Can A Chicken Identify an Eagle?

It takes a good person to identify another good person.
It takes a great person to identify another great person.
But it takes a humble person to identify an incredible person.

Quite often that we meet some empty vessels which tend to makes the most noise wanting spotlights, recognitions & credits while practically doing not much & riding on the sub-ordinate's success. And sometimes it is a mystery to me that such categories of people are placed nearly on top of an organization, ruining it than running it!

When people go for job interviews, most of the time, interviewer over-emphasizes the knowledge & experience of someone in a particular field or the specialized knowledge which they generally perceived as the only important focus in someone's career.
Wait a minute...what about their initiative, commitment, attention to details, ability to strategize, good connections, communicate with respect, resourcefulness, team spirit, responsibilities, integrity....etc?
Aren't those attributes build a stronger foundation for someone to be able to grow the company in the long run?

The question is "Can A Chicken Identify an Eagle? Or an Eaglet?"
It takes someone from a great height to be able to see the potential of another person reaching a greater heights! That is a People-Builder, a Developer & an Enabler!

It is sad to see a company functioning as a Juice Extractor of talented people where fresh employees are full with brain-nutrients & attitude-minerals are being squeezed until the passion & commitment are dehydrated in the name of growth & bad management!

Eventually, it is okay for a local "Watermelon" like us to leave as imported talents such as "Apple" or "Orange" can replace us. Then the process of extraction begins again....
That's why we are seeing local "Watermelons" or "Durians" being exported out as they find more values in other countries.

In a nutshell, it is important to find an Eaglet, invest & build the Eaglet into an Eagle. Then train the Eagle to look for other Eagles to grow together. Sometimes an Eaglet may come in a form of pigeon or turkey for us to discover that they are true Eagles in the making, with hidden wings & sharp claws!

The talent is out there....

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.

Not Formula One but One Formula

In the area of sales, figure is the main pillar of any business.

No Sales equals to No Profit.
No Profit equals to No Salary
No Salary equals to No Employment.....party's over!

I've learnt a simple formula to achieve success in Sales.

Sales Results = Mindsets x Knowledge x Skillsets x Productivity

Mindsets
Our level of motivation will determine on our level of positiveness and toughness in handling situations, while our desire will push our creativity forward. Past programming is the major part contributing to our mindsets. What we do, say, act, read and socialise with, will mould our way of thinking. Not only that, our belief systems play an important role in shaping our values. Do we believe in working hard or just work smart? Is relationship more important than techniques? What about Macroviews vs. Microdetails? Basically, a right Mindsets is the foundation of all. If the main structure is not solid, forget about building a highrise!

Knowledge
Obviously, this is product benefits or features, market trend, technology applications and industry expertise. Knowing how to put it all together will definitely help us to be more convincing and efficient in our work. Know what we do and do what we know. Establishing systems or structures will expedite tracking process. Widening our knowledge through reading materials can trigger cross-thinking in the sales process. Finally, using a Blackberry on the go will surely speed up the correspondence process.

Skillsets
We can't be anything we want to be, but we can be a lot more of who we already are. If we can find our own talent instead of strength and leverage on it, we will be able to operate in our peak zone. Talent is basically our own Natural Skills, while Strength is more of our Learned Skills.

Example of people who have Talents; They can learn music faster, mix with people easily,  simplify complicated calculations, being able to draw flawlessly or have a great sense of humor! All of these are developed naturally without stressing our brain to perfect it. It is in us already!
What about Strengths? Cooking, Gardening, Writing or Troubleshooting are some of the examples. With continuous practise and time investment, we will consistently be a high performer.

Well, the best is using both to develop our Competencies, Rapport-Building, Probing, Presentation, Tackling Objections and Negotiation. Finally, understanding customer's problems and needs are the ultimatum!

Productivity
This is definitely hardwork. The number of calls, appointments, proposals and follow-ups are the main keys. Of course this is correlated to our time management and prioritization. That's why Productivity is different than Activity. I heard someone ask another person before, "Are you busy failing or busy succeeding?" What a difference!

Just some nuggets sharing with you with the hope that you can form the whole piece of chicken yourself!

You from Jupiter, I from Neptune!

Every human being is different.
Different in thinking, behavior, personalities, taste & style. Depending on 2 factors;

Part of it is Natured and the other part is Nurtured.

If we blend it together, we'll have a Group.
Fuel it with Vision & Culture, the Group will become a Team.

