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....

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!

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...!!

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.

A Small Decision With A Big Impact

Sometimes only time will tell in order to know whether we've made the right choice in life. A small diversion of a good decision coupled with a timeframe will lead to the real result that we eventually realized. Unfortunately, the timeframe can be as long as 2 or 5 or even 10 years before the realization comes to past. Be it emotional or logical decision.

Good decisions sometimes are from the experience of making some bad choices. Sometimes it is too far away that it is hard to reverse back the cycle. But sometimes it is still within our circle of control.

Hence, the best decision is a combination use of logic, emotion and gut-feel.
When we want something, analyze a little bit, check our pulse of emotions and then go all out with our guts. It can be a YES or a NO but move forward with a futuristic mindset.

What happen if we make a wrong decision and we can't do anything about it?
The only way is to embrace and change our perspective. That's why some people experienced blessings in disguise.

Of course talk is cheap and easy, practising it takes creativity and thinking out of the box. We surely needs some level of creativity to see the negative into positive, to see the doughnut and not the hole.

Coffee with Love

This is what we get when things are done with a heart and soul through the mind.
Can you imagine how Starbucks positioned their customers? I can feel as they treat us as good friends, judging from the act of taking the trouble to inform us on the outlet closing or re-location, with a meaningful message. I'm touched!

This is great example when a business successfully invested in People, to Perform and eventually generating Profits! When a company tries to skip the People part and jump straight to Performance and Profits, most of the time, the employee retention will be low. As people don't feel appreciated and the sense of belonging is shallow. Therefore, resignation letters are flying here and there!

Some management implement a policy where "I set the rules and if you don't play by it, take a flight and leave!". Guess what, employees will do accordingly to grant your wish.
How can one rule, conquers all? Imagine one medication to treat all kinds of disease.
People are different and we are an organic human being that are suppose to be emotional, don't we? We are not cows or chicken! We have moments of celebration, moments of achievement and moments of dissapointment as well. At the end of the day, what is so great about money if it doesn't enrich or uplift someone's life?

If we want a harvest of a year, grow wheat.
If we want a harvest of 10 years, grow trees.
If we want a harvest of a lifetime, grow people.

Eventually, People will grow your empire!

Our Inspiration = Our Lack

In our lifetime, we've encountered many people from different walks of life who inspire us to be better, to go further or to think bigger. To be specific, the inspiration part that got us uplifted is not the person but the attributes that he or she possesses. It can be the attributes of risk-taking, positivity, having a great visions, strong execution, talent identification skills, guts, dare to fail, creativity, tactful communication, leadership and the list goes on.
What intrigue me is the attributes that attracted most of us are the ones that we are lacking of most of the time. Those attributes fill up our void and sometimes are the missing link to what we want in life. That is what motivate and excite us; something that we are looking for which is not in us but in others heart and mind. It simply means the person that are we looking up to will indirectly reflects the qualities that we are looking for.
Therefore, it is quite simple to understand our lack. Just look at who inspire us!

Under Sycamore Tree

A friend of mine created another new blog under the webpage of http://undersycamoretree.blogspot.com. A very interesting and relevant blog within a fast-paced future, telling us to look into ourselves again and figure out the North that we are pursuing.

At times, it is hard for us to figure out what do we really after. But one of the way is to discover our in-born talent, hone it into a consistent strength, spice-up with skills and passion.....there we have it....PURPOSE. It is like beginning to do something and just flow with it without deep analysis. As we do it, our purpose will emerge and as time goes by, it is clearer to us whether to stick with it, tune it a little or add on to it.

It is really easy to start with what we like or what we are good at.

For example, another friend of mine who loves photography, just started a casual hobby called the 30 Days Project in Facebook and I assume the idea was emerged out of his interest in snapping some good picture with different angle and color effects. He just started it, stick with it and he is going to complete it. Who knows, maybe down the road, his interest may lead him to his lifelong purpose of becoming a travel-journalist as he is also good in writing skills and love to enjoy life as well!

I've got another friend who was good at doing marketing, branding and pretty interested in training as well. She has done this for almost 10 years and she is exploring other alternatives recently that got her in a potential career that she is looking for. And she is really good in what she is doing.

