Why we should stop living in a cocoon of what we want to hear

By LOUISA DEVADASON

Yes boss. Can boss. Boleh boss. Of course can boss!

How great would it be if we could go through our entire life blissfully, unopposed?

But of course, life is a little bit of an uphill battle especially if you’re someone who’s driven to want to get to the top of whatever the thing is that you’re trying to reach. And life is full of opposition. And for good reason. It makes you take stock of your decisions and actions.

I can think back to growing up and seething at my parents because they did not think I should go out more than twice a week during a school week and had enforced this idea.

As frustrated and annoyed as I was, it made me to be mindful of my studies and also start to spend more time with my family and less time trying to be a cool kid.

So what if our family, friends and colleagues let us run wild. Would it be to our own benefit or to our detriment?

The nodding head

Malaysia has the highest rated level of Power Distance—meaning we’re very inclined to blindly accept a hierarchical order and never question anyone’s place on it.

High power distance ratings are common in the Asian region where the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat and subordinates do as they’re told. It’s a cultural phenomenon that will no doubt evolve as we continue to become increasingly globalised.

In the meantime, Malaysian leaders and their corporations continue to be affected by this unspoken yes-men culture.

An excerpt from leadership consultant Kate Sweetman’s article, In Asia, Power Gets in The Way shares the following sentiment:

“What effect does power distance has on how corporations actually work? An executive coach who works in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines explains it this way: Senior-level people get no information, and believe that they have nothing to improve upon, and junior-level people do not bring ideas forward.

It’s hard to innovate under these conditions. Of course, these are generalisations. Within each culture are people of different personalities, backgrounds, and experiences. But whenever I ask if the power distance is playing out in an organisation, I always get a resounding yes.”

If a company has cultivated a yes-man culture, they have unwittingly bred a culture of people who are either too afraid to say anything or just shut up and collect their pay cheques. A corporate landscape and a leader that does not welcome some opposition and moreover collaboration, is doom to be stuck and risk the business being bogged  down.

Xerox’s Barry Rand was spot on when he told leaders at his company that,

“If you have a yes-man working for you, one of you is redundant.”

Good leadership encourages everyone’s evolution and development.

So if you’re feeling like things are too easy at work or you’re always getting what you want as soon as you want it. No questions asked. It’s time to start pondering: is your company a really well-oiled machine or have you surrounded yourself with yes-men?

The proof of course is what your employees really think of your vision and leadership and of course, how your firm is fairing.

Anatomy of yes-men

Have you ever stuffed your clothes in your cupboard because your parents said, “Clean your room?” You sort of followed instructions but not really. Your room looks clean but you have a pile of junk hidden somewhere. In many ways, modern workplaces create a similar scenario that is oftentimes infuriating.

Why say yes then?

Researchers at University College London and Université libre de Bruxelles in Belgium believe it’s easier to follow orders, as a person has less concern about the consequence of their actions.

Yes-men are disconnected from their actions when they are under orders, even though they are the ones physically carrying out the task. Additionally, researchers found that people are more passive than autonomous when under orders. They’re not invested in what they are doing and just follow a checklist.

This doesn’t make anyone less responsible for their actions but being human and knowing what we know—should leaders be more mindful of their influence and feel obligated to create an environment that challenges? Not for the sake of dissent, but to refine ideas and visions and drive your followers and company together to greater things.

Louisa likes to say yes to life but no to people and salads. Have you ever worked with a yes-man before? Share your thoughts at louisa.allycyn@leaderonomics.com. For more Career Advice articles, click here.

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By TRAVIS BRADBERRY

We have all heard the adage, “People don’t leave bad jobs; they leave bad bosses.” It makes great fodder for after-work gripe sessions, but is there really any data to back the claim up? As it turns out, there’s a tonne.

In one study, 61% of those working for bad bosses said they were looking for another job, while just 27% of those working for good bosses were considering alternate employment. And here’s one that’s really startling: 65% of people with bad bosses said they’ve sometimes misrepresented the truth at work, compared to only 19% of those with good bosses. Just as great bosses bring out the best in us, bad bosses bring out the worst.

Great bosses change us for the better. They see more in us than we see in ourselves, and they help us learn to see it too. They dream big and show us all the great things we can accomplish.

Being a great boss obviously has a tangible value other than just being liked, but how do you know if you are one? And, if you’re not, how do you get better?

When I ask audiences to describe the best and worst bosses they have ever worked for, they inevitably ignore innate characteristics (intelligence, extraversion, attractiveness, and so on) and instead focus on qualities that are completely under the boss’s control, such as passion, insight, and honesty. This means that any of us can study the unique qualities of great bosses in order to learn and improve.

A great boss shares information.

Have you ever worked for an information hoarder? Some bosses seem to think that every piece of information they share reduces their power and authority. In fact, just the opposite is true: great bosses know that sharing information empowers their employees, instead of diluting their own power.

A great boss puts a lot of thought into hiring.

Bad bosses think nothing of hiring a jerk with great credentials because they’re only interested in how that person will perform. Great bosses think of the entire team. They recognise that their current employees are going to have to work with the new hire every single day, and they look for someone who will complement the team holistically, rather than just fill in a certain skill(s) gap.

A great boss looks for and celebrates wins.

Great bosses don’t have a “Why should I praise you for doing your job?” attitude. They look for reasons to praise their employees, both privately and publicly, and they take the time to celebrate milestones, instead of just driving everybody on to the next project or deadline. They understand that getting a pay cheque doesn’t cancel out that inherent need to feel valued and appreciated.

A great boss respects your time.

Great bosses don’t give you the impression that their time is more valuable than yours. They don’t keep you waiting for scheduled meetings. They show up prepared and get to the point, instead of trying to impress you. And they don’t goof off on your time. It’s not that they’re unwilling to have fun at work, but they don’t do it at your expense, causing you extra stress or making it necessary for you to stay late to catch up.

A great boss is empathetic.

Bad bosses only see their employees from the perspective of how the employees reflect on them. If their employees are doing a great job, they look good; if their employees are performing poorly, they look bad. Great bosses, on the other hand, see their employees as more than just extensions of themselves. They’re able to get inside their employees’ skin and understand things from their perspective. That doesn’t mean they’re pushovers, or that they just say, “Oh, sorry you’re having a bad day; don’t worry about that deadline.” But it does mean that they recognise their employees are human and that they treat them as such.

A great boss is accountable.

Bad bosses are quick to point the finger when something goes wrong. They’ll throw their employees under the proverbial bus without a second thought. Great bosses understand that a large part of their job is being accountable for the team’s performance. They know that this just goes along with accepting a managerial role. That doesn’t mean that they don’t offer the team feedback on what is going wrong, but it does mean that they take the blame publicly. Even privately, they see the team’s failure as a failure of leadership on their part, and they act quickly to correct it.

A great boss says thank you.

Bad bosses think the work their employees do is something the employees owe them. After all, they’re getting pay cheques, right? That’s true—but great bosses look past work as a transactional relationship and realise that people are putting a huge part of themselves into the work they do. They say thank you, even if it is “just part of the job.”

A great boss doesn’t forget that people have lives outside of work.

Bad bosses tend to see people as one-dimensional: they show up and get the work done, and the boss doesn’t have to worry about them again until the next day. Great bosses, on the other hand, never forget that work is just one facet of their employees’ lives. They never forget that they have families, friends, hobbies, and other interests and obligations outside of work, and they don’t infringe on their “real” lives—by asking someone to work late, for example—without a very good reason. And when they do have a good reason, they acknowledge that they’re asking for a sacrifice and express their gratitude accordingly.

A great boss is a great communicator.

It seems like some bosses will do anything to avoid giving a straight answer. They don’t want to say something they can be held accountable for later. Other bosses just don’t want to be bothered with clear explanations and solid answers. Great bosses say what they mean and mean what they say—and they say it clearly, so that people don’t have to read between the lines or try to guess their real meaning.

A great boss creates leaders.

Have you ever noticed how sometimes all the promotions come from within one manager’s team? That’s no accident. Great bosses pull the very best out of their people. They inspire, coach, and lean into people’s strengths, and when their employees are ready for new challenges, they gladly send them on their way.

Bringing it all together

If you’re currently a boss, is this how your employees would describe you? If not, you’re leaving money, effort, and productivity lying on the table. You’re also probably losing some good employees, if not to other jobs, then at least to disengagement and lack of interest.

Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the #1 bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the co-founder of TalentSmart, the world’s leading provider of emotional intelligence tests and training, serving more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies. His bestselling books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. Bradberry has written for, or been covered by, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review.

The post Unique Things Great Bosses Do Every Day appeared first on Leaderonomics.com.

By SANDY CLARKE

*This article is written as a tribute to the third Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated.

I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow. . . .I shall continue to serve until my last breath and, when I die, I can say that every drop of my blood will invigorate India and strengthen it.

These words were spoken by India’s third Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, on the eve of her assassination, which took place on Oct 31, 1984.

In the exploration of leadership, there are fewer more complex leaders than Gandhi – a woman who is often mistaken as being related to Mahatma Gandhi, but who is, like her namesake, an iconic figure in India’s colourful history.

Indira Gandhi served as Prime Minster of India from Jan 24, 1966 until March 24, 1977, and then again from Jan 14, 1980 until Oct 31, 1984.

Her assassination came at the hands of her two Sikh bodyguards, in retaliation for her Operation Blue Star, where she ordered Indian Army troops to attack the Golden Temple – the Sikhs’ holiest place of worship – in an effort to assert her control.

Photo source: www.funyarn.com

A controversial yet impactful leader

In a New York Times obituary from 1984, Gandhi’s personal character received a less-than-glowing appraisal.

From the article, “As a private person, Mrs Gandhi seemed aloof, chilly, complex, giving no clue in her withdrawn, quiet personality as to why her public figure should appeal as it did to many millions of Indians.

She could be rude, sometimes opening letters and signing papers when foreigners visited her in the red sandstone Indian Parliament or the nearby South Block of the secretariat.”

Her political leadership divides the opinion of commentators as much as her personality. While some saw Gandhi as aloof and insular, others admired her strength of character and iron will to put India on the map.

On the domestic front, she managed to steer India to a 20% reduction in poverty, increase literacy levels by 30%, and raise food production to 25%.

While she was well-known for her charisma and communication skills, many saw her leadership as the reason behind the damage to India’s economy during her years of public service. She is also viewed to have done little to alleviate problems of hunger, sanitation, religious conflict, and caste that blighted the country.

As a leader, she was immeasurably strong-willed, and used questionable means to consolidate her power by implementing state of emergency, imprisoning opponents, and violently cracking down on adversaries, to name just a few of the ways in which she ruthlessly fought her corner.

It couldn’t have been easy to lead the world’s most populous democracy of 700 million people and, despite her often unorthodox means of leadership – keeping in mind her parents fought for democracy and freedom – it seemed an insurmountable challenge to combat the extreme levels of poverty and religious divisions that existed during her time as Prime Minister.

Gandhi also found herself having to cope with a personal life that was as tempestuous as her political career.

