Culture Is Everything

After years of journey, travelling from the orbit from one company to another, seeing why some companies succeeded and be able to sustain it that way while some enjoyed some quick bucks only to realized that the market dynamics has changed so much that it eaten the non-cultural companies alive!

There are lots of reason if we are to dissect it, from products, service, vision, competition, hiring the right people, training the right skills ....etc. Eventually, the emotional part of an organization plays the ultimate driver, that is CULTURE. This is the factor which drive people when there is no proper guidelines, no SOP & no footprints to follow.

When they feel it is the right things to do, they just do it.

Comparing a company with all the rules & regulations, telling people what to do, when to do, who should do it and how to do, culture says it all.

Instead of being told what to do, they do what is not being told.
Instead of react, they respond.
Instead of having "me", they have "others" first.
Instead of looking at financial P&L (Profit & Loss), they look at people P&L (People & Leadership).

When we look at a company with culture, you just feel the flow, the rhythm and the energy around everyone. Of course it all started from the top.

What makes a cultural boss then?
It is what they feel, the angle that they look at things, their emotional needs to be fulfilled and eventually, the deepest WHY that will drive the cultural behavior.

Don't ever join a company based on size but based on culture.
Don't ever join a company based on cashflow but based on culture.
Don't ever join a company based on industrial growth but based on culture.

Cultural organization lead to fulfillment, appreciation and massive growth.

Can culture be developed?
Yes.

• Get a bigger picture.
• Mix with bigger people.
• Connect with a bigger heart.

When we try to analyze this & that on why this & that fail and why this & that doesn't work out, don't waste time on data. Go to the root, the culture is the answer!

Is A Manager, A Leader Too?

Conventionally, a company or an organisation put emphasis on a career ladder to potential employees which leads to higher position & eventually or hopefully to the top! But I've found out promoting a wrong person holding a wrong position makes it even harder for a company to gel people together & eventually can't get things done through the right delegation. As rapport needs to be build & respect needs to be earned before the results set in. People must be positioned according to their strengths or talents instead of knowledge & experience alone, which most of the companies are practising now.

Some people are really good in execution but poor in delegation or leadership.
Some people are good in strategising but poor in execution or deadlines.
The best are those that can flip in between both attributes.
If an organization builds a team based on bringing out the best potential a person got to offer, people will have auto-drive & passion in their work. Eventually, they felt a sense of achievement & a sense of belonging to the company.

Sometimes promotion doesn't depend on the number of years that an employee served. To honour an employee's loyalty, he or she can get the salary of a manager without being one. Why not?

A manager is not necessarily a leader & vice versa.

A Manager is based on position while a Leader is based on influence.
A Manager uses authority while a Leader uses inspiration.
A Manager practises upward management while a Leader practises downward appreciation.
A Manager takes credit while a Leader gives credit.
A Manager always says I and You while a Leader says We.
A Manager focuses on performance & tasks while a Leader focuses on performance & people.
A Manager uses science to manage while a Leader uses Art to lead.
A Manager corrects & commands while a Leader correct & compliments.
A Manager suffers from insecurity complex while a Leader have inner self confidence.
A Manager is egoistic while a Leader is compassionate.
A Manager improve someone's weakness while a Leader capitalizes on someone's strengths.
A Manager wants to be a Star while a Leader wants to be a teamplayer.
A Manager hungry for reputation while a Leader is full of character.

Anyway, these are the qualities of managers & leaders that I can think of relating to my previous careers. What I mean referring to Manager, can be of a higher ranking as well, such as MD, CEO, COO, GM or whatever it is. I personally feel title will destroy & blindfold personal growth if it is being overly honoured. Sometimes we have to be a good follower before becoming a great leader.
The worst scenario is a founder of a company that develop the same mindset when starting a business as compared to growing a business. It is really dangerous when they don't know what they don't know.

Starting a business is about micro-managing everything. Growing a business is about building teams & delegation.
Starting a business is about profit & cashflow. Growing a business is about building vision, mission & values.
Starting a business is about firefighting. Growing a business is about strategising.