The first example is of someone with what he likes and the the second example is of someone with what she is good at.

All we need is a little spark to begin our exploration in our purpose. Think about it under a sycamore tree!

The first step will lead to a thousand miles.....

Deathbed

The other night, I've watched a tv show until midnight and it is called "Tuesdays With Morrie". It was an eye-opener and I believe this show will surely enlightens and awakens some people's purpose in life.

Morrie is a professor and an old man who fully live his life and lots of time, see the good in people and circumstances. He always gave wonderful wisdom of life to the students around him. Unfortunately, he was struck by a disease (I forgot what is it called...) and the virus is attacking his whole body from bottom up. But before he died, he met up with one of his students, a sport journalist, who was extremely dedicated to his work until he take life for granted and was in a dilemma on his life compass. After 19 years of not seeing each other, Morrie somehow help this man to look at life differently and to cherish what really matters instead of speeding through the journey all the time!

The whole show talked about how to live a life that we truly wanted and bless the people around us. Very often, we are after glamorous careers, great ambitions, make more money, get a big house and if possible, drive a Ferrari! But Morrie talked about how often that we stop and look at what we are after and says, "Wait a minute, is that what I really want in the first place?"

To make it more interesting, Morrie organized a "living funeral" for himself! What a great idea that breakthrough conventional pattern of dying! Yes, it is more meaningful to see our friends and family before we have our last breath and listen to what they have to say about us just before we die. What's the point of letting people compliment and praise you and you are not around to enjoy it.

I wish there are more tv shows that add values to us instead of negative dramas for whole year long.

Luckily, these are some of Morrie's quotes that I managed to jot it down while watching this show;

1. Never make money by using people.
2. Love always win.
3. Love is the only rational act, just let it come in.
4. We must love one another or die.
5. When we learn to die, we learn to live.
6. Forgive everybody everything.
7. Death ends life but not relationship.

Hope some of these quotes do give you a second thought and help you to discover your life compass.

Imagine that you are dying soon (well, everybody dies....it is not a touch-wood thing!), what do you really want to do and who do you want to be on your bedside during your last breath?

Our Inner Ear - Subconscious

Psychologists talk about expressing our problems and stress out. Some people channel it out through yelling, doing exercise, going through some form of therapies or sharing it with friends. Most commonly, we'll choose to share it with a buddy or someone older than us, perhaps lending us a pair of listening ear or some advice.

But I've tried before sharing some burden or stress with friends and the more I shared, the more negative I became! Because when we share, we are the first person to listen to it through our inner ear again & again until it is impregnated into our subconscious. As opposed to what psychologists talk about, the more I think about it and speak about it, the more I magnify the situations. The worst thing is the negative wind is now blowing to our friend who listen to us. Suppose he or she is having a great time and suddenly being striked by "Down-Syndrome" because of us, sharing unnecessary gossips or  negative stuff!

In conclusion, what shall we do? To share or not to share?
To share, we might experience a short sense of relief.
Not to share, we might explode one day!

In my opinion, we should talk it out and share it with 2 conditions;

1. Share with someone positive that we can trust.
2. Share with the mindset of solving it.

The first condition is to enable us to have a sense of relief and acknowledgement of someone knowing what we have gone through. The second condition is to help us to block the on-going flow of negative "chi" to ourself and to others. Eventually, if we let the negative air floats around, it will be cancerous! Until the extreme of someone committing suicide or doing something extreme and harmful without any conscious effort of curing it.

Life is only once.
Let's try our very best to minimize mental pollutions and contaminants in order to live with abundance.

Friendship

Awhile ago, a colleague of mine gave me a free coupon to redeem a frappucino in Starbucks. 2 hours later, I've redeemed it!! Ordered a Java Chip with a simple donut ...... here I am, feel like writing a message on friendship.

Eventhough it is a small token but I think it really made a pleasurable and relaxing evening for me. Especially after a hectic day running around, we just need some private moments and enjoy every bit of it. Sometimes we don't need expensive stuff, just something useful will turn our evening around.