With a marriage that few people in India supported (which eventually failed), dealing with the loss of a son who died in a plane crash, and trouble from another who was embroiled in corruption, there’s little doubt that the complexity of character of India’s third Prime Minister was heavily shaped by the challenges she endured throughout her life.

In a nutshell

Nevertheless, Gandhi’s unyielding pragmatism and cunningness undoubtedly led to the positive advances enjoyed by India that saw the country play its part on the global stage.

On her ability to cope with the demands of leading one of the world’s largest nations, she offered a characteristically rational analysis, ‘’I think the only reason I’m able to survive this with equanimity is that I’m just myself, regardless of the situation in the country.

I know the condition of the people. There’s nothing I can see that I don’t know about already. It’s not that you don’t feel it, but it’s like a nurse and illness: you see it in perspective.’’

7 Inspirational Quotes from Indira Gandhi

“My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.”

“You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist.”

“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.”

“Education is a liberating force, and in our age it is also a democratising force, cutting across the barriers of caste and class, smoothing out inequalities imposed by birth and other circumstances.”

“You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose.”

“Whenever you take a step forward, you are bound to disturb something.”

“Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.”

Having begun his media career in politics, Sandy was able to appreciate up close that political leadership is often much more nuanced and complex than it seems on the surface. To connect with Sandy, you can follow him @RealSClarke on Twitter.

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By PREMA JAYABALAN

Have you been perceived as a rude person by others, when in reality you are not? Sometimes, we tend to come across as being rude without intending to do so.

Some may experience this in their work life. When in meetings, situations can get heated up due to crises and the manner you voice out your opinions may come across as offensive to some.

So how do you ensure that people don’t mistaken you for being rude? Well, here are five tips you can follow.

1. Move up and not down

When in a discussion and another person is sharing his/her thoughts, being disdainful by saying things like, “Oh yeah, you always say that” or “That’s what you think” may label you as a person who is annoying and outright rude. This type of condescending tone could imply that you are putting the other person down and it can ruin your relationships with others.

On the contrary, you can encourage the person by saying things like, “That is a very interesting thought” or “I like the way you think”, and then follow up with your thoughts by saying, “What do you think if we also did it this way?”

By speaking in this manner, it shows that you respect the person’s effort to come up with ideas and slowly ease into adding on to the missing parts, without coming across as a snob.

2. Never ever interrupt

If you are in a meeting and your colleague is in the midst of presenting his/her ideas, do not ever interrupt to express your ideas, however relevant it may be. Instead, let the person finish talking and if you really need to voice out your thoughts, then you can say something like, “May I please add on something here?”

If the person gives you the permission to speak, then you can thank that person and put forward your thoughts without coming across as rude.

3. ‘I am sorry.’

To avoid being perceived as rude, it’s important to master the art of apologising even though at times it may not be fully your fault.

For example, in an attempt to send out a message to a group of people at work, you had slightly mismanaged it and this caused a slight confusion. The first thing to do is to say ‘sorry’. The moment you apologise, you are seen as someone who is accountable and takes responsibility of his/her actions. People see you as a genuine person who does work well but happened to make one slight mistake. When you refuse to apologise, then you are labelled as a rude and arrogant person.

4. Don’t be late

Being rude is not always about the way we communicate verbally. Sometimes, it involves our actions too. One such action is arriving late for meetings. Always be punctual. If you have given a designated time or the person you are meeting has done so, then be there at that specific time, as this shows that you respect and value that person’s time.

In the event that you are going to be late due to unavoidable circumstances, inform the person on your delay. Once there, the first thing to do is to apologise for the inconvenience caused even though you have alerted the person earlier that you will be late. This depicts you as a courteous and respectful person.

To show respect to the other person, don’t be late for your appointment!

5. Never ignore

There is another crucial thing you need to learn to do to avoid being perceived as rude, i.e. not to ignore.

For example, a new colleague who is meeting up with you is a little over enthusiastic and wants to share a lot of his/her work with you. Now, it’s understandable that at times, this can slightly bore you, especially when you are loaded with work. Nonetheless, never ignore the person by fiddling with your mobile phone or checking your emails when he/she is talking. This is downright rude and it’s demeaning for the person who is interacting with you.

The least you could do is to stay interested or politely explain to the person that you have another appointment coming up or an urgent task that needs to be completed, hence you would need to take their leave for now. Schedule another time to meet up with this person; this will make the person feel appreciated.

Concluding thoughts

These may seem insignificant but these gestures play huge roles in displaying the type of person you are. Practising these methods elevates you to a likeable, genuine person, and ignoring them could portray you to be absolutely rude. So take your pick!

Prema Jayabalan enjoys communicating with people from all walks of life. She believes that good interaction is borne from respecting each and every one you speak with. She is happy to be a part of the Leaderonomics Digital Learning team that enhances the personal and professional development of all individuals through their creative and interesting online courses. To learn more on this, email learn@leaderonomics.com. To engage with Leaderonomics on how to develop high-impact communication skills within your organisation, email us at training@leaderonomics.com.

Prema Jayabalan

Prema is part of the Digital Learning team at Leaderonomics. As a travel enthusiast who loves connecting with people from all walks of life, Prema believes that everything thrown to us by life enhances our development.

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Five tips to stay sane and REMAIN in business

By NINA TI

Do you find yourself almost losing your cool when faced with a client who is consistently throwing criticisms at you and your organisation?

Are you finding it increasingly challenging to follow through with the client’s demands? Are you beginning to question the worthiness of the partnership between the client and your organisation?

If your answer is “yes”, you’re not alone. Difficult clients are easily the most common headaches for those in client-facing roles.

Unfortunately for many of us, when clients behave badly, our own primal instincts kick in and we’re tempted to respond with even worse behaviours of our own.

According to Aryanne Oade, author of Managing Challenging Clients: “Your client remains the client whatever the situation between you, and the need to take responsibility for handling your client effectively whatever the circumstances sits with you.”

So stay calm, and carry on with your job. After all, difficult clients can be managed, but only if you resist the temptation to fight fire with fire.

To help you manage your client and stay in focus, here is what you can do:

1. Understand your role

Some clients like to tell you how to do your job. There’s a favourite client-related expression for consultants: “Why hire a dog and bark yourself?”

You will be surprised to learn that there are clients who like to stand in your shoes, put your expertise down and even perform the task(s) they hired you to do. In this case, your role is to analyse a given situation and offer a solution without any coercion whatsoever.

Resist any temptation to enter into a contest of one-upmanship. Instead, deliver and let your talent speak for itself. Trying to control the situation any other way would result in a pissing contest.

2. Manage expectations

Often clients are difficult because they have unrealistic expectations about the services they will be provided, or the outcomes they hope to achieve. Some clients’ expectations are so completely off the mark, and yet they are not made aware of it.

If you are in a client engagement role, managing expectations should be part of your risk management process. It is important to identify, as early as possible, what the client wants and make clear which areas you will be owning and what level of service you are willing to provide.

Practising your negotiation skills can help a great deal when devising solutions, by not causing damage or harm in a situation, but resulting in a positive result.

3. Clear communication from the outset

It is very important to build a good relationship with a client, especially if he or she is potentially a difficult client. The first step to a healthy relationship with such a client is to establish clear communication both ways. When the client feels comfortable, he or she will be inclined to be more open and transparent to speak his or her mind instead of beating around the bush, thereby causing frustration on both sides.

4. Answer the question that is not asked

Often, you may find that people may ask a different question to the one they had in mind. For instance, the client might question the agenda of Project A, but what he or she essentially wants to talk about are the milestones that can be achieved at the different checkpoints.

Behind many such simple questions is often a larger question at the back of the client’s mind.

Thus, pay close attention and dig deeper into what the client is really saying, by establishing honest conversations so potential issues can be resolved.

5. Learn and adapt from conflict

Once you’ve dealt with a conflict, it becomes a learning experience. That experience would be even more valuable when you see conflicts in a new light – as opportunities for improvement.

This could point toward areas that you need to work on, and it could be something as simple as improving communication. Misunderstandings (or conflicts) happen when there is a lack of clarity in the way you relay your message. Conflicts thus provide an opportunity to re-look the problem and gain insight and information that may not have been obvious previously. Consciously practising good and clear communication between both parties can also serve to improve communication in the future.

In a nutshell

Dealing with difficult clients can make your toes curl, but the best part is that you will both get a chance to learn and improve from the experience. As a matter of fact, there is an argument that holds that disruption and difficulty can bring positive outcomes and new opportunities.

Every difficult engagement is an opportunity to develop better ways to collaborate, communicate and engage. Because the worst clients are the ones we remember the most, they are also the ones who are most likely to affect the way we behave in future.

How to spot a difficult client

How do you know when you’re dealing with someone who’s got the wrong attitude for business?

Here are nine common categories of a difficult client:

1. Angry/hostile
2. Vengeful/on a mission
3. Over-involved/obsessive
4. Dependent
5. Secretive/deceitful
6. Depressed
7. Mentally ill
8. The difficult client with the difficult case
9. Credit-grabbing/blame-assigning

Excerpted from the e-learning course “Managing Difficult Clients” by Leaderonomics Digital Learning. Leaderonomics creates virtual learning environments for client firms that combine the best of management training with mobile technology. If you would like to experience online training and find out the benefits of digital learning, get in touch with learn@leaderonomics.com or visit www.leaderonomics.org/learn

Nina Ti

Nina Ti is part of the team that manages social media and distribution of digital content for Leaderonomics. She writes on HR and management topics. All views and opinions expressed here are her own.

The post How Do You Manage A Really Difficult Client? appeared first on Leaderonomics.com.

By DAN ROCKWELL

Ears expand influence.

Leaders spend too much time thinking about talking and too little working on listening.

What would happen to the people around you if you were more excited to listen than speak?

Five things that go up when leaders listen:

1. Engagement. Verbosity encourages disengagement. The next time you complain about disengagement, examine your listening.

2. Energy. Think of a time when a leader really listened to you. I bet you were energised. Invite people to talk if you want to increase their energy.

3. Boldness. People who feel they matter act with boldness. You make people feel they matter by listening to them.

4. Connection. Listening gives birth to connection.

5. Commitment. People who don’t feel heard resist. People who don’t agree, but feel listened to, will commit.

The more you need to do, the more you need to listen.

Four listening tips:

1. Fall in love with the voices on your team, not your own.

2. Relax when others are talking.

3. Spend as much effort planning your listening as you spend on your talking.

4. Plan to listen much more than talk. If you have a lot to say, plan to listen a lot.

If you don’t have time to listen, you don’t have time to lead.

Listen for what isn’t said:

“The most important thing in communication is to hear, what isn’t being said.” –Peter Drucker

1. Messages
2. Needs and wants
3. Emotion
4. Intent
5. Purpose
6. Goals
7. Struggles

The secret to expanding your influence is in your ears.

Tip: Controlling what people say isn’t listening.

Food for thought:
How might leaders become better listeners?

