your purpose better if you redefine what ‘leadership’ means for your company and your business. By focusing only on what I term as ‘classical leadership’ .ie. those who can lead with all the strength and refinement of a heaven-sent leader, you will be on a journey as epic in scale as the search for the holy grail. No, your company do not have that luxury. Instead, look at leadership from a more realistic levels. Perhaps you should look at the functionality of leadership more than the qualities of what is deemed to be great leadership. This would probably change your entire organizational leadership development interventions. Maybe even dramatically so and for the better.

Consider this. There are more than 1 type of leader or shall I say there are more than 1 type of situation in which a company may need leaders. A company may need leaders :

1. To lead the people (what we commonly refer to as executive leadership/classical leadership)
2. To lead strategy (formulation)
3. To lead strategy (implementation)
4. To lead strategy (follow-through)
5. To lead client experience
6. To lead the company’s knowledge advantage (those who want to be seen as leaders in their respective job-specific areas and may not necessarily want to be seen as executive/classical leaders)
7. To lead sales
8. To lead marketing (Yes! There is a world of difference between leading sales vs leading marketing and I am yet to see one who can do both equally well)
9. To lead the company’s ‘happiness index’ (individuals who are adept at keeping the peace and sowing the seeds of harmony and joy at the work place. It is better if the executive leaders can play this role but often times, they will need someone on the floor to do it. Those who are magnets for others to share and confide to are leaders in their own right and often becomes good change leaders too if given proper training and preparation.
10.To lead the company’s culture and values (those who constantly remind everybody else to keep true to the company’s values). These are the living brands of the company. Though they may be unfairly labeled as the ‘furniture’ of the company, they are in truth an embodiment of the company’s DNA. I have an amusing (and sad) story to share here : Some years ago when I was an independent trainer, I was involved in delivering leadership development workshops for a company that was incidentally going through a branding exercise. I got to know from my participants that the company had formed a 45 strong brand ambassadors who had the following qualities : female, young, pretty, ‘energetic’. The new brand values and promises of this company was around the idea of strength, stability and maturity. Right there in my sessions, I could have identified those who would have made great leaders of this type. No offense to the PYTs though. It was not their fault to begin with.

Lets take a look at the 1st type of leaders as this seems to be what we are all most interested in. Companies invest huge sums of money to identify, assess and develop those who are deemed as possible future leaders of the ‘1st type’. The results have been mixed. I suspect that the problem lies in the misconception that the 10 types of leadership are interchangeable and hence anyone can be trained to narrow the gap. So, if you have a super-performing R&D specialist, you can easily train and develop her to become an excellent lab manager (which involves much…much more than just researching, recording and analyzing data)….or so this thinking goes. It is not impossible for a knowledge specialist to become an effective executive leader but this is not a given. It is a lottery game. Failure rate is high.

So, as you might have guessed it by now : Right selection is the key.
There are some tell-tale signs (which are not scientific and I can’t defend this vigorously except that I have noticed these qualities in different settings and circumstances). There are some unique qualities of those who have a natural calling…a certain predisposition…to lead people and if viewed in tandem with more scientific and objective tools, there is a higher chance of making the right selection:

1. They are grounded. Their language is one of realism with a healthy dose optimism. They are able to show others how to reach for the skies while keeping their feet firmly on the ground.
2. They like to be involved (there is bound to be a slow progress from getting involved in everything and anything to selective and meaningful involvement without any sign of detachment for those things deemed not worthy of their involvement).
3. Exhibits a strong sense of personal values. I have said before that it is one’s professional duty to find a company that fits one’s personal value system. Those who have a calling to lead seem to be able to find jobs and companies that are aligned to their values. This value-alignment gives them the confidence and wherewithal to explore their personal boundaries of capabilities in terms of taking the risk of leading. They are also the first to leave when there is a non-alignment for extended periods of time.
4. They do not constantly tell stories of their past successes and their good deeds to establish their credibility. In the art and science of leadership, sharing truthful stories of past successes (and failures and the subsequent learning) are indeed an excepted strategy to build one’s leadership credibility. One with a calling to lead will know how much and how often this sharing should take place. For most effective leaders, their success lasts for only that moment. They do not live on past glories. They take their due credit and move on to new success paths.
5. Shares credit and keeps away from trivial and insincere praises.
6. Seeks out leadership tasks even without an official leadership portfolio or reason. They lead for the sake of wanting to lead to add value, to provide direction and ensure collective success.
7. Develops others in many different ways and often times beyond the call of duty.
8. Takes initiatives and explores beyond the boundaries of their comfort zone at the risk of failure.
9. Spirited and reflective and somewhere in between this continuum, they are constantly showing subtle signs of insecurity and self-doubt. This enables them to constantly improve and achieve better results while showing their followers their very human side.
10. They exhibit a fierce and determined sense of ownership.

So, for those of you good talent development professionals out there, remember that leadership development is as much an objective process as it is a wise decision. Decide wisely every step of the way and you may see the intended results that your company so richly deserve for such a huge investment of money, time and effort. I am all for objective data based selection and development process though I will not discount the benefit of a wise observation and judgement call.

The Marrow of Life…

2009-09-16T22:05:00.002+08:00

“Live deep and suck out the marrow of life..”
Henry David Thoreau in Walden

Thoreau challenged us to experience life deeply in all its excitement, wonder and glory. Don't float on the surface. Dive deep. Live intensely. Love powerfully.

There are 3 of us wannabe hot rods who frequent the gym, pumping away at the irons or burning the rubber until our bones ached. In the course of my usual 1 ½ hours in the gym, there were countless times when I just feel like throwing in the towel, literally, and hit the shower. I would have been well justified as it is not easy to do a full workout after a day at work and I am sure my other gym buddies felt the same. One of them works as a ice-cream distributor and he clocks hundreds of miles in a day. Another is an entrepreneur with a string of companies under his belt. I am sure they have a more demanding day than me. In fact it is never easy to be in the gym for anyone. There are just so many other things one can do instead of sweating it out. So many other pleasant things like a couple of cold beers for instance or a comfortable sofa with a TopGear and a drink in hand. One of my gym buddies usually ends his final set of weights with an expletive….not sure at what or whom that is targeted at but it usually signals a good workout for him. A good workout for me is when my sweat clouds my vision. A good workout is one that takes you to the edge; when you feel your heart is going to explode or when you feel your arms are just going to give away and yet you could push your self for one more minute or one more set of weights. And….that is when I sometimes feel that I have sucked the marrow of my live for all its worth. It is indeed worth all that effort as somebody once said -you don’t pay the price but rather enjoy the price of doing things that you otherwise would rather not. Later, as I hit the shower and wash away the sweat of the work-out and the day’s physical, mental and emotional pains and aches, the subsequent feeling of relief and ‘achievement’ can be a seductive catharsis. It is that feeling of achievement and subsequent flow of warm soothing relief that I crave for. Strangely, I find my self being more vigorous and pushing my self harder in the gym on days when work seem mundane and lacking of any particular challenge to satisfy my craving for ‘worthwhile and meaningful endeavors’.

Now, it seems to me that this is what management consultants the world over (like yours truly) tell their clients whether in their one-on-one relationships, in seminars or in workshops. Manage and Lead like you are sucking at the marrow of life. Do things with such focused intent and purpose that what you do brings out the best out of your people and adds the greatest value to your organization. Push your mental and emotional energy to the edges of human endurance BUT don’t break. Keep your cool. Manage with a smile and loads of wisdom. Create a friendly atmosphere and be a magnet for those seeking advise and guidance. Grow others, leave a legacy, build a winning team. Defeat your fears and walk on fires, literally.

Usually in a workshop, I can get my clients excited about the prospect of managing and leading as deeply as sucking at the marrow of life. But I also know that the positive feeling lasts until the next morning when they step into their offices and the first nasty email from a customer pops up or hears what a new and arrogant young staff says or whatever. At that exact point in time, their managing and leading becomes less than experiencing the marrow of life. All that energy and motivation dissipates into thin air. And that's why in fact, I have christened this blog as First Coffee. It is to remind my self, my participants and clients that they should not get excited with what I say and what we discuss and get all fired up and feel a great sense of energy; just like what you feel as the first gulp of your morning coffee goes down your throat. Then, when the first irritant hits the face, that feeling vaporizes. The idea is to keep repeating that experience of a first coffee through out the day, to keep sucking at the marrow of life throughout your day at the office. Keep feeling that warm soothing sensation throughout the day. It is possible.

In my experience there is only one thing that can make that happen : Your Values.

The marrow of our lives is in our VALUES. It is not in the way we live. Definitely not in the accessories that we surround ourselves with. It is to be found in WHY we life? Go find them and/or make them. Never just accept them. Once they are identified use it for everything, for every single interaction, decision and action. Find jobs and companies that are aligned to those values. Make it as a basis for dealing with the easiest of problems and toughest of the challenges. Drink it through-out the day and that first coffee feeling should creep back and spread soothing warmth and calmness down your spine.

Know that each time you loose that first coffee feeling, you are probably doing something incongruent with your values. Trace back, make corrections, say your piece; and go home knowing that you have been true to your values.

Do yourself and everybody else a favour - don’t get a job to pay the bills as you will soon pay the price. Get a job that fulfills you and you will find it pays the bills and more. Also, if for whatever reasons you find that your values are no longer aligned to that of the organization or vice versa – leave honorably and on a position of strength and truth. There are too many of us stuck in our seats and lamenting how ‘wrong’ that seat feels. Go find a better seat. There always is one that will fit you perfectly. You will find that the fit is usually more to do with a fit of values than anything else.

In my line of work, it gives me a great sense of comfort knowing that at the highest levels of our organizations, our leaders have their hearts at the right places. They do indeed focus on the values of the organizations. Making a profit is a given. How that profit is made will make the difference between a lasting and benevolent organization and a short-living and selfish entity. Again, as I said earlier, it is not what life we live but rather how we live it.

The how is always answered by our values. I salute each and every individual whom I come across on a daily basis who continue to suck at the marrow of live by living their values and constantly having that first coffee feeling at work.

Present Truthfully and Efficiently : Basic Principles for Effective Business Presentation

2009-09-06T12:44:00.002+08:00

As my relationship with my workshop participants or my career transition candidates evolve into more than just a consultant-client relationship, and when they share their trials and tribulations at the work place I often hear them lamenting how difficult it is for them to make effective presentations. Once, a senior manager of an organization who was in my workshop wrote to me this sentence (with a smiley added at the end) : “I am cooked! Remember, the new area GM? Presenting to him tomorrow! Any remedies other than a malt?!”

I have delivered my share of successful and less than successful business presentations and over the years I have begun to trust a simple mantra for making the best out of any type of business presentation : Present the truth….present it efficiently….walk away with your integrity if nothing else. I hope you will find this useful too.

First, PRESENT THE TRUTH, don’t take people for a ride! A presentation be it to influence or to inform has one underlying purpose and that is to educate. Facts need to be conveyed first and foremost with confidence and conviction; not arrogance. Do not sugar coat what you have to offer with bombastic words and phraseology as usually that is a clear sign that you are fishing for something to cling on for dear life. Why? Because you didn’t go in with a clear ‘point-of-view’ (POV). Have a crystal clear POV and decide what exactly you want to walk away with. For example, your POV could be : I am going to inform the Boss that the launch of the new product in November this year is not the way to go as we have quite substantial historical data to prove this. Your take away could be : I will walk away from the presentation with the Boss’s agreement that another round of meeting need to be held with our external branding advisors’.

Part of presenting the truth also involves clarifying your intend and purpose. Why are you the one delivering the presentation? Why have you taken up the responsibility of presenting? Is it because of your expertise, your convincing ability, your humour, your strong personality? Or, is it because this is an opportunity for you to shine, to make an impact, to put your name on the organisation’s radar? The answer to this question will to a large extend influence your intend and purpose and hence your approach. If you are asked to deliver a presentation ask the person assigning you the task this question. For all you know, you could be asked to deliver the presentation for a purpose that you are not naturally and truthfully inclined towards. For example, if somebody had asked me to present a solution to a client with the believe that I can convince, I will be in trouble. I don’t see my self as a natural convincer. I am more like somebody who will say all that is need to be said; both positive and negative, and hope that the listeners have an open mind to make their decision. I sincerely believe that in my industry what differentiates between one product from another is the passion put behind its delivery and that is what I will hope for my clients to detect rather than trying to convince them that ‘this framework is better than that’. For me to present most effectively, I need a less rigid ‘client take-away’ especially from a first meeting. For example, if a client called me in to share our Coaching solution as a way out for their performance problems VS if I was asked to share our coaching solution and what ever else that I think they will benefit better from, I will definitely do better in the latter. It will be difficult for me to go in with an aspirin-pill that the client had chosen and walk away ‘convincing’ them that that is the right pill for their aches!. Some presenters are what I call ‘high-focus/narrow-information’ type. People like me are what I call as ‘high-radius/broad-information’ type. There is a need for both type of presenters for different purposes.

Another element of presenting the truth involves ignoring the pressures of the moment. Have you experienced walking into a presentation feeling well prepared and relatively positive about your balanced approach only to be greeted by a obnoxious client who shoots you down after your first few lines or PowerPoint slides? I have, but more on that later. If you have than you will agree with me that your most immediate reaction is to switch to the survival mode. What will one do in a survival mode? That’s right…anything and everything to survive. When we are cornered into a survival mode, it is hard to present the truth as we have lost our upper ground. So, regardless of what initial reception you get, keep to your game plan. But that doesn't mean that you do not readjust to your listener’s motives and requirements. This brings me to my experience with a rather difficult client who barked at everything that I presented and shot holes into my presentation to an extend that I began to doubt my own preparation, which is rarely sloppy. But, as I persisted with my POV and maintained a humble predisposition and explained why the training program that I am proposing will be of value to his people, I noticed that he seemed to catch on with the idea that one of the modules will help participants identify where their true passion in life lies. With that, a presentation that was at the risk of being terminated prematurely, extended into late evening over cups of coffee and teh-tariks. I got the project and made the training provider a happy man for a year.

Next in the equation for effective presentation is to PRESENT EFFICIENTLY. This means you are conscious of your listener’s time and you are humble enough to admit that what you have to say is probably not really a life-or-death matter that they are willing to forgo their lunch hour for. So, say your piece succinctly and get the main points across quickly and allow time for questions and clarifications. Deliver your POV as clearly as you possibly can and make it known what take-aways you are expecting out of the meeting. Arrive early to get your materials ready. Make sure your laptop battery is fully charged and the slides are already on the screen before your clients/audience walks in. If you are not using a power point presentation but only printed materials, use your early arrival to arrange them neatly. Have your notebook and pen ready and open. Don’t begin the meeting or presentation by saying trivial things like ‘this is a nice meeting room’. You will have better chance of scoring some points if you mention something positive about the company that you have read recently. If it is a follow-up meeting, summarize the major points from the previous one before getting into you latest presentation.

In the end I suppose what makes or breaks a presentation is our mindset going into it. If we can get that right, the tool set follows seamlessly.

So, Present the Truth…Present it Efficiently….Walk away with your integrity.
You might just not need any 'malt' the evening before!

