Thursday, September 30, 2010

Every new day changes me

"2 boys turned aggressive when a team from the New Paper approached them to follow up on a story that appeared in a chinese newspaper the day before," reported The New Paper. "Lianhe Wanbao reported on Monday that a man forced his wife and 2 children to run around their Circuit Road about 40 times over 3 hours on Sunday afternoon."

As a kid, I began to change just from simple childhood experiences. When I was 5, and followed my late grandad to market daily, I learned how to negotiate and bargain. That changed me. When I had asthma and couldn't go out to play, I learned to love reading and writing - and that changed me forever. When I was 18, and started working selling PCs, I learned to endure tough work. And when I was 19, and started travelling around Europe for 28 days on my own, I learned to be independent. All these changes helped me to learn. The most important things I learned was that the smarter I got, the dumber I realised I was.

If we don't change at least a little on every one of our chapters in life, we're just going through the motions.


Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Picture sells

"We got to pay top money to get good pictures," Nelly instructed.

A picture really does paint a thousand words; certainly it does a better job of communication than words alone. Until recently I thought that psychologists said people process images 4 times faster than text, however I recently found a reference to visual processing being 400 times faster than hearing spoken words.


Images are "language independent"and can add an element of emotion as well as conveying the core content of a message.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Investment of time

"I am going to bring my son to watch a play on Children's Day,"Molly revealed while queuing for jack Canfield to sign her books.

Like many fathers, I find that the more successful I am, the less time I have for my family. What I'm learning, sometimes the hard way, is that I have to say "no"to some things in order to be successful in family things.

Each day, everyone of us is given an alloted amount of time - 24 hours, 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds. Whichever way we count it, we only have so much time and when it's gone, it's gone. We will never get back one hour, one minute or one second.

I look at my time as an investment. I believe one the best and smartest investments of my time is in my child's life, not only for him, but for me as well. We're building a legacy that will hopefully live on long after we're gone. When we breathed our last breaths, we can't take any of our achievements and material things with us. What will really matter are the lives we've poured ourselves into, especially our children who will grow up to affect hundreds of people.

Barbara Bush went so far as to say,"At the end of your life you will never regret not having one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child or a parent."

ACE and I

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Create a clear sense of direction

" The thing that great leaders have in common is a vision and their ability to communicate it to their people," Mario lectured.

If the people that work with us and for us have no clear sense of their purpose or in what direction they should be moving, the reason is 1 of 2 things - and both of them are unacceptable. Either we leaders have not created a clear sense of purpose and direction for our people, or we have been ineffective in communication it to our people.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Fear

"There is a problem with your visa," the Russian immigration officer said in the train. "Your visa has been closed. You cannot enter Russia. You have to go back to Finland."

Although most people don't like to talk about it, fear seems to be an integral part of life. Every leader that I have been close to - close enough that thy would level wih me - has described times that fear has loomed large in her/his life.

Dealing with uncertainty, managing ambiguity, not always knowing what to do comes with the territory of being a leader.

Experiencing fear does not mean we cannot accomplish something.

Monday, September 20, 2010

No-hassle experience

"It is just not about getting the business at a high price," Agnese divulged. "I try to be flexible to my customer's needs. I help them in any way I can."

In our business, we're selling prompt replies. We sell flexibility. We sell accurate billing invoices. We sell a memorable meeting experience. We sell ease of doing business.

In short, we sell a "no-hassle" experience.

We must know what customers value and then tell them what we offer. The 2 lists should match; if they don't, we are the ones who is going to have to change, not our customers.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Fly unstable

"We have an advantage. We are a small vessel. A small vessel can turn faster in turbulent waters and avoid hitting the iceberg," Umehara preached. "That's why the Titanic sunk. They are big and didn't change course fast enough."

We have to be faster in idea generation, implementation and reaction. We are a smaller group of people working under less supervision, making up the process as we go along, relying less on exhaustive research and more on informed instinct. Our people are multi disciplinary and recruited for talent and attitude as much as being good team players.

Everyone understands who they are - completely on the ball.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Customers want experiences.

"My customers want special extras, like upgrades, free limo pickup, fruit baskets and champagne," Katrin said as-a-matter-of-factly.

No longer do customers buy merely for functional use but also for the experiences created during the purchase and service.

It is time to get our act together - goods, and services are no longer enough. Customers now want experiences and they are willing to pay for them, and only those of us who truly engage our guests will succeed.
from left: Bunny, Summer, Shirley, Long

Friday, September 17, 2010

Mistakes are inevitable; dissatisfied customers aren't

"Address the problem, meet the guest and offer a solution immediate while the guest is still in-house," the participants of the focus group unanimously agreed. "Don't wait till he checks out...then it's too late."

I've found out that the faster we correct a problem, the better. The customer wants an immediate adjustment, not wait for someone to ask a manager or "check with finance."

The best way to create a fast recovery time is to empower front line employees to make customers happy. We have to authorise our front-line people to take corrective action when it's needed.

Mistakes are inevitable; dissatisfied customers aren't. Unhappy customers, once made happy become our most loyal customers. We have to do whatever it takes to turn a negative situation around.

And do it even if the error isn't ours. Those situations in particular create the excellent experiences customers rave about to their friends, family and colleagues.

from left: Shirley, Bunny, Summer, Alex, Johnson

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Promoting from within

"Instead of promoting me, they hired someone from outside,"Agnese recounted. "That's why I left and started this company 2 months ago."

Many employees will ultimately measure their firm's commitment to them by the degree to which they had the opportunity to achieve careerwise all they are capable of achieving.

I have a comprehensive promotion-from-within program, and adhere to this program tenaciously.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

It's all in the mind

"England keeping tabs on Rooney's mind," many sports papers including the Daily Mail reported recently

One of the most ragged cliches in sports is the importance of "the mental game," that players who are psychologically prepared will have an edge on competitors who might be more physically gifted. Like most cliches, it's absolutely true.

And since sports is such an irresistible metaphor among business executives, "mental toughness" is also essential in the corporate world.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Keep everyone laughing

"Where do you come up with these one-liners," Adrian asked when he stopped laughing.

A guy who can remember jokes and keep his friends laughing will form few enemies. The only danger of telling jokes and being everyone's friend is that you may attract the reputation of being a clown and therefore not capable of anything but being a clown.

from left: Johnson, Jia Li, Ms Mao Tai, Alex and Bunny

Friday, September 10, 2010

Loyalty flows both ways.

"If it's their fault, I will let them burn," BeRt said. "But if it's not, then I will back them up."

We must cultivate staff that we can trust. I never judge the members of my team by raw ability alone. I look at character.

I always remember that loyalty flows both ways. If we expect loyalty from team members, we must also be prepared to stand by them at every turn.
standing: Brian (left), Tanuj (right)
front row: Vic (Left), Emy (right)

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Continuous recruiting

"6 Tips for effective recruiting on social media sites," mashable.com ran an article.

Recruitment should be a continuous process, not only when a vacancy occurs. I believe a proactive approach to recruiting reduces the likelihood of holding on to a staff whom we should let go or hiring an unqualified staff because we have an open position.