Selling with a Soul!

Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not....Oprah Winfrey





My personality profiles, of which I have a few, says that I will make a good salesperson. One says that I will excel in consultative sales. I used to think that I am not...that somehow these profilers have got it wrong with me but now I think I have always been a salesperson. I don't sell much ( as I didn't have a reason to) but I have been doing what good sales people are supposed to do, at least according to the sales books that I am reading.

So, what makes a successful sales person or rather what must one do to become successful at sales? Here goes some insights from a 'non-salesperson' who thinks he is not too bad after all:

1. Demonstrate integrity.
2. Show genuine interest, concern and care for client's 'pains'
4. Always...always steer the conversation to a common ground be it fashion,children, golf, or food.
5. Recognize that males and females buy differently.
6. Be convinced in what you sell.
7. Always sell solutions not products as products are a dozen a dime.
8. The higher the importance of the buying the more careful the buyer will be.This has nothing to do with the monetary value of the buying.
9. Be pro-active.
10. Be passionate.I have developed a simple tool called the 'Passion Meter' to gauge how fast one moves up the ladder from first contact to closing the sales.Remember our first love? Were we not passionate about that person? Didn't we have a game plan? Well, sales is not very much different from that.

I remember many years ago when a very succesful insurance sales agent told me that he is succesful in what he is doing because long ago before that he had learnt the lesson that he should stop 'selling' insurance. When he did that, his insurance business started to sell it self. So what did he sell then...dreams. The insurance was just a tool for his customers to 'buy' their dreams.

In my line of work, I don't sell programs. I sell solutions. Solutions that solves a problem or provides some cure for organizational ailments.

Taking Credit....Sharing Credit

The strong take from the weak and the smart take from the strong.
- Pete Carril, former Princeton basketball coach



I met 2 young executives who have just over a year or so been employed in a Malaysian blue chip company.They look and sound dynamic, passionate in what they do, supremely confident of their abilities and very much in love with what they do for a living. They are also, as they mentioned it a few times in our conversation, very thankful for being able to work for this company which is known for above market compensation and employee benefits.

Yet, these two guys came up to me with a real and burning issue. Their manager, it seems, is taking all the credit for the team's work AND is not playing the right kind of leadership role (in comparison to his predecessor). I think you can already see that there are 2 issues here. One is of a manager taking and not sharing enough credit and the other is of a team that is hankering to 'the good old days'.

OK. Lets look at issue no.1 : Bosses taking all the credit. I may be biased here but I am from the school that says 'make your boss look good'. As I pointed out to these young gentlemans, organizations by their very nature, are hierarchical.They have been so for the last 2000 years since the first Roman generals organized their armies to go to war. Each layer in this hierarchy is intended to make the layer above look good and the layer below feel good. The responsibility of executives is to ensure that their manager achieves all his targets and objectives. The responsibility of the manager is to ensure that his boss achieves all of her own targets and objectives.So it goes on and on right to the very pinnacle of the hierarchy.

A manager is supposed to manage. The rest are supposed to execute the resulting strategies and approaches of that 'managing'. If a manager's value and leadership is measured by how much he gets his hand dirty; we have got it wrong. Yes, we do want managers to manage'by walking around', to 'manage by example' to manage 'by objectives'. Agreed. But, they are to manage first and foremost. Period.

Now you see why sometimes when a particular manager is away, the whole department seems to come to a standstill waiting for his return? He has been doing a wonderful job...except managing others to do what they are supposed to do FOR him.

Now, as for taking and giving credit, it is a question of value. I remember during my early days in the world of consulting and corporate training, my boss/mentor often used my creative output when dealing with clients without once giving credit to me. I used to be a little upset about this ( a lot actually) but then I realized he gave me the credit that really matters to me at that point of my development....pay and reward. He also often gave me the credit I craved by giving me the freedom I need to design a particular program the way I see fit. He never questioned my approach or methodology. So, even if he had given all the credits to me in front of the client and stopped there, I am the looser. He knew when, how and what kind of credit to give. I am eternally grateful for that.

But that is not to say that there aren't managers who hoard credit and praise. These are weaklings. They will not go far and even if they do they will never have that one element of true greatness : Trust.

Issue no.2 is all too human. We have a tendency to hate the moment and hanker for the past. An effective manager is not the same as a 'nice' manager. Expecting a new manager to have the same style as the previous one, regardless of how nice and/or effective the previous was, is a game with no winners. Can you imagine what would have happened to GE, if everybody there started comparing Immelt with Welch and keep going back to 'the good old days'? Just look at what is happening in Malaysia. Get the picture.

For all you German fans : Prepare to cry tonight!

Russia Wins!

"...and one brilliant coach beat eleven excellent players. When you play under such a great manager, we play a totally different game." ...Andrei Arshavin.

Russia 3 Holland 1.
Remember that score people.

Brilliant tactically! That is the only thing that needs to be said of yesterday's game. Gus Hiddink once again proves that having 11 great performers is only one side of the story, the other is the tactics. For me tactics/strategy is not to win games but to bring together the strengths of 11 great players into synergy. When this is done, winning takes place naturally.

Holland will rue this day. It will assemble another great team for another go at another major trophy but I don't think they will do any better than this time. Holland loves her self too much. She loves her total football just too fanatically that she often fails to understand that such strengths do not work on all opponents.

Total football is a tactic whereby when a player moves out of his position, another takes over that position and consequently the structure of the team on-field is kept intact. This is a fluid system whereby no player (except the keeper) has a fixed outfield role. Adaptability and flexibility is the name of the game. First invented by Jack Reynolds of the famous Ajax Amsterdam team and later refined by Rinus Michels also of Ajax it became synonymous with the great Dutch teams of 70s,80s and 90s. . Johan Cruyff later brought it to Barcelona.