Tread Softly on Earth

2009-08-30T12:02:00.005+08:00

I read an article recently about how one can create a rural haven right smack in the middle of a modern city. The writer expounded the idea that humans need to be kinder and gentler to the environment and as an extension to our very mother planet herself. As I was reading it, one particular phrase caught my eyes …..“ tread softly on earth”.

It is an amazing phrase. Beautiful, powerful, soul-piercing; and it hit me like a tonne of bricks. ‘Tread softly on earth’? This got me thinking and reflecting for the rest of the afternoon on that day. It sounds like an oxymoron to say 'tread softly' and 'earth' in the same breath. Its such an antithesis to my life on this planet. Maybe yours too.

Do I ‘tread softly’ on earth or do I stomp, tramp and crush my path through this life? Am I one of those humans, as one of the talking-tree characters say in the Lord of The Rings “cutting, slashing , burning…”? Do I leave more than footprints and take away more than memories from this life giving planet?

I think I don’t tread softly. I am a brute who thinks of only my pleasure and comfort and only my time on earth. Damn what happens after that. Not my problem!. I leave a trail of destruction on my path and by the time my sojourn on this planet ends, I would have left behind a place far more worst than when I came into it. I would have left behind nothing but hurt, pain, devastation. That would be my legacy. Is this anyway to live? Is there any other way?

As I was contemplating this unsavory thought about me and my life on this planet, I instinctively remembered a gentle soul who once graced my world many years ago. My late grandmother. She was probably one who left this world a better place or at the least not one that was worst off. I remember her as a little sweet old lady who glides effortlessly from one chore to another. Constantly on the move; doing something or other. Her small frame and her frail demeanor can be misleading as she was a woman of great energy and strength. Yet, she was quite, soft and moved about her life in a gentle whisper. The only ‘noise’ that she would make is when she sits on the veranda every evening, with her legs resting flat on the cool floor while she pounds her beetle nut in a wooden bowl made by my late grandfather. She will do this until I return home after my game of football or a round of wild running and shouting in a nearby playing field. Most times, I will return home with cuts and bruises. She will look up slowly at me, and without saying a word she will get up and prepare some hot water for my bath. During these times, I knew that the more silent she was when I came home dirty and bleeding the more ‘punishment’ is awaiting me. True enough, once I have had my dinner and is just about getting ready to laze the evening away she will ask this one all powerful question : “ Aren’t you going to study now?” Regardless of my answer, she will begin a slow, deep and almost inaudible narration of my family ‘history’ and how my mother is sacrificing so much for my education. Over the years, I memorized her entire narration. Soon after talking about my mother, she will begin saying things about how much my aunt is helping to educate me. After that it will be about what kind of example am I setting for my younger sister. She will end this narration by her all powerful self-questioning : “Will I die knowing that you have turned out to be a good for nothing boy?”. With that final whisper from her, my evening would be totally and absolutely destroyed and I would drag my feet to my room. She was devastatingly effective in getting her message across. Gently. Ever so softly.

She had never shouted at me or at anybody else for that matter. She is not one who curses others but I distinctly remember her cursing quietly at those who drag their feet while walking as she considers that act as “ burdening mother earth”. My sister and I were not allowed to stomp around even in jest. She never steps onto the little plot of land in front of our house with her slippers on. That is not ‘polite to mother earth’ she would say. When she died, she was happy, comfortable, witnessed me going to the university ; one of her silent goals in life…quite amazing for a illiterate woman from a little village just out of Madras of the old days. I would like to think that she entered the world screaming and shouting but exited it quietly and softly and disappeared into the great realm of nothingness of what life essentially is. She treaded ever so softly on earth. At least that's what I witnessed until my early 20s when she passed on.

I am on the contrary, a terminator. Through out my days, I terminate what is beautiful and nice. From the moment I wake up till I crash on my bed late into the night, I destroy the beauty of this world. The things that I consume, use, throw, deplete are all designed to do one thing and one thing only : reduce the splendor of this world. I am a virus that spreads and multiplies and destroys this planet in every imaginable way. I chip away at nature slowly, steadily and with a quite vengeance and efficiency. When the day comes for me to say goodbye, I will have done more damage to this world than anything else that could have ever done. I am a master of destruction. I don’t add. I reduce. I eat away at the transcendent purity of this earth. I pollute the very essence of this planet. My greed and my insatiable desire for comfort have always won over the need to preserve and protect. I do not ‘tread softly’.

But, I compensate. I try not to justify.

I tread softly on the hearts of those who cross my path...I try. I attempt to connect with others on the fertile soil of kindness, honesty and fairness. I hope that at least will redeem my soul. My ancestors were farmers who respected and worshiped the earth that they treaded on. They put back much into life than what they took for themselves. I will never redeem my self in their eyes but at least I hope people will remember :

“Here lies a man who destroyed. Here lies a man who treaded softly on his kind”.

That, is the least I can ask for as I don't tread softly on earth like my sweet and gentle grandmother did.

Strategies for Organisational Effectiveness

2009-08-27T20:55:00.003+08:00

Note : An interview with BFM (with my colleague). The processes discussed here are my firm's IP.

Q : Ok, first of all, why does a company need a strategy?

A : A very fundamental but an extremely critical question really. Well, a company needs a strategy because it does not operate in a vacuum. It operates in a business environment. This environment has two sides to it; one that is predictable and one that is unpredictable. To manage these, especially the unpredictable ones, a company needs a strategy. So fundamentally, a strategy is your collective efforts of both soft and hard actions to navigate these two sides to take the company where it wants to go. If the ocean is your business environment, and the ship is your company; then strategy is your navigation plot.

Q : ‘Strategy’ is possibly the most used word in the world of business. But in essence what is ‘Strategy’?

A : Well, bear with me for a second here as I define ‘strategy’ from the abstract to the concrete. Strategy is first and foremost a set of organizational paradigms that will ensure that the company will take the needed actions to achieve operational effectiveness(profit). So what it means is that a strategy is something that is supposed to guide your actions in a way that helps you achieve your objectives. Say for example, a low cost carrier. Its strategy is to go for volume at minimal cost not high yield like full service carriers. With that strategy it will take actions like tapping into hitherto untapped markets, providing hard to refuse offers, going paperless, having fewer cabin crew, extensive use of the world wide web, landing at secondary airports and so on. So, in essence your strategy will help you get to where you want to go…be it cost efficiency, market leadership or whatever.

Now, lets say a promising manager in this low cost carrier suggests that the company now offer at least one cup of fresh juice free for each passenger. A cup of fresh juice is no big deal but this action will be decided on only one criteria .ie. will it jive with the strategy and what is the strategy : High volume, minimal cost. That's it! Will adding a cup of free orange juice for each passenger achieve that? The answer to that will determine whether that particular action is go or no go.

Q : So, strategy should not be equated with actions?

A : No and that is a huge problem because it is so very easy to confuse both. Often we find ourselves busy taking actions, even seemingly creative and proactive ones, thinking that this is the strategy. They are not. Actions by themselves are of no use until and unless they help you to realize your strategies. You can only have that many strategies but you can take an infinite number actions to fulfill that strategy. And, sometimes a company makes it known to the market of its strategy and yet it takes actions that are contrary to that strategy - at least in the perception of the market. I am not saying strategy can’t change. They can but whatever it is your actions must help you achieve your strategies.

Q : Can you provide an example to illustrate that?

A : Lets say you run a coffee shop and your strategy is to position your little quaint shop as a place for middle aged businessmen and executives have their cuppa while getting their work done in a place that will bring back sweet memories of the little coffee shops of the old days. You promote your shop as such and yet when your targeted customers enters your shop, he or she is greeted by a worker who can’t speak a word of any of the Malaysian languages. Your menu is more western. Your wifi has moods every now and then. Will you close shop? Probably not but in the long run, you don’t have anything to create loyalty. Worst still when a competitor learns how to execute that strategy better than you.

Q : What exactly goes into a strategy or in other words what ingredients make a good or effective strategy?

A : Well, let me first put a caveat here. By it self all strategies are good strategies. They may be imperfect but good nevertheless as they are intended for improvements of some kind whether increase in profit, market share, customer satisfaction, and so on. What makes it effective or otherwise is in the implementation or execution.

Anyway, a more pertinent question is what should a strategy address? A good strategy should address 3 things : 1. Structure, Roles & Capabilities; 2. Leadership; 3. People, Systems & Processes. When your business strategy addresses these 3 areas, you then have high Employee Engagement, which in turn produces Customer Satisfaction and which in turn gives you optimum Organisational Performance i.e profit.

Q : Sounds logical and seemingly easy. Yet so many business strategy fail. Why is that?

A : It is logical but many organizations have this illogical believe that they can focus on one or maybe 2 of the 3 areas I mentioned earlier and that should be enough to take them across. No. You can’t be world class in your Leadership development strategies and hope for your People, Systems and Processes to sort it self out. No. You need to plan and execute all three effectively. Your strategies are dependent on all 3 areas and together they will give you your competitive advantage. In that sense, some of our GLCs are doing well now because they have realized that they can’t focus only on customer satisfaction without having a robust people systems or that they can’t achieve profit by merely focusing on cost and not employee engagement.

Then also, sometimes a strategy may not be well formulated with its end results not precisely determined. What is your strategy intended to do? In other words, where do you want to go with your strategy – Profit, retention, share price, efficiency, cost reduction, quality, market share, culture change? You also can’t bite off more than you can chew. You can only be good in one or two things. Have strategies to make you the best in these one or two things.

Let share some data on this. In 2005, the Wharton School Publishing reported that companies only achieved 63% of the expected results from their strategic plans. In 2007, MIT Sloan Management Review shows that fewer than 45% of board of directors believe that their company is capturing strategic objectives. Interestingly in 1999, Fortune magazine estimated that 70% of CEOs fail not because of bad strategy but because of poor execution. In 2005, the Harvard Business Review said that 2/3 of the HR functions are not aligned to the business strategy and 95% of the employees don’t understand what the strategy is all about. So, is it a wonder that according to a Towers Perrin global study in 2007 only 21% of employees are fully engaged with their companies and their jobs?

Q : Having a good strategy is one thing, but executing it is another! What can leaders do to ensure their strategies are executed effectively.

A : Well, they have to ask 3 critical questions : 1. What are the most important levers of strategy execution for me currently? 2. How can we improve our ability to deliver on our strategic commitments? 3. In what way we can leverage our current talents to achieve our strategic objectives?

Q : I have always wondered how consulting companies like yourself can help a business develop its strategy. I mean, its their business, not yours right?

A : That's an insightful question. We at Right Management of course will take pains to understand your business through our research and our interactions and discussions with you. That's gives us an understanding of who you are and where you want to head. But more importantly, what we can do for you is to ensure that you go through a systematic thinking and planning process in developing your strategy. We will also ensure that you are considering all the factors that you need to consider and sometimes we may also help you find the answers you need or identify the gaps you need to know about as you plan your strategy.

Q : Typically, what would be the recommended process for an effective strategy development?

A : 1. Discovery, 2. Executive Alignment, 3. Strategy Design & Planning, 4. Strategy Implementation, 5. Measure & Review

Q : Any last words on how to achieve organizational effectiveness through effective strategies?

A : Well, as we have been discussing in the last 4 sessions with you, all businesses have been impacted by the financial and economic crisis. To manage this, we have had to down size and restructure our business. So, while we begin to motivate and realign our existing talent and resources, we may be in a position to re-visit our business strategy moving forward. Take this opportunity to do the right things for your business. You owe that much to your people and your shareholders.

Especially for SMEs, our message is that pay attention to all facets of your strategy. I reckon that the business environment for SMEs will get tougher in the coming years. They need to strategize and the need to be nimble enough to adapt. A good and actionable strategic framework should help them do that.

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

2009-08-19T08:15:00.003+08:00

Deepak Chopra has been branded many things. New age guru. Hodge-podge philosopher. The celebrity guru. Very recently he came to be known as Michael Jackson’s spiritual adviser. It matters not that MJ never proclaimed him as such. For me, coming from the Indian-Hindu tradition, he is a philosopher more than any thing else. He is no doubt an extremely savvy marketer and purveyor of Hollywood chic. Hey… lets get real. So was most of the greatest philosophers of the modern world. Somebody once told me of how he is inspired by Bob Dylan’s philosophical lyrics. If Bob is a philosopher, Deepak is definitely one. And please, don’t equate him with St.Augustine, Sankracharya or Khalil Gibran or Lao Tzu. He is not but he makes sense. Anybody who can help dense souls like yours truly make sense of quantum physics deserves some respect.

One of his books, usually The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success which I bought on Christmas day in 1998 is always on my bedside. I have read it a dozen times and I am still reading it.

To be honest, you need to understand a little of Indian philosophy and cosmology before you can truly grasp the messages that Deepak tries to convey OR you need to have a totally open mind and heart to allow the messages to be absorbed. OR, you must have been exposed to this world view in some manner to appreciate it. Otherwise, I doubt you will have the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by your bedside! If you do, and if I am being presumptuous… my apologies.

One of the things that I find fascinating about Deepak’s approach is his belief that the universe works instantaneously and effortlessly. There is no pressure or compulsion involved. The universe just works its magic. The energy in all flows effortlessly. Butterflies just fly. Flowers bloom. The sun rises and sets. Water flows. Babies smile. They don’t try. They just do it. He terms it as the Law of Least Effort. We have within us the ability to move mountains without missing a heart beat. Didn’t somebody once say – be silent, and the universe will dance at your feet? As I am writing this, Morgan Freeman comes to my mind. If you watch his movies, you will think that he happened to walk by the shooting set and decided to pop in and have some fun. He doesn't act….he just IS. Now, I am also thinking for Zinadine Zidane, Lois Armstrong, Mario Puzo, Stephen Hawking,Tagore, Fateh Khan. They never showed that they strived to achieve their ‘stardom’. Their lesser competitors amply illustrated that they were ‘working hard’. Yet they never achieved the level of success as enjoyed by their idols.

So, the saying that ‘what’s worthwhile, is worth fighting for’ may not always hold true. The human race has developed a paradigm that struggle is to be respected. Strive and toil is honorable. In fact the ancient Chinese used to scorn traders as they were seen as enjoying the fruits of ‘no-labour’ ( in other words – least effort) while the farmers were held in high esteem as they ‘worked hard’ for their living. They were honest while the traders were not; so it was said. Is this true or does it makes sense at all? At least for me, all those things that I fought hard for are no longer with me. They even seem so irrelevant now. What I have now and what seem to have lasted are things that happened to me instantaneously and effortlessly. My love and my life - my beautiful and gentle girlfriend Alcie, my twin daughters Vana & Vila, the peace I enjoy, the serenity I experience, my new extended family that I am getting to know. All these happened to me effortlessly. Sometimes, I am embarrassed about it as I often feel I don’t deserve them as they just happened. Without much effort from me. Am I not supposed to ‘work hard’ for them?

Even some of the people I have met and still meeting in my life. They bring new and profound meanings. It makes me stop in my track as these individuals are adding so much value into my life and they are painting it with such beautiful colours that I sometimes wonder how did I attract them into my little universe in the first place.It takes my breath away. They are just popping up, literally, everywhere and we are connecting instantaneously and effortlessly. Even my relationship with my mother which was strained for many years have undergone a total transformation – again without any particularly strenuous effort from me; for once.