Dan Rockwell is a coach, speaker and is freakishly interested in leadership. He is the author of a world-renowned, socially shared leadership blog, Leadership Freak.

Reposted with permission on Leaderonomics.com.

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How the Leadership Dojo is poised to make a “dent in the universe”

By SANDY CLARKE and NADIA RADHUAN

If leaders exist to nurture and develop their followers, who is there to further nurture and develop leaders? In short, what is available to help leaders progress? Every chief executive officer (CEO) I meet grapples with numerous professional challenges and personal struggles, yet he or she often has no one to talk to and get support and feedback from in an authentic manner.

It could be argued that effective leaders are readers and, therefore, those who take advantage of the wealth of information that’s out there, can shape their own continuing development. While it’s certainly advantageous to keep the mind sharp through the value of reading, there’s no substitute for real-time interaction and shared learning experiences in helping to ingrain best practices in leadership.

This is where the comprehensive Leadership Dojo Programme comes in. Launched in June 2016 by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the programme caters specifically to CEOs who want to learn, grow and be challenged.

A learning space

The word dojo is derived from the Japanese “do” – a way or pursuit – and “jo”, meaning “a place”. In the context of leadership, this dojo serves as a space for leaders to congregate and share ideas, insights and lessons, and to learn from each other in a way that drives them forward in their pursuit of excellence. It is a place where learning and sharpening their axe happens so that these CEOs can go back to their organisation charged and firing the right cylinders.

The inaugural programme was managed by Leaderonomics’ CEO Roshan Thiran, who hosted experts and industry thought leaders who shared their wisdom and knowledge during intense learning sessions and discussions. Roshan explains that one of the key components of this unique programme is the inclusion of an executive coach who spends time on a one-on-one basis, helping these CEOs understand themselves and how they manage and lead the business. These sessions include many private reflective moments where they dive into their past and present and rewire their brain for the future.

Diversity of mentor profiles

From left: Mentors Sridharan Nair of PwC and Zainal Abidin Jalil of DNex Group with Leadership Dojo grads Sinan Bin Che Ismail of DD Animation Studio Sdn Bhd and Jeremy Chong of JRB Capital’s PrimeKeeper

A major impact of the programme came from interacting and meeting great leaders across Malaysia who mentored these participants. These included UEM Group Managing Director Datuk Izzaddin Idris, Alliance Bank CEO Joel Kornreich and many other global leaders including leaders at Samsung, Siemens, Citibank, Digi, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Valiram.

Not only were they mentored by prominent CEOs, they also had numerous exposure opportunities, including closed-door sessions with Eco World Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld) chairman Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, and global thought leaders like global strategist Kaihan Krippendorff, hostage negotiator George Kohlrieser and culture expert Joseph Tan.

For Dojo participant and founder of Travee Sdn Bhd, Ankur Jakhwal, the biggest learning moment came through hostage negotiator George Kohlrieser, who taught him practical tips to dialogue. A few days later, when he had to negotiate a huge deal in which he had no clout nor statute, he surprised even himself as he garnered a huge win for his company by adopting the hostage negotiation and dialogue techniques shared by Kohlrieser.

Toolkits for growth

Figure 1: The 4 Constraints Model

The Leadership Dojo Programme presents various tools and frameworks for scaling and developing organisations, including the insightful “4 Constraints” (Figure 1) – a model developed by Roshan Thiran after 20 years of studying numerous successful and failed businesses. The constraints model takes an in-depth look at common components that often hold back leaders and their businesses from realising their full potential, and what can be done to overcome the obstacles that arise.

Another valuable element to the Dojo programme is the CEO “fireside chats”, where industry thought leaders openly share their stories, offering candid accounts of their successes and failures along the way, as well as insights into how they continue to approach their leadership style and business development. Undoubtedly, there are few such golden opportunities to learn as much from so many respected leaders in one place.

Digi CEO Albern Murty, in one of these conversations, revealed that you can never spend enough time talking to people on the floor – this is where much of the learning is done. Albern was also a mentor to Kris Uttraphan, CEO of Stampede Solution Sdn Bhd, who shared how, as part of the mentorship, he had the opportunity to tag along with Albern for a few hours as the latter attended various meetings in Digi. This allowed Kris not only to see Albern in action but also learn from him “live”. Kris describes it as one of his most powerful learning moments.

Each CEO’s sharing inspired the participants. Another high-impact sharing opportunity was a private session with EcoWorld Chairman Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin. He shared the struggles he underwent as a young man and encouraged the participants to never give up on their dreams. In fact, he encouraged everyone to dream big and then go out and be different.

Win-Win Collaborations

The Leadership Dojo Programme has a wide-ranging package of benefits for participating CEOs who are willing to invest in themselves to raise their business acumen by several levels, including a customised session for each CEO’s organisation called X-Labs. These labs were conducted within the participating CEOs’ companies and enabled learnings from the Dojo to be incorporated into the companies they were leading.

In a developing nation like Malaysia, which has few global organisations, it is incumbent on those who can lead to pull together and shape the country’s future. Businesses often struggle to scale and grow not because of insurmountable challenges, but because some key principles and central pillars are out of sync with the overarching vision of a particular organisation, or are missing altogether.

While that creates significant challenges to be overcome in the short term, the Leadership Dojo Programme exists solely to address common shortcomings through holistic, comprehensive and intense learning experiences that help create new opportunities for Malaysia’s business leaders and strengthen their place on the global market.

Hands-on learning

Perhaps the main reason why the Dojo programme is such a successful initiative lies in the interactive teaching moments that flow from leader to leader through discussions, activities, mentoring and real-time learning. Rather than the traditional methods of imparting knowledge, which is generally one-way, the Dojo programme facilitates 360-degree learning. It’s this innovative approach to learning that makes the difference.

As Roshan explains,

Great leaders are great teachers. The more time I spent with the CEO mentors in this Leadership Dojo, the more I was assured that there is great hope for corporate Malaysia. These leaders give back, in terms of knowledge and experience, to others, and in the process, they reinforce and exponentially grow their own legacies. The Leadership Dojo Programme has taught me that the best leaders teach and never stop learning. We have amazing CEOs who are teaching other CEOs and enabling them to thrive in this volatile and turbulent times.

A marketplace of friendships

Finally, an exciting and synergistic aspect of the programme is the new marketplace it has created. The participants have become close friends today and are now collaborating and buying from each other. Not only have their businesses been enhanced by the new networks of mentors, and CEOs and industry leaders they have interacted with, but they have also made many new friends whom they have built trust with, and this has laid the foundation for future innovation and partnerships.

Kudos to MDEC for supporting this amazing programme. Having met the Dojo participants, I feel that these 17 amazing leaders are going to “put a dent in the universe.” With the Dojo training they have received, I look forward to seeing them put Malaysia on the global business map.

Meet our six inspirational Dojo Mentors

• Albern Murty – CEO of Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd

  Albern was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) in April 2015. Prior to that, he was the company’s chief operating officer. Albern is the first Malaysian to become CEO of Digi. Since joining the company in 2002, he has held several roles in project planning and controls, product management and product development, and also held the position of head of strategy and new business, acting co-chief marketing officer, and chief marketing officer. Albern loves people and is always in the front lines leading from the front.

   
  This might interest you: Leadership Dojo: Albern Murty On His Personal And Organisational Journey Of Transformation
  
   

• Janet Yap – CEO of Accenture Malaysia

  Janet has been part of the Accenture team for 26 years. She built her career in systems implementation and SAP consulting through projects across the resources, products and communications, media and technology industries in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. A techie at heart, she is an avid user of all social media platforms and enjoys testing and discovering ingenious apps on her phone.

• Sridharan Nair – managing partner of PwC

  Sri has over 20 years’ experience in audit and business advisory services, having worked with a wide range of clients in the UK and Malaysia. Over the years, he has led a portfolio of large listed client engagements across various industries and a number of cross border financial due diligence assignments. He is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants. Sri is a passionate speaker who supports numerous diversity and leadership initiatives in Malaysia.

• Datuk Sri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh – group managing director of MMC Group

  Che Khalib was formerly the CEO of KUB Berhad, Ranhill Utilities Berhad and Tenaga Nasional Berhad. He is one of the most respected leaders in the energy space and is now GMD at MMC Group. He has also served on the board of various organisations including Khazanah Nasional. A qualified accountant, he has great insights on leadership and business.

• Lee Lung Nien – CEO of Citibank Berhad

  Lung is a veteran Citibanker with over 20 years’ experience. Prior to his current appointment, he was the anti-money laundering (AML) business head for Asia and had senior oversight of the AML monitoring hub in Kuala Lumpur. He started his career as a credit analyst in the bank, and has held various key positions, including head of treasury marketing in Singapore, regional ecommerce head for Asia, and sales and trading head for Malaysia. Lung is an amazing speaker with great insights on leadership and business.

   
  You might be interested in this: Leadership Dojo: Lee Lung Nien Advises Everyone To Get A Life!
   

• Datuk Izzaddin Idris – group managing director of UEM Group

  Izzaddin has over 20 years of experience in the fields of investment banking, financial and general management and was previously the chief financial officer of Tenaga Nasional Berhad. He is extremely passionate about people and leadership development and personally spends countless hours growing and developing leaders at UEM.

• Other mentors include:
  • Prakash Chandran – CEO of Siemens Malaysia
  • Ashwin Rajgopal – COO of Valiram
  • Datuk Syed Mohamed – former CEO of Iskandar Investment Berhad
  • Lee Jui Siang – vice president of IT & Mobile Business, Samsung Malaysia Electronics
  • Seelan Paul – CEO of Media Prima Radio Networks
  • Joel Kornreich – CEO of Alliance Financial Group
  • Zainal Abidin Jalil – GMD of DNeX Group
  • Datuk Yasmin Mahmood – CEO of MDEC
  • Bas De Jong – vice president of Global Development Centre of Quintiq
  • Haroon Bhatti – chief human resource officer at Digi
  • Chin Suit Fang – senior executive director and partner at PwC

Five powerful quotes on leadership development

• “We are no longer in the dispensation of age and experience. We are in the era of knowledge and information. Information leads a true leader and a true leader leads others.” —Israelmore Ayivor

• “How to prepare someone for leadership: I do it. I do it and you watch. You do it and I watch. You do it. You do it and someone else watches.”—John C. Maxwell

• “A good leader doesn’t have to know everything. Nobody knows everything; that’s why you surround yourself with people who are experts in different areas. That’s what makes a good leader.”
  —Patience Johnson

• “All progress begins with a decision. Effective leadership requires decisive action. Embrace the process of deciding, yet recognise when you have reached a choice point.” —Angie Morgan

• “We all cannot do everything or solve every issue. It’s impossible; however, if we each simply do our part, make our own contribution, regardless of how small we may think it is. . . together, it adds up and great things get accomplished.”—Mark W. Boyer

Sandy has observed and worked alongside a number of leaders throughout his career. He finds it inspiring when leaders come together to share their knowledge and insights, particularly when it’s used to serve a common goal or purpose. Nadia Radhuan heads up engagement at Leaderonomics. She’s passionate about bringing learning and development to people and ensuring they all have a fun time in the process. To learn about the 2017 edition of the Dojo programme, e-mail info@leaderonomics.com.