Total Football (Totaalvoetbal, in Dutch) works well: only when your opponents gives you space. If your opponent closes you down and chases every ball and every pass and every throw, you had it. Russia did exactly that. Every team that has defeated Holland while using this system has done that. Of course for a team to counter that, it must have a tremendous amount of energy which the Russians had. Thanks partly to Andrei Arshavin's suspension for the first 2 games. He, as the live-wire of the team had that extra contribution to make. Hiddink, him self a Dutch with strategic acumen second to none capitalized on it. In fact his controversial decision back in Russia to include Arshavin in the team has paid off handsomely.

Marco van Basten will helm Ajax next season. Another Dutch team will be formed and once again the bulk of that team will come from Ajax. Long live Totaalvoetbal....although you may never win anything.

Russia will be waiting for either Spain or Italy.

I will bet on Russia to go all the way.

In the beginning there was the Word……..


Isn't it amazing what words can do? They excite, anger, pacify, caress, demand, and do a host of other things to us humans. As Eminem sings "...words are a mother%$#@*@, they can make you hate or make you love...". They certainly do. The words of one man heralded the birth of the Civil Rights movement which was influenced by the words of another; a frail man from India whose frailty vanishes the moment he begins to speak. The powerful and guarded words of Deng Xiaoping opened the floodgates of China's modernization. Similarly a former statesman of our's is going around spewing
words of racial venom. Powerful, these words can be! Ask Obama, he knows. Hilary Clinton knows it too albeit a little too late.

My closest friends know how crazy I am about football. They also call me crazy for supporting Aston Villa FC for the last 24 years. Don’t you dare say Aston who? I follow all the major leagues and tournaments. During the last few World Cups, I turned my living room into a mini World Cup corner. I do the same for Euro and recently even for the Copa. But for this Euro……nothing much.

I realized that up to now, all my World Cups and Euros and Copas have been ‘celebrated’ with people who in one way or another are also into them. We talked, we shared…we teased…we predicted…we lamented…we commented…we defended daily about the goings on. The commonality between all these : words. They excite! They create energy and this is what that moves us to take actions.

This time around, I find there is a lack of words shared about the Euro in my social space. Hence, there is no excitement. Sure, I catch some of the more important games but the ‘celebration’ is just not there. The event is there and is grander than the previous ones but I am not as connected to it as I would like to be. I am not as 'moved' to be into it.

Now, how many managers and leaders use words to inspire and motivate their people to greater achievements? How many use words to demoralize and belittle the very people through whom they are supposed to achieve? I mean think about it, we launch a grand new idea for the company or the department but fail to inspire our people to get excited about it. Why? Our words were just not inspiring enough. We simply fail when it comes to using words to transfer the passion from our hearts to the hearts of others. Some of the best company annual dinners that I have had the privilege to attend have been those where the CEO/GM gave a passionate, honest and inspiring speech. Most times, managers expect their people to get excited on a project using their own devices. Sorry, it does not work that way. Someone has to evoke that excitement and commitment with carefully chosen words of wisdom, encouragement and motivation. Most of all they must be words of honesty and integrity.

I think it was IBM's former CEO who once said that the single most important competitive advantage of IBM is its managers' ability to coach. Now, how do managers become effective coaches? Through words. Jack Welch often spoke of inspiring people and he himself often did; through sharp no nonsense and sincere words.

So, lets choose our words carefully for they have great powers. And, since we are talking about the power of words, the following may make the point more succinctly :


A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet.
He held up a sign which said: 'I am blind, please help.'
There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words.
He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up.
A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.
That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were.
The boy recognized his footsteps and asked,
'Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?'
The man said, 'I only wrote the truth. I said what u said but in a different way.'
What he had written was: 'Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.'
Do you think the first sign & the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Hard Times Are Coming...

It was the best of times....it was the worst of times...

Today, we as a nation are on the brink of greatness. With one simple and swift movement we can quantum leap this beloved nation of ours into the holy grail of developed status . With just one quick change, we can become the catalyst for the development of this region to its fullest potential. We can become the driver. Singapore can finally take a break and enjoy the ride instead!

Whats going for us right now? Let me list that :

1. We have the infrastructure. Vietnam is the new blue-eyed boy of investors but boy, do they have a long way to go for their infrastructure to be in place. Besides, only the most ignorant of politicians and policy makers will ask us to compete against Vietnam. Why should we? Vietnam is doing what we were doing in the 70's! We have moved up the scale. And, don't even dare to compare us with Burma!

2. We have an educated work force. Forget about their inability to deliver a decent presentation. Also, forgive them of their poor command of the English language: we didn't raise a whimper when the nation's leaders sent the language into oblivion. They are however, intelligent, hard-working and hungry for success. I know as in my previous life in the academia, I came across many, many of these gems. Many of them are now in Singapore and Australia (!).

3. Our two most important cultural,psychological and historical partners India and China have awaken.They are blazing their ways into world economic superstardom. We can easily take a ride with them. We just have to leave our hang-ups behind.

4. Europe is renewing, Asia is awakening and the United States is stagnant. That is just perfect for us. Lest others forget, let me remind you guys that Malaysia has many friends in Europe, Asia and Africa. Remember the axiom 'everything being equal, people buy from friends'? Well, I think its time to test that.

5. We ARE a materialistic society. That is good you know as that is what drives the economy. We buy more, we use more, and we create more.

