At the end of last year, I was having a meeting in a professor’s office when I noticed a bunch of pencils on her desk. Hmmm….pencils in an office; it’s quite normal and yet I was drawn to it. It’s the 2nd day of the year and I thought that it’s a good time to […]
You know how in movies, a character will just tell someone what they want? Like, “I want this thing,” and then the other person just gives them that thing?
Influence and Persuasion are needed in leadership, conflict resolution, decision making, project management, or in selling. When people think about the word “influence”, they usually think about it in terms of PUSHING: a person exerting power or pressure on another. While this is certainly true, there is also another side to influence that many people […]
I like challenges, but don’t like competition. Does that make sense? I notice I would get excited when I have a challenge to overcome but once there is a competitive element in it, I lose interest in the activity or task. I believe it’s because I just like to compete with myself.
The Covid-19 story is still not over. Yesterday, Malaysia reported 33,209 new cases, with a 7-day average of more than 27,000. The virus is very much still with us. The best way to keep the virus at bay is to not catch it in the first place. The problem is that we are not always […]
Some may have read this on my social media channels but I thought I’ll put this in a blog post so that I can easily find it again in the future. 18th December 2021 – it started raining and raining and raining. It didn’t stop until the next morning. News of floods starting from the […]
I chanced upon this riddle on the internet recently. It’s titled ‘Who am I?’
The story of a boy with his potato and what lessons leaders can learn from him.
[28 July 2021] Day 58 of the nrp* in Malaysia I have given 6 quick tips on how to create an empowering culture by 1. Letting go of fear and starting to trust2. Flattening the hierarchy and setting clear objectives to employees3. Delegating with the intention to develop4. Providing the resources to support your employees […]
[23 July 2021] Day 53 of the nrp* in Malaysia This 6th tip in the empowerment series is to help employees with their creativity and think out-of-the-box, as cliché as it sounds. You must encourage your employees to explore their potential and unlock the opportunity for increasing their creative thinking abilities.
[13 July 2021] Day 43 of the nrp* in Malaysia A few years ago, I was doing a project consulting project for a software company. The management had assigned Samantha, an experienced executive to act as a resource person. As I worked with her, I noticed that Samantha would stick to a very fixed way […]
[9 July 2021] Day 39 of the nrp* in Malaysia This is already the 4th piece about empowerment. If you are not already convinced, here’s a major benefit of empowering your employees — According to a Gallup study, organizations that empower employees experience higher customer loyalty by as much as 50%. Your customer’s experience with […]
[6 July 2021] Day 36 of the nrp* in Malaysia Empowerment increases employee engagement. According to Joseph Folkman who analysed data on more than 7,000 employees, people who felt a low level of empowerment were rated with engagement at the 24th percentile, whereas those with a high level of empowerment were at the 79th percentile. […]
[2 July 2021] Day 32 of nrp* in Malaysia Today, I take a small break on the topic of empowerment and talk about mindset. Leaders are responsible for their team’s performance. Sometimes, they are sent for formal training and sometimes they rely on on-the-job experience (aka shoot, then aim). Why are some more successful than […]
[1 July 2021] Day 31 of nrp* in Malaysia On this first day of the second half of the year, I share the second tip on how to empower successfully. To make empowerment effective, it’s good to flatten the hierachy. Flat organisations have few or no levels of intermediate management between staff and leaders. This […]
[30 June 2021] Day 30 of the nrp* in Malaysia “Hey, you wrote about how important it is to empower people. Can you tell us how to do it?” Someone texted me when he read my previous post. I agree, it will certainly be more helpful. Since these are soundbites, let me break it down. […]
[28 June 2021] Day 28 of NRP Phase 1* in Malaysia Remember the days where we had to go to the bank to deposit a cheque? Back in the day, I would arrive at the banking hall, take my queue number and wait for my turn. When my number is called, I approach the counter, […]
[27 June 2021] Day 27 of the fmco* in Malaysia Yesterday, I posted about how a leader should be empathetic. This is not something that we can get right all the time. It can be pretty tricky. Many years ago, one of my co-worker was going through a difficult time because her mother was at […]
[26 June 2021] 26th day of the fmco* in Malaysia By Cecilia Bleasdale – Fair use, Link Remember this dress. When it burst onto the internet, it poled the world into two. You are either in team white/gold or team blue/black**. It disrupted the way we understood colour and tints.
[25 June 2021] Day 25 of the fmco* in Malaysia The first time I touched a computer (not counting the calculator) was in 1981. At that time, I was not sure what I would choose for my major in university. After my first programming assignment on that primitive computer, I knew Computer Science would be […]