The post The Art Of Learning From The Best appeared first on Leaderonomics.com.

By SANDY CLARKE

Humans apparently developed language initially as a means to gossip – it allowed us to warn each other of people who would serve against our interests and those of the community.

Storytelling runs through the fabric of humanity; it’s what distinguishes us as a species. Our capacity to not only think, but to know that we are thinking, has provided us with powerful imaginations that have seen us produce the world’s most incredible innovations, as well as deliver its darkest hours.

The power of language, of storytelling, is so vast that it’s impossible to measure. Doubtless, we will all have read some books or watched a play or a movie that has moved us beyond the words that make them up. Histories are created, worlds are made, philosophies and ideologies are sculpted, great love is sparked, and intense hatred fuelled, all due to the way in which words are built on top of each other.
This might interest you: Scott Friedman, Motivational Humorist Speaker On The Leaderonomics Show

Words influence outcome

Scott Friedman, certified speaking professional and former president of the National Speakers Association, is a highly sought-after motivational speaker who knows the power of language and the psychological shifts words can create. In the world of business, Friedman believes that the words we use to define what we do can mean all the difference between celebration and dread.

An example he uses during his appearance on Leaderonomics’ Leadership Nuggets series is a word anyone who has ever worked on a project before will be intimately familiar with: deadline. For Friedman – a multiple author of books focusing on engagement – the word ‘deadline’ creates a sense of foreboding, “I don’t want to achieve any objective with the word ‘dead’ in it!” Instead, he encourages us to use a substitute term: finish line.

As Friedman explains:

“Finish line implies that when you get to the end, there’s going to be some kind of celebration. The next time you hear the word ‘deadline’ or are about to say it yourself, turn it into ‘finish line’ and see if it feels a little different. And then, take responsibility when you do get there to acknowledge your success. Celebrate – have some fun with it.”

Even a simple tweak in word use can have a profound effect on the outcome of a situation. When asked to justify a raise in their allowance, young people might shift from, “I did the dishes last week”, to “I did the dishes through the whole of last week” in order to eke out a little more sympathy from their parents.

Mindfulness in choice of words

Similarly, in leadership, feedback on ideas can be positively received if leaders swap their “but” with an “and”.

Consider the following two sentences:

• “I get where you’re going with your suggestion, but we just don’t have time for it now.”
• “I get where you’re going with your suggestion, and we can certainly look into it further at some point…”

Related post: Leadership Nuggets: Hey, Your Big ‘But’ Is Crushing Great Ideas!
The first sentence, using the “but”, slams the door shut on any further discussion, while the second sentence uses the “and” to leave the suggestion open for a future revisit. The leader might have no intention of revisiting; however, the way in which the feedback is delivered, thanks to just one word, makes all the difference to how it comes across.

The power of language can also be seen in sales. How many times have you received a cold call or an unsolicited sales pitch that looks to box you in almost immediately? It doesn’t feel good at all, does it? When the salesperson finally gets to their question, “Are you interested?” it gives you the chance to politely refuse and carry on with your day.

However, walking away becomes much harder when a slight change in the language invokes your moral values. Let’s look at another couple of sentences:

• “Are you interested in donating to the children’s charity?”
• “Are you willing to donate to the children’s charity?”

While the first sentence enquires about your level of interest in helping out, the second sentence really puts you on the spot. You can be uninterested in helping out a charity – it doesn’t feel so bad, you will help out next time. But the idea that you’re unwilling to help those poor children in need is more likely to have you reaching for your wallet, lest you be seen on the same level as a Disney villain.

Concluding thoughts

We’ve examined just a few simple examples of how effective language can be – it’s easy to see how wordsmiths with insights into human psychology principles can use nuanced storytelling to nudge us towards doing their bidding, whether it be a politician, boss, or advertiser.

And of course, the way we use language can have an enormous effect without us even realising – all the more reason to be careful of what we choose to tell ourselves, and how we interact with others.

Sandy is a huge fan of clever word play, and prefers when the power of language is used to make others laugh. P.G. Wodehouse once wrote, “An apple a day, if well aimed, keeps the doctor away.” To engage Scott Friedman for your organisation, email us at info@leaderonomics.com and we can arrange for him to come to meet your employees and inspire them. For more Leadership Nuggets features, click here.

Sandy Clarke

Sandy is a freelance writer based in Malaysia, and previously enjoyed 10 years as a journalist and broadcaster in the UK. He has been fortunate to gain valuable insights into what makes us tick, which has deepened his interests in leadership, emotions, mindfulness, and human behaviour.

The post Leadership Nuggets: There Is Power In The Words You Use appeared first on Leaderonomics.com.

It’s time you find out how THIS generation is impacting your business, and your success

By PETER ECONOMY

While the members of Generation Z (anyone born after 1993) are beginning to show up on the radar screens of businesses around the world, Generation Y (people born in the 80s and 90s) is now firmly established in the workplace and is a force to be reckoned with.

In her book, Knowing Y: Engage the Next Generation Now, marketing and media expert Sarah Sladek explains, “This tech-savvy, globally minded generation isn’t joining, buying, networking, learning, or engaging like other generations.”

Gen Y really is different. Here are some stats that help explain what makes the members of Generation Y tick:

• 92% believe that business success should be measured by more than profit
• 80% prefer on-the-spot recognition over formal reviews
• 61% feel personally responsible to make a difference in the world
• 50% want to start their own business, or have already done so. Two years is their average employment tenure

 
This might interest you: 3 Practical Steps To Winning Over The Next Generation Workforce
 

According to Sladek, members of Generation Y…

• Hate to be sold anything – How will this affect the way you sell your products and services to the members of Gen Y?
• Have always been rewarded for participation and not achievement – How can you inspire and motivate your Gen Y employees?
• Don’t seek to acquire stuff – How can you pitch your products in a way that neutralises this trait?
• Can self-organise friends for grassroots activism – How can you leverage this skill within your Generation Y employees to promote teamwork?
• Trust peers first and parents second – How can you build trust with the Gen Y members of your team?
• Actively research prices and read reviews before making a purchase – How will you ensure your product or service is the one that Gen Y customers decide to buy?
• Are driven by a desire to make a difference – How can you recruit and retain the best Generation Y employees?
• Expect exceptional service – How can your business deliver service that is consistently above and beyond your competitors?
• Seek to do business with ethical, trustworthy organisations – When it comes to being ethical and trustworthy, do you walk your talk?
• Value customisation – In what ways do you enable customers to tailor your products and services to their unique desires and needs?
• Remain detached from institutions, but closely networked with friends – How effectively do you use social media to build and promote your brand and your products and services?

Peter Economy has written more than 80 books on a variety of business and leadership topics. To connect with him, email him at editor@leaderonomics.com.

 
Reposted with permission on Leaderonomics.com.

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How companies tailor benefits and engagement for employees at various life stages

By JOHAN MAHMOOD MERICAN and SALIKA SUKSUWAN

Organisations are increasingly contending with challenges as well as opportunities offered by an intergenerational workforce. As set out in Accenture’s Reinventing Work in Asean report, 55% of Asean’s working-age population will be between 20 and 39 years old by 2020. These ‘millennials’ are arguably different from prior generations, especially as they are digital natives.

At the same time, longer life expectancy has led nations to raise minimum retirement age – Malaysia raised it to 60 years old in 2013 and we are seeing more people work on contract or part-time post-retirement.

An inter-generational workforce is already a reality. Based on the Diversity in the Workplace 2015 survey of Malaysian listed companies by TalentCorp and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the breakdown of employees were 33% in their 20s; 34% in their 30s; 20% in their 40s; 12% in their 50s and only 1% aged 60 years and above.

However, the risk of disconnect between leadership and workforce arises especially when the 1% who are 60 years old and above account for 49% of board members; 22% of chief executive officers (CEOs) and 13% of top management.

How then can organisations attract, retain and get the best out of the multi-generations of employees, leveraging on the diversity of talent to navigate an increasingly competitive business environment that is also VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous)? Our experience suggests Malaysian companies that do this well, practise the following:

1. Customer orientation to employees

Sir Richard Branson famously says that at Virgin Group, staff come first and customers second on the argument that an employee-centric approach is key to great customer experience and, ultimately, business success. We’re not endorsing this view but, safe to say, we would do better to treat our employees more like our customers.

Taking a customer-orientated approach to employees isn’t just about saying our employees are important. It involves a mindset change and a methodical approach of the following…

• knowing that both customers and employees have choices on where to go, hence, articulating a brand or value proposition to attract and retain talent like we do our customers

• engaging employees like customers to understand their needs

• appreciating that different employees have different needs – just as customers are segmented – thus, different ‘product’ offerings are needed for a diverse workforce, especially one made up of multiple generations

• building mutual trust for a successful long-term relationship

Google repeatedly topped Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For list. Many would focus on working conditions at the Googleplex, with its constant supply of food (a plus point Malaysians can relate to) and the very best office facilities and employee perks.

But that is only part of it. Google realised a key demand of top talent was having great bosses. Hence, they got their analytics team to research qualities of great managers, then not only recruit those with these characteristics but also developed a training program to teach managers these qualities and appraise their managers against these requirements.

Maybank clearly articulated an employee value proposition with the tagline Go Ahead, using it consistently to engage talents on campus and in career fairs, in addition to its signature Go Ahead Challenge – a business case study competition for young graduates.

Maybank’s focused approach has seen it rise in rankings and emerge as Malaysia’s Top Graduate Employer, based on surveys involving Malaysian youth.

2. Effective engagement from the top

We are seeing more Malaysian employers listening to their employees, in line with a more customer-orientated approach. Leading employers institutionalise annual employee engagement surveys as a barometer of organisational health and as a platform to solicit feedback to improve employee engagement efforts.

However, annual surveys and data analysis are not enough. What’s key is the tone from the top, especially in demonstrating commitment to engage directly and respond to employee needs.

Some CEOs have started engaging staff through “split-level” meetings, directly meeting younger employees multiple levels below them. One example is Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli, group managing director of RHB Bank. He believes in the importance of split-level meetings, especially with RHB’s Gen Y, who account for more than 45% of employees.

It was through these meetings that Khairussaleh heard, first-hand, the recurring demand for flexible work arrangements (FWA). Following this discovery, he personally tabled FWA – demonstrating commitment to respond to feedback.

Another CEO who pays attention to his people is Prakash Chandran, the president and CEO of Siemens Malaysia, who championed the “Pride@Siemens” programme as a result of two-way dialogues with employees.

Under their “work from home” pilot programme, employees were given the choice to work in their preferred setting one day a week, equipped with the technology to do their work, such as a laptop, remote access to shared folders, efficient connectivity and Internet access subsidies.

Upon bearing positive outcomes, the work from home policy was fully implemented in the organisation, benefitting employees of different generations. Together with other employee-centric initiatives, this helped the company’s attrition rate drop progressively from 14% in 2011 to 8% in 2013.