A healthy and perfect team would consists of a DRIVER, a COMMUNICATOR, a PLANNER & an ANALYST.

A DRIVER sees the macro view as a whole. Risk is the Driver's breakfast! The word "No" and "Can't" will stir up a "tsunami..cal" reaction from the Driver coz they are butt-kicker!

We need Drivers to say GO, GO, GO....LET'S DO IT, LET'S GET IT DONE, LET'S MOVE!
Basically they are result & tasks-oriented, outspoken and sometimes doesn't really look into the consequences.
But becareful if it is practised to the extreme resulting in ignorance on people's needs & feelings. No doubt we need Driver to steer the ship forward. Try to calm down with Lavender's tea from time to time!

A COMMUNICATOR inspires and sometimes able to erupt a volcanic excitement among team members and influencing the Red light to turn Green!

They are happy-go-lucky and like a sense of spotlight shining on them at times.
They are relationship-builder, influencer and innovator. They are best fitted in Marketing, Advertising & PR department. They can be great leader because inspiring people is always better than just merely managing people.
Forgive & Forget are their mottos! Passion is in their DNA. Enthusiasm stick in their hemoglobin!
They are the Links, Lubricants and Bridges of an organisation. Without them, it is BOOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNGGGGG!

While the communicator is always on the frontstage, the PLANNER is always working on the backstage ensuring the process, procedures and alignment are in place. If "Ah Lian" wants to sing and open a concert, she definitely needs "Ah Beng" as organiser! "Ah Lian" can't be singing and organising at the same time and same goes with "Ah Beng", period!

Planners are able to see the pros & cons of each projects and normally they have more "white hair" than anybody else because they think a lot!
It might slow down the whole process but it helps to minimize blockages or potholes that other department needs to fill through along the way.
Planner is not an outspoken person and at times, you'll misunderstand that they have no opinion!
They are peacemaker and dislike arguments or confrontations. They rather sacrifice themself than to provoke someone.
If you have problems and like someone to listen, a shoulder to cry on and a tissue for free, call them!
Loyalty & Friendship are what they cherish in life.

We have the DRIVER that kicks-butt, the COMMUNICATOR to innovates, the PLANNER to oversees from A --> Z, finally we have the ANALYST which has a biiiiiggggg left brain working on details and information.

While the Communicator has a problem figuring out what's the real deal with Bank A's offer, the Analyst can summarise Bank A, B, C & D's offer and pick the best deal!
They are meticulous, logical and analytical.
"Disney..istic" imagination doesn't appeal to them. "Matrix" figures attract them like bees & honey.
But extreme analysis leads to paralysis sometimes. Therefore, most entrepreneurs are not analyst. They survey a little and the rest is about guts and instincts!
No doubt analysts are good in accounting, operation and engineering where precision is needed as much as making a Swiss watch working for a hundred years! Therefore, they are great in a way.

Well, in summary....

If 4 person have lunch together in a fine-dining restaurant; be it the DRIVER, the PLANNER, the COMMUNICATOR and the ANALYST, this is what you'll find out:

DRIVER will say, "Hey, this lunch is on me. Don't worry, just order. We are going to hit 1 million sales!"

COMMUNICATOR will say, "Why not call upon Jane, Michael, Wong, Suzy ....etc, eventually inviting a "lorry" of people joining. As communicator likes gathering and they are people oriented. They like Party!

PLANNER will say, "Hold it Communicator, how much budget do we have? Why not have this big lunch after we hit the 1 million sales? What if we've had this lunch but failed to meet this target?"

ANALYST will say "1 million sales....hmmm, divide it by 4 salesperson, RM250,000 / person. Divide it further by 4 weeks, RM62,500 / week. RM12,500 / day. On average we have around RM10,000 - RM11,000 / day, therefore, why not we eat chicken rice first!

There's no right or wrong in this personality quadrants but more of understanding our own strengths & weaknesses and how to blend with each other to a pre-determined direction.

Now you can understand your teammates better, your spouse better, your friends better, even your family members better (we tend to think moms like to nag, nag and nag...now u know why!).

Don't pre-label yourself as a fix DRIVER or COMMUNICATOR or PLANNER or ANALYST as we can intersect each behavior according to different situations.

As long as we keep improving and learning how to adapt with each other, we'll spell PROGRESS the right way.
Or else STAGNATION & FRUSTRATION fills the gap!