When a business started to dilute on product quality, consistency, cultures, consumer's confidence or partner's trust, it is even more expensive in a later stage to revive. And it certainly needs strong & committed leadership to make a turnaround.

Basically, Leaders can be found in all level of an organization. We just need to uncover some dirts, clean it up, to discover the gem!
Don't be mistaken that leaders are the one which makes the most noise or usually an outgoing person. Not necessarily.

In summary, Managers are everywhere. But Leaders are rare.
Treasure them & let's grow to be one...

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!

Business Owner or Business Runner?

After working for many years, most people would like to start their own business. I've written previously on the "Purpose of Building A Business". Be it Passion, Innovation, Problem-Solving, Jobs Creation or Creating More Income for oneself, there are 2 ways of having our own business.

Either you:

1. Run it ...or...
2. Own it

If you run it, you will never own it.
If you own it, try not to run it.

I've recalled a trading company having high revenues and a big operating scale, firefights daily! Their daily routines are Blaming, Pinpointing, Shooting & Firing! Imagine going to the warzone every day to work. Guess how motivating it is .... There is no teamwork, no incentive and obviously no passion, only a group of people dying mentally and waiting to be buried alive someday.

Another company run by a husband & wife team. All the employees are expected to equipped with multiple Intel processors in their whole body; MULTI-MULTI-MULTI-TASKING!!!
And all the MD knows and care of is the sales volume, margin, profit and nothing else. There is no life, no soul, no respect and no meaning at all. Eventually, everyone left!

I've observed and known a number of business people. In summary:

• Some are having big businesses with a big team but infested with the disease of employee's turnover and low morality.
• Some small businesses remain small in their whole life, due to fear and a conventional mindset.
• Some businesses firefight in their daily routine.
• Some systematically having proper flow and procedures in place.
• While a chosen few started from small and grew into a business empire coupled with solid values, mission, systems, purpose and teamwork.

I think the difference between Business Owners and Business Runners are whether the Management team brings out the Best in people or creates the Worst in people. I call it the Enablers or the Disablers.
Are you creating Drivers, Planners, Communicators and Analyst in your business?
Or you are just creating a bunch of people doing ....whatever....as long as someone doing something.
Do you have people doing the right things or just people doing the things right?
What about having people doing the right things right?

If you wish to be a Business Owner, practise the 3 Es; Educate, Encourage and Empower people.
If you wish to be a Business Runner, practise the 3 Cs: Control, Criticize and Complain people.
But you can replace it with Care, Compliment and Cash!

It is all about having the Heart and Mind for the people. Letting them grow, make mistakes and uplifting them. The alignment of Thoughts and Action from the Management will reflect the real company foundation. Another important element of it is the balance between Systems and Flexibility. Systems control the company flow and procedures while Flexibility promotes harmony, respect and care.

For instance, a company may practise the policy of non-accumulative annual leave. But due to the commitment and dedication of your team players which undertake and overlook projects completion until the point that is impossible for them to clear the annual leave, what do you do when the annual leave is expiring soon?
System wise, burn all the leave days accordingly.
Flexibility wise, pay them accordingly and show that you really care and commit to your employee's dedication.

In conclusion, it is easy to start a business. It is hard to maintain and even harder to build leaders to grow your empire. Do you want your business managing your people or do you want your people managing your business?

You choose....

Followership

The whole world talks about Leadership while less emphasis is put on the importance of Followership. Some people are not meant to lead while some are born to lead. I do agree that leadership can be nurtured to reach a certain level but the charisma is an inborn thing coupled with characteristics.
Some will perform at its best if they play the role of a follower where backstage is their true platform.

I have been given chances to lead and chances to follow. Without consciously knowing it, I've found out that I've practise the 4S in my past Followership.