 
This might interest you: Cohesion In Diversity: 3 Key Principles Of Managing Differences
 

3. Embracing and catering for differences

Businesses are very good at grouping customers into different segments and creating different product offerings, accordingly. For example, with the emergence of metrosexuals, cosmetics companies have created skincare ranges specifically for these men. Similarly, car companies produce different types of cars for different customer segments.

In contrast, human resources (HR) professionals have historically applied similar HR policies to all employees – a seeming “one size fits all” approach in the name of consistency and internal equity.

In his book Transformative HR, Towers Watson’s global practice leader for talent management, Ravin Jesuthasan – coincidentally a Malaysian based in Chicago – calls for HR professionals to learn more from their marketing colleagues by segmenting talents based on their needs, just like in consumer segmentation.

Having a multi-generational workforce requires appreciation of the different needs of an employee. Companies such as Nestlé and CIMB have flexible benefits, recognising that staff would like to have choices on their wellness packages and insurance coverage as they go through different stages in life.

Typically, younger employees value higher take-home salary more than they do health benefits. Older employees, on the other hand, prioritise family health coverage. This is a clear example of why a cookie-cutter approach is not ideal for a multi-generational workforce.

Starbucks caters for differences even in terms of professional ambition. Many join Starbucks as a barista on a full-time basis with a pathway involving training and development, with opportunities to become a store manager.

In studying its talent needs for baristas, however, Starbucks identified a distinctively different talent segment, coined surfer dudes, who made very good baristas but were not interested in professional development or becoming store managers. This segment just wanted a flexible form of employment to earn some income while pursuing other interests. Hence the need to design different employment terms for this different talent segment.

Starbucks Malaysia also embraces differences in employee ability. The chain opened their first signing store in Bangsar Village, an outlet which employs only hearing-impaired staff. Catering for different needs helps enhance talent engagement and retention.

4. Work-life integration

When PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi was in KL, she met a group of Malaysian CEOs and shared how she wanted PepsiCo to be a company where employees could ‘bring their whole selves to work’.

She explained that companies tend to have employees adopt a different persona at work. What makes them a complete person – the communities they come from, their values and interests, tend to get parked outside the office entrance.

In enabling employees to bring their whole selves to work, PepsiCo ensured that the organisation’s business is consistent with an employee’s values and priorities. Individuals who care passionately about the environment would fully commit their talent to an organisation that commits to sustainability, like Sime Darby, with its brand promise “Delivering Sustainable Futures”. Similarly, an employee who prioritises health and wellness would appreciate an organisation that provides healthy food options, gym facilities and ergonomic work conditions.

In forging a long-term relationship with its employees over their life cycle, progressive employers are able to transition a talent from periods where they can commit to full-time jobs to periods where they wish to work part-time or take a career break.

For example, Chong Chye Neo’s rise to the top as IBM Malaysia’s managing director was facilitated by IBM policy, which allowed her to take two leaves of absence for family reasons.
Rather than trying to achieve work-life balance, which implies a neat separation between work time and personal time, some companies aspire for work-life integration, providing for a more symbiotic relationship between work and life.

5. Mutual trust and respect

Among the challenges of a multi-generational workforce is the risk of intergenerational miscommunication and misunderstanding. Successful employers overcome such risks by inculcating an environment of mutual trust and respect.

Rather than view mentoring as a one-way street with an elder mentoring the younger, organisations such as Kimberly-Clark and Credit Suisse have reverse mentoring where younger millennials – as digital natives – would mentor senior management in areas such as social media, e-commerce and digital marketing. This is part and parcel of engendering a sense that each generation has something to learn from the other.

Many employers shy from FWA for fear that employees will abuse it. “Trust is a two-way street. Trust begets trust,” asserts Datuk Sabariah Hassan, who is currently the deputy director-general of the Public Service Department.

When she introduced FWA to officers at the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, she found that they were responsible in practising it and even responded positively with greater productivity.

In a nutshell

Our best employers globally and in Malaysia have woken to the reality of a multi-generational workforce. Such employers have taken progressive steps to move away from the mindset of treating all employees equally to one which embraces the inherent diversity of their workforce.

No rocket science involved here – effective employers learn to treat their employees the way they treat customers. Combining strong engagement, talent segmentation, work-life integration and trust produces a winning recipe to thrive in today’s ever competitive and complex world.

 
Let’s look at some case studies based on Malaysian companies:

Case Study 1: PwC Malaysia

With a workforce comprising close to 80% Gen Ys, the leadership team at PwC Malaysia takes a keen interest in listening to the voices of their younger employees.

Partners make time to engage with their teams through coffee chats, focus group sessions and real-time feedback with short debriefs called “Take 5”. The following strategies help them build a lasting connection across generations…

Customer orientation to employees: Understanding the millennials’ inclination for variety in their work, in-house programmes are introduced to provide young graduates with the option of working across-industry or competency groups. The Industry Xplorer programme (IX), encourages agility among new joiners who gain experience in more than one industry group before opting to specialise.

Effective engagement from the top: Taking the feedback from the younger generation that they want to feel empowered, the “Junior Consulting Board” was established, comprising young associates who are members of a shadow board. They are given the opportunity to work with senior partners to lead employee engagement initiatives, which include town halls and durian parties.

Embracing and catering for differences: In recognition that employees have different priorities as they go through their life journey, PwC Malaysia offered a reduced work-week option of working between 2.5 to 4 days a week. This was introduced more than a decade ago, with the initial intent of retaining high performing working mothers. This option is now made available for all staff, including male employees. A recent pulse survey indicated that 63% of staff who’ve opted for reduced work week would’ve left the firm if not for this option.

Work-Life Integration: People at PwC take getting fit seriously, including senior partners of the firm. The on-going health campaign, or #FitPwC, is designed to get people across all generations exercising more so that they can be healthier and more productive. Employees can take part in a variety of activities ranging from walking (KakiJalan), taking the stairs (Stair-a-thon), running, or taking a break to have a massage at work (#UrutPwC).

Mutual Trust and Respect: With the aim of creating a more flexible work culture, flex+ was launched in 2016 as an enhancement of the FWA in the firm. For the programme to succeed, there needs to be mutual trust where the firm offers flexibility at work, but at the same time, employees have the responsibility to ensure that work commitment and client deliverables are not compromised.

These various people initiatives have shown positive results in PwC Malaysia, with an increase of six per cent in the People Engagement Index in the last few years. The journey continues at PwC, with increased efforts to bridge the intergenerational gap within the firm.

Case Study 2: PKT Logistics

Datuk Michael Tio is a man on a mission, driven to transform PKT Logistics, a logistics SME that was founded by his father, into Malaysia’s first logistics multi-national corporation with a billion Ringgit revenue. His leadership certainly captures the elements of what it takes to run a multi-generational workforce. Here’s how PKT Logistics wins over the hearts of employee – using the very same strategies as above…

Customer orientation to employees: Recognising logistics as an ‘unsexy’ business, Tio works hard to brand PKT Logistics as the logistics employer of choice – investing time engaging students in universities to providing an office environment to rival Google. PKT’s “Smart Trucker” program aims to raise the status and profile of truck drivers by attracting fresh graduates with salaries above RM4,000 per month.

Effective engagement from the top: Tio could be mistaken for a Gen Y given how much he champions social media. PKT Logistics prides itself as a ‘Facebook company’ – while some employers still ban Facebook at the office, PKT Logistics has made Facebook, a compulsory communication tool at work, covering everything from applying for a job, maintenance reports, security guards reporting for duty, booking meeting rooms, gym usage, etc.

Embracing and catering for differences: An example of catering for different needs is PKT’s “Anak Belajar Ibu Bekerja” which provides employment opportunities for mothers who live in kampungs near its premises. Women are provided with option to work in four-hour shifts either in the morning or afternoon to match their children’s schooling hours.

Work-Life Integration: Health is a major priority for PKT Logistics, with access to state of the art gym facilities and annual health screenings. Incentives are given to those who consistently clock in more hours at the gym and winners of the biggest loser competition get an all-expense paid trip overseas. Every year, the senior management go on an overseas holiday as a team to building greater social interaction and team cohesion at work.

Mutual Trust and Respect: An example of trust is the ‘honour bars’ where employees are trusted to pay for whatever food and drink they consume. So far there has never been any shortfall in collections that are placed in unlocked boxes.

Tio stresses “CSR is not how you spend your profits but how responsible you are in making profits. Responsible to who? Your employees of course.”

Johan Mahmood Merican is deputy director-general at the Economic Planning Unit and Salika Suksuwan is human resources director of PwC Malaysia. Both are also TalentCorp Malaysia’s Diversity Advocates. If you would like to contact them, you could do so at editor@leaderonomics.com.

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5 essential skills for effective leadership

1. Engage others in shared meaning

Leaders should learn to mobilise their employees not to blindly follow them by virtue of their title, but because they’re able to see (and buy into) a clear vision set out in front of them that resonates with their core values and beliefs.

2. Offer a distinct and compelling voice

What truly separates great leaders from the rest is their distinctive style, and the ability to say something new that deeply touches those they seek to inspire. Too many leaders pitch ideas we already know, or that they don’t really believe in themselves, which is why they often hit brick walls in their efforts to progress. Leaders who are compelling are able to find new ways to get their message across effectively in a way that sticks.

3. Integrity

People aren’t stupid, and most have built-in BS detectors. They know when a leader is being incongruent when, say, they talk about the importance of employee engagement and yet spend little or no time getting to know their own team. Leaders who possess integrity command respect. Leaders who are incongruent command compliance for as long as it’s useful for employees to remain compliant.

4. Adaptability

The ability to grasp context and adapt to difficulties with resilience is key for any leader who wishes to inspire and empower. Leaders who adopt a one-approach-fits-all to their employees, circumstances and unexpected situations are doomed to failure.

5. Self-awareness

This is a tough skill to cultivate… for everyone else, of course. Most of us believe we know our strengths and weaknesses, and more so that we would move to fix any weakness when we come across it. Unfortunately, self-reflection and genuine efforts to see ourselves in a more objective light are few and far between. Leaders who are self-aware are able to get out of their own way, learn from others, and sincerely look to improve in their areas of weakness.

This might interest you: Engagement Habits Of Effective Managers

4 reasons leaders lose their way

1. They become inward-looking

Leaders lead people. That may sound obvious but, after a time, many leaders forget this and start supporting themselves instead, negating their role as mentors and support for those in their team. They become power-hungry control freaks, more interested in carving a legacy in their own name rather than building something of genuine worth for their team and others.

2. They get complacent

The best leaders will often describe themselves as students (and mean what they say). Others will reach a certain status or number of years of experience and believe there’s nothing left to learn – though they will continue to talk a good game about lifelong learning. They ignore their own team and their suggestions (at their peril), and often end up with people who have nothing left to say after a time, due to a lack of effective communication.