These things began to happen as I slowly learned to ‘let go and let God’ (as a dear young friend told me recently). In my case, I let the universe take care of the details. This probably came about as I began to realize that in the end, we don’t really control anything. It’s an illusion to think that we are in control. We only have choices not control. We can take actions but we can’t determine the results.

Even in the world of business, I think there is a place for ‘letting go and letting God’. As leaders and managers, there is a need for us to be able to make things happen instantaneously and effortlessly. If we are constantly fighting raging fires, running all over the place, being busy all the time, constantly on edge, harassed; something is wrong with our leadership and management style. Calmness in a business leader is an underrated thing. Great achievements are a result of being ‘in the flow’ and it is a state where we ‘create’ unprecedented successes almost by magic. Usain Bolt ran 100 metres in 9.58 seconds a few days ago and he looked pretty relaxed at the finishing line. The number two, and three were huffing and puffing. If you ask him how he did it, he will probably say “I just did”. Anyway, coming back to leading and managing, we need to accept the humbling reality that we can’t control everything. We need to ‘let go and let trust’ work. We need to trust that our people will do what is expected of them and that they will do the best they can. Sometimes they may not repay that trust in full but that's a price we have to pay so that we can let go of the trivial and get on the real stuff. Stuff that really makes a difference for the organization. We need to be conscious of the choices we make and the actions we take but not the end results as they are determined by factors beyond our control. Maybe this is what Krishna was saying to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Maybe that's what Jesus was saying to his followers. Maybe this what the Sufi mystics have been saying in their lyrics and hymns. Make the choice and don’t be burdened by the results. Float. Be light. Be free. Let go of the control.

Float like a butterfly…soar like an eagle (sorry Ali!).

Oh, by the way…did anybody wonder why Silvio Berlusconi still manages to be in power? He doesn’t try very hard. He just IS with all his faults and strengths and the Italians love him for that. The rest of the pretentious politicians ‘work very hard’ to be other than what they really are.

Effective Redeployment for Better Results

2009-08-11T08:43:00.002+08:00

NOTE : The following is the Q&A for last week's interview on BFM. Hope it gives you guys something to ponder on.

Last week we shared with you the analogy of a platoon leader in war who finds himself with a bunch of soldiers who have survived enemy assault but have lost hope and drive to move forward with you. And that analogy was to illustrate what many managers are going through now after the recent spade of restructuring and downsizing. Today, using a similar analogy, we would like to ask this question ‘ Imagine that somehow you did manage to motivate and push the survivors in your platoon to move forward with you towards new war targets and that the whole platoon (or whatever left of it) is now totally committed to you. Now, imagine that you suddenly realize that you are short handed. You gunner is lost and so is your communication man. Your medic is alive but is in no shape to help others. You look around and quickly appoint those whose eyes you caught into these positions. As good soldiers, they follow your orders but they are now worried sick in the stomach as they are not familiar with these new roles. The new gunner is trained in terrain mapping while the new communication man is an artillery engineer. The new communication man is your former cook! They are ready to serve BUT they need your help to get used to the new roles. Then, you find that you need a new advance scout but not sure who among your men can fill that role. Or, do you have to call HQ for a new guy who is going to have trouble fitting in with your platoon.

Feels familiar? I bet it does because that is what many companies are facing now.
Well, its time for you to take a look at your redeployment options and strategies. After all you now have to move forward with the ‘survivors’.

Q : Why are we talking about redeployment now? Is this important for companies coming out of their downsizing and restructuring?
A : The simple answer is yes, it is important for companies that have restructured recently to pay some attention to redeployment as a strategy. The reason why this is important now is because this is the time for companies to realign and reassess their workforce and talent management strategies. As roles and positions were eliminated or reduced, new roles and work relationships had to be established. Also most companies that downsized in some areas of their business had also, at the same time, hired for other areas of their business. In fact there is a conundrum here : On one side companies need to manage costs and downsize while on the other they have to hold on to their key talents and prepare for the upswing. So, this is where redeployment comes in.

As we discussed last week, the first thing you do as a manager is to get your team back to speed and productivity by taking some simple yet powerful measures. One of the more critical ones is actually to be able to redeploy your people effectively. It is important enough to warrant special attention from all managers.

Q : So, redeployment can be defined as a sort of re-cycling of a companies existing talent?
A : Yes. It is a deliberate and highly structured movement of talents from one part of the company to another part where those talents are needed and can return better value. Not only that, this movement is also important as sometimes this is the only thing standing between your key talents staying or leaving.

Q : Typically, what are some of the circumstances why a company may have to look at a redeployment strategy?
A : Well, in our experience, redeployment strategy will be needed when a company is either doing one or a combination of the following : preparing an internal mobility program, restructuring, transferring a section of the business to an external provider (outsourced) or even when implementing creative work cultures such as flexible working hours. All these may involve some form of role change, role reduction or increase AND the need to acquire new skills.

Q : What are the benefits for a company that redeploys its talent or workforce?
A : Well, as I mentioned earlier, the most obvious one is that its key talents are not lost to competitors. Secondly, these talents will be cheaper to maintain through redeployment than to be rehired when the business picks up which it will (in some cases it already has). Thirdly, what redeployment essentially means is that the company is creating a new or slightly different career path for the individual instead of just laying off the person. With this comes more and continued investment from the company to train and develop the individual. This is an amazingly powerful engagement driver. The company is demonstrating in concrete terms that it values it talents and that career development and job security is not a linear affair. I don't take you in during the good times, extract everything from you and take you out at the first sign of trouble.

Q : Are there many companies out there that employ redeployment as one of their workforce strategy?
A : In a survey conducted by Right Management from April-May 2009 among 268 senior business and HR leaders, it was found that 51% of the companies always or sometimes offer redeployment before layoffs. So, in our experience quite a sizable number of our clients look at redeployment as a workforce management strategy. But in truth, I believe there is a bigger percentage that in one way or another redeploy in other circumstances as I shared earlier. We must understand that redeployment is not necessarily during a downsizing only.

Q : We have established that redeployment is a good strategic move to make but can you share some best practices on how a company can effectively redeploy?
A : First and foremost, I must emphasize that the company’s executive leadership team must recognize the importance of redeployment and they must set the right example before the managers and employees are convinced. For example, in a redeployment scenario, a manager may have to develop new manager-subordinate relationships and this is made more complicated because the new subordinate may not have the required skills yet to hit the ground running (which is what all managers expect!). What’s more, due to the redeployment exercise he may actually have lost some key talents him self as that person may have moved somewhere else in the company! On the employee side, redeployment means they have to leave the known and familiar for the unknown and not so familiar. This requires them to re-tool and re-skill and sometimes even relocate. All so uncomfortable right? Yes. That's why the commitment and buy-in from the top leadership is essential to make this a success.

Secondly, for the employees, the company should have a detailed and accurate communication on its redeployment policy. Issues like compensation, relocation benefits, local legal requirements, etc should be clarified. Employees should also be given the right assistance and tools to evaluate their skills and abilities accurately to gain the best out redeployment. And oh yes….please….give time for this to work. Both the company and the employee need to give each other enough time to settle down and produce results.

Thirdly, appoint internal redeployment champions who will become the point-person for those considering redeployment. A dedicated web portal will also be good for communication purposes and for advertising available positions (internally and
externally).

Finally, I would like to recommend that companies integrate their outplacement offering with the redeployment option. What this means is that, employees will have enough input and expert advise before they make an informed decision. For example, Right Management helped a telco company to provide both outplacement and redeployment. Those employees who went through redeployment activities emerged more prepared not only for redeployment but also for external positions. Many of them, in fact landed external positions long before outplacement services were required!

Q : What are the steps that a company should take if it chooses to employ redeployment as a workforce management strategy?
A : We at Right Management have developed a 6 module – 3 phase solution to assist companies with their redeployment initiative. Phase 1 involves employees going through a Change and Self Awareness module. They will have a detailed analysis of their skills & abilities and the gaps if any. This is where we also provide (with the client’s input) information on where the company is heading, what is happening now and what roles they can play.

In Phase 2, they will go through 3 modules : Internal Resumes & Applications, Internal Self-marketing and Internal Interviews.

Finally in Phase 3, they deal with the actual redeployment it self through 2 modules : Evaluating Internal Opportunities and Success in Your New Role.

So, you can see that these 3 phases covers the 3 most critical needs of the individual : How to ascertain my potential, how to market my self internally and how to realign with my ‘new’ career.

With these systematic program and the relevant modules, the company can be assured that its redeployment is going on a correct trajectory and those who choose to be redeployed are fully equipped and prepared to take on their new roles. With this, their new manager’s responsibility to re-train them becomes much easier and pleasant for both sides.

Q : Can you share an example of a success story in terms of an effective redeployment strategy?
A : I can share with you the example of a global financial services provider who engaged Right Management to add a redeployment component to their large scale off-shoring initiative. This client was well aware and wary of the negative impact on staff morale, customer and public perception and overall productivity as a result of such a large scale off-shoring approach. With our intervention, the redeployment take-up increased from 10% to 70% and the whole off-shoring went on smoothly.

Q : Ok, the million dollar question : can redeployment save money for companies?
A : Yes…and I will give you a million dollar answer. To be precise $2.4 million dollars. One of our clients had an internal job fair as part of their redeployment initiative whereby there were more about 400 interviews with 59 offers extended and 51 offers being accepted. Total savings for client was $2.4 million!

BFM 89.9 :: The Business Station

2009-08-07T10:35:00.001+08:00

BFM 89.9 :: The Business Station

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Unity in Diversity

2009-08-06T23:27:00.004+08:00

There are as many colours as there are words to describe them
There are as many stars as the numbers can count them
There are as many truths as the hearts that believe them
There are as many Gods as Man can worship them
There as many rhythms as the sounds that make them.

This is a world
nay
a universe of differences
of every imaginable kind.
The colour of your skin.
The language of your ancestors.
The choice of your tastes.
The pleasure of your love.
The height of your intellect.
The 'truth' of your convenience.
The God of your birth.

But
when compressed
all of these is as big as a green pea.

Thats how big we are.
A green pea!

Don't kill for that
Don't hurt for that.

Atoms, protons and bosons maketh us
The God particle forms us
But its us....just us
maketh hate!

We are separate
but we are one

I will wait for you
my brothers and sisters
at the gates of heaven
and I will welcome you
into my home as if we were born of the same womb

But, indeed we are.

The Value of Privacy and Personal Space

2009-08-05T08:25:00.002+08:00

I am almost always asked to connect with somebody on Facebook, MySpace or any one of the multitude of similar networking tools that are available today. I am on Linkedin which I activated recently so that I am not classified as anti-technology! And of course I have been blogging at Blogger for some time now and I am quite adept at using email to stay connected

I have nothing against Facebook or MySpace. In fact I may end up being on them too. I think they are nice. I am sure they are cool stuff to play with and they are the product of our generation’s quantum leap in IT and connectivity. We also, it seems to me, have developed a taste for 24/7 culture. We want to be constantly updated on what’s happening around us. 24 hour news channel was a boon for many until they realized that not only do they want to know what is happening in other parts of the world, they also want to know what their closest friends and family members are doing at any given point of time. All at finger-tip speed of course. It is not enough to know the latest breaking news in Nicaragua but also what our dear friend Nigel is doing with his date at the fancy Italian restaurant that they are at. So, we have Twitter and such that are able to keep us in the loop about the most trivial adventures, private thoughts and goings on in other people’s lives. Only recently I read a British Archbishop lamenting how this technology has enabled us to have a multitude of ‘intimate’ friends without the quality often associated with what is termed as ‘friendship’. I guess, that's ok. After all what is wrong to have many friends and having as many ‘network’ as you can.

However, the reason why I am not too eager with Facebook and Myspace and the like is because I am enjoying what will one day become a scarce and precious commodity – my privacy and personal space. Isn’t it strange that, with technology our lives have become everybody’s lives. We want to (and able to) know every minute detail of one’s life style and way of thinking. Harmless? Maybe, maybe not.

Maybe it’s just my personality quirk that I treasure my personal space. It allows me to reflect and it gives me a buffer against the relentless attack on me by forces that are constantly trying to mould my thinking, influence me, decide for me, prying open my life telling me what I should wear, eat and believe. When I list my favorite books on my blog, I do it very consciously knowing that such a ‘simple’ act is actually not that simple after all. The books that I read give you an opportunity to peak into who I am. The places I go to for my vacation gives you a glimpse of me. What I talk about on these sites and how I respond to your comments will tell something of me to you. I leave digital footprints that leads you into me and I may have done that unwittingly. When I update you (say for example through my Linkedin) on my latest projects, I am allowing you to know about me just a little bit more. I have 24 hours in a day which used to be divided into public time (work, family, interest, etc) and personal time. But today, our entire 24 hour is a public life. As we are sleeping, somebody from some where in the world is reading about us or leaving a message commenting on how beautiful the pictures we posted are or how much he or she empathizes with our recent break-up. So, like a 24/7 news channel, our lives are being broadcasted and narrowcasted all the time!

But more sinister (at least to me) is the fact that we end up with 2 lives. One of the physical reality and another of the virtual reality. We mesh these two and we have a 24/7 life. This is not my cup of tea. There are different rules for these realities and it is so easy to confuse one with another. I personally feel that I am not equipped to manage these two realities with equal efficiency. The virtual world will always be a mere tool for me. Nothing more.

My feeling is that we should not allow ourselves to become like the mass produced consumer products that are being churned out in the factories of the world. We should not become as was said, a meaningless generality but rather a meaningful specific. To do that we have to be able to Reflect and we must have a reasonable amount of Personal Space to do so. This personal space could either be literally in the physical world or at least in our mind and thinking. We need to have the skills, abilities and time to integrate the vast amounts of information and data we receive in a day. I read somewhere that a single morning’s newspaper today has more information than our grandparents have acquired in their entire lifetime! I wouldn’t go so far to take this literally but I get the point. A few days ago, as I was interacting with a speaker from the US, he mentioned something interesting in a different context but is related to what I am trying to say here. He said that ‘feedback is data and data is information that you can use to make improvements’. Interesting. As far as I know feedback does not turn into data and data does not metamorphosis into information automatically. That is as far fetched as saying that the mere act of reading a book makes one knowledgeable. Something needs to happen in the interim and that is the process of Reflection and Integration of ideas and thoughts and insights. For me that can’t happen without my personal space and time.

I will hold on to this little space of privacy and personal time that I have. I am not sure for how long but I am going to enjoy it as long as it lasts.

Ensuring Productivity : Post Change and Restructuring

2009-07-30T17:42:00.003+08:00

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

2009-07-28T08:31:00.002+08:00

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

2009-07-20T08:15:00.002+08:00

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

2009-07-16T08:07:00.002+08:00

“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

2009-07-14T17:48:00.002+08:00

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!

2009-07-09T12:10:00.007+08:00

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!

2009-07-07T11:19:00.002+08:00

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

2009-07-01T08:16:00.002+08:00

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.