1. Support - Leader can't perform and obtain great achievements without the support of the followers. Most importantly, once the goal and vision is cast out, we fully support it and live it till its realization.
2. Systematize - Leaders are more of a visionary and a strategist and that is the reason their life is normally a "mess" and we help them in multi-tasking, realign and plan. Their thoughts are moving faster than their actions. Therefore, we organize resources for them to make quick decisions.
3. Seek - For certain major decisions, it is good to seek the advice or opinions from the Leader. They might have walk-thru the landmines before and sometimes experiential advice is invaluable. Try to avoid giving unwanted Surprise for our leaders.
4. Solve - The last thing a leader wants is problems upon problems left unsolved. We should take the initiative to be resourceful and assist in the micro areas especially during the implementation stage.

Of course I'm sharing all these in the context of someone worth following; not on the Title but more on the Person. Maybe it is the reason that we respect them or we passionately wanting to accomplish the vision set by the leader. It is not so much on submitting ourselves and licking their feet but it is a sense of Respect and Accountability that we put forth for them.

In whatever reason, Followership is as important as Leadership.

Churchill Vs. Hitler

Winston Churchill

"When you meet him, you will believe YOU can achieve anything!"

Adolf Hitler

"When you meet him, you will believe HE can achieve anything!"




That is the difference between
a Self-Less Leader & a Selfish Leader!

A Unique School

2 days ago, I went to a property forum entitled Rethinking Property, organised by BFM radio station. There were 3 prominent speakers.

It was an eye-and-mind-opener! One of the speaker that striked me the most was John Hardy, the founder of Green School in Bali, Indonesia.

I do not know there is such school that existed.
My first impression was .... yeah, another school teaching about green stuff, recycling waste, saving energy, blah blah blah...etc.
It is much more than that. Of course listening to the founder himself talks about his vision of creating "Green Leaders" in the future who cares about what happens to the world, put my grasshopper mindset in the backburner!

John Hardy & his wife Cynthia sold off their jewellery business to set this green school up.
The whole school was made of bamboo! No air-conditioning, but natural flow of air and no toxic building material but "organic" material. What a building!

The students can learn basic skills such as reading, writing and I like the fact that they focus more on the practical side instead of boring-standard-Teach-N-Go-curriculum like most school did. They even learn art & music and most importantly, interaction skills.

All of us are Rice-Consumers but the students learn to be a Rice-Producer!
They plant, grow & harvest their own paddy & vegetables.
There's no computer software of any kind that can do a better job in teaching children about the Law of Sowing & Reaping than planting with their own labor, knowing that "If they don't work, they don't eat" principle still exist in 21st century!

Moreover, they get to interact with students from all over the world. They learn, adapt, communicate & build projects together. It reminds me of the word GLOCALIZATION instead of GLOBALISATION.
What a great example of a local village with global society in it.

In my opinion, the skills & the talent that the students potentially build up with will enable them to be more holistically balance in the aspect of mental & emotional strength.
I can't imagine our future generations are still following the status quo of going to a typical school and scoring all the As that their parents dreamt of and expect them to have the adaptability and competitiveness in the global marketplace!
It is not the sole issue of competitiveness but also the morality & respect that we need to nurture the future leaders.

Well, be sure to check the website and find out more at http://www.greenschool.org.
Thumbs up and a big salute to John Hardy, Cynthia and the team that run that place.

Carrot or Stick?

Use a Carrot or a Stick for motivation?

You'll get immediate result through Stick, but long-lasting result through Carrot!
Stick will only create a cyclical-reaction of "When-the-cat-is-AWAY, the-mouse-will-comes-out-and-PLAY".
Stick is using authority as Motivation Factor.
Carrot is a form of drive which derive from rewards & recognitions.

Most people are looking for Wealth, Health, Happiness, Security...etc.
Eventually, it is the Certainty, Acknowledgement & Appreciation which will move somebody from HAVING to do it --> WILLING to do it.

But the 3 factors have to come from the Heart, not the Mind.
It is not a strategy, but an Emotional Tank that needs to be filled up from time to time. Either through external or internal input.

To sum it up, why don't we lift each other up instead of stepping each other down?
Let's bring the Best in people, not magnifying the Worst in people.

Then we can create Similarity within Differences!