6. We are right smack in the flattening of the world. We have always been a bridge between the east and the west. When Europeans started to sail around the world, they flattened the world in some ways and guess where they stopped to rest and re-stock? So, we have always had a role to play in the gradual flattening of the world. We need to seek out our new roles in the latest round of world-flattening.


7. We are no.3 in business process outsourcing. We are one of the largest trading nations. We have one of the biggest maritime fleet. We have some of the most iconic structures (ask the branding guys and they will tell you how poorly we are using these to our advantage), we still have one of the largest rain forest reserves in the world, we still a substantial oil reserves ( remember how 20 years ago they said we will run out of oil in 20 years time?.

8. And finally, of course we are behind Maldives in FIFA world ranking! Hey, it could be worse...so who cares.


So with all the above what is that "...one simple and swift movement we can quantum leap this beloved nation of ours into the holy grail of developed status . With just one quick change, we can become the catalyst for the development of this region to its fullest potential."? My list would be the following; I would like to hear yours too.

1. A change in mind-set towards China, India and Africa.Don't watch too much CNN.
2. True and fair talent attraction and retention strategies.
3. De-politicization of education.
4. Political will to bring back the English language into prominence.
5. Focus on racial unity.
6. Empower institutions of higher learning.
7. Better branding of our strengths
8. Outsource our football to the Maldives!

Cheers everybody.

The Starbucks Generation

The Starbucks Generation is a term coined to describe a new breed of people. Amazing isn't it? An entire demographic segment has been identified with a product; in this case the Starbucks Coffee. But, that's for another day. What I would like to examine here is : Who is this Starbucks Generation?

The Starbucks generation is supposed to elude to the new generation of people who have the following characteristics :

1. Constantly on the move.
2. Constantly connected.
3. Constantly networking with others.
4. Constantly yearning for better, bigger, faster.
5. Constantly spending.

There you are...the Starbucks Generation.

This is the generation that is supposed to do business at the 'speed of thought'. They are addicted to every tiny bites of information and as a natural extension of that, the Internet. They are obsessed with career development. They, if a friend of mine is to be believed, have nothing but their careers. They are are in love with themselves and their careers. They are apolitical with a devil may care cavalier.

The implication: How do we, the non-Starbucks Generation manage them at our work-place ? Will the tried and tested methods suffice or do we have to update ourselves with new skills and attitude? The jury is still out.

By the way...any good place for tea?

Cheers.

The Last Mile

A few years ago, I did some work for a fibre-optic operator. In my numerous discussions with the CEO, I became familiar with a term that he often used....the last mile. In the jargon of his industry, the last mile refers to the final connectivity between the major fibre optic trunks that run the width and breath of this country (mostly along railway tracks) and the end user (homes and businesses). In this case, my client provides the last mile. So, even if a competitor manages to build enough financial strength to operate a fibre optic line, my client still holds the last piece of the jig saw without which the entire fibre optic line is useless. That's how I got to know the concept of the last mile.

This word cropped up in my mind a few days ago when I was asked to prepare a training proposal on the topic of 'Effective Complaint Management'. I have done this training numerous times before, so developing another customized one is not a problem. The problem is...I just don't think the training will work. Why? I can bet you that the last mile is not in place. First of all, why is that any organization gets lots of complaints from its customers? There must be something wrong with its business processes right? Yes. So, what is the best way to overcome that? You are absolutely right! The only way to overcome that is to improve the business processes. What can a 2-day training program do if the last mile is out of order. It will just become another training to complete the calender. Sad!

There was once when I did a similar program, I got to know the real issue which was the client's poor management of its frequent computer breakdowns and on-line service lapses (which happens to be the core of its business process). Obviously no amount of effective complaints handling strategies are going to work until they get that sorted out. They simply have to get their last mile right.

So, you can imagine the rush of excitement coming over me when one particular client came up to me and briefed me about all the internal processes and avenues available for the program participants to put in practice what I am going to train them on! Boy, was I motivated that day. That was one of the best 2-day programs ever for me and I am sure, for the participants too.

Get the last mile correct. Your investments in training and development will have better ROI.

Wishing you a Happy Wesak Day. May the wisdom of the Buddha shine your path.

The Untouchables

There are employees and there are untouchables. I am going to focus on the latter this time around. I am sure you will find this interesting and will even be able to relate to it.

Lets first categorize these organizational untouchables:

1. Those who are super-good and super efficient but gets in the face of everybody else.
2. Those who are essentially destructive to the organization but has a certain hold on certain individuals at the higher levels of the organization.


The first type are super performers. They achieve results, meets targets and are hungry for more. They walk with a swagger that shows confidence and self-assurance that can only come with years of success and more success. They are experts in their areas of work. They radiate passion and enthusiasm. The problem with this type of untouchables is that they are poor 'people-person'. They often feel others are beneath them and have no qualms showing that. They want things done their way. They are always right. I remember one from this type in my own experience. She was a sales person who has been with this particular company for a long time. Her sales numbers were quite impressive as per the company's standards then. However, over the years the sales volume dropped. Numerous sales personnel were brought in but everyone left the company in less than one year. But the super-performing untouchable stayed on and earned more loyalty points from the boss. When I was asked to help the company's turn around plan, I identified her as the major stumbling block to the sales growth. She has decided, in her own mind, that if she could bring in good sales previously but the sales growth is slowing down now than the reason must be something other than her self. So, when the new sales people were brought in, their ideas are always suppressed first by her than later by themselves as they find their ideas are always rejected outright by her. And, when I decided to help her see this, she resisted and ran back to her boss. The boss defended her. She became an official untouchable. The rest of the sales team (which to this day I was told is constantly changing)felt betrayed by this one person.