Kancil Retires; Nano Rises

2009-05-06T20:51:00.006+08:00

The nifty Kancil, a Malaysian icon, will be retired next month after more than 15 years of delighting Malaysians with its fuel efficiency and 'tight-spot-parking-friendliness'. Perodua, the maker, has decided to call it a day with this model and position the Viva (basic variant) as it's entry level car. Kancil has done so well that it's maker realized that 'Kancil' has become a better brand than 'Perodua'. A position that most companies would love to be in but not in the auto industry and it was indeed a far-sighted move by Perodua's management to begin branding 'Perodua'. If anybody doubts the popularity of the Kancil, know this : 750,00 Kancils are on the road!

About the same time we see the last of Kancils being rolled out of Perodua's plant in Rawang, the Nano, made by the storied Indian conglomerate, Tata, will be hitting Indian roads. Dubbed by no less than Ratan Tata, as a car for the young generation of India, the Nano will be the first mass-production car in the world with a starting price tag of less than USD10,000. Of course it comes with no air-bags, one windshield wiper, no air conditioning, 3 wheel bolts instead of 4 and will definitely not pass most European countries and America's emission and safety control standards. It may not even pass Puspakom. But then, the Nano is not made for us or for the Americans. It is made for Indians and Indian roads. The Nano will be India's Model T. It will revolutionize Indian industry like what Model T did for the Americans and best of all in the case of India, it is going to impact the 800 million non-middle class Indians. As it is, India's new found prosperity is fulled by it's 400 million plus middle class. One can only imagine what will happen when the other 800 million becomes empowered!

Empowering Indians - that is exactly what the Nano is going to do. Just as the Kancil put car ownership within the grasp of more Malaysians than Proton could ever do, the Nano is going to move Indians like never before and I mean that literally. With the Nano, millions of families will be able to move about regardless of the crazy Indian weather. Which means they can buy more, consume more and spend more. They can travel further for work, leisure and more importantly for their all consuming passion - for education. Nano will spawn thousands of support industries. Rural petrol kiosks, repair shops and a myriad of other related businesses will be fueled by the millions and millions of Nano owners. It will need better rural roads and even more parking space in cities and the burgeoning Indain suburbs. More and more Indians will demand better roads for their Nanos to be driven on and they are going to pressure their elected representatives to do that for them. Car financing and it's related services will experience growth and sophistication like never before. Every facet of Indian life will change with the Nano.

As our own icon rides into the sunset, another will rise on another land. And, who knows what impact this new one is going to have on all of us. I can't help but relate this seemingly unrelated sequence of events to our own manufaturing prowess and its gradual decline; only to be surpassed by countries like Vietnam. Will we once gain loose a clear advantage that we had? After all, does it take a nuclear scientist to ask why we never took the Kancil into Africa? Or, could we have taken the Kancil into the Indian market 15 years ago like how Suzuki ruled that market with the Maruti?

The talk is, there will be a European version of Nano. Did I just hear the Africans want one too? Oh...the world is leaving us behind while we decide who is the rightful Menteri Besar of Perak.

It would seem that nothing ever changes....at least not in Malaysia.

Life after Lay-off

2009-04-25T14:03:00.003+08:00

The following are some notes that I prepared for an interview (with my country manager) with the Star on-line. I am posting it here albeit with a little bit of tweaking. It's in a Q&A format. Hope it will help you to help others....or maybe you may find something useful here for your own self.

Q: Loosing a job could be traumatic for many. Even those who anticipated it could feel totally devastated. Why is that?
A: Research has shown that loosing job is no. 2 or 3 in the list of what frightens people most. And, that says a lot. They have invested so much into their jobs and for many, their identities are sometimes linked to their jobs. The job makes the man(and woman)they say. And sometimes, it is not the job loss that they feel upset about but the way they feel about how the company has treated them. Lets face the fact - many of our managers are not trained to handle these matters professionally.

Q : What would be some of the feelings of an affected employee? Are these emotions normal?
A : Some very common emotions are feelings such as wonder what has hit them. They will also feel angry, insecure, ashamed, frustrated, rejected, dejected and depressed. Imagine that you have just invested on your dream home and your husband has just bought a new family car and suddenly a big part of the financial equation .ie. your salary, is now in serious jeopardy. How will you feel? Or, imagine that you have all these plans to retire in your job as after 17 years of good service you are quite confident that you are very much wanted by the company. And so, you send two of your kids off to do medicine in Russia. Then one day, your world comes crashing down. How will you feel? So, it is perfectly normal to feel this way. This feelings will not be stable too. You may go on an emotional roller coaster and that is very normal. Remember, your job is a big part of who you are just like your spouse and loved ones and so, loosing it will be painful. Accept it.
Then of course we have those who actually may feel relieved as finally they have a reason to take stock of their lives and do what they have been thinking about all these years. Many of our clients are actually in the midst of considering going into business. But even this feeling of relief does not last long for some. We know this and we are always there for them too.

Q : How can one come out of these negative feelings and move forward?
A : First, you must accept that it is ok to feel sad and insecure and even angry. Give your self time to feel the frustration and accept it.
Second, believe that it is a business strategy (for whatever reasons)and it is not a reflection of who you are. You are not a failure. The company may be failing but not you. Third, reflect on all the skills and expertise you have which are not only your functional skills but also your transferable skills. Just because you have been a line supervisor in a FMCG company all these years it doesn't mean that you can't do part time lecturing in ITM. Finally, tell your self that a job loss is a transition period. It is not a permanent period. In fact that's why we always advise our candidates not to use negative words such as ‘ I have lost my job’. We tell them that they are ‘in-between jobs”. For me personally, I call my clients 'candidates' as they are indeed candidates for greater things in life.

Q : What would be some of the major steps that one should take to begin searching for a new job?
First, accept your new situation. Second, plan your next steps. Third, put your plan into action. Searching for a new job should be viewed like a project management and you are the project manager. Where is your project planner? Where is work-table? Where is your budget? I guarantee you that you are not going to make headway if you wake up every morning in your sarong or nightgown and sit in front of Oprah and flip through the newspaper in the hope of finding your next job.

Q : Many people depend on newspaper adverts when searching for a job. Is this a good idea?
A : Yes and No. Yes if you are looking for probably entry level jobs
Yes, if you just want to give it a try as one of your strategies.
No if that is the only thing that you do. Our research shows that only 20 – 30% of job openings are filled through job advertisements in the paper. The rest are through networks. This percentage is higher when you are talking about higher level jobs. Also, just because a company is not advertising job openings it doesn't mean that it will not hire valuable talents. Out of almost 20 candidates that I have coached in the last 5 months, 80% of them have landed a job via referral and direct marketing.

Q : So, what should one do then?
A : Well, you must utilize all avenues. If you see a job opening in the paper, make sure you meet at least 70% of the job requirements before you even bother to apply. Research the company first. Don’t send out a generic application to 15…20 companies. As far as possible address it to a person. Remember to follow up after 1 week.
If you are using on-line services, make sure you have updated your online resume. Make sure you have used the key words. For example, if you are looking at a Regional Financial position in a multinational company, make sure you have that stated somewhere; say in your Career Summary.
Use your networks too : close friends, former vendors & customers, your social group members You should also utilize job placement agencies. Meet their consultants face-to-face to make sure they have experience placing people at the level you are looking for and in the industries that you are interested in.

Q : Many of us attended interviews years ago, what would be some quick tips for those who are attending interviews?
A : The basic rules of attending interviews apply. That means your dressing, your punctuality, your body language and your manners. Apart from that, in a situation where you are looking for a job after being retrenched, you need to feel confident about your self and don't show that you are desperate for a job, any job!
You also have to now demonstrate that you are adaptable enough to the culture of a new company. One of my candidate who has been with particular global multinational for almost 15 years, had to answer multiple questions in relation to this. The interviewers’ main concern was whether my candidate can adapt to their culture.
Remember that an interview is for you also to test whether you want to work for that company. The company on the other hand wants to know whether you can do the job, whether you will do the job and whether you fit in.

Q : Even resumes might be to ‘old’. How should a good resume look like?
A : There are various formats for an effective resume. Choose the one that is beneficial for you. If you have many job experiences, you may want to use a chronological one (from the latest). If you have only one or two job experiences but for many years, you may want to use a functional format where you can highlight your various positions and functions in that one or two jobs. But, our advise is to keep a few additional pointers in mind :
First, remember that a Resume’s job is to get you an interview. The interview’s job is to get you the job. So your resume must move the person reading it to call you.
Second, if I am a hiring manager in today’s busy world, I want to be able to have some idea whether you are suited for the job after reading the FIRST page of your 3 page resume. So, I am not interested to know about your marital status, number of children, etc. which is what we are so used to putting in the 1st page. Move all these to the last page. In the first page, you got to tell the reader who you are, what are your strengths and what you could potentially contribute to the company.
Third, for each job experience you need to highlight your key achievements that make sense to the company. For example, if I was a Line Supervisor and my job is to manage 12 people in my shift then I must be able to identify 2 or 3 key achievements in that job that have benefited the company….in other words the ROI for the company. So, I must be able to say “ I managed a group of 12 production operators and reduced absenteeism to less than 5% in one year” OR “ I set up a quality team that reduced rejects to less than 1%”. Now, that is what the reader wants to know!

Q : Coming back to managing emotions, In your experience, what are some of the major worries of someone who has been retrenched?
A : Well, the men often find it difficult to break the news to their wives and children. So we coach them and make them feel confident enough to tell their family members. Our clients who are too specialized in a particular skill area often fear that their choices are limited. This is not necessarily true. We help them to identify their technical skills and their transferable skills and help them market these skills. Some also worry whether they can command the same kind of salary packages. So far, all our clients have landed jobs that in its entirety have similar or better salary packages as the previous one. Remember, if a company is trying to get you on the cheap just because you are out of job or 4 months pregnant, we don't think that's a company you should dedicate the next 10 years of your working life.

For those of you who are in between jobs, take heart that you are a candidate for better things in life. For those of you who know somebody else who is in -between jobs, become his or her catalyst for a brigter future.

Cheers.

Proton Exora!

2009-04-17T08:19:00.002+08:00

Proton surprises me. Proton Exora delights me.

Named after the Ixora (the humble bunga jarum-jarum), a plant native to tropical Asia especially India, the Ixora is a popular item in the long list of Hindu prayer items.

Anyway, I hope nobody at Proton or the Prime Minister’s office is going to take offence to the ‘ties between’ Ixora-Exora and decide to change the name of the car! Stranger things have happened in this beloved land of ours.

The Proton Exora is a beautiful expression of what Malaysia and especially Proton is capable of. A car designed and priced for the times. My earlier postings have lamented at the sheer lack of creativity and common-sense business practices at Proton. Things have indeed changed. If the car indeed looks as good as it looked on print and the waiting list is at reasonable length, the Exora is going to smell heavenly on our roads; not to mention what it is going to do to the health of Proton’s coffers.

But here is a thought – a dilemma even. I read that Perodua is building its own MPV. If this is true, we have an interesting situation in our hands : the product segment and differentiation of Proton and Perodua has blurred. Each is into the other’s turf and in a small market like ours, that may not be the most efficient way to go about doing business. When Perodua was only selling the Kancil and Proton its Waja’s, Wira’s and Perdana’s, there was an equilibrium. Then when Perodua introduced the Myvi and Proton the Savvy, the blurring began. The new Proton Saga, in terms of pricing, has blurred the lines even more and now with potentially two MPVs , it’s going to be interesting to watch. Then of course we have the Nautica (Perodua) and Satria Neo (Proton) which are, well, just there. Persona is probably the only one standing out in terms of well defined market segment and I don’t even want to talk about the ‘ancient’ Perdana.

What does this mean? A merger between Proton and Perodua? I think that's worth one or two rounds of teh-tarik discussion. Also, this merger can become an acceptable ‘excuse’ for the government to prolong the protection given to the local auto industry. After all, with the Exora priced so menacingly against its rivals in the same segment, there are going to be inevitable questions on high taxes imposed on other makes but with a merger of such significance, a few more years of ‘protection’ will be well justified.

So, what can make this dream merger work:

1. The government should provide structural support and then keep off them; let both companies run their business. This means; politicians and politically motivated interest groups should be kept out.
2. A Proton-Perodua merger will be a more attractive option for a potential strategic partner.
3. Proton’s Tanjung Malim plant can be consolidated.

We have a winner in the Exora and we have the opportunity to do something right for the local auto industry. By the way, don't forget Naza Motors in the equation!

All the Pretenders, please stand up!

2009-04-09T21:39:00.002+08:00

“ For years these people are our lunch buddies…..but the moment they are selected for separation they become criminals in our eyes and we want to escort them out on the very same day of notification. I tell my managers we don't hire criminals so show some respect for those who are selected for separation”

(Shared by a participant in a recent thought leadership workshop).

An economic crisis has an in-built advantage. Just like the over flooding rivers of the African plains, economic crisis can be life-rejuvenating. It can bring forth new life, new hope. It is the ultimate differentiator of who can swim and who ‘thought’ he can swim. It is the ultimate arbitrator of who is preaching what he is practicing and who is preaching what he himself is not ready to practice. The proof of the pudding is in the crisis!

More than ever, today we need leaders who have the integrity and wherewithal to manage our organizations. We need leaders who can truly lead us out of the burning house. Superstar CEOs and celebrity managers who sashayed around with their PR and media consultants will be called upon to show their true mettle…to Lead. The integrity of those who preached honesty will be severely tested. The lofty service oriented mission statements of companies will be put to the ultimate test of profit vs service. The often repeated ‘my people are my greatest asset’ dictum will be up for a close scrutiny. Actually, now would be the best time to do a ‘Employer of Choice’ survey.

As I have said many times before, it is indeed a prerogative of an organization to reduce its head count or divest a subsidiary or close down an entire plant. But, how it goes about doing it will determine its future survival. How an organization treats an employee that has been made redundant will determine the morale, productivity and loyalty of those are staying behind. As my Country Manager said recently, “ For every one staff that we ask to leave, 50 others are left behind due to our negligence”. It will affect the organization’s future ability to attract talents and its ability to hang on to its existing talents when the good times return.

Managers and business leaders too will be put to a test. It is easy to engage in a rhetoric about integrity, empathy, team work, service orientation and such but much harder to exhibit these qualities when your back is to the wall. How many businesses that have cleverly branded them selves as ‘people oriented’ are willing to share in the people’s burden?

Ultimately, bad times brings out the true character of both an individual and an entire organization. Employees want to know whether they are indeed ‘the most valuable asset of an organization’ and consumers want to know whether the companies they are dealing with are indeed ‘caring’ and conscious of their ‘social responsibility’.

Maybe this crisis will bring forth new champions….true champions.

A Changed Ecosystem

2009-03-30T21:30:00.002+08:00

Do you feel it?
I do. I can feel the calmness. A deep sense of calm-knowing that whatever happens, it will be business as usual sooner or later. Its frightening really this feeling.

In the Economics of Trust, John Whitney asks " How often have you fixed a problem only to find that it crops up again - perhaps in a slightly different guise, but the same problem nevertheless...it will soon become clear that these problems most in need of a new theory". He then proceeds to list 12 of this often recurring problems. May I add one more? The recurring global economic slump.