You Bhd: A great company or a PN17 company?

Wow, time really flies....

Remember the time that we talked about Y2K? Some are afraid of the "bugs" will shut down certain computer systems!
Here we are... 2010, almost ending!

10 years already past.
Some thought 2020 is still a long way to go.
Yeah, try wasting another 10 years and calculate how many extra wrinkles on our forehead by that time! We won't be able to smile by then as we have extra 2382 fine lines when we do! Well, definitely it is not the fine lines that matter, it is our journey that counts.

Time is only moving in one direction, which is Forward.
But thoughts can be travelling Forward or Backward.
To move Forward, sometimes we need to scan a little Backward.

Perhaps reviewing some aspects of our life will help. Especially in terms of:
1) The income that we earn? Surviving? Satisfying? Enriching? Or "Fatt Tatt" already, haha....?
2) The job that we do? Is it based on passion or merely a surviving tool?
3) Family: Are we settling down? Do we have the correct budget for family planning? Any education fund for our kids?
4) Who is our hero in life? Perhaps any mentor around?
5) Are we happy with where we are? Job, Biz, Charity, Education...etc
6) Do we want to excel in our job, or starting a small biz or try investing?
7) What else do we want to learn more? Leadership? Entrepreneurship? Self-Enrichment? Socialising? Parenting? Playing musical instruments? A different job scope? Property? ...etc
8) The circle of friends that we associate with? Is it the same? Do we want a change?
9) Satisfy with our body weight & posture? Overweight? Fit? Big tummy? Stamina?
10) Our personalities, habits & attributes? Do we want to be more extrovert, risk-taking, positive, open-minded, prudent, generous, caring, result-oriented or people-oriented? ...etc

Well, the list could be endless.
Perhaps we can provoke ourself this question:
"If I have a 100k to acquire a stake in someone's life and expecting a consistent or higher return, who would I invest in?"
Is it "John Wong Sdn Bhd", "Adeline Tan Sdn Bhd", "Shukri Enterprise", "Krishnan Bhd" or etc....
Just think about everyone as a company for a while.....

Then we'll begin mapping People in Business aspects. We'll start searching for the relevant attributes don't we?
Are you going to invest in Intelligence or Emotional Intelligence? Knowledge or Attitude? Certificates or Leadership?

The interesting part is "Are you going to buy a stake of your ownself?"
If "YOU" are listed in Bursa Malaysia as YOU BHD, are you going to buy? Do you think others will buy? Or all of them who have bought it, sold it coz you are a PN17 company!! haha.....
Joke a bit lah...you are not that bad! All of us are unique and I truly believe we have our own spark plug to ignite our real desire and potential in life.

When you think about companies like SPSetia, Maxis, YTL, IOI, Amway, Petronas, HongLeong (of course it is not an endorsement or recommendation to buy!), what are the attributes that we like about them? Perhaps mapping it in-person like Ananda Krishnan, Liew Kee Sin, Francis Yeoh, Tony Fernandes, Idris Jala...etc...
Attributes like Integrity, Growth, Performance, Trust, Confidence, Management, Leadership, Branding, Ethics, CSR....etc, comes to mind.

Well, I hope it can provoke us a little.
Afterall, we are after a balance circle of success and on top of all, HAPPINESS & SELF-SATISFACTION!
Hmmm.....let's think about it....

Types of Teacher

When I was in primary school, I can recalled a daily routine of greeting our teacher,
"Se....laaa....mat Paaa....gi Cikgu!"
Upon 30 minutes of teaching, we'll happily said,
"Terrrr....rima Kaaaa...sih Cikgu!"

Teacher plays an important role in moulding the student's mind. Not just equipping them with skills but programming their mindset to believe who they are. At times, who they believe who they are, are not who they are suppose to be.
Therefore, the journey of our potential is an on-going question.
It depends on how we look at ourself and how other people influenced us.

I came across a few types of Teacher; it can be our Boss, our Manager, our Parents, our Siblings, our Colleagues....etc

An Average Teacher tells,
A Good Teacher shows,
A Great Teacher demonstrates,
A Superb Teacher inspired......Which one are you?