The second group of untouchables are usually the most dangerous. They often have a strong emotional hold on certain key individuals in the organization. Sometimes this can be sexual in nature but usually it is a strong win-win bond that this person is very adapt at creating. These are the individuals that insecure leaders and managers rely on to get the so called 'office politics news'. In return the untouchable enjoys a certain level of immunity and tacit support from the manager. The web of relationships developed by this type of untouchables are so complicated and powerful that it is often impossible to determine who is under this person's influence.

Know any untouchables?

The Art of Managing People & Developing Leaders

A survey by Fortune to find out how the world's top companies develop their leaders in a global economy threw up some interesting stories and some not so interesting ones (but often over-looked by most others). The following is a gist of the responses given by the surveyed companies. For more details go to :
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0709/gallery.leaders_global_topten.fortune/8.html



Hindustan Unilever
Mumbai, India

Revenue1: $2.74 billion
No. of employees: 15,000
CEO: Douglas Baillie

"Place the Right People in the Right Jobs".

General Electric
Fairfield, CT, U.S.

Revenue1: $168.3 billion
No. of employees: 300,000
CEO: Jeffrey Immelt

"GE's legendary Crotonville training facility".


Nokia
Espoo, Finland

Revenue1: $51.6 billion
No. of employees: 68,500
CEO: Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo

"Create a Mentoring Mentality".



McKinsey

Revenue1: More than $1 billion3
No. of employees: 14,000
CEO: Ian Davis, managing director

"Groom Global Talent".



Infosys Technologies
Bangalore, India

Revenue1: $2.2 billion
No. of employees: 76,000
CEO: Kris Gopalakrishnan

"Empower Young Employees".


There is nothing definite about people management. It is, in essence, a recipe that you need to try and tinker with as you go along. So, there is a science and there is an art about it. The danger is when one becomes too much artistic about people management (results not achieved but the people are happy) or when one is too scientific (results are achieved but people are miserable.

So, whether you build a sophisticated training facility like GE or empower your youngest and brightest like Infosys, you will still need to adopt and adapt to suit your company's unique needs and peculiarities.

Success may not be guaranteed but self satisfaction is! So, go on...develop your people and make them into global leaders.

Tan Sri SM Nasimuddin : The Passing of a Giant

I don't think I have written much about the late Tan Sri or his Naza group. Hardly any I think. Thats strange considering that I have a lot of respect for the man. Once I had a meeting with one of his long time managers at the Naza Group's office at Kampung Baru and the respect Tan Sri enjoyed among his staff was palatable.

How should we remember him? An innovator!

Rest in piece Tan Sri. You fought the good fight. Your job is done.

Oh! My Leg!

I had a fall...a nasty one. Right in the middle of Bukit Bintang, opposite the spanking new Pavillion. There was a pothole!....on the pedestrian path. Nice to be reminded that we are still in Malaysia despite March 8!

My left feet is swollen around the ankle. The more I walk the bigger the swelling. Splendid. The day after my fall (Tuesday evening), I went to a neighborhood clinic. The good Dr didn't even touch my leg. He didn't even bother to ask me to pull my jeans up. He just said, "lets take an x-ray to eliminate the possibility of a bone fracture". He called a name that sounded like Ina. Ina walked in, whisked me away into another room and snap! snap! it was done. "No fracture. Only a slight tendon tear. I will give you some pain killers and let natural healing take place". With that, the Dr made RM65.00 from me. Even before I lifted my butt off his chair, he rang his bell to signal in the next patient.

Now, forgive me for being nostalgic here...I blame it on the pain, but if I were to be living about 20 years ago in my hometown Rawang and if I had walked into one of the little clinics on Maxwell Street, it would have been a whole different scenario. The Dr would have pressed here and there just to be sure I am really in pain and that I really had a fall and not just fishing for an MC to prolong my Labour day holiday. Then, when the pain is obvious to him, he will immediately put on a kinder face and tell me there and then that it is not a bone fracture. All I need is some rest, some good old massage from my grandma and it will be ok. X-ray? Pooodah...don't waste your money! After that, here is the catch, he will sit back and take a quick glance at my green medical card to remind him something about me or my sister or my grandma or my grandfather; we all go to that same clinic. For everything. He will then ask a few pertinent and personalized question about ME and and with a huge smile, tell me to take my medicines at the 'counter'. I will walk out smiling (remember thats not how I walked in)and look forward to my next fall. After all, its not everyday that somebody as important as DOCTOR remembers something about ME and MY family!

Did somebody mess up med training syllabus? Is there a new Minister in town? Oh yes...its still Malaysia despite March 8. Like so many other services in this country, the medical services have become a faceless industry.

For those of you who would like to make your donations, address your cheques to....

50 Most Innovative Companies

The following is the list of the world's most innovative companies as determined by BusinessWeek and the Boston Consulting Group.


01. Apple
02. Google
03. Toyota Motor
04. General Electric
05. Microsoft
06. Tata Group
07. Nintendo
08. Procter & Gamble
09. Sony
10. Nokia
11. Amazon.Com
12. IBM
13. Research In Motion
14. BMW
15. Hewlett-Packard
16. Honda Motor
17. Walt Disney
18. General Motors
19. Reliance Industries
20. Boeing
21. Goldman Sachs Group
22. 3M
23. Wal-Mart Stores
24. Target
25. Facebook
26. Samsung Electronics
27. AT&T
28. Virgin Group
29. Audi
30. Mcdonald’S
31. Daimler
32. Starbucks
33. Ebay
34. Verizon Communications
35. Cisco Systems
36. ING Group
37. Singapore Airlines
38. Siemens
39. Costco Wholesale
40. HSBC
41. Bank Of America
42. Exxon Mobil
43. News Corp.
44. BP
45. Nike
46. Dell
47. Vodafone Group
48. Intel
49. Southwest Airlines
50. American Express


If you look at the list closely and if you had been following this annual ranking as I have had, you will notice that for the first time ever Tata Group and the Reliance Group have made it. They are at the top 25. You will also notice that Singapore Airlines is at number 37.