3. They remain rigid

Times change, environments shift, industries evolve, and technology advances… and yet there are leaders who are stoic in their belief that how things were done 10 years ago are still relevant today, when the way things were done five years ago are all but outmoded. The refusal to adapt is a symptom of complacency: “This is the way we’ve always done it” is a favourite mantra for leaders who cling desperately to the past and spend their time wishing for the glory days of yesterday, rather than adapting to create glory days of tomorrow.

4 They don’t communicate well

Hands up who believes that leaders who speak well are good communicators? You’re not alone. Communication – effective communication – is a two-way street, with the best communicators spending much more time asking questions and listening than they spend talking. Leaders who fail to communicate well are those whose employees have little-to-no idea of the direction they’re going in and who, at best, are offered a broad and vague description of the leader’s vision and goals.

Sandy’s earliest crucible moment came as a child, when he ate some party food pre-party and subsequently blamed his dog. He feels he emerged stronger from the experience. To connect with Sandy, you can follow him on Twitter @RealSClarke.

Sandy Clarke

Sandy is a freelance writer based in Malaysia, and previously enjoyed 10 years as a journalist and broadcaster in the UK. He has been fortunate to gain valuable insights into what makes us tick, which has deepened his interests in leadership, emotions, mindfulness, and human behaviour.

The post Skills For Effective Leadership And How Leaders Lose Their Way appeared first on Leaderonomics.com.

By KARIN HURT

“Oh she didn’t copy me on purpose.”
“He’s withholding information to make my life harder.”
“Making us guess what he’s thinking is just a big power play.”
“Why would she put something that important in e-mail?”
“What’s that supposed to mean anyway?”
“Why did she copy my boss?”

Some teams spend more time second guessing the intent behind poor communication than working to improve it.

“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” –George Bernard Shaw

1. Assuming mal-intent

Sure people play games, but not most of us, most of the time. Don’t let an innocent oversight, like being left out of an e-mail or meeting, degrade trust.

I’ll never forget the time a peer executive left me off a meeting invite. Our departments had some competing priorities, and I was sure it was intentional. I stewed on it for weeks. Finally, after I’d let the fuel from my fabricated fable of his intentions combust into full-on stupidity, I blew a gasket when he asked me to move one of my meetings around so he could attend. As the drama unravelled, it became obvious that the original oversight was just that, an oversight.

We cleared the air and it never happened again. I could have saved both of us a lot of angst by just picking up the phone and asking to be included.
 
 

2. Hiding behind e-mail

E-mail is fast and easy, but rarely effective for important communication. Never assume “they got the memo,” and your work is done. Don’t use email to communicate bad news, or to escalate over a peer’s head by copying their boss.

The best communication happens five times, in five different ways. E-mail may be a great supporting tool, but it rarely plays well as the lead medium.
 
This might interest you: Wonder Where Your Day Went?

3. Failure to write down decisions

I’ve seen great teams with excellent communication skills break down because they miss this simple step. High-trust teams would often raise a lot of creative ideas, debate pros and cons, and then challenge the decisions some more. All healthy. Once the debate has concluded, be sure to summarise the final decisions, along with next steps and timeline.

After all that discussion, I often find that each team member would leave with their own memory of what was decided, which may or may not match the recall of other team members.

Writing down and re-reading key decisions and next steps are important ways to keep the team moving in the same direction.

Communicating well builds the most important ingredient of any successful team: trust. Take the time to establish clear expectations on how your team should communicate, and to discuss where it’s working best and how it’s breaking down.
 
 
Related article: Connecting With Customers: Keep It Short And Simple
 
 

Karin Hurt is a keynote speaker, leadership consultant, and MBA professor. She has decades of experience in sales, customer service, and HR which she uses to help clients turn around results through deeper engagement. She knows the stillness of a yogi, the reflection of a marathoner, and the joy of being a mum raising emerging leaders. To engage with Karin, e-mail us at editor@leaderonomics.com

Reposted with permission on Leaderonomics.com

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By ROSHAN THIRAN

Everything stems from communication, the foundation upon which all aspects of leadership are built. The ability to communicate well can help to inspire, motivate, enrich, empower and energise.

Oftentimes, effective communication can be conflated with complex communication – the more nuanced the message, the more sophisticated the messenger. In actual fact, the most effective communication is often the most simple communication.

To illustrate, let’s take a look at two examples from historic speeches that show the power of clear communication:

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.” – John F. Kennedy (Inauguration Address, 1961)

“… whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” – Winston Churchill (1940)

These extracts show two of history’s most gifted orators getting their message across simply and directly which, in both cases, had the desired effect of inspiring a nation and instilling belief within their respective peoples.

They also imply the responsibility and duty we all have towards our communities and countries. It’s impressive how much meaning, so layered and rich, can exist within just a few simple words.

Context is key

As is usually the case, context is important when it comes to judging the importance and effectiveness of possessing a particular quality. Recently, Malaysian football star Mohd Faiz Subri landed FIFA’s prestigious Puskas Award, having scored the wonder goal of all wonder goals.
Related post: Celebrate Your ‘Knuckleball Goal’ Moments And Fight On!
Following his award speech, the footballer, sadly, received criticism for his poor command of the English language. Despite the fact that he came out on top of an impressive field to win a coveted award, the attention from some people shifted from his spectacular achievement to focusing on his speaking skills.

The standard of English among Malaysian footballers is perhaps a debate for another day; however, clearly in this context, it is less important to possess effective communication skills than in other situations. Having said that, I did wonder, when reading about the unfair criticism aimed at Faiz, how his critics would fare on the football field… we all have our strengths.

Looking beyond the trivial, there are of course times when effective communication is vital with regard to conveying a message. In fact, it can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.

Crystal clear communication

In discussing examples of awful language usage, Harvard psychology Professor Steve Pinker demonstrated just how important it is to be able to communicate clearly. In an example describing warnings that once came with portable generators and combustion heaters, Pinker highlighted one such warning that read:

“Mild exposure to CO can result in accumulated damage over time. Extreme exposure to CO may rapidly be fatal without producing significant warning symptoms.”

Every year, many Americans were effectively turning their homes “into gas chambers”, unaware of the significance of the warning. Thankfully, the number of casualties from this problem plummeted after the warning was changed to read:

“Using a generator indoors CAN KILL YOU IN MINUTES.”

Remember to K.I.S.S

Loquacious communicators with a proclivity towards ostentatious expression, driven by a desire to display their cerebral pyrotechnics, might sound clever. However, their message is invariably buried in their attempts to sound impressive.

As leaders, we should be focusing on delivering an impressive message, rather than aiming to show off in the hope of being impressive ourselves.

People are always drawn to messages that they can relate to and easily digest. Whatever you think of his politics, (former) President Barack Obama demonstrated this to great effect with his “Yes We Can!” message during his first presidential campaign.

His successor, Donald Trump, arguably owes some of his success to a similar strategy of clear communication. His “Make America Great Again” slogan is as simple as it is powerful.

Regardless of each leader’s politics, we can see the effectiveness of their simple, clear communication in action, and it’s this approach that all leaders should look to embrace if they wish to truly inspire, empower and engage their followers.

Generally speaking, effective communication implies openness and transparency. It also provides us with a sense that those who are communicating the message are in control of what they’re doing, understand what they want to achieve, and are able to lead us in a direction that will help us to achieve our shared goals and ambitions.

Roshan Thiran is the CEO of Leaderonomics – a social enterprise working to transform lives through leadership development and nurturing potential. Connect with Roshan on Facebook for more insights into business, personal development, and leadership. For more Be A Leader articles, click here. To reach Roshan via email, send a note to roshan.thiran@gmail.com

Roshan Thiran

Roshan is CEO of the Leaderonomics Group. He believes that everyone can be a leader and make a dent in the universe, in their own special ways. To engage with him deeper, go to www.Facebook.com/roshanthiran.leaderonomics

http://www.leaderonomics.org

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Did you know that 30 June is Social Media Day?

Well, it is! It was launched by Mashable back in 2010 as a way to recognise the impact of social media on global communication.

Undeniably, social media is hard to ignore these days. It is where we keep ourselves updated with what our friends are doing all over the world, as well as the happenings around the world – in an instant. Even businesses have started to recognise the importance of engaging their stakeholders and customers via social media.

It is high time we learn to maximise the power of social media for our business and organisation. Here are our top 10 ways.

 
See also: Top 10 Ways To Maximise Social Media Impact For Your Business

 
Watch the corresponding video below:

Comment or write to us at editor@leaderonomics.com and share with us some of your tips in managing social media for your organisation. For more Top 10 articles, click here. For more infographics, click here.

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By BERNARD MARR

Crying the alarm for the death of the sales professional at the hands of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) is a bit too dramatic.

But, it’s safe to say that organisations that transform their sales functions to keep up with the times will find themselves rising above the competition.

Machine learning tries to teach computers to learn like a human

With more data available to machines than ever, they are able to learn by using algorithms to interpret the data, extrapolate it and predict outcomes.

When machines get feedback about whether those predictions were right or wrong, they use that as a learning experience to make their predictive capabilities better in the future.

Machine learning is one aspect of AI and it is disrupting roles and responsibilities for professionals in every industry.

The power of machine learning

Never fear, sales professionals. There’s a personal side to selling that machines will not (at least for a long time) be able to replace.

Humans, and exemplary sales professionals in particular, are uniquely suited to listening, convincing, negotiating and empathising as well as exploring and answering the very critical question of “Why is this the best product or service for me.”

However, the power of machine learning to contribute to successful sales initiatives cannot be understated and will only continue to grow in importance.

How machine learning will contribute to the sales function

There are many ways that companies can use machine learning in their sales process.

Here are just a few of them:

Interpret customer data: Machine learning helps make sense of the data we collect about our customers.

Research shows how important it is to have a “data-driven understanding” of our customers.

Even though many organisations have developed systems and spent resources to gather and store customer data, it’s the machine learning that will now help us make effective use of that data in ways that relying on humans alone could not.

Improve sales forecasting: When you gather data on your prospective client (company size, stakeholders, solutions they want) and then, through machine learning, have the ability to compare it to historical sales efforts, you can connect the dots and better predict what solutions would be effective and the likelihood of the deal closing and how long it will take.

This insight helps sales management better allocate resources and predict sales projections.

Predict customer needs: Business success relies on how well we provide what our customers need.

• Machine learning can improve how responsive and proactive we are to anticipate the needs of our customers.
• The better we are at addressing our clients’ needs before they escalate and at suggesting a solution that could help make their life better and easier, the stronger our relationship will be.
• Machines won’t forget to follow-up or be too busy to proactively share solutions.

Efficient transactional sales: According to Harvard Business Review, by 2020, customers will manage 85% of their interactions with an organisation without interacting with a human.

Having machines step in to handle certain sales efforts quickly and effectively can free up the human sales force to focus on relationship-building.

Sales communication: There will most likely be dramatic changes to sales communication as a result of machine learning.

If business communication mimics the transformation of consumer communication, the business equivalent of short-form communication such as tweets and text messages will be AI responses.

Machines can quickly and easily answer queries about pricing, product features or contract terms.