An Average Teacher likes to use the word "YOU". "You do this", "You do that", "You are not suppose to do this & that", it is "You, You & always You".

A Good Teacher says "I" or "Let me...". "I can show you that", "Let me guide you on that", etc...
A Great Teacher leads through "Let's do it!"

A Superb Teacher says, "YOU CAN DO IT, I BELIEVE IN YOU!"

Nothing beats the belief that others have for us. It is the fuel that burn us to move forward innovatively & with commitment. Words are powerful; it can MAKE us or BREAK us.

Becareful on using our Tongues. We can curse someone or bless someone with it.
Perhaps we can read the book entitled "How to Use Our Tongue for DUMMIES!"
Does this book exist? I don't think so.
Perhaps YOU ARE THE WRITER!

Employee ah, employee....what do you want?

Last month & this month, my current company encounters a total of 6 people resigning. Another 3 thinking of resigning....That's really bad.

I've worked in multiple sizes of company before; small, medium and big.
Some with proper system and some without.
Some are doing competitively great and some are on the sun-set industry.
Some are managed by caring bosses & managers and some are just taking advantage of employees.

Well, finding talents is a difficult task today. Retaining them is even more difficult.

Out of my own journey talking to people as an employee, I've summarised what normally employees are looking for when they work in a company; it doesn't matter whether it has system or not, big or small.

1) Career path - Nobody wants to work forever as an executive or trainee level. The issue is whether the company has a plan to move up the employee on a career ladder or they just want to maintain the "tradition". Another issue is whether the employee is equipped with the skills for the new tasks. Budget allocation from a company in training might be a good idea!

2) Leadership - Manage by using our Head, Lead by using our Heart. Management is more on a Left-Brain area while Leadership is more on a Right-Brain stuff. We have to balance between;
- Looking at the big picture vs. Looking at the details.
- Task-oriented vs. People-oriented.
- Intelligence vs. Imagination.
- Instincts vs. Analysis
- Influence vs. Authority

Can we learn something from the managers / directors or we are just merely working like a robot?

3) Reward - Can you imagine cost of living keep going up and the range of salary remain the same today as compared to 5 - 10 years ago? Nowadays even a chicken rice / economy rice costs around RM4.50 - RM5.50, depending on the location. A typical malaysian car costs around RM40k - RM60k and people normally can afford to buy if the repayment period is drag up to 7 or 9 years. A mid-class apartment / condo costs around RM200k - RM300k....developer's price! Upon completion, perhaps rising up to RM300k - RM400k.....for an empty units excluding furnishing, renovation & decoration.

To me, salary comprises of 3 parts;
- Costs of Living
- Employee's ability
- Employee's performance

We can't just pay a standard rate for fresh graduate RM1,500 - RM1,800 / mth as if it is the same as 10 years back!

4) Appreciation - this is the most significant factor. Being acknowledged and felt we are part of the organisation is most important. Confront privately, compliment publicly. I've seen a boss that wanted to cut short a meeting duration by telling the employee, "Just tell me the bad news or problems faced, skip the good news!". Or "I don't care what are you going to do, just get it done!"

Well, that boss definitely save lots of time but not realising in long term, he is wasting more time by not listening & appreciating staff as he needed to train, re-train, train & retrain due to the frequent movement of people leaving & people coming in. The worst thing happen is when the employees felt they are a commodity instead of human being!

Whether a company wants to keep hiring new people or maintaining the talented employee for future growth will depend largely on the company's direction, mission & culture.

When Starbucks re-define their company mission from:

"WE ARE NOT A COFFEE BUSINESS SERVING PEOPLE....BUT A PEOPLE BUSINESS SERVING COFFEE!", whatever they do or decide will be more people-oriented and not coffee-oriented.

Eventually, it boils down to the Directors or Founders mindset of setting up the business.

What's the purpose of a particular business is being set up?
I've wrote another note on The Purpose of Building A Business.