Good leaders need to be supported by systems and a culture that help companies meet goals, says ICLIF chief
Good leadership is rare, and yet it is not because of a knowledge gap or the lack of leadership education, said Rajeev Peshawaria, the CEO of ICLIF.
At the launch of “Leading Voices”, a thought leadership platform organised by the ICLIF Leadership and Governance Centre (ICLIF) in May, Rajeev added that a good leader is someone who truly inspires, someone who genuinely cares about the growth and development of their staff, and someone who is respected, who makes others want to follow.
One question he often asks business executives is whether they have encountered bosses they would truly call leaders, he said. A surprisingly low number have been able to answer in the affirmative.
“Most of the conventional models of leadership are too theoretical, too academic or too complex. The whole point of leadership is not about having personality, or charisma, it is not about knowing all the management theories in the world. Most people I work with in my client base know more about leadership than they think, so it is not a knowledge gap because often you can recognise good leadership when you see it,” said Rajeev in an interview with The Edge Financial Daily following the talk.
So what makes a good leader? In his speech at the launch of Leading Voices, Rajeev gave several examples of what in his view constitutes a good leader. Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, is one of them. He commended Schultz’s persistence, and his clarity of vision and values. Rajeev stressed that the starting point for leaders is vision.
Leadership is about harnessing internal energy to carry through visions with persistence and clarity. Being a leader, he said, also means expressing and communicating this goal to employees, and helping them rise up to carry out their own purpose within the organisation.
This is the gist of Rajeev’s recently published book, Too Many Bosses, Too Few Leaders, which was launched in May. The book is not about management or leadership theory but a collection of comprehensive and factual research and conversations surrounding the subject of leadership, said its author.
“I do not teach leadership, in fact I am a scholar of leadership. Leadership cannot be taught, it must be discovered,” Rajeev added.
Before accepting the post of CEO of ICLIF, Rajeev was the chief learning officer of Morgan Stanley and The Coca-Cola Company. He was also a founding member of Pine Street Group, a leadership programme at Goldman Sachs.
Rajeev said his interest in human development and behaviour began at Goldman Sachs, and it was this that motivated him to research and look for methods to help develop Goldman Sachs’ most senior managers. If the key to a well-run business is its leaders, then bosses should step up to that role, he said.
In his book, Rajeev points out the essentials of a well-oiled and efficiently run company. The starting point is the brains — or leaders — its vision, purpose and clarity of direction. The brains must be supported by a good set of bones, and nerves. The bones are the systems in place to help the company meet its goals, and the nerves are the culture that shapes the company.
“You need to put in place a few important frameworks within which a large number of people can operate in a way that maximises their energy. How can you do that? By controlling and shaping the three most important levers of sustainable business growth — the brains, the bones, and the nerves.
“The brains of a business are its vision and strategy, and here the enterprise leader must shape and set direction. The bones are the organisational architecture, and here the enterprise leader must design the organisation in order to execute the strategy. The nerves refer to the culture and climate of the organisation, and here the enterprise leader must foster a culture of long-lasting excellence,” he writes in his book.
Rajeev described Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, group CEO of AirAsia Bhd, as a commendable leader. Fernandes, as he explained, has a dream, a clear vision and direction. He communicates this clearly, and creates a culture of empowerment to push his organisation towards realising its full potential. Rajeev explained that a company’s full potential is reached when every staff is used to their fullest.
“Everyone behaves like they can do anything at AirAsia,” Fernandes said in his speech at the launch of Leading Voices. He said he believes one of the things that pushes AirAsia forward is the open culture where staff are not afraid to take on challenges.
“I have baggage handlers come up to me and tell me they want to fly and I say okay. I had a girl who came up to me one day and said, ‘I want to fly’, and I said ‘Okay, go for it’. She took the exams, passed and became a pilot. She was one of the first female pilots in Malaysia, I daresay,” said Fernandes.
“If a baggage handler can go up to the CEO and share his dreams of flying a plane, it is because of the culture that has allowed him to do that,” observed Rajeev.
Written by Raina Ng
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Working Gen Y
The one thing many employers agree on is that Gen Y graduates are “not workplace ready”. But human resource experts are saying that it is partly up to companies to break in new employees into the world of work.
Now, I’m sure a lot of you are rolling your eyes right now and thinking, “No one eased me into the world of work”. In fact, you find the Gen Y at your workplace a little baffling at times, sometimes questioning their work ethic. You recall struggling through your early days, learning the ropes on the job from day-to-day trial and error. So why should the new generation get help?
Gen Y is the largest generation since the Baby Boomers with the oldest members just hitting 30. According to Prime Times, 50% of its 90 million people are under the age of 30, most of whom are highly literate and speak several languages.
In China, there are 567 million people below the age of 30, of which 200 million are over the age of 18. Half of India’s one billion people are under the age of 25. And in the light of South Korea’s recent economic affluence, Gen