I can also bet you that somebody somewhere in the labyrinth that is called Putrajaya would have us believe that this list is of no importance and that it is 'subjective'. That's what they have us believe of Time's Higher Education Ranking.

Look, all listings are always subjective. In fact, how do you measure such as things as 'innovation' and 'quality'. You objectivity will go only so far. Agreed.

Yet, they are not entirely false or useless. There is still a substantial measure of truth in it and more importantly it influences investor perception. It affects the kind of talents you attract and it determines the kind of share holder value you can promise.

A few years ago, the companies that made into this list were almost always from the USA, Europe and Japan. Then the Koreans stated to get into the act. We just smirked and said : "Well...you know...they are so advanced anyway....." Now, the Indians are on the list and soon so will be the Chinese. I am putting my money on Lenovo and the Nanjing Automobile company to make the list soon. Maybe even their brewer, Tsingtao beer which has been making inroads into mainstream beer drinking culture.

Where are Malaysian companies? Maybe AirAsia should be somewhere in the list. It did make into another listing but not this one. Without taking anything away from the great people at AirAsia, its model is not an innovation per se. It is indeed a clever adaptation of an existing model pioneered by Rynair. Making a USD2500.00 car which is sent to entrepreneurs who assemble them is a first for mankind! That alone has put Tata Motors with its Nano on the list.

Fair or not this listing is here to stay. Whether we like it or not, it will influence peoples' decision making. Lets try to get ourselves into the list rather than slip into a bubble of self delusion.

By the way, whatever happened to our MSC, Biotech hub, aviation hub and all the other hubs that were supposed to put us on the world map? Go figure.

Cheers and have a great week ahead.

Teaming for Excellence

It is actually so easy really to understand an organization's culture. All one has to do is to observe the relationship patterns between the staff and their boss. In my case I rarely have this opportunity as not many bosses are willing to spend a couple of days with their staff in a training program. On the rare occasions when I do find a boss in my programs together with their subordinates, I am amazed at the open culture between them. In fact I am of the opinion now that it is precisely because of the open culture that the bosses are willing to be on par with their subordinates by taking the trouble to be with them in a training program.And, their subordinates are not averse to voicing out issues and matters that may have turned some traditional bosses red!

Last weekend I was with Mr. Jamie Troup, the Counsellor & Counsel General of the Australian High Commission and his team at Holiday Inn Melaka. Boy, did we have great fun AND in the process also discovered some interesting strengths and weaknesses of the team that hitherto were hidden. The program was titled Teaming for Excellence and was organised by Headway Training and Development Centre (one of the most professional Training Providers that I have come across in my business in the last 12 years.

The openness of communication, the genuine willingness to accept criticisms and the generous dose of praise and encouragement that the entire team gave each other was inspiring to say the least. Of course, like all teams, there are always challenges and misunderstandings. There are always questions raised on why this and why that. But, that is natural. As I said to them, if our team members are constantly challenging and questioning our every move, it is a sign that they have taken ownership of the team. They care. We should start worrying only when the team becomes a 'yes man'.

It was a satisfying week-end for me personally as I really felt that together, we managed to break new grounds to take the team to greater heights.

Well done Mr.Jamie and Ms. Kelly. You presence was appreciated more than you will ever know.

Cheers mates!

'You can act like me, but I can't act like you'

Marlon Brando, it seems, once said the above to Sivaji Ganesan when both legendary actors met in Hollywood.

Now, that is what I call a compliment...in fact that is an award by itself. And, I love both men. They are, for me, the epitome of 'passionate hearts at work'. Sivaji was reported to have said that he would like to leave his physical body while at work....acting. Having acted in more than 300 Indian movies (Tamil, Telegu, Hindi,etc), Sivaji has left a mark so profound that not many will dare to call himself or herself as the greatest actor of Tamil cinema for a long time to come. Anyway I doubt there are many people around who can memorize a 95 page script in one day....in classical Tamil! The American Film Institute has named Brando as the 4th greatest male star of all time.

Brando's passion behind such great films like A Streetcar Named Desire and as the iconic Vito Corleone are film materials by themselves. For his role in The Men, he spend a month in bed at a veterans hospital!

Both these actors had a prolific career spanning genres and social changes and they were also of the same generation. Sivaji was born in 1927 and died in 2001 while Brando was born in 1924 and died in 2004. Sivaji acted in his first movie in 1950 (Parasakthi) while Brando in 1950 (The Men).They made movies that broke new boundaries, questioned mores, challenged the status quo and finally enhanced the careers of many others. They developed an acting style that is distinctively theirs and theirs alone. They interpreted their characterizations in ways that set new standards and they did it all with a sense of purpose, destiny AND passion.

No meaningful work or long lasting legacy has ever been produced by those who lack passion for what they do. This applies for the first ever cave artists to present day software designers. Truth to be told, we mere mortals are slaves to those have passion for what they do. Van Gogh, Kitaro, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Hitler, Gandhi, Dr.King, Stalin, Mao,and Mother Theresa have one common denominator : Passion for what they believed in. Some of them of course had their passion hijacked by unfounded fears, greed and revenge. But, it was passion nonetheless.

