Be authentic

One key message which was repeatedly mentioned at the recent SRM conference was about being authentic.

Mean what you say and say what you mean. Appearing to hide something breeds skepticism.  Being candid, whether it is about business performance levels or hard economic conditions, puts your team members on the same page and builds trust.

Some leaders withhold bad news because they are more worried about being liked than dealing with issues that affect everyone. Those who are frank and transparent become trusted, and the team remains unified. Frankness and authenticity inspires.

Corporate athlete

I completed 4 workouts on my abs today and cycled for 16 minutes on a stationery bike. Shirley yogas. Clarice cycles. Minte runs.

We've all heard the basic rules of peak performance: get the proper amount of rest, eat a good diet and exercise. Somehow many top leaders think they do not need what the rest of us mere mortals must have to be at their best. Virtually many whom I know drive on relentlessly - irrespective of how their energy levels work.

As I type this, the manchester united vs reading game is about to kick off. These professional footballers are extra-attentive to what works and what doesn't work in terms of driving themselves. No athlete would dream of driving hard all the time. They know they would risk burnout.

After all, we only have only one life. Without our health, we have nothing.

Success meaningless without failure

Marriott international gave me a Seizing the Future award in Washington DC last month.

That was a high point in my career and life. That achievement and recognition came at the end of a year when I'd endured many low points.

I strongly believe that if we really want to perform well, we can't be conscientious - it prevents us from thinking like an artist. To make a mistake and then worry about it and sit down and figure out what went wrong and spend the rest of our Ives apologising for it is lack of confidence.

Many I know are concerned with perfection. Conservative ones are quick to calculate risks and get terrified by them. They look at me like I'm a madman.

Why do some look at failure, disappointment and loss as the unthinkable, instead of regarding them as among life's most fundamental experiences? If you've never been discouraged in life, I know one thing for sure about you - you're not a very big dreamer. You can't enjoy bright days without the frame of reference of darker ones; success is meaningless without failure

Don't just hope...

Less than a week ago, my Uncle Lawrence died after an 8-month battle with the tyrant we call cancer. He was extraordinary in the very ordinary things of life. The world is richer, and a better place, because he lived.

There is a memory that refuses to leave me. With my cousin, I was a pallbearer - pushing his coffin in the church. A couple of images etched themselves in my mind at that moment.

The last image I have of him, is one of him laughing at my home during the Chinese New year reunion dinner. Another image is one of his excitement when we were planning that reunion dinner on Chirstmas Day in Kuala Lumpur. I treasure those memories now that he is gone.

His dying has taught me one lesson: take time to get to know the people you love, deeply, for one day they will no longer be there, and when that day comes we will all wish we had known them better. Great relationships don't come to those who hope for them. Hope is worthless unless coupled with real effort. Great relationships belong to those who decide to put in effort and make them a priority. Don't just hope...decide!

An extraordinary journey

Tomorrow I will attend my uncle's requiem service.

For the past 8 months, I have observed my cousins' travelling an extraordinary road together as they journeyed toward the final moments of Unc Lawrence. Extraordinary because it is not an uncommon path. To e contrary, it is a universal path.  It has been an extraordinary journey because they have had no map, yet they were tightly bound by their biological links. And because none of them knew exactly how to get where they were going.

It has been a rough trip. They have open wounds. They have scars. And they have memories. At times, travelling with a cancer-stricken parent seem like a forced march.

But I salute Barb and Fabian because they have dealt with the roadblocks, followed the detours, found the route, and made this trip together.

Now, this is a healing time for them.

Balance begins with the breath

I tried yoga for the 1st time just before Chinese new year. We did a lot of balancing...starting by standing on 1 leg.

I relfected about the importance of balance in the natural order of life. Inner balance...inner peace.

Now i understand that balance begins with the breath. Taking in and letting go are the primal rhytms of life.

Last week, when I felt extreme anger and sorrow, I breathed deeply to find my balance.

Overwork doesn't work

75% of respondents in a Gallup poll said their personal lives suffered because of their ever-increasing work schedules.

The danger of these working marathon days is premature breakdown. Any engine that is constantly running will burn out. Even Arnold schwarzenegger advised against working the same muscle groups 2 days in a row. They need rest to recuperate. It's the same story with rhe mind. Overwork our "mental muscle" and we will lose our sharpness.

I believe it's better to pack it in when I am tired and come back early in the morning. I find that I work faster when i am fresh and think more creatively. And my mood will be far better.

Overwork doesn't work.