Besides family, spouse or lovers, we need friends to be around us. Coz no man is an island.....
At times, they could lend a listening ear or even give some valuable insights that our stressful mind couldn't figure out. Sincere and enriching friendships are valuable. They may come in handy especially when we need someone to chit-chat, share our joy or lift off some of our burden.

They are friends that can hurt us. And some will help us. Of course there are some who make no difference in our lives. The quality of friendship that we spend time building on, will determine our altitude in life. If we spend most of our lives with someone who can help and uplift us, I'm sure we  live a more fulfilled life.

I just spoke to another 2 business friends this afternoon and we had a fruitful chat where I learn the word of commitment and focus from them. To me, both of them are successful as they love to help and add values to people's lives. Nothing is more fulfilling than to enrich someone to reach a level that they never thought of reaching.

Well, when you have time, what are you waiting for....just call a friend and chit-chat over a cup of coffee!!

Money, Money, Money...

What if you were suddenly blessed with piles & piles of cash with a snap of a finger?
It is not a very good analogy because we got to work hard for it. But just for the sake of discussion and provoking our thoughts a little bit....

• Would you still continue working? Be it your job or your current business?
• Perhaps clearing all your debt and be a G.O.O.D person.....Get Out Of Debt...?
• Does travelling crosses your mind where seeing dolphins and penguins are much more interesting than clients and bosses?
• What about testing your dream car and just pay cash for it?
• Maybe you can try out an expensive hair cut?
• Purchasing 10 units of high-end condos is definitely more interesting than struggling to pay the mortgage of 1 unit?
• How about pursuing your hobby such as snorkelling, horse-riding, parachuting or bungee-jumping?

There are endless things to be done.
Some people said Money Can't Buy Happiness.
I bet those who said that don't have much and they simply use it to justify themselves being broke!
We always heard that "The Love of Money Is The Root Of All Evil."
What about "The Lack of Money Is The Root Of All Evil!!"

More than half of our life is spent working for money. To be more specific, it is what money can buy and the lifestyle that we've trade it for. Of course money itself is innocent. It depends on who the owner is and how we use it. Money is just a form of measurement, an exchange value and it provides convenience to access to a better and greater lifestyle.

Money is great and Money can definitely buy happiness.
We don't have to pretend it is not important and treat it like an allergen.

Let's welcome and attract money in our life.....

Life is a Process of Buying & Selling

In my opinion, life is not just about winning or losing and if we view it from another angle, it consists of buying and selling. If our metaphor of life is all about winning, we might think of ways to "assassinate" someone's position, self-esteem or values. It is all about stepping down or destroying others in the name of victory! When someone wins, it is simply because you position yourself as a seller and you successfully find a buyer.

Everyday, we try pushing or suggesting our ideas or thoughts to someone hoping to influence his or her views. On the other hand, we might be persuaded to accept the other party's opinion. Then we bounced back with our arguments. Vice-versa, we got hit back by the other's view followed by our "attack" again. The process goes on until someone is willing to buy an idea, thought or opinion and it settle down.

Suddenly we change topics and here we go again. Maybe this time the Buyer becomes a Seller and vice-versa. Try to picture these situations;

• You sell the idea to your friend on buying a Vios but ended up buying a City.
• You've sold the idea of leaving your current company but bought the suggestion of staying back.
• Someone sells you some bad thoughts about your superior but you rejected the "purchase" and in return selling back what you think about that superior to shut that person up. Hence the seller of bad thoughts eventually bought your good thoughts.
• You are being sold of the idea of being happy is more important than money. Do you buy this or you have other thoughts to sell it back?
• Your future boss doesn't buy the idea of giving you such a high salary but you continue magnifying its pain of not having you or the joy of having you in the company. Eventually, you've got what you want and your boss enjoy your talent. Transaction closed!

When I look at life as a continuous transactions of buying and selling instead of winning and losing, I may leave myself with rooms of empathy, care and respect. If I flip it through, I might see only Victors or Victims and may treat myself as a Carnivore, wanting to win all the time or a Herbivore, who lost most of the time.

Why not be an Omnivore!!

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....