It is said that when the human self is faced with a situation so dangerous and possibly fatal, the mind assumes a quality that it seldom bestows on the self. Calmness. The mind subdues every single one of the billion other chemical reactions and signals that are being sent out to the brain by every single organ in the body and it gives the self the gift of Calmness. At that moment the self is akin to a floating cocoon of peace and serenity in a raging ocean. This mechanism is designed to allow the self to calmly think through and take appropriate measures to ‘save’ it self from the impending danger.

And all these happen in a split second. The self wriggles it self from the mortal danger and just as quickly the waves of usual thoughts and feelings floods the self and life is back to its ‘normal’ chaotic amalgamation of feelings, thoughts, rights and wrongs.. At this point, even the self may be surprised to see the kind of heroic and Herculean tasks accomplished or the kind of amazing decisions made to save it self from the danger. Like how a mother of a teenage daughter beats off two parang wielding intruders with nothing more than a role of old newspaper.

But, it is also said there are times when the self goes on an extended period of calmness and serenity and sometimes never emerges back from this state. At this point we can conclude that the mind for some reason has ‘shut it self down’. The self now is ready to be institutionalized. You get the point.

The way business leaders and policy makers are behaving now is similar to the mind staying calm and composed while trying to preserve the self but the only problem is, it has gone on for far too long. I am afraid such calmness is no longer healthy. It looks more like Lunacy now.

The first ‘calm’ decision made by nations the world over was to formulate, announce and release billions of dollars worth of stimulus packages. Many of this has even expanded to its second and third versions. Billions of dollars were used to nationalize what used to be private enterprises. Billions more were channeled into failing businesses whose business models and ideas are grossly irrelevant to today’s business ecosystem. But save them governments did as their collapse will unleash a chain reaction that could wipe out hundreds of other businesses and eliminate millions of jobs. Then, we also hear of how millions of dollars were channeled into businesses that were in fact the perpetrators of the economic crisis we are facing today.

Companies and enterprises have also ‘calmly’ announced what they term as strategic decisions. They are decapitating their work force by reducing their numbers in the name of cost saving.

Everybody is happy as these decisions provides action and action always make people feel good. In fact any action can provide that feel good feeling especially when you can hardly grasp what the problem is all about in the first place.

No doubt we need monetary injections into the business ecosystem but how about injecting some Integrity and Accountability too. Don’t we want to make sure that 10 years from now, we don’t have to do this all over again? Don’t we want to cure the disease and not just the symptoms?

What was the cause of the quagmire we are in now if not for the Greed and Unbridled Entrepreneurial Spirit of the those who were out to make money and nothing else. A bad debt could be ‘restructured’ in such creative ways until they look like a product that one can own by borrowing more money (hence more debt) to buy the first debt. With enough people selling and buying, you have a guaranteed ecosystem where the economy is a false economy and the consequences is a foregone conclusion. Yet it did happen didn’t it?

So I think it is prudent to develop a set of safety measures; a new theory even, to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. We need to revisit the lessons of this crisis and turn them into learning points for future leaders; both in public and private sectors.

I for once do not believe in the hype the world over that the government is pumping in all that money for the benefit of the people. Most governments are for big businesses and not for the people! The least these governments can do for the ‘people’ is to ensure no more of tax-payers money is used to clean the putrid mess created by corporate greed.

The eco system has changed. It is no longer acceptable for us to be told that it is a normal economic cycle for the entire global economy to crash every 10 years. If there is a predictable cycle, there is a design. If there is a design, there is a designer. We know the designers of this crash. Go after them and make them into a lesson for the sake of future generations.

So, instead of asking for the resignation of Wagoner as the chief honcho of GM, the Obama administration should make him stay and clean up the mess and then ask him to go. Anyway, the auto industry was not the catalyst for the current crisis. They were just caught with their pants down.

The Co-existence of the Opposites

2009-03-19T21:19:00.002+08:00

Deepak Chopra often says that we are an amazing array of co-existing elements of sacredness and profanity. We have within us both the pure and impure; wisdom and ignorance. This simultaneous co-existence is like a diamond that shines differently as light falls on different facets of the diamond.

In my daily being as a corporate citizen, I am often at war between this duality in my own existence. I know I have the sacred within me and yet I also know that there are times when I give more room for the animal in me to surface. I know I have the knowledge to do what is right but often end up merely doing things right. I have both the far-sightedness of a leader and the short-sightedness of a manager. And, constantly...constantly...I am at war with my self on which I should give my attention too.

And, I am enjoying it!

Surprised? Read on....

There was a time in my evolution when I used to be torn within; a time when I would berate my self for failing to do things right, be in control of my composure,be nice to others and say all the right things ALL THE TIME! Not anymore.

My evolution has taken me where I am today and I know I am evolving still...and I know I am on a constant correction to become better at what I do. I know that because I no longer feel bad about doing what is right even when it doesn't make me feel good. I am no longer a mindless slave doing things right just to satiate my hunger to be liked and feel good. There are times when I could have chosen a less stressful path and feel good about it and I know that would be good for my ego but not for those who may depend on me to be honest. It may be painful now but it will surely be appreciated when they themselves have evolved to appreciate it much like how we appreciate the various seemingly not so nice things our parents have said or done to us. We know better than that now. We have evolved.

So, I invite you to allow this duality to play in you freely. As long as this play is directed by truth, honesty, sincerity and good faith - you should feel no less of your self to lead others or guide others.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People speaks of Private Victory and Public Victory. For me, your private victory begins when doing what is right still pains you but you can live with it.

60% Marketing.....40% Product

2009-03-12T19:30:00.007+08:00

Langkawi was a pleasant surprise. It was such a great place to block out the world and crash on the beach....and yes....you can get cold beers and what ever else that you feel like drinking. Best of all, when you think your money is running out, the mamak shops are always on stand-by for rescue work.

And, as most places in this gorgeous land, I left Langkawi with a sigh of desperation. Why oh why we never market our selves better? Langkawi, Melaka, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Karambunai, Sipadan may be known but not as known as Phuket, Bali or the Maldives. The thing is, our very own holiday spots don't lack in anyway.

Then, there I was at Kelana Jaya this morning, in a mamak shop (I busted my budget buying single malt whiskeys at Langkawi duty-free!) after sending my trusted car for its long delayed service when I overheard this serious looking gentlemen talking about business in general to three of his teh-tarik mates. After a couple a minutes, their conversation became animated and this gentlemen with almost a sense of desperation waived his hands in the air and proclaimed " They just don't understand la....its 60% marketing and 40% product...so stupid la" I wondered if he too just came back from Langkawi...or maybe from Kundasang.

Well, we may argue about his equation in terms of percentage but the fact remains that marketing is key and without effective marketing, our products and services will be like the Americas before Columbus bumped into them and 'marketed' it to the gaping and wide-eyed royal houses of Europe. In terms of tourism marketing, Malaysia truly has everything for everybody. Whether you are a Muslim or whatever, whether you are a single or whatever, whether you are a straight person or whatever, you have a place to visit in Malaysia as long as you respect the local cultures and know your limits. You will not be attacked for having a good time within reasonable boundaries. My girl-friend and I stayed in a Muslim-run Inn, had our breakfast in Muslim restaurants and our dinners in a Spanish restaurant called La Playa and a fusion Indian-Western restaurant called the Oasis. Both were right smack on the beach! I mean, I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets with a cold beer in hand and munching nachos right from where I was sitting at La Playa (which incidentally was behind the Tomato Nasi Kandar which is facing the main road of Pantai Cenang...for those who prefer the good-old Malaysian dusty restaurant dining experience). There were loads of Indian tourists too. They were trying about everything offered at the beach in terms of water sports. And yet, have we ever used a Bollywood film to do product placing for Langkawi or any other Malaysian holiday spots for that matter. Product placing is a conscious and deliberate way to get your product known to the masses. Its like Will Smith showing off his Converse shoes in I-Robot. Shah Rukh Khan filming in Melaka don't count as the post production guys in India will make Melaka look like Madrid (that's how they save money!). Remember the controversy surrounding the movie Entrapment? Yes. So whats the big deal? They super-imposed some parts of Bangkok with Petronas Twin Towers and they re-named Bukit Jalil LRT station. Did anybody bother to put a sign board saying "This is where Catherine Zeta Jones sat!"

I guess this has something to do with our value system of "don't make so much noise....work hard...people will know!" Well, I am afraid we need to modify that to Work Hard and SHOUT EVEN LOUDER. Because...the Thais, Indians and Australians have been shouting at the top of their lungs and they are getting a bigger chunk of the tourism dollar. I was once told by a Malaysian tourism player that, most visitors who come to Malaysia do not return.This is unlike Thailand and Indonesia where they get repeat tourists.

Anyway, I must say that I absolutely appreciate the taxi drivers in Langkawi who despite not using the meters, charged us standard fares. They were friendly and didn't look at all carnivorous.

By the way, I think it is also appropriate for me here to make a little correction. It was pointed out to me by my new friend, Amata that in one of my postings I have said that "...people buy on logic and justify on emotion....". As Amata pointed out, the opposite has been proven to be true and I absolutely agree with her. That was what I meant to write but in my haste, I must have written it the other way around. Thanks Amata.

Nations & Companies Endure; Economic Crises Don't!

2009-03-08T15:55:00.003+08:00

Its nice to be back writing on my blog again! More importantly its nice to sit back and reflect and re-align one's thoughts and actions to the bigger purposes intended.

I wish our companies and our government will do the same.

Being busy can be a curse. It lulls us into a false sense of gainful activity without much long term benefits. Being busy for the sake of busy merely keeps one active but not necessarily productive. I have seen that in many of my career transition (outplacement) candidates. After the initial shock of job loss dissipates, they embark on a series of actions and activities produced my their meandering thoughts. This sudden rush of activities/action gives a sense of relieve from the paralysing fear that they had felt just days or weeks before. And so, they go on being active for weeks and months and fill their daily routine with various tasks which are designed for the sole purpose of keeping them 'busy'. Then, after much coaxing, prodding and eventually through some meaningful coaching, they accept the truth that all their actions and activities have not brought them that one result they so desperately need : A job or at least an interview. When this is accepted, they open up and they are willing to consider concrete suggestions and ideas from me which are solely designed to to do one thing and one things only : To provide them with all the information that they need about themselves and the jobs that they are targeting so that they can make an informed decision.

I fear that many of our companies and our government's policy makers are behaving like my candidates in their early stages of career transition : being busy for the sake of being busy lest unpalatable thoughts and realities rise to the surface. Lets be busy...busy...busy and bury all these negative thoughts stay buried. They will disappear or at least if I can bury my self in 'work' long enough, they will soon become somebody elses problem. And so, they keep them selves busy.

One of the products of the policy makers' busyness is the rapid fire announcements of packages to retrain retrenched workers. More funds have been announced to retrain jobless college graduates. There are funds to train those who are interested in biotechnology business even if they had graduated with a social science degree. There are funds to train those who are interested in ICT business; it doesn't matter who you are. You just have to show up. May I ask, what are all these actions intended to achieve and to what end?

How is it that a graduate with four years of tertiary education and prior to that at least 11 years of basic education come out into the job market without adequate communication skills in the English language and how is it that a 3 weeks or 3 months program is going to remedy that and miraculously enable them walk into an interview room with new found confidence and land a fat paying job? Anyway, where is the job or jobs that everybody is talking about? Oh yes! The 30,000 odd government jobs. The good old public service. Yes! Lets dump all and sundry into the school system and pray to the Lord that they will somehow; maybe through divine intervention, will realize how much they love the teaching profession and dedicate their lives to years of dedicated performance as educates of our children. By the way, we could also send some into our fishery departments and task them to passionately defend and develop the rights and welfare of our army of poor fishermen. Hmm...lets see, the security forces will also be able to absorb some. You don't have to be that smart to fire a machine gun or hurl a grenade right? I hope you didn't say yes to that!

So, what will also these monetary allocation really do for our economy in the end. Probably nothing much and maybe a little bit more damage. We will have mis-fits in various sectors. We will have teachers who can't teach, we will have 'entrepreneurs' who can't do business and we will have police officers who can' police.

Now, some of our corporate organizations aren't doing that great either although many of their 'policy makers' have MBAs and DBAs. But I must say, there are those who are enligthened enough to do what is right rather than what is expedient only.

You see, nations and corporations will endure but economic crises do not. So, what we do now in this crises must take into account the repercussions that will be felt a few years down the road when the economic crisis is but a distant memory. At that time, we will feel the true weight of the consequences of what we do today. If we slash our head counts blindly and allow valuable talents walk out of the door, if we fail to take care of the myriad of worries and fear felt by those who are with us, if we behave ruthlessly for the sake of quarterly financial figures, we are doing nothing but setting up the company for failure in the future when everything is just right for the company to actually surge forward.

Career Management in Turbulent Times

2009-02-21T14:49:00.002+08:00

Having finished the final touches to my presentation for a marketing event on Monday, I decided to take a break by reading The Economist and the Newsweek. Having gone through the entire Newsweek, I had a strange sensation....something you feel when you just know that something is not right but you can't put your finger on it. The feeling intensified half way through the Economist. Having put both magazines down, the reason finally came to me......both publications have moved on from talking all gloom and doom of the current economic crisis to the usual stuff (read America, America and more America!). To be fair they did give some space to news from Iran and Russia especially how the 'tyrants' from these countries will be brought down by the economic downturn. Maybe the prospect of this happening soon has cheered the editors!

Anyway, what I really wanted to focus my thoughts on today is 'what can one do to continue proactively manage one's career' during this economic turmoil?'

Allow me to give my two cents worth; some of which I shared in a recent workshop I conducted. For each, I will take the liberty to share an example from my own (limited) experiences where ever I can:

1. Don't despair : In 1997, I woke up one day thinking that I am busted! My car payments were behind. Some freelance work I was doing came to a halt. My day job was precarious to say the least. In 1998, I became a father of twins. It was tough. Was I worried? Yes. Despair? No. Someone I knew and respected at my workplace told me that 'hey...just keep saying to your self - what's the worst thing that can happen...you will feel better'. Strangely, it turned out to be a good remedy and the reason is in point no. 2 below.
2. Find the higher purpose. My higher purpose has always been teaching, educating and guiding. I learn best by doing these and that’s exactly what I did and did more of and sometimes for very little financial return or none at all. I was happy enough to keep my depression to a manageable level.
3. Change. Sometimes, simply trying again and again and again is not the best course to take if you are doing the same thing in each try. So, I decided to venture into something entirely different. In fact, I even moved my family (then) to a new location. You don't have to go to that extent but institute some changes into your life. Read different books, watch different movies, have lunch with different people. At work, take your head out of the PC and look at what others are doing, what are their job functions, what are their tools, what are they enjoying about their jobs. You might just find your next career objective.
4. Maintain your professionalism. When I left my job at the University, the Dean of the faculty wrote such a heart-felt reference letter that I almost changed my mind about leaving. That letter opened many doors for me. Then, when I left my next job, some associates and clients asked me how much I made from selling off my shares in the company. I didn’t make any money as I was merely an employee of that company. It took my former boss to tell me that the thing he liked about me was that I take ownership of my job and the company no matter how difficult the job is. So, be professional and it will pay dividends when the economy picks up. It did for me.
5. Prepare for skirmishes at the workplace. Tough times will bring out the best in people and occasionally the worst. Don't take it to heart. But, don't allow critical issues to be swept under the carpet either. During times like these, we need to move fast and be lean and mean. So, nip problems before they blossom into full blown issues....but do it in a nice(r) way. I know I don't always do that, but I try.
6. Manage your workplace reputation. If you have been unfairly labeled in any way at the workplace, this is the time to prove your real worth. You can erase years of bad reputation by doing something extraordinarily altruistic or synergistic to your team or colleagues. This downturn may well turn out to be your second chance in your career development.
7. Revisit your career motivations. Take time to reflect on your passions and values. There will be things that you need to re-adjust. The floods (crisis) in the sub-Saharan plains is nature's way of bringing renewal(growth) to the lands. So, this downturn is an opportunity for your renewal. Whether you are still in your job or has been made redundant, you can renew your career objectives and with it a big portion of what constitutes your life.
8. Update your Resume. Not to switch job but to see where you have arrived at since the last time you got your resume updated. Are you where you wanted to be 3 years ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago? If yes, good for you and hang on in there. If not, time to do point No.7.