Within the next decade, virtual reality will allow prospects to tour a factory, “join” conferences and meetings with your entire team and see products being manufactured, all without leaving their own office.

Salesforce’s Einstein: We get a glimpse into the way sales functions will change by looking at the promises of Einstein, the AI solution from customer relationship management company Salesforce.

Einstein helps sales personnel by reminding them who to follow-up with, what opportunity should be prioritised because of a high probability of conversion and help to predict the best product or service for each prospect.

Machine learning will help process the data and identify opportunities for sales personnel to act upon.

Machines can take care of transactional sales to free up the human salesforce to build relationships and nurture their leads in ways only humans can.

By taking care of mundane tasks for sales staff, machines clear the way for the sales process to be better and more effective.

Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling business author, keynote speaker and strategic advisor to companies and governments. As the founder and CEO of Bernard Marr & Co, he is one of the world’s most highly respected thought leaders when it comes to intelligent use of data in business. This article first appeared on Forbes. To get in touch with him, e-mail us at editor@leaderonomics.com.

Reposted with permission on Leaderonomics.com

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By DR TRAVIS BRADBERRY

Even the most likeable and well-mannered among us can still look like jerks in an email. Writing an email that comes across just like you do in person is a fine art.

During a conversation, you adjust your tone, facial expression, gestures and posture in order to fit the mood of what you’re conveying.

You do this because people tend to be much more responsive to how you say things than to what you actually say.

Email strips a conversation bare. It’s efficient, but it can turn easy interactions into messy misinterpretations.

Without facial expressions and body posture to guide your message, people look at each word you type as an indicator of tone and mood.

Most of the mistakes people make in their emails are completely avoidable.

The following list digs into these subtle mistakes and hidden blunders.

1) The compulsive CC and ‘reply all’

CC-ing people all the time is one of the most annoying things you can do via email. I’d say it’s the most annoying, but this honour is bestowed upon the excessive “reply all”.

If someone sends an email to you and a bunch of other people, do you really think every recipient needs to get another email from you saying “thanks”?

They don’t, and when you do this, it sends people climbing up a wall.

The trick for knowing when to CC someone is to treat your email as if it’s an in-person meeting.

The question then becomes this: “Would it be necessary or helpful to have this person come to the meeting?”

If the answer is no, then don’t waste his/her time with an email. As for reply all, just don’t do it.

Even if someone else in the thread replies all, you’re still annoying everyone to death when you join the fray.

If you have something to say, it’s better to send this directly (and privately) to the original sender and let him/her decide if the group should know about it too.

2) The way-too-brief

All too often, the cause of email conflict is an imbalance between the effort in the initial email and the effort in the response to that email.

When someone types up a detailed paragraph outlining important issues, they expect you to respond carefully.

Sending back “Got it” or “Noted” just doesn’t do the trick.

Without knowledge of your intent and tone, brief responses come across as apathetic and even sarcastic to the receiver.

This is unfortunate because this is rarely the sender’s intent.

The best way to avoid being misinterpreted in a brief response is to share your intent.

Even responding with “I’m a little busy but should be able to read it later this week” comes across much better than “Got it”, which a lot of people will interpret as indifference.

READ: 3 Communication Mistakes Screwing Up Teamwork

3) The ‘URGENT’ subject line

Subject lines that say “URGENT” or “ASAP” show complete disregard for the recipient. If your email is that urgent, pick up the phone and give the person a call.

Even in the rare instance when an email actually is urgent, labeling it as such in the subject line is unnecessary and sets a strong, negative tone.

The key to avoiding “URGENT” subject lines is two-fold:

1. If the issue is best dealt with in any form other than email, then that’s how you should be dealing with it.
2. If this is not the case, then the issue lies in your ability to create a strong subject line. After all, people check their email frequently, so as long as your subject line catches their eye, it will get the job done.

Instead of labeling the email as urgent, ask yourself why the email is urgent. The answer to this question is your new subject line.

If a client needs an answer today, then simply make your subject line “Client Needs Response Today.”

This maintains the sense of urgency without setting a rude, desperate tone.

4) The Debbie Downer

Sending emails that consistently tell people what they do wrong and what they shouldn’t be doing really takes a toll.

Even if you are trying to offer constructive criticism, you need to avoid negativity in your emails at all costs.

Since people are unable to hear your tone directly, they read into the connotations of words and create a tone in their head as they go along. Negatives become especially negative in email form.

Whenever you find yourself using negative words like “don’t”, “can’t”, “won’t” or “couldn’t”, turn them into positives. Making this change transforms the entire tone of the message.

For example, instead of saying, “You can’t complete reports like this in the future,” say, “Next time you complete a report, please…”

When you must deliver negative feedback, don’t do it in an email. Just hop on the telephone or walk down the hall.

5) The robot

It’s easy to think of email as a way to get something done quickly, but when you do this to the extreme, you come across as inhuman.

You wouldn’t walk into someone’s office and hand them a report to do without acknowledging them somehow.

Jumping straight into the nitty-gritty might seem like the most effective thing to do, but it leaves a lasting negative impression.

Fixing this one is simple. Just take an extra second to greet the person you’re writing to.

You don’t have to ask your recipient about his/her weekend. Just a simple acknowledgment of the individual as a human being is all it takes.

This keeps the tone much more respectful than it would be if you were to simply send assignments.

Bringing it all together

The trickiest thing about emailing is making certain that people perceive your message the way you intend them to.

You must be socially aware to pull this off. That is, be willing to take the time to consider how things look from your recipient’s perspective before you hit “send”.

Dr. Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the #1 bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the cofounder of TalentSmart, the world’s leading provider of emotional intelligence tests and training, serving more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies. His bestselling books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. Dr. Bradberry has written for, or been covered by, Newsweek, TIME, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review.

Reposted with permission

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The different belief systems and practices within single Asian families and the confusion they create

By CHRISTIAN STEWART

It is often said that the first generation creates the wealth, but that it is the second generation that creates the legacy.

In an overseas Chinese family business (“CFB”), the traditional approach is for the founder to leave the ownership of the business in equal shares among all of the legitimate heirs. In the past, this meant all of the sons.

However, it is more common these days to see all of the children of the founder becoming equal shareholders when the founder passes, if not before then. In the stereotypical CFB, the founder is also the father and the head of the family.

While the founder is alive, the family is kept together and works together in the business. Sometimes, the surviving spouse of the founder can also keep the family united in the same way.

But what happens when the founder is no longer around? Can the siblings work together as equal owners to continue the family firm?

Family governance expert, James E. Hughes, the author of Family Wealth: Keeping it in the Family (Bloomberg Press) notes that in his experience, the members of the second generation will either see themselves as an “Inheritor” or as a “Steward”.

Two different paradigms

What do we mean by a “Steward”? This term refers to a member of the second generation who wants to work together with his/her fellow siblings to see the family firm continue under family ownership.

They see themselves as being under an obligation to pass on the family firm as a legacy asset to the next generation. To such a person, legacy is important. A “Steward” is likely to be emotionally committed to the family firm.

 
This might interest you: Raise Your Game: Understanding The Principles Of Ownership And Stewardship
 

On the other hand, an “Inheritor” sees their ownership in simple financial terms. Such a person is more like an arms-length investor.

Importantly, they want to be their own person, and they do not want to feel like they have to work together with their other siblings. Under our definition, they may lack emotional commitment to the family firm.

In terms of family culture, a person who is a “Steward” has an inward looking orientation. This means they tend to look in towards the family unit.

A person who is an “Inheritor” looks outward. This means they tend to look away from the family unit and they like their independence.

By definition, the paradigm of a “Steward” is very different from the paradigm of an “Inheritor”.

Hughes further notes that in his experience:

• Neither of these two paradigms is inherently right or wrong. There should be no question of judgement or blame involved here.
• You cannot convince an Inheritor to become a Steward.
• It is vitally important that all the siblings who are owners in the family firm can have “adult-adult” conversations about whether, as an individual, they see themselves as a Steward, or as an Inheritor.
• It is often the relationship between the founder and the siblings that will determine where each of the siblings comes out on this question.

1. Where they are all inheritors

If all the siblings see themselves as individual Inheritors, you know there is little point in attempting to get them to work together as a family team. Family teamwork and the skills required is not an aspect of the Inheritor paradigm.

If all of the second-generation owners see themselves as Inheritors, they may still decide to keep their shares intact together out of economic necessity, to pool their financial capital.

However, in this event they will be more like a group of unrelated investors.

In this scenario, the family firm can be continued if one of the siblings manages to buy out the shares of the others so that this individual can become a controlling shareholder, and in a sense, the new “founder”. This is known as “recycling” the family firm.

In the absence of the emergence of a new controlling shareholder in the second generation, it is reasonable to predict that a CFB controlled by a group of Inheritors will disintegrate, either as a result of internal family conflicts, or at the stage when the shares start to pass to the cousin generation.

2. Where they are all stewards

The second scenario is one where all of the second-generation owners see themselves as Stewards. By our definition, this implies an intention, a motivation, to want to work together.

However, will good intentions be enough to make a difference?

• You could have a group of Stewards who feel very committed to the family legacy, but who still struggle to work together because they lack the necessary skills for effective communicating, decision making and conflict resolution, and because they don’t know how to overcome the tendencies of their family system (i.e. family dynamics) that are inappropriate for the business system.Having good intentions is one thing. Having the rights skills is another thing.
• It is often said that power corrupts. You could have a group who define themselves as Stewards, but who cannot really work together because of politics or power struggles.Stewardship and working together imply a need for participation and “fair process”. If there is a sibling who seeks to be too authoritarian, to be too directive in their leadership style, expect that there will be some problems with the group.
• You could have a family that are all Stewards and are fully committed to working together but where there is a lot of confusion over family, ownership and management roles. Most conflicts in a family business are “role conflicts”.Fortunately, typical role conflicts can be predicted and therefore planned for. The important tasks in this scenario will include creating good boundaries between family and business; and between ownership and management.

The good news is that a group of Stewards is likely going to have the motivation to do the work necessary to improve their skills at working together and to adopt good family business governance structures and processes.

This includes cultivating emotional commitment to the family firm.

3. A mix of stewards and inheritors

The third alternative is that some members of the second generation will see themselves as Stewards, and some will see themselves as Inheritors.

The third scenario is the case where there is a mix of views. In practice, this is likely to be the most common scenario.

The danger with this third scenario is that it has the potential to paralyse things if the siblings are unable to discuss and reconcile their differing views.

If some are Inheritors, in an Asian family, the Stewards may not be comfortable to move ahead on their own while leaving the Inheritors out of it because they fear this will imply the family is not united. Accordingly the group gets stuck.

 
Read this: Why a Succession Line is Crucial for Businesses
 

A way to reframe this third scenario into a more positive light is to realise that a healthy family is one that can balance the desire to be together (something the Stewards feel comfortable with) with the desire to be your own person (which is what the Inheritors want).

Logically a family system in this third scenario has both ends of the spectrum and just needs to find a way to integrate balance.

Summary of the three scenarios often found in Asian family businesses.