Passion in work makes our efforts worthwhile. Passion in work makes us more creative problem solvers (Brando stuffed cotton balls into his mouth to have a puffed up look as the don of a crime family in the Godfather!. Passion in work brings us recognition (Columbus city of Ohio once named Sivaji as its honorary citizen). Passion in work makes all the pain vanish without a trace. Passion in work is the differentiator between excellence and mediocrity.

So, coming back to Sivaji, do you know that a German mint has produced old medallions in remembrance of the great man? He also holds a national award from the French government.

Go get a Sivaji or Brando movie and see their passion oozing in every facial expression and muscle twitch.

I wish you passion.

Why Do We Do It?

Every time I am on the road during the peak hours especially in the mornings, I wonder at the amazing rush of people and vehicles all heading towards one direction as if it is some sort of a religious sojourn. One which they must do devotedly for the salvation of their soul. The destination : Work.

Imagine how much our lives actually revolve around work and the office (where ever that is for you). We plan our entire life around this thing called work/office. We live our life guided and goaded by work at all it's inherent joys and tears. We spend hours working and we spend hours at home and at play talking about work. We bring back work to our homes. We take the 'burden' of work to our mosques, temples and churches. We cut short our hospital stay for work. We arrange our marriages to suit our work schedule. We agonize when things don;t go well at work. We live for(not to) WORK.

Yet, how many of us do it with a heart full of gladness? I am not talking about the gladness that we are lucky to have work and not living in Lesotho. I am referring to the feeling of gladness that we have a great work place to go to. I suppose the people at DiGi will feel that way. But for the vast majority of us, work is probably a dread. We would rather strike a Mega or 6/49 and retire!

But does it have to be that way? I would say no and there are two parties involved in taking work out of the dread zone : Us and our leaders. There are critical roles to be played by business leaders to make work a joy for their people and there are also many self directed responsibilities that we must taken on to make work a joyful part of our lives.

The many things that I write about in this blog are essentially to make the work place more inviting. I guess at the end of the day, that is the sole objective of every consultant/trainer regardless of the fancy titles we give ourselves and the work that we do for organizations. I remember when an employee of a company came up to me after my program one day and said that he is more positive now about his job as he can see the possibility that he can be happy in that organization. To this day I am not sure how he made the connection between Effective Leadership Skills and being happy at his work place! I thought I came down hard on their lack of initiative to be leaders as that was the message my client wanted me to emphasize. Anyway, whatever works right?

So, lets get happy now at work......while we wait for our 6/49!

Cheers.

The Art of Closure

Have you ever attended a great party .ie. one that began splendidly? I am sure you have. How about a party that ended on the same note?

I guess it is relatively easy to have a great party as all you need is to keep the excitement up. The way to do this will depend on the type of party...birthdays, homecoming, bachelor party, etc. One just has to fill up the time with a stream of exciting activities, humour and free flow of food and drinks.

However, regardless of the type of party or how exciting it was for 5 hours straight into the night, one has to bring it to a closure. How one ends a party is as important as how the party was started in the first place. So, closure is important and just like the beginning of a party that needs careful planning, so does the closure.

You know, I never talk about anything in this blog if it has no relevance to business and work. You are right! There is much to learn from party closures to organizational closures. I am not talking about closing down the organization of course. I am talking about the closure that is needed for every organizational change, transformation and new direction. Without an effective closure an organization can go on forever 'branding' or perpetually 'merging' or eternally 'transforming'.

The closure is as important as the beginning. Did I say that already? Well, its important so I am going to say it yet again : Closing is as important as opening. Most organizations do begin a change effort (in all its dimensions) quite well. They invest much resources into it. Every step is planned carefully but yet many of these efforts turn out to be 'failures'. In truth, they are not failures...not yet anyway. They are just probably change efforts that have yet to find an appropriate closure. People are still in a flux. The environment is still dynamic. Change fatigue may also have set in but for all good purposes, it is yet to qualify as a failure. Not yet anyway.

So, how to find an effective closure. The following may form a broad framework:

1. Have a time frame. Define the time frame clearly and realistically. The words ' THE END' must appear somewhere!

2. Review. Review not the success or failure at this stage but review each person's contribution so that each and everyone is clear about his/her contribution and feels that what was needed to be done, has been done. In other words, a change effort or any other organizational initiative will not 'end' if there is a judgment of good and bad before an evaluation of what and who.

3. Celebrate. Celebrate the closure first regardless whether the initiative has succeeded or not. Have another celebration when a judgment /measurement of its success has been made. Surely, our people's 'effort' needs to be celebrated as much as the 'results' of that effort.

4. Appoint closure agents. These are people who can heal wounded egos and hurt feelings. They are the ones who will bring everybody together and make everyone focus on what truly matters : Team spirit. These closure agents should never be the highly driven and task oriented ones in the team. It should be those who are more accommodating and people oriented.

5. Say thank you. If you are the leader of the initiative, say 'Thank you very much people'. Sending them off to Pulau Tioman as a gesture of appreciation is not the same as them hearing you say 'Thank you'. Do you really think they need you to get them to Pulau Tioman and for all that work too?

Hope that helps those of you struggling with how to close the project that you are on now.

Well, for people of Tamil origin all over the world, the year is coming to a closure. A new beginning will burst forth. For us, Malaysian Tamils, we have a few more hours for our closure before the New Year takes its birth at 7.25pm. I wish you success, prosperity, health and wisdom. Most importantly, I wish you love.

God bless!

Managing the Creative Types!