Career Management is a reflective process followed by action. What better time to do the former while waiting the opportune time to do the latter. Trust me, the opportune time will come. It always does. Have faith.

Cheers everybody.

Nations & Corporations : Bonded by a Common Crisis of Trust

2009-02-15T11:17:00.004+08:00

A couple of days ago, a senior Malaysian minister commented on national TV how cynical the Malaysian public has become about all that they hear from the ruling government controlled mouth pieces.

A few days before that, I heard a similar complaint from an executive of a giant Malaysian corporation. She is tired of having to continuously 'prove' to her underlings that she has their best interests at heart.

Both the minister and the executive are right as the concept of nationhood and the emergence of all powerful corporations are indeed facing a tremendous pressure of legitimacy. True loyalty is hard to come by these days but for good reasons too.

In my opinion although it is true that humans as a whole have gone through a quantum leap in the last 20 years in terms of technology and innovation; the one distinguishing differentiator that not many seem to pay much attention is that humans as a whole have also become much more 'educated' and 'educatable’.

Let me share some examples of this. I hope those of you who are reading this will share your examples too even if they are contrary to my arguments.

Let's take the wheat growers in India. 50 years ago, these are your traditional 3rd world farmers who live at the mercy of weather patterns and the middle men. Both not always in their favour. In fact, the western media often use the faces of these farmers to illustrate their sleek pre-program blitz when dealing with Asian issues which of course are all about strive, poverty and chaos! Today, these very same farmers are adept at using communal internet enabled personal computers to keep track of wheat price and manage their inventory. They are no longer at the mercy of the middle men. Yes, they still need them to move the produce to end users but collectively they are now able to receive a better and fair return from their lands. They have become educated and these 'poor and illiterate' farmers seem to have been 'educatable' to begin with. They had the capacity within them, to learn and to be informed. They just needed a tool.

Then there was this social experiment conducted in the slums of India (I can't recall in which state or city)where specially designed personal computer kiosks were placed at the various spots in these slums frequented by children. The amazing discovery was this : In no time, without any coaching from anybody, without any manual or how-to-do material - these kids learned how to use the machines and navigate the internet! And, they were all illiterate street children...

Corresponding to this, more and more research data points to the increasing disillusionment felt by people at large at institutions that only a few decades earlier held sway over their lives. Religious, legal and community based organizations are facing a congregation that are not so easily convinced by rhetoric. The prevalence of Malaysians who trust blogger produced 'news' compared to the traditional (and official) media is a testimony of this. In fact Obama’s campaign strategy was aimed at positioning himself and his team as separate and different from the existing status-quo and it helped him win the presidency. He appealed to the mistrust that people felt over their government and the large corporations that provide them with employment.

Now let’s get into our workplaces. Do employees buy into the company's stated reasons for certain critical but unpalatable actions. For example, this is the season for down-sizing (oh! please....don't tell me its 'right-sizing'). When you ask people to leave, its down-sizing. No two ways about that. Period. It may be a strategy though. That’s fine. However, the reasons for this strategy needs to be truthful and believable. The company is not doing well? Then make sure the company is not sponsoring a football referee’s shirt sleeves in the English Premier League. Poor financial results? Than make sure, the C-suite guys and ladies behave accordingly. Don't feign pain over the financial results but live life as if there is no tomorrow. Travel economy class and stay in 3 star establishments. Switch to remote meeting tools instead of 16 hour travels and week long stays at exotic locations. Take a pay cut and forgo the fat bonuses. AND, no more symbolic one dollar salary reductions. Make it a thousand dollars.

The following example may be hilarious but it just goes to show how informed and educated our employees can be and we better not take them for granted. This young R&D researcher once told me that his manager informed him and his colleagues during an office meeting one day that the particular natural resource that their company is reliant on will be depleted in less than 15 years and hence they need to be more creative and innovative in their R&D work. Well, the push for more creativity and innovativeness from your people is fine but you had better be more convincing as the young man who shared this example with me said that only days before the meeting, he read in a research journal which quoted the very same manager that his company is in no serious danger as there is enough evidence that there are reserves of this natural resource for another 50 years! I am sure this manager's R&D staff were absolutely energized and became more innovative and creative!!

Just as people are increasingly cynical and suspicious that the governments of the world are in existence only for the benefit of the rich, many workers are also becoming disillusioned with the behaviors of corporations that are seen as having only one purpose for being : The profit of share holders and office bearers. The Enrons, Satyams and Lehman Brothers of the world have further added fuel to this mistrust. How can employees really believe in what their corporate leaders are saying if at the back of their minds there is an ever present fear that they are being taken on a ride and that one day...without any warning... their world will come to a screeching halt. Can you imagine the devastation felt by those who believed in the values of Satyam?

Peter Cappelli's The New Deal at Work: Managing the Market Driven Workforce (Harvard Business School Press, 1999)labeled the relationship between the workforce and their employers as "...an uneasy dance". Well, I can say that today, it's no longer an uneasy dance...it has progressed into a full blown love hate relationship. The revelations of corporate frauds (Maddox-like)and down-right mis-management coupled with the emergence of new forms of news makers and carriers (fueled by the internet and its associated technology)have only exacerbated the cynism of the workforce.

Similar to the examples of wheat farmers and slum children, the workforce of today is also very much more ‘educated’ and informed. Even if they are not, their internet generation children at home will be. I wonder what are the children of those who are working at Monsanto and BAT telling their parents about the environment and health! Karl Marx may well be a satisfied man if he was to live today as he can see how powerful the ‘workers of the world’ have become with their ability to access knowledge and news from multiple channels. Today’s workers are no longer gullible herds. They are powerful forces that will soon revolutionize the may we manage corporations.

But, I do not see a silver lining yet. Governments and corporations are still behaving with blatant disregard to what is true and honorable. Is this the price we need to pay for trusting the mantra of ‘market correcting it self’ before the market finally corrects it self? Only time will tell and in the meantime we have only one tool to manage our workforce as agreed by a team of HR professionals in a recent round-table session I facilitated : Open and honest communication.

“It was just a pen” – Stories from the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

2009-02-01T18:43:00.002+08:00

I have on numerous occasions shared the legendary service mentality of the Ritz-Carlton exhibited by its Ladies and Gentlemen all over the globe. A couple of days ago, I came across yet another book extolling the impeccable service culture of this company. Written by Joseph A. Michelli (McGraw- Hill, 2008), The New Gold Standard is filled with stories and anecdotes from the Ritz-Carlton experience.

In one such instances Brian Gullbrants, vice president of operations shares the story of how the company decided to change the pens that they have been using. As they realized that they have been using the same type of pen for many years, they decided to have a newer one comparable to that of their competitors. However, due to un-characteristically careless decision making and a failure to pay attention to details they found the new pens to be of poor quality which were later recalled and the whole process repeated until the perfect pen was found. They realized that for the Ritz-Carlton, 'it is not just a pen'! It is about a service that should be unrivalled in ALL aspects. Then there is another story of how in one of their new hotels, the swimming pool was built in such a way that it is in the shade for much of the day ( of course we Asians would probably love that).

But then this is the legend of the Ritz-Carlton. It is such a great hotel company that we tend to learn valuable lessons not only from its success stories but also from its mistakes and recovery. After each service lapse, they seem to come back stronger. After each natural disaster, they seem to win more friends.

What makes this company such a great service provider? I believe this has something to do with its value proposition to its employees (the Ladies & Gentlemen). Somehow ingrained in its leadership genes is the importance that need to be paid to those who really make a difference in their business – the cleaners, the house-keepers and the kitchen staff. These are the Ladies and Gentlemen on whom the service quality of the Ritz-Carlton rests on.

There is something special that the leaders of a company need to do to gain such a level of service mentality as exhibited by the Ladies and Gentleman of the Ritz-Carlton. I am not sure what that is although the writer has identified a few factors. I still feel there is something more here. Maybe you could phantom what that is after reading the following story as described on pages 13-14 of the book:

Natalie Salazar was a 12 year old figure skater just one step away from Olympic qualifications when she was diagnosed with cancer. One year later she was told that she will not make it. At that tender age, her only regret was that she could not make it to the school’s prom night.

This tragic story was shared by Mrs.Lewis, Natalie’s teacher, at a church in whose attendance was Laura Gutierrez, the area director of human resources at Ritz-Carlton Dearborn. Laura shared it with her Ladies and Gentlemen and they decided to do something about it.

With a spontaneous service mentality so characteristic of the company, they hosted a prom night at the hotel attended by Natalie’s 18 class mates and skating team members. The entire do was manned by the Ladies and Gentlemen with no external contractors involved. The audiovisual technician was the DJ while the IT technician became the official photographer. They put all the decorations befitting a ball for a princess and Natalie danced the night away with an ever present smile on her face. She ate all her favorite food and had all her favorite songs played. At the end of the night she was led away to a waiting chariot to be taken home for rest as she was scheduled for some tests at the hospital the next day. Tears flowed freely and her parents choked with emotion watching their little girl having the night of her dreams.

On Thursday, September 20 2007, Natalie Salazar succumbed to the ravages of cancer. She was buried in a dress sown by the Ritz’s seamstress who also sew her ball dress.

Why would a group of ordinary wage earners go to such an extent to make a difference?
Because they are the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company!

Pay Back From Excellence in Service

2009-01-31T20:33:00.002+08:00

I was 11 years old again today!

When I was actually 11 years old (seems like a life time ago) I was treated for a particular condition relating to protein levels in the body. I was hospitalized for a week at a particular clinic cum hospital at Jalan Ipoh. The good doctor, Dr. Rommel de Silva attended to me and ensured that I got well enough to attend my standard 5 exams. He was such an emphatic and caring doctor that until today my entire family goes to him first for any and all health reasons. We get his opinion first before proceeding to other specialists if needed.

After a long delay.. I finally managed to find some time to attend to a fatty growth on my right arm. So off I went with my aunt, my perpetual supporter! Dr. Rommel looks thinner but has not lost his smiling and fatherly ways. Seeing him again after all these years brought back the memories of being hospitalized at the tender age of 11. As always he asked about ME first before asking about my problem. Taking a quick look at that lump, he smiled, looked at my aunt and said "No problem... it's just a fatty growth and can be removed surgically or even left alone. If you want I can ask the surgeon to do it today." All this was said to my aunt as if she was the patient. That's because he knows his patients and their families well. In my case, I could be the physical patient but it was my aunt who was the emotional patient. He knew how she loves every single member of my family. Having reassured HER, I was wheeled into the surgery room.

The surgeon came in and the whole thing was done in less than two hours. On the way out, we dropped into Dr. Rommel's room to say thank you.

Isn't it amazing how true when people say that "we buy based on logic but justify the purchase by emotion". This is also similar to my posting relating to my cousin's non-experience in buying his new car. Isn't it also amazing how many businesses whose life-line is entirely based on and subject to customer satisfaction and positive buying experience seem to think that providing good customer service is a negotiable thing. Providing good service to customers is non-negotiable. It is what at the end of the day determines the sustainability of a company regardless whether you are in the food industry, dismantling jumbo jets or higher education. It is all about customer satisfaction.

I wish Dr. Rommel continued success in his business.

And, this posting is being typed by my so loving girlfriend as my right arm is resting!

The War for Talent

2009-01-29T21:26:00.002+08:00

I have been writing about the challenges faced by companies and even Malaysia as a nation in areas related to identifying, nurturing and retaining talent. Malaysia's brain drain and Singapore's brain gain are some of the often discussed issues.

The following is an illuminating piece of article written by my colleague, Shyamashree Rudra in Mumbai who recently attended the Young Leaders Conference in Italy.

With her permission, I am reproducing that article verbatim. Thank you Syhamashree.

THE WAR FOR TALENT

2008 YOUNG LEADERS CONFERENCE
Turin, Italy

“THE WAR FOR TALENT”

The demographics of the global workforce are changing. Patterns of migration and social change have altered the labour market and have increased competition for skilled workers and possibly also for low-skilled ones. This is a trend that is set to continue. All entities relying on skilled input are feeling the pinch, from universities to government bodies. Google, Microsoft, Apple, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase are all companies based on very few 'hard assets', their value being almost entirely measured by their intellectual property and people. Communications and technology have created a world which is no longer bound by geography, but rather operates through a system of interconnected networks across the continents. Now global corporations are becoming “trans-nationals” – moving parts of their business to the places with the talent to handle it and the time to do it at the right cost. This means hiring the right people in the right place, fast, or finding talent that can be moved quickly around the globe.

It is said that in ancient Greece, talent was the most valuable currency used in the monetary system. Today, in a world where human capital is the key driver of present performance and future growth, the War for Talent is THE battle that organizations, both for-profit and non-profit, need to face and win.

46 Young Leaders, gathered in Turin for the 24th Young Leaders Conference, addressed this topic with a truly global mindset, bringing in perspectives from the United States & Canada, Europe (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland United Kingdom,), Brazil, China, and India.

Participants discussed the essence of talent, the type of talent employers are looking for, how the demographic changes impacting the global workforce are heightening the quest for talent, and how talent can be fostered and managed.

I. WHO AND WHAT? – THE NEW GLOBAL LANDSCAPE

The first plenary focused on “what” is talent and “who” is the talent for employers. The Young Leaders agreed on a definition of talent, viewed as “A set of traits and characteristics, both innate and stemming from education and experience, which allows an individual to excel in the workplace, make an impact and add value to an organization, today and in the longer-term”. Talent is therefore a combination of (i) common traits of unusual value, such as a bright mind, the ability to make an impact, leadership skills and vision, and (ii) technical skills, such as industry-specific knowledge, experience, effectiveness in the workplace. One group highlighted that in several intellectual professions, such as art or journalism, individuals may not know how to lead other people, but nonetheless they produce work of exceptional value and ought to be considered talent. For this reason, the traditional concept of leadership might be limiting and leadership should rather be interpreted as the ability to influence the environment and make an impact.
The question: “Does talent exist only if it is perceived by others or is there a talent per-se?” sparked debate among the participants. While recognizing that artists like Michelangelo, Picasso and Leonardo were geniuses who produced unquestionable masterpieces, there was general consensus that recognition of talent by others is essential to the definition of the talent.
The Young Leaders also agreed that as much as talent is typically defined on the basis of objective elements, oftentimes there is an element of subjectivity when assessing value and talent, just like beauty, “is in the eye of the beholder”.
All three groups pointed out the important role played by education, considered as a key means to breed and develop talent. As a result, governments are asked to forge an educational system that facilitates the “birth” of talents and supports their development over time. Also, investments in the university system are key to fostering talent and enhancing a country’s competitive position.