What is your ownership philosophy?

This leads onto Hughes’s next proposition which is that members of the second generation need to be able to have “adult-adult” conversations about whether each individual regards themselves as a Steward or as an Inheritor.

Before examining this concept of an “adult-adult” conversation, why should it be important for the sibling shareholders to be able to have such conversations?

These two groups will have different goals and expectations for their share ownership. They are two different types of owners.

The two groups could be expected to have different time horizons, risk appetites, liquidity needs, and maybe different expectations for how the company should be managed.

If the shareholders are not even able to acknowledge their fundamental differences of viewpoint, if they are not able to “agree to disagree”, or if they are unable to discuss mechanisms for bridging their differences, there will be no leadership for the family firm.

If the shareholders are frozen or in confusion, how do the directors know how to govern the business?

How can you plan for the future if you are not able to talk about what each owner, as an adult, really wants to do?

Form should follow function

Another reason is that “form should follow function”. For example, any trust structures or family agreements should be drafted to take into account whether you are looking at the first (all Inheritors), second (all Stewards) or third (a mix) scenario.

The way a group of Stewards would want a family trust structure set up, or for a family shareholders agreement to be drafted, could be very different from the way a group of Inheritors would do it.

Adult-adult conversations

What is an adult-adult conversation?

Hughes says that an adult-adult conversation is one where siblings can look at each other and listen to each other as adults, not based on their family roles as developed since childhood, and not based on the roles as defined for them by the business founder.

In a family, roles and characters are defined from an early stage. It is common that one sibling will look at another sibling through a lens frozen in time. Nevertheless, life is about growth and cycles of change.

An adult-adult conversation then is one in which each sibling can look at the other through the lens of the current reality.

It is a conversation where you can seek to understand the other while knowing that you are not able to control their view, and they are not able to control your view.

In an adult-adult conversation, you are not able to impose your perception of what someone else “should” or “ought” or “must” do; or what “father would have wanted”.

You cannot invoke “family obligation or duty” against your sibling. Such conversations require a respect for differences.

It includes being able to agree to disagree, and being able to work with people who have different views from yours.

Conclusion

There are two paths for increasing the chances of successfully perpetuating the life of an Asian family business and continuing the family legacy.

The first way is through consolidation of the share ownership and bringing the family firm back under the centralised authority of a single owner.

The second path can open up if the siblings, or a sufficient number of them, see themselves as a group of Stewards. However “Stewardship” should be seen as an intention or motive to want to work together.

These positive intentions will need to be backed up by the necessary actions, work and skills to convert intention into reality. Stewards will also need to adopt sound family business governance practices.

Finally, a group of siblings who are unable to have adult-adult conversations about whether they are each Stewards or Inheritors are likely to find themselves stuck and unable to make plans for the future.

Christian Stewart is the managing director of Family Legacy Asia (www.familylegacyasia.com), a process consulting firm that works with successful Asian family enterprises and advises on family firm governance and succession issues. Send us your feedback at editor@leaderonomics.com.

To engage Leaderonomics for your organisational succession planning needs, contact us at info@leaderonomics.com.

 
Reposted with permission.

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By IMRAN HASHIM

Corporations are constantly looking at the big picture when it comes to aligning their strategies, where one segment of a business influences the other. This is where visual thinking becomes an important tool, as it enables tacit assumptions to be turned into explicit information, allowing for clearer insight. Mastering the art of visual thinking is crucial when it comes to designing viable new business models or ideas. It becomes a powerful tool that can exponentially increase the success of any forward planning by simply allowing for a better, clearer and more easily comprehended view of the thinking process.

The value of visual thinking

A lot of businesses are already familiar with the use of visual techniques (diagrams and charts). It helps in communicating and clarifying messages within reports and presentations. Strangely, visual techniques are the less popular medium used to discuss, explore and define business issues. It is not common to sit in meetings with executives drawing on a white board. Visual thinking can add tremendous value in the strategic process. It enhances strategic inquiries by making the abstract concrete, by illuminating relationships between elements and by simplifying complex ideas. We will explore the four elements of effective visual thinking that will guide you throughout the process of defining, discussing, and refining business models.

1. Understand the essence

Capturing the big picture

For some, the big picture may not be clear until you actually put it in drawing. A simple sketch outlining all the business elements can immediately enable viewers to see the big picture. It should be balanced – providing just the right amount of information for quick and easy comprehension; nothing too distracting. A complex enterprise model – processes, systems, structures – can be simplified with the use of visuals. Take the example of Rolls-Royce where jet engine units are leased by the hour rather than sold; it is the big picture, rather than the individual pieces, that is compelling.

Seeing relationships

Understanding a business model requires a combination of knowledge of the individual elements and familiarity with the interdependencies between elements. While this is relatively complex, it is easier to grasp the concept when expressed visually; especially when it involves a web of elements and interconnections. In the example of low-cost airlines, drawings can effectively show why a homogenous fleet of airplanes is crucial to keeping maintenance and training costs low.

2. Enhance dialogue

Collective reference point

Using visuals is a powerful way to improve dialogue. It offers some sort of a tangible and persistent object, and provides a reference point. Our human mind can hold only a limited number of ideas in short-term memory thus leveraging on visuals is essential for effective discussion with quality results.

Shared language

Visuals also carry a universal vocabulary and grammar that improves the understanding process. With one common familiarity amongst various parties, it becomes a powerful enabler of focused discussion about business elements and how they fit together. In an organisation with levels of reporting structures and functional areas, a shared visual language is critical in generating powerful idea exchange and enhances team cohesiveness.

Joint understanding

In an organisation with various departments, it is not uncommon to find a silo approach –people from different parts have strong understanding of their part, but not necessarily a solid grasp of the whole business. Visualising business models as a group is the most effective way to achieve shared understanding where everybody involved can have a better view of the different components and develop a collective understanding across the company.

3. Explore ideas

Play

A visual business model provides the rare opportunity for a strategic playtime. With all the elements visibly outlined, you can create multiple possible scenarios from a combination of situations. For example, what would happen to your business if you eliminated the least profitable customer segment? Would eliminating unprofitable customers enable you to reduce resources and costs and improve services to profitable customers? A visual model helps you think through the systemic impact of modifying one element or another.

4. Improve communication

Create company-wide understanding

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This is particularly true in communicating a business strategy in order to get everybody to understand its business model and this is crucial because everybody can potentially contribute to its improvement and align with the strategic direction. It will also encourage shared understanding.

Selling internally and externally

A story can be presented in visuals – it adds powerful reinforcement to the pitch. This increases your prospect of gaining support from others, especially if they can personally identify with the visuals. Good visuals may not be the deciding factor but it can improve chances of success in getting the message across.

Seeing the big picture

Traditionally, visual thinking is linked to the arts discipline only. This has changed radically. Today we are seeing an explosion of new, creative business ideas that appeal to all. Visual thinking is no longer the exclusive territory of the creative types. Businesses, regardless of the industry they are in, may learn new strategies by adopting visual thinking in developing new ideas for the business.

Drop us a line or two in the comment box below or email us at editor@leaderonomics.com.

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By KARIN HURT

As a leader, how do you foster better communication in your team? How do you ensure they’re picking up what you’re putting down? How do you help them get it?

It had been a long night… and morning… and afternoon at the airport.

The kind where cancellations and delays compound into a complex verb of frustration that includes four letters.

The kind where you start to notice the characters around you and make up their stories.

I had pegged the guy next to me for a Baptist preacher.

Among other signs, it was how he earnestly offered to watch my things as I went to the bathroom: “Ma’am I’ve been watching ladies’ purses for decades. I watch my wife’s purse. I watch my girl’s purses. I watch my wife’s friend’s friends’ purses. So whatever you need. I’m your purse-watching man.”

And I trusted him.

He was on the phone when I came back from the bathroom.

He silently nodded and grinned toward my big red purse, which also serves as a computer bag, dongle carrier, journal holder, with nooks and crannies for light snacks and kombucha.

Nope, definitely not Baptist preacher – he’s a bankruptcy lawyer.

Now I’m intrigued and can’t help but overhear his conversation occurring in such a beautiful Southern drawl it would have been fun to hear, even if I couldn’t understand the words.

“Now my wife says I hear okay, but I don’t listen too good. Let me repeat what I’m hearing you say you want to do.”  

Silence as the caller responds. Then…

“You see sir, my wife is right. That is just not one of the options. Let me be clear. You can’t do that. How about this? Let me share with you your three options again.”

He gives three options. Then…

“You sleep on it. Call your Momma or talk to your wife… and then we’ll talk again tomorrow.”

Image | via Success magazine

READ: Are You Listening?

Check for understanding 

I’m beside myself. This is the most remarkable Winning Well check for understanding I’ve ever heard. Full-on confident humility.

“Sir, thank you so much for watching my bag, and indeed you are a remarkable purse-watcher. And I couldn’t help but to overhear… What you did there was brilliant.

You see I wrote this book… and my co-author (now fiancé, but that’s another story) and I had this remarkable disagreement about whether the ‘check for understanding’ should be included.

I thought it was too simple. He swore it was a vital concept. As we’ve been doing workshops, guess what’s one of the top 10 takeaways?

The funny part is, the higher the managers are in the organisation, the more they love it.

It’s so easy.  

‘Do a simple check to understand… are they picking up what you’re putting down?’

Instead of ‘Any questions?’ or ‘Are you with me?’ 

You ask… ‘Okay, so I just want to check to ensure we’re all on the same page…’ and then get them to repeat. ‘What are we going to do first? And then? By when?’”

Conclusion

His pearl of wisdom: “Karin, I’ve been doing this for years. When people are going through bankruptcy or periods of change and uncertainty they hear what they want to − not necessarily what’s true. I give them a way to hear it again.”

There’s real power in hearing what your team hears. That’s a great start for fostering better communication.

Karin Hurt is a keynote speaker, leadership consultant, and MBA professor. She has decades of experience in sales, customer service, and HR which she uses to help clients turn around results through deeper engagement. She knows the stillness of a yogi, the reflection of a marathoner, and the joy of being a mom raising emerging leaders. To engage with Karin, email us at editor@leaderonomics.com.

Reposted with permission.

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Early exposure to different languages does not only build a child’s intelligence, but it also lays the foundation for good leadership skills later in life by promoting social cohesion, deeper understanding of cultures and better decision making.

In this Raise Your Game session, Leaderonomics Managing Editor Lydia Gomez and Digital Initiatives Lead Arun Kumar talk about how learning different languages with the use of technology, can help ease and even enhance communication in a seamless world.

Image | 123rf

Click play to listen to the podcast:

Previous podcast: What I learnt from Steve Wozniak, Co-founder of Apple

If you would like engage with us to facilitate more engaging conversations in your organisation, email us at info@leaderonomics.com. To know more about what Leaderonomics does as a social enterprise, check out www.leaderonomics.org. For our other Raise Your Game podcasts, click here.

The post Language As The Key To Understanding Cultures And Promoting Social Cohesiveness appeared first on Leaderonomics.com.