I remember a young guy who used to work with me in my previous engagement with a T&D company. He was employed as our IT Manager of sorts. Fresh out of college, with long hair, baggy pants, blood shot eyes and devil may care attitude. I met him at the pub he was working in once and despite my less than satisfactory first impression of him, I was intrigued by his sharp mind and interest in what I did. He then proceeded to tell me what IT, specifically web-sites can do for my business. The next day, I spoke of this guy to my boss and he was employed a week later.

He developed an impressive website for which we just had to give him the words and a rough idea of what we expected to see. With that, he did wonders.

The trouble was, he was the archetypical creative type with a rebellious streak to boot. He will walk into the office at 9.30 (30 minutes later than us) and would drag himself through the day. However, as the day progresses, he will become livelier and livelier and while we would be tired by 6pm he would be all fired up and shooting off ideas and concepts. There was once, he almost sleep walked into the office because he was so excited about a particular thing we asked him t do that he didn't sleep the whole night. The catch is, his work day starts at 10 pm!

He didn't last long with us. With hindsight, I will say now that it was us who didn't last long with him. We just could not (maybe even did not want to) accommodate this guy. His style was against everything sacred we held about work ethics and such!

Every time I share this story with managers, a knowing look will flash across their faces. Every office will have this creative type. It is not limited to any particular job function. You will find them through out the organization. These talents are waiting to be unearthed. These are potentials waiting to be unleashed.

Although every business will have its own unique requirements and limitations, I would like to propose the following general rules on how to manage these creative types:

1. Understand them. Talk to them often and in as much a casual manner as possible.These people are not interested in power and position. They need to be shown appreciation for their creative ideas. They need to be acknowledged as subject matter experts.

2. Develop a mutually agreed flexibility options. These can range from working time, reporting schedule, project time-lines, etc.

3. Provide continued resource. Send them to conferences and seminars related to their area of interest. Subscribe magazines and journals for them.

4. Allow them to exhibit their particular quirky habits as long as it is not going to affect the company's image and bottom line! Come on, if they want to have hip-hop songs let them have it.

5. If you have to disagree to their ideas, first praise them for taking the trouble to think about it. Then, proceed to argue your case why it will not be feasible. Conclude by saying that, maybe it will be better to keep it at the back burner for a more suitable set of circumstances in the future.

6. Don't ever insinuate that they are only good at coming out with ideas and not good at implementing them! Thats your job.

7. Finally, let them loose BUT not before the targets are clearly spelled out and deliverables are defined.


It will not be easy guys but trust me that these are gems that we need in our organizations.

The Rise of the Tatas and Wongs and Carloses.

Well, I am using the words Tata, Wong and Jose figuratively to mean India, China and South America (yes South America. Not many seem to think that South America is waiting in line to take over the mettle of world economy!)

Just a few days ago, it was announced that the Yankees (Ford) have sold the Brits (Jaguar and Land Rover) to the Indians (Tata). We all know that MG Rover is owned by the Chinese (Nanjing Autombile Company). Soon it is quite possible that NAC may evoke the same feelings that BMW evokes today or Tata may mean the same sense of pride and superiority as Bentley does today. And then of course we have Carlos Slim who is buying over everything in sight. Embraer, the Brazilian plane maker is having a go at the traditional playgrounds of Boeing and Airbus. Mittal owns a huge chunk of world steel output. The list goes on.

I have written before on the rise of these nations. I am moved to write again on this subject because I feel infuriated when I hear Malaysians talk and behave like we are still the Malaysia we used to be in the 70s and 80s and early 90s. There was a time when Malaysia was the blue eyed boy of world corporate leaders but not anymore.Where are we today? Nowhere! Think about it...what is our competitive advantage? Truly Asia? World class infrastructure? Skilled work force? Cheap production cost? Biotechnology? Political stability? Open economy? Ease of doing business? Which ever way we look at it, somebody else is doing a better job at the so called competitive advantage that we claim we have. Remember the early private higher education entrepreneurs in Malaysia? They were the first to innovate in this region to bring in the concept of twinning, 3+0 and so on. Where are we now in this? Our neighbours who learned from us have almost wiped us out of the picture.

The point is this : We are loosing at every end because we are stuck in the past. The world has changed. Regions that were once so downtrodden that they needed the Salvation Army and Doctors Without Frontiers are now exporting CEOs, pharmaceuticals, space technology and attracting MBA students from first world countries.

However, there is something that is still in our favour for the time being. The current world economy is all about India and China and we have a very special bond with these 2 nations. Our histories have intertwined at some of the most dramatic moments of history. We have known each other for so long that we have come to respect and accept each other. It is time now to make this relationship pay. I would urge our decision makers to abandon their jaundiced perception and parochial mind set and embrace these two nations. Use our fellow Malaysians who are Indians and Chinese in a strategic manner to benefit the nation as a whole. Do away with insular thinking. Eliminate all forms of institutionalized road-blocks so that we can unlock the value we have created in our relationship with India and China.

We should start by sending our students over there. Corporate leaders should take study tours to these countries. Learn their cost management strategies. Learn their production innovations. Copy their supply chain management. Spy on their next big move. See what else they have up their sleeves. And then, offer them whatever that we have that can make them better at what they do. Create a branding for Malaysia as their partners.

And, we better start doing this soon as I don't think there are many Malaysians who speak Spanish and Portuguese!

Malaysian Post-Election Lessons for Corporate Organizations

I guess for the most part, you have already gone back to your daily routines by now. The exciting moments of 8th March and the subsequent days probably a distant memory for most of us who need to get back to our bread and butter issues (which are pretty expensive these days). Since my last blog posting, I have conducted a Leadership program for the dynamic people of UMW Toyota and by the time many of you find some time to read this, I would have conducted my second Supervisory Skills program for ASTRO and another program of the same title for SILK Highway. Of course, the topic of the general election inevitably cropped up and we had a good discussion. My last blog posting seems to have touched a chord with many of you guys. Thanks for all your emails.

