Monday, September 26, 2011

Business Manager & Business Leader

Recently, I've observed some people on how they perceived & run their businesses.
Initially, any business venture is hungry for profits and cashflows as to keep their neck above the water from being drown with a loss. Upon the survival mode, it is time to switch gear to a growing mode. While growing it, we have to build a strong foundation on supporting the growth with systems, principles and teamwork. Once the compass is define with mission, cultures & values and a leadership team is formed, it is time for exponential growth, which is multiplication! Eventually, sustainability is the key to continue growing and maintaining the business without losing its essence and the original "why" that it exists in the first place.
It can be summarized as:

Creation --> Survival --> Growth --> Support --> Multiply --> Sustain

The summary is short but the process may take a decade!
That's why a business manager can only grow a business linearly.
While a business entrepreneur will grow it exponentially.

What is the difference?
One stand for profits. The other stand for something bigger than profit!!
One keep on taking. The other keep on giving.
One is looking on the short term. The other is building a legacy.
One is developing followers. The other is developing leaders.
One is working on people's weaknesses. The other is discovering people's talents.
One is thinking about greed. The other is thinking on creating values.

When a slight change of mindset & direction occurs, it will create a big impact when we stretch the time frame 10 years down the road. In anyway it is, there is no right or wrong. It is the heart & mind of the founders itself. I personally respect either business managers or business entrepreneurs because it takes guts to create something and to walk a journey separated from the crowd. But the way to create a business and the way to grow it needs a different mindsets & skillsets.

Imagine if every entrepreneur creating businesses to create values, the market will be a better place for all!!
I feel grateful and wish to thank all the business creators out there. Whatever it is, a big THANK YOU for driving a nation forward and to create jobs for people.

Dear Business People, you are the Hero afterall!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Simplify A Complicated Life


It is hard to complicate a complicated life but even harder to simplify a complicated life.
Because our mind is complicated while our heart is simple!
Sometimes we use our mind and sometimes we listen to our heart.

Therefore, sometimes we are complicated & sometimes we are simple.
Initially, we use our mind to think & analyse. Then complications arrived.
Until our mind is tired, then we turn to our heart.
Finally we say, "Why wanna complicate a simple life? Let's simplify a complicated life!"
After a big round, we can only see a simple life through our heart!! Eventually, we are looking for simple happiness.

Growth happens due to comparisons.
But unhappiness also comes from comparisons.
The difference is one is with positive comparisons while the latter is based on negative comparisons.

That is why in order to gain happiness, we often hear people saying, "Listen to your heart" instead of "Listen to your mind".
Therefore, it is easier to decide with our heart and execute it with our mind.

P/S: Hmm....seems like the heart has a big role in our life. I wonder where are the lungs & liver...!!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Re-living Passion

Time flies.
Things happened.
People come & go.
And life goes on....

As we are an emotional being, we get motivated & de-motivated at times. The roller-coaster of life will fill us up with passion in a moment but disappointments will empty our energy tank in another moment. Unless we do something about it to minimize our energy fluctuations and re-focus on significance, or else life is controlling us.

The key driver of life is always and always will be Passion. Passion helps us do our work without additional pull. Gaining passion is one thing, keeping it up is another. Re-gaining it back once we lose it need a little extra push from the inertia downturn.

I was in a cafe the other day, reading my book. When I was on the way to the washroom, I saw the outlet manager was having a meeting with the service crews and I overheard some scoldings and correction statements being voiced out by the manager. I guess the whole meeting can be sum up with the word "Re-living Passion".

In any work that we do, if it is done repeatedly in a mundane and monotonous way, the energy will eventually die off. It is about generating new rhythms and new waves which could re-live our passion.

I can think of 3 simple ways to do it;
  1. Learning new knowledge.
  2. Solving new problems / challenges.
  3. Keep thinking of a better way to do it.
If there is a choice, people would like to be busy & productive than to be led to nowhere! Because of a simple reason; We want to feel being useful. I could never think of a better word than this.
Useless = Less use!
Useful = Full use!
So, let's use some of our existing talents and discover some of our potential talents to re-live our passion.