[3 June 2021] Day 3 of fmco* in Malaysia Zoom fatigue. Screen fatigue. Many people have gone online for more than a year now since the pandemic start early last year. For many of us, we are doing almost everything staring at the screen — emails, texting, as well as reading for work and for […]
[2 June 2021] Day 2 of fmco* in Malaysia Language changes in the new norm? Last night, I was making a comment in a friend’s Facebook post when the question hit me. Since the pandemic started, we are so used to the wfh (work-from-home) acronym. Why do we say ‘work from home‘, but never ‘work […]
As many people in Malaysia gets starts working from home, there will be an increase in disagreements, disputes, and other types of conflicts at home. This article shares how we can manage these and even apply the same at the office.
“Attitude trumps knowledge.” Recently, I had 2 experiences that inspired this post about how attitudes are so important. It’s obvious that either one shouldn’t have happen so it’s incredible that they did.
There was a train accident 2 nights ago in Kuala Lumpur. While there were no fatalities, many were injured, some being in critical condition. The nation has many questions. Investigations have started. But many are incensed with the way the press conference by the service provider was conducted yesterday.
You’re laying pipes and there’s a rock. I wrote about this here and here 4 months ago. When you encounter something unexpected, you can have a not-my-problem mindset. Are you smiling and nodding your head? Perhaps, you are thinking of someone you know. But there are reasons that you would want to keep the rock […]
You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”― Abraham Lincoln Procrastination – the dearth of productivity. Last Friday, I tackled the piling loose papers on my work desk. Procrastination is a funny thing. According to NY Times, it is not about laziness. Then what is it about?
SWINGING doors. These remind me of the old western movies. The cowboy pushes the doors open with both hands. He never enters the saloon through 1 side. (Cowboy 101: You cannot swagger through one side of the saloon doorway.)
In basketball, you need a team to play and to win. This applies to our work and personal life.
“Not my problem! I’m just here to do my job. I mind my own business.” This is the core of an individualistic task-based mindset. “My task is to lay pipes from point A to point B. It’s someone else’s job to look for and remove the obstacles in the way. If not, I’ll just work […]
What’s the difference between being a preferred vendor and a trusted advisor? Someone asked me this question not too long ago so I thought I would write a little about this.
Do you hate to negotiate? Sometimes, it feels like you are hurting a valuable business relationship which you have spent a lot of energy building up. In true win-win (read: principled) negotiations, we are encouraged not to play hardball. You aim to get what you want without hurting the relationship. Here’s a friendly tactic you […]
“The kids today will have jobs that don’t exist right now.“ I have been hearing this quite often recently. If you are just starting out on your career, it applies to you too. Your future requires a different type of thinking. This is not a new phenomenon though. We have needs for job-skills today that […]
Climbing mountains Many would have heard the sharpening of the axe story (see below if you haven’t). The picture we have in our minds is the lumberjack with an axe chopping trees down. I used this other visualisation instead — the mountain climber with a pick-axe. The lumberjack story was told in a different time. […]
How to answer a question you cannot answer Customer Service staff in medical centres are not allowed to recommend doctors to patients when they call in. Most medical centres have this policy. So, what can they do when pushed for an answer? I was at the Customer Services Counter at a medical centre last week. […]
I was watching a show on TV last week. The CEO walked in and announced to everyone (I paraphrase):
A participant in my Consultative Sales course asked me to summarise what customers want from the sales professional. To answer this question, I looked back at the valuable customer relationships I had over the years. Here’s my list: Customers want you to:
The best sales tip for new sales professionals to close more sales What has parties got to do with closing sales? My husband and I love to entertain and take it as an opportunity to catch up with friends we don’t get to meet often enough. Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting someone we haven’t met […]
Unless you were lost in a cave yourself, you would have been like me between June 23rd and July 10th — holding your breath while following the news closely on the riveting Thai Cave Rescue episode. There are valuable leadership lessons that we can derive from it.
Tech professionals have an advantage when it comes to understanding technical explanations. We just need to take the extra effort to communicate the same information clearly and effectively to others.