But I think there are yet lessons for us to learn from the 12th general election. If in my last blog posting I shared my thoughts on the immediate lessons to be learned from the dramatic change that have swept our political land-scape, in this posting I would like to share with you guys on my take on lessons to be learned for organizations that have just concluded a change initiative or are in the midst of one vis a vis what is happening in the Malaysian political sphere.

Allow me to briefly up-date you on the current post-election change scenario. First, there was disbelief. Then, there was a round of blame game (which I anticipate will become louder when the pain of loss settles in on the losers). Following this was of course, the confusion in states won over by the 'opposition'. By the way, we need to come with another term for 'them' as the term 'opposition' sounds so yesterday! Finally, we have an on-going drama in the states that are still under the traditional power.

Lets translate this to organizational change lessons.

1. Leaders who have not prepared their employees for the need to change or to expect, initiate and manage change should not suddenly demand that they accept the change especially if such a change was totally unexpected and driven by external market forces instead of by internal strategic thinking and renewal. If you have nurtured a rigid system, asking it to become flexible overnight is just too much to ask.

2. Change, whether self initiated or otherwise is always 'painful'. So, allow venting of emotion and frustration. By asking people to 'just get on with it' is an insult to them and is akin to belittling them by saying that they are not man enough to face up to challenges. The truth is, if the employees of an organization are not 'man enough' to face up to changes and challenges, one need not go further than the CEO's or GM's room to pin fault!

3. Keep communicating. There should be a truly open line of communication at all levels. This communication should be honest with pain, regret, fear and disappointments expressed openly. If this is done honestly, the shorter the venting off period will be and the quicker people will get back into the rhythm of functioning in the new environment. Using a 'business as usual' communication style only tends to confuse people as they can very well see for themselves that things are far from the usual.

4. Manage the eager beavers. There is bound to be some who, with hindsight, will shoot off new ideas, even radical ones. Respect them and give them the space. These individuals will be useful when it comes to implementing new collectively agreed upon ideas a few months later down the road.

5. Don't harp on the 'good old days'. Talk about the exciting days ahead instead. The 'good old days' are gone and it is better for corporate leaders to bury them and prepare for a new dawn. Spend time painting a realistic but exciting picture of a beautiful tomorrow. Provide vision, hope and directions.

6. Don't go back to those who had it too good during the so called 'good old days' to help manage the new scenario. They will do whatever they can to take the organization back to the old days as they are the ones who will loose the most in the new environment. By going back to these individuals, the organization paints it self into a corner of desperation.

7. No organization is an island. There are external stakeholders who need to be told of the change. They need to know what has happened and what to expect. They too need to readjust their thinking and expectations. So, they will probably be hungry for accurate and timely information. Remember that during times of change, no news is bad news.

Have a great week ahead everybody!

Lessons of Change from the 12th General Election

I am, just like most of you, quite dazed from the most unexpected turn of events over the weekend whereby the Malaysian electorate in a very uncharacteristic manner overwhelmingly voted against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN). Just a few hours ago, the BN formed the government when the Prime Minister took his oath at the Istana Negara. The next few months will be extremely interesting and exciting as Malaysia will work hard to get used to this change.

Now, what can organizations learn from this episode. Much actually but I will summarize it along the following 7 issues:

1. There must be genuine effort to change at suitable intervals. The operating word here being genuine. If a so called change is carried out but is seen as a mere 'air-brush' type of change, it will back fire.

2. Don't underestimate the appeal of powerful and emotionally connected slogans and value statements when trying to bring about change. "Makkal Sakthi", if only somebody took the trouble to explain to non-Tamils, would have been appreciated better and more effective response could have been put in place.

3. When information flow is too filtered and overly colored to focus on only one side of a perspective than it opens up the possibility that anything opposite is considered as true by default. Hence, balanced information or a lack of it will determine the fate of the change effort.

4. A change effort must take into account the prevailing value structure. Change if it is driven top-down will have to circumvent the existing value structure. It can't go head on in an arrogant manner. It has to persuade, cajole and influence slowly and tenderly as the opposition parties have done with great effect. In contrast, the BN tried to use its generation old paternalistic communication style when in effect its audience are in a rebelious mood.

5. Every leader will hit a plateau in his ability to bring about fresh vision and mission. When that happens, he has 2 options : Either to re-invent himself or allow other to reinvent. When he fails to do either, change will be forced upon him.

6. It is said that by the time you understand a technology it is obsolete (as new technology doubles every five years according to some accounts). When life in general has got used to such a drastic pace in continuous change, what makes political parties and leaders think that old and tired mission statements and promises will continue to be attractive? The pace of thinking must keep up with the pace of change.

7. Change is usually top-driven but it is the ground that makes it work or otherwise. So, those who are initiating the change need to quickly abandon their thinking caps and put on their feeling caps. Once a change philosophy has been developed, leaders need to hit the ground to sense the feelings of the change targets. If they continue to sit in their towers and over-lord things, they will begin too loose touch with reality and begin to believe what they want to believe.


Well, coming back to the events of 8th March: Democracy worked. A particular type of change took place. There were winners. There were losers. New hope was created and with it a certain fear is also present. These are the characteristics of change.

We, as business leaders and managers can take a leaf out of this and in summary , to make change work we need : 1. Genuine effort, 2. Genuine communication, 3. Fresh and exciting ideas, 4. A good feel of the ground and 5. A good dose of common sense.

Lets make change work. There is no other option. Really.