On the question of “What are the employers looking for?” participants agreed that employers typically look for individuals that: (1) have specific technical skills required for the position to be filled, (2) fit with the organization’s culture, (3) show motivation and drive, and only in a few occasions look for people who are also capable of bringing a new perspective into the workplace. In other words, employers tend to look for managers rather than simply for talents. Managers are the strong performers that have the appropriate experience, can rapidly deliver results and fit in the professional environment. They represent the “low-risk bet” that an organization often prefers to make. However, by doing so, employers may miss the high-potential individuals, those who can bring in an innovative and creative approach, also by challenging the status quo, and are capable of adapting to change. These individuals may represent a “higher-risk bet” that will, though, yield a higher pay-off in the longer term. Many of these individuals proved themselves in times of crisis and came through with stronger character.

A distinction was made between public and private sector employers. All the groups highlighted that the public sector tends to be plagued by several issues, including lack of performance-based evaluation and limited hiring of young talents. A system that evaluates its resources on the basis of performance allows individuals to know what the organization’s expectations are with respect to deliverables and results, and what the career path associated with achieving those results is. Such a system increases effectiveness and efficiency of employed resources. Furthermore, an organization that hires an adequate number of young talents can benefit from the new perspectives that typically young people bring in and be in a position to breed the next generation of leaders. This is a particular challenge for many companies or organizations, which change their leadership every five years – “the only constant we face is constant unpredictability”.

II. DEMOGRAPHY AND PRODUCTIVITY

The second plenary addressed two key phenomena that are changing the workplace: (1) Demographics of the global workforce rapidly changing, with a rising population in developing countries that offer large pools of labor, and an aging population in developed countries, facing a looming shortage of skilled-labor; (2) Globalization of the workforce with corporations becoming “transnationals” and the labor pool becoming more and more mobile.
The Young Leaders agreed that addressing these phenomena requires the cooperation between the private and the public sector, which together ought to develop a concerted strategy and shared policies. Moving to the heart of the discussion, the debate became heated.
The demographic imbalances between developing and developed countries result in global migration, mainly from the “young world” to the “old world”. In this context it is very important that governments define an immigration policy that attracts the talent that is mostly required and that ensures a structured, efficient visa-authorization process. This policy is meant to favor the economic development of the home country, as well as support corporations in meeting their hiring needs. The participants highlighted that corporations tend to have a more open and global view regarding immigration as compared to governments. While companies are focused on attracting skilled labor from all over the world at the lowest possible cost, governments need to serve the “higher good” of the nation, taking into account multiple interests, which include preserving jobs in the home market.

On the question of “brain drain”, the shared view was that while developing countries are primarily affected by this plague, also developed nations suffer from it. For example, Europe experiences a constant migration of top scientists to the U.S. This, too, needs to be addressed by devising appropriate policies that motivate talents to remain in their country of origin, by offering them rewarding career paths. Young Leaders coming from the military pointed out that talent retention has become a serious challenge for the Army and has risen as a top priority in senior officials’ agenda. Another proposal was to encourage bilateral talent circulation with bilateral government agreements between developed and developing nations.
On the issue of an aging population, there was broad consensus that senior talent should be optimized, both for economic and social reasons. In particular, retired people can continue to contribute to economic development, by sharing their knowledge with the younger generations and thus supporting productivity. In Ireland, for example, retired people teach English to immigrants. The 60+ year old should also continue to feel engaged in society and connected with the working world. Here, again, the role played by public policy is crucial.
The discussion then turned to the second phenomenon changing the workplace: globalization of the workforce, which can be summarized as “jobs moving to people and people moving to jobs”. For corporations, globalization is mainly driven by the need to reduce costs and access available talent pools, consequently outsourcing segments of the business to low-cost countries, such as China, India, Eastern Europe and Latin America. For individuals, globalization is driven by the desire to find the best opportunities, where these “modern nomads” can thrive.
On the one hand, “young countries” that want to lure investments from global companies need to have an educational system, which breeds workers and graduates that are mostly sought after by foreign employers, including engineers and English speakers. Sometimes “young countries” pay even higher salaries than “old” ones and offer tax incentives as well. On the other hand, corporations that want to build a global workforce need to understand what motivates and inspires people in the different countries where they set operations and develop an inclusive culture that embraces and integrates diversity, rather than imposes, with a colonialist mindset, the head-office policies. Multinational firms should also be supported by their governments, who, in concert with the local governments, draw the political and legal framework where corporations can effectively operate.
Participants concluded that, as the workforce changes its demographics and becomes increasingly global, new kinds of talents are required, talents capable of understanding different cultures and leveraging resources coming from a larger and more diverse pool.

III. TALENT MANAGEMENT

The third and final plenary put the spotlight on talent management, defined as the ability of an organization to recruit, motivate, and retain its most valuable employees. Every participant agreed that talent management is a key competitive advantage for organizations and ought to be “elevated to a burning corporate priority”.
One group observed that there are actually two main categories within talent management: (i) self-management of your own career, (ii) talent management conducted by the organization. The former is becoming increasingly relevant in a society where “modern nomads” frequently change jobs and work with bosses that have the opportunity to know only a portion of their overall abilities.
Research shows that key to talent attraction are employer’s branding and cultural fit. More specifically, employers that are mostly attractive to employees share attributes such as a credible management, a culture of respect, fairness and pride, and an environment of camaraderie. Diversity of the workforce is also relevant, especially for women, who are looking for evidence of a company’s openness to career development for female professionals.
When talking about retention and development, mentoring and feedback were identified as essential tools to nurture talent. Coaching and mentoring were recognized as critical to gain a broader perspective about contingent situations while also receiving support to effectively navigate the system and be able to progress. But sometimes a “generational divide” prevents feedback. Feedback was considered necessary to enhance behavioral competencies and become more effective in the work environment.
Broad consensus was reached on the fact that the Human Resources (HR) Department plays a greater pivotal role in talent management: HR should, from an organizational standpoint, directly report to the CEO (for example as a Senior Vice President) and be an active player also in the definition of company strategy. In well-run organizations, Human Resources performs regular talent reviews and screens the work population, at the various seniority levels, to identify highly-valuable resources and devise a talent strategy that matches their ambitions. HR talent planning provides for an independent, longer-term perspective, which ensures that talents are offered the most suitable development path for them, even if this might be in contrast with their direct bosses’ short-term interests.
Another question raised was how to measure effectiveness of talent management. Several participants suggested retention rates, employee satisfaction rates, employee referral rates, productivity or productivity per employee, as well as success in managing work/life balance.
There was agreement that development of talents ought to be combined with a clear organizational framework and a strong culture that supports talent development, while, at the same time, preventing the excesses associated with the Enron “star culture”.
The Young Leaders agreed that talent management requires also having a clear understanding of what skill gaps might arise in the future in order to proactively recruit those talents capable of filling the needs of tomorrow.

“Great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang upon the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off.”
Carl Gustav Jung

January 26, 2009

Innovate or Implode

2009-01-27T11:32:00.002+08:00

On my latest trip down south to Singapore 2 weeks ago, I had some dead time to be resurrected. So, upon checking in, I walked down to Clarke Quay for a beer and some reading ( I have limited my beers only to my travels as I find my favorite drink, single malt whiskey a tad too expensive on the road). The time was about 4.30pm and I was thinking to myself whether I will be able to find a nice joint where I can have some shade from the sun and some light food with a nice cold beer served with a friendly smile. Lo and behold, like something out off Inkheart, I found this nice outlet called Sosis selling a brand of German beer called Warsteiner. With a huge German sausage to devour and a cold beer to wash it down, I knew my evening was already well scripted. I could live with the fact that this takes place in Singapore too. I praise the innovativeness of the Singaporeans. You got to pay a visit to Clarke Quay to see what I mean.

But, my evening didn't go that pleasantly as I had wished for and it was all my fault : My thoughts wondered to an article I read in the Edge just that morning on my flight. The writer, after researching almost 2000 SMEs in Malaysia has concluded that our businesses are just not innovative. In fact he argued that many Malaysian businesses don't even feel the need to be innovative! A depressing thought to be entertained at such a moment but entertain it I did.

Any doubts about the writer’s conclusion? Try to find an outlet selling German beer and sausages along the Klang river! Or even a place to sit without foul smell for that matter!

Innovation, in my mind, is characterized by continuous reinvention and change. It is also characterized by hard work to differentiate not only in terms of products and services but also in values and behavior. Eversendai Corporation, is a Malaysian company which can vouch for the fact that by being innovative, Malaysian companies can overcome the odds to become truly world class. This specialist structural steel contractor is the epitome of innovativeness and hard work all rolled into one. Just take a look at Eversendai’s success list which began to take shape after their excellent delivery on the Petronas Twin Towers project :

Dubai : Burj Al Arab Hotel
Emirates Tower
Dubai Airport Control Tower
Dragon Mart
Etc

Qatar : Ritz Carlton
Khalifa Stadium
Etc

Bahrain : Al-Moayyed Towers

Saudi Arabia : Kingdom Centre

An these does not include numerous on-going land mark projects.

But why is innovativeness such a difficult thing to come by? I would like to propose the following top 5 reasons as to why we seem to be loosing out in the sphere of innovativeness:

1.Shackling employees to an extent that they find it to be not rewarding to be innovative.
2.A widespread culture of not tolerating genuine mistakes and failures.
3.Poor or non-existent reward system for innovativeness.
4.Labyrinthine bureaucracy.
5.An education system that limits the creativity by focusing too much on being ‘correct’ and not focusing on the ‘possible’ which finally produces a work-force who genuinely do not know how to be innovative.

And may I add one more particularly Malaysian-made innovation killer? Politics!

How else to explain the seemingly endless road blocks and resistance put in the path of a truly Malaysian innovation : Air Asia?

Tis’ the Time to Lead!

2009-01-27T11:17:00.002+08:00

Most of you who follow my writings (ranting?) will know that I don't care much for ‘charismatic’ leadership style. I would rather put my money on plain simple effective leaders.

I don’t have anything against these charismatic types but they just tire me. They become legends so undeservedly and go around strutting their stuff as if the world is indeed their oyster. Of course they get away with it as after all they are indeed….well…charismatic. They have their persona to carry them through the day. Until bad times come calling that is.

So, for all you charismatic leaders out there, here is a list of things you need to do NOW to earn your keep during the tough months ahead:

1.Go and find out how the various critical tasks are actually carried out around you. Go to the manufacturing floor. Take a ride with the delivery guys. Sit in during one of the weekly departmental meetings. Visit the Chinese kitchen of your hotel. Stand behind the ticketing officers of your airline. Have a cup of coffee at the staff cafeteria. Just be where the action is! Oh yes…I know you have done this before but this time I would like you to do it with a difference….Shut up and listen! Enough of your ‘positive attitude’.Enough of your ‘we can do it’ bravado. Now is the time for measured confidence layered with sincerity and honesty. Winston Churchill didn’t go raving about how the Brits are going to crush the Germans with one clean sweep for good reason. He told the Brits all the hard work and sacrifices they need to do and partake in….and then…only then…he told them of the possibilities of victory. He was honest and sincere and his people obeyed.

2.Take more interests in your numbers and figures. Get your financial people to explain to you where it hurts and what needs to be done. If you are too dense to understand the whole complexities of financial data (which I am too) get a trusted associate to explain it to you. Take a cue from Idris Jala, the MD of Malaysia Airlines who said that he didn't have to be an airline guy to know immediately what was ailing the company when he took a closer look at the numbers.

3.Reward innovativeness. If you have been as effective as a charismatic leader as I suspect you must have been, trust me when I tell you that you would have killed of many sources of innovative ideas in your company. Why? Because…..everybody else could never measure up against you. Or at least that is the impression you have been giving them unwittingly.

4.Seek out the status-quo challengers. It’s easy to find them as all you have to do is ask your managers. Seek their input as these rebels never see things as their managers do and you will be surprised to hear the creative solutions these ‘trouble-makers’ might have.

5.Encourage as many informal meetings that you can. In times of crisis, as undoubtedly today is, informal sharing sessions will be much more effective to drill further into the creative depths of your company that hitherto you did not have access to. Listen to these voices and make sense of them in business terms and immediately implement those that can help you improve your bottom line. Surely, more of such valuable ideas will be forthcoming.

So, go do something worthwhile for a change!

Japanese Housewives, Trend Setting, Life Changing : Global Recession

2009-01-26T11:21:00.003+08:00

It seems that the current global economic recession will be a trend setting one.
Futurists are saying now that the current economic recession will fundamentally change some of our behaviors and world view. Among others, it is predicted that people will become more cynical towards the so called environmentally friendly behaviors that we are supposed to practice. Take for example the little notices that we find in hotel baths asking us to re-use towels purportedly to save the environment by reducing the usage of detergent. But, we all know that whether we use one towel or two will in the final analysis, be of no consequence as everything else about the entire hotel industry is a colossal waste of resources. There will be a sort of back to basics ‘movement’ with home cooked meals and DIY habits once again taking root. People will be less of a consumer and more of a producer-consumer as in the agrarian societies of old.

And, Japanese housewives apparently will have a big say on which way this recession is going to go. Did you know that these gentle ladies of Nippon collectively control such a vast amount of money that if they do actually act in unison, they can move markets? Reminds me of my grandmother and her 'hoard' of cash under her pillow.

Well, trend setting or not, I think some things will never change and some should not. This past week or so, I have been busy delivering workshops and presentations to clients and despite all this doom and gloom, it is heartening to see that there are many consummate professionals out there who have just simply dug in and continue to do what they are supposed to do. I have already come across a couple of HR leaders who are going around doing their duties with utmost professionalism already knowing that they a mere months away from becoming redundant themselves. Yet, they are heroically putting up a confident front for the sake of their colleagues who are already departing the ranks. One even jokingly told me that “Well, you know…..we sink with the ship…”.

Coming back to the so called trend-setting recession as this one is touted to be, I believe that organizations should not allow any aspects of good corporate behavior to be compromised. Take for example, the nightmarish experience that my cousin had with a car dealer recently. After months of agonizing on which model to go for, he finally decided to buy a VW GTi. A truly mean machine and I was all excited for him but the whole experience for him has probably left a bad taste in his mouth. Firstly, barely 2 weeks after he paid his booking fee, the company announced a discount of RM20,000 on this particular model! When my cousin wanted to cancel his booking, the salesman convinced him otherwise by promising some extras which sounded good….if only they were fulfilled. The conclusion of this story is that this salesman used abusive verbal barrage against my cousin who yet again called this guy to get what he was promised! The whole experience turned out to be a bad one. The car is there. But, the buying experience is not there and being a net-generation, I can bet you that my cousin has already shared his experience with others and this particular dealership just dug his own grave : Allowing an un-ethical salesman to be in its midst and not doing anything about it.

I have been thinking about the RM20,000 reduction issue. It is the prerogative of the business owner to do what he needs to do to maintain his business. This is called strategy. But, could this strategy not be executed in a better way? For example, shouldn't the dealership and salesman forewarned buyers that there will be a discount offered soon BUT with some add-ons not being offered. That way, those who really want these add-ons will just buy at the current price as they have their eyes set on these extras while those who look at these as only ‘nice to haves’ may opt to wait for the discount to take effect. But, reducing such a hefty amount with no differentiation on the product will leave a bad taste on the more recent buyers who had to pay the higher price. Do you need an MBA to know this?

There is a reason why the term ‘Economic cycle’ was coined. It is a cycle! The economy will not stay down forever. But by resorting to unethical and unfriendly measures to both customers and employees, companies are just prolonging their troubles as when things get better and as more choices are made available, both consumers and employees will forsake these businesses. Pain lasts longer than most people would like to believe.

I salute those companies and business owners out there who have not changed their ethical ways to make a quick buck..no matter how justified that could have been made out to be.

Talent Management in Lean Times!

2009-01-09T07:48:00.001+08:00

Talent Management in Tough Times

What everyone agree upon is that the world economy is in recession. Opinions differ only in the severity of the downturn. My take is that things will get tougher after the Chinese New Year and the escalating middle east crisis will make things worst. Already, some of the world’s benchmark setting companies are reeling from the first wave of the downturn. This downturn is no longer some nebulous dooms-day scenario by an economists. It is a real and present phenomenon.

While we are fretting over the state of the economy and vis a vis it, companies’ financial performance, lets remember not to throw the baby out with the bath water. It frightens me at the speed of how some companies are laying off workers. I reckon out goes with these redundant workers, some key talents that the companies have spent a huge sum of money and time developing!

So, my advise to all HR decision makers is this : Hold your horses!

Listen, the recession may be knocking on our doors. Yes. But all critical data shows that Asia Pacific will show growth in 2009; albeit at a slower pace. In fact yesterday (6/1/08) the major bursars in Asia did better than expected. That means, things may get tougher but not entirely hopeless. Also, notice any difference between the current downturn and the previous one? I can see one major difference: The remarkable speed at which the major economic powerhouses acted! The Americans of course immediately took the bull by the horn as they always do but look at the Japanese. They sat on their butts while the previous downturn was eating away into their economy. This time around, they were up and running at the first sign of trouble. China, India, Thailand, Singapore, and even Malaysia announced mitigating efforts quickly and decisively. India may even reveal a supplementary economic stimulus soon. I suspect a few other countries will follow suit.

What this means is that, there is a possibility that this downturn will not be as deep as we think. Yes, demands for products and services has already declined from the US and Europe but it may be temporary in nature. Besides, most companies today are so lean and mean in nature that removing any part of its workforce will surely have a negative impact on its overall operation. I doubt that there are much fat left to trim since the last trimming in 1997.

Another worry for me is that companies may forget about their Generation Y employees. This will be their first major, conscious ‘difficult time’. They have had it good these last few years with companies and business leaders bending over backwards (because the economy was good) to accommodate the idiosyncrasies of these Generation Y employees (I like to call them the Starbucks Generation). Undoubtedly, businesses finally bought into the idea by social scientists that Generation Y employees are typically different and more fickle than their predecessors. This facebook-google-ipod generation was recognized as an entirely new ‘employee-type’ that needed to be managed differently. The old command and control style would just not work. A more laissez-faire management style with ample room for creativity and expression of individuality was seen as the preferred style for them. And, organizations found it to be absolutely true. Take the case of a grocery store chain in the US. This company wanted to enhance its web presence and its on-line sales. An external IT consultant quoted a couple of million dollars to get the whole thing off the ground. When some employees heard of this, they set up an impromptu team and presto! They had the whole thing done for less than USD250,000. One of them later, during her spare time, developed a mobile version of the website and on-line sales portal! Enter the Starbucks sipping Generation Y!

In some of the local companies that I have had the pleasure of servicing, I find extremely talented and ambitious young people. It’s almost like throwing ropes around them to keep them down as they are just too fast and too ‘clever’ for the current state of the company. In fact, yesterday I met a gentleman who has been in the same industry for 15 years and in his current company for about half of that. I can see that he loves his job and he is good at it. He has surpassed his performance target for 4 consecutively years. These are the talents that the company knows it will need a few years down the road. Some companies have worked hard and invested much in its HR framework to accommodate these employees. All in all, the system is primed and ready. Everything is in place. To throw all these out in a knee-jerk reaction will be such a waste and ultimately unnecessary.

Also, the Starbucks Generation don’t forget easily. They will remember how they are being treated right now. If they are treated well, they will show their gratitude later when the situation is such that they are able to perform at their best.

However, this is not to say that HR people should just sit down and wish all these bad vibes away. No! There are definitely steps to take and strategies to put in place.

Firstly, freeze all non-critical hiring but keep the doors open for some good talents that are out in the market.

Second, use the downtime for re-skilling your employees. Send them for both soft skills and technical skills training. Also, provide them with career management skills. Trust me, in my years of consulting experience, career management is something that employees truly appreciate and feel grateful for. For you and me that are seeds of loyalty.

Third, take an audit of your talent pool. If you haven’t done so, this is the best time to do it. Identify your talents and match them with what your company has strategized to do to weather this storm. Redeploy them if need be. Somewhere in that office there are people who are exactly the type you need when times are bad. These are the quiet but resilient ones. They may have stayed below the radar, but now you can leverage on them.

Finally, the one absolutely critical thing you need to do is to keep all communication lines open. Make sure that your people are in the know of the company’s performance. They need to be told the reasons behind what ever tough decisions you are going to make. Keep an eye on your hi-po’s. Notice any sort of restlessness and immediately arrange for a one-on-one coaching session to understand why and provide reassurances.

Whatever it is, I sincerely hope that your competitors are not the ones who are going to benefit from your talents a few years down the road. Also, I am sure you have given much business to consultants like me over the years when times were good. Now is the time to get some pay-back! Call your consultants and pick their brains for ideas and strategies. Make them your sounding board. In fact, I have been sending out emails to that effect to some of the senior HR people I know. Nothing beats sharing and two heads sitting down together to tackle a problem.

2009 : Through My Eyes

2009-01-03T18:27:00.003+08:00

Global Trends and Changes (Business)

1.Mega mergers of financial institutions. Probably involving North American and European banks. American law makers will pass a slew of new acts to allow the Feds to keep all forms of financial institutions under close scrutiny.

2.Chinese manufacturing may not recover from the current slump and this vacuum could be filled by India, Mexico and the former Soviet block countries. In India especially, manufacturing will loose it’s ‘dirty’ tag and become a profession of choice just as IT and services related jobs.

3.Chinese and Indian firms will aggressively buy into ailing western companies at fire-sale prices. Possibility of Indian, Chinese and Middle Eastern investors gaining a foot-hold in Detroit’s automotive industry is quite high.

4.More mergers in the airline industry with Asian flag carriers being the target this time.

5.The birth and widespread use of extremely affordable note-books which will change the industry inside-out. This will most possibly be spearheaded by giants like IBM and Microsoft with India, China and Latin America as the target markets.

6.Mega mergers of auto manufacturers.

7.Reconfiguration of air-line industry.

8.Hostile take-over of Yahoo by Microsoft!

9.Mergers involving the world’s three biggest pharma companies with GSK leading the way.

10. The first economical and viable battery powered mass production car.

Global Trends (Politics and Social)

1.2009 will be defined by Barrack Obama. He will have to manage the unbridled expectations placed on him and the payback that the various interest groups will be clamoring for. The world will begin to see more and more of America’s soft power.

2.Russia will flex its muscles further much to the chagrin of the hawks in Washington. A proxy war of sorts is in the cards. Russia’s dominance in gas supply to Europe will once again become the point of contention.

3.Japan will edge closer to end its pacifist constitution which will anger China. A new schism is quite possible in East Asia.

4.Chinese social revolt will finally come onto international radar screen. But, the Chinese involvement in trying to keep world economy from going into total chaos will win new friends in the capital markets of the world but popular politics will once gain spiral into China-bashing.

5.India’s relation with Pakistan will worsen and a war between these nuclear powers should not be ruled out. Unless of course, America and the international community decides to avoid an all-out war between these two countries by waging a managed war on Pakistan’s terrorist sheltering regions with UN blessings. As always and as what many believe, Pakistan’s semblance of governance exists only because it is anti India. Take that away and we have a full-fledged rogue nuclear nation. However, things may not be rosy for India with its national elections looming. A hung parliament is likely with the Congress and BJP loosing ground to regional parties. Economic and business wise, things should be quite predictable with the Indian Century continuing its progress.

6.Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear facilities while the Palestinians will look away from America as their peace brokers. Barrack Obama and his team will not have the same kind of self-proclaimed importance for the Arab-Israeli peace process. More and more Americans will come to see how their nation's blind support to Israel is undermining America's own international interests. Their voices will get organised this year.

7.The consolidation of institutions of higher education in the form of branding and marketing.

8.Protectionist policies and rhetoric will trump free market and liberalization. China will do all it can to protect its economy for anything less will create an unprecedented social calamity. This shift back to a closed economy will put the Chinese and the Americans on a loggerhead. Europe will gravitate to more conservative policies spearheaded by France. All over the world, proponents of globalization and free market economy will find themselves hard pressed to explain that globalization is the way forward.

9.A major military conflict in Africa with Mugabe playing a key role.

10.China will be less tolerant of North Korea. We may see some real breakthrough with the Hermit Kingdom but not before a huge nuclear scare in the Korean peninsular.

11. A firmer union of South American nations will take place with Brazil and Venezuela roughing it out for moral and political leadership.

12. Tamil Tigers will have the last say in Sri Lanka...at a terrible price. Any arm-chair analysts can see that they let go of their de-facto capital far too easily to government soldiers. This means only one thing : They are regrouping, re-arming and preparing for vengeance.

13. A turbulent year for Thailand (and ASEAN).

Malaysia (Business)

1.Datuk Tony Fernandez will sell down his interests in Air Asia. More active participation from Middle East players and Bumiputera centred institutional fund managers in Air Asia.

2.Labu LCCT project will not take off.

3.The merger of two or more banks to form a mega bank positioned to compete at regional levels.

4.Major changes in the railway industry beginning with KTMB and a possible second operator finally taking shape.

5.The establishment of unit trust funds specifically for Sabah and Sarawak in the likes of the current ASB.

6.Proton will move beyond Mitsubishi to form a business partnership with a European car maker most notably VW or Peugeot. Talks of merger with Perodua may also surface and be taken seriously.

7.Malaysia Airlines will form a ‘partnership’ with SIA.

8.AK will make some major moves in the market with probably institutional investor support. ASTRO may be taken private.

Malaysia (Politics and Social)

1.Will be a defining year for Malaysia. What Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak says and does immediately after taking over the reigns of the administration will define Malaysia for the next 50 years. He has 2 options : Go back to Mahathirism OR push forward with the reforms set in place by the Abdullah administration. The BN convention slated for early next year will be a watershed in Malaysian politics. The aftermath of this convention may see some BN component parties striking out on their own.

2.The Pakatan Rakyat will be severely tested. But, Perak Penang & Selangor will go further away from BN’s grip.

3.Radical Indian activism will take root.

4.Samy Vellu will not last the year as MIC president.

5.MCA will face its most serious leadership struggle in decades.

6.The return to active politics of certain questionable personalities will weaken UMNO's moral leadership further. The birth of a new generation of Young Turks will define UMNO's future and continued relevence to Malaysian polity.

In summary, I anticipate 2009 to be an exciting year which will define how future generations look at this generation. The world of business will witness a total re engineering with substance finally getting its deserved due over form. Asia-Pacific will still be the focus point of world economy.

Wake up Mother Malaysia!

2008-12-29T13:35:00.002+08:00

Mother Malaysia, I love you.

I have a great wish for you come 2009. I want you to wake up and squash the vile viruses that are spreading in your belly.

This nation, build on a promise of equality and social justice is being attacked on all sides by insidious forces which gained their nourishment from you. Now, they seek to destroy you. This nation which promised everyone a place under the sun, is now bleeding silently while a proxy war is raging in every single national institution. This nation which providence has brought together is being shattered by the hammer of parochial thinking.

Mother Malaysia, wake up.

There is great shadow cast over you now. In the name of God, EVERYBODY is carving you into little pieces. In the name of God, man’s supposedly holy institutions are spawning beasts of hatred and suspicions. They are sowing vile and venomous thoughts in your children. Babies come home from school and tell their parents that they hate the Malays (or the Indians or the Chinese)! Parents teach their children that they are somehow superior to others because they eat different or pray different. Teachers….oh the honorable teachers….have forgotten their sacred duties. Their loving eyes are no longer colour blind. Their love is coloured with preferences and biasness. Your schools were supposed to be a bastion of love and unity. Now, they are in shambles trampled by the putrid feet of those whose only desire is to see the continuity of their hegemony.

Mother Malaysia, wake up.

Time is running out. The world is moving so fast. You have blessed your children with great health and intelligence. Now, please bestow upon them with wisdom so that they can see the vanity of their ways. You have to make them see that this is the only home they have and they have to come together and huddle to keep warm in this cold…cold…brutal world. Will they not see that they are destroying you and they are going to end up on the streets of humanity with nothing but despair and regrets?

Mother Malaysia, wake up.

Will you not silence the politicians? Who are these vulgar beasts whose every word and action seem to drive stakes of differences into our hearts? They don't speak for me Mother. They never did and never will. Those who speak for me are those who right now are caring for the aged and diseased. Those who speak for me are those who right now are feeding and cradling a child of not their colour or race. Those who speak for me are those who right now are building this nation in the corporate offices of this land without fear or favour. Those who speak for me are those who view their neighbors as their kin and think not while rushing into the fire to save others or into a crumbling cliff to give another the breath of life. They are the ones who speak for me. Not these despicable vermins of society whose only legitimacy comes every five years I want them to stop speaking so that the beautiful melodious voice of your children can rise above the din of confusing and manipulative words of treachery being spewed in the most august of arenas. I wish for the true intelligence of your children, gained from your blessings no doubt, rise above the howls of these deceitful politicians.

Wake up Mother Malaysia!

Will you not halt the march of those evil minds disguised in robes of spirituality of all colours and shapes. They are all the same. They preach not the love of God but the blind alliance to their man-made institutions with their superficial rules and regulations. They are herding your children into a filed of fiery destruction while all the while chanting the holy names for God. Will you not strike them with retribution before they poison the soul of this nation?

Wake up mother Malaysia.

Will you not breathe the sacrosanct value of balance into this land? Teach your children that there is a time for one self and there is a time for others. There is a time for one’s same kind and there is a time for the good of all. This is a time for the latter. I want my two little girls to live in a haven of fairness, brotherhood and love which this nation has the potential to be. I want them to find the balance to learn their culture and language and remember their ancestry with the desire to protect what is sacred for the longevity of this nation. I want them to look at their friends as an extension of themselves NOT as an inconvenient presence to be tolerated. I want their friends to find that balance too. I want the august institutions of this land teach that balance.

Wake up Mother Malaysia.
For I believe in you as my ancestors did.
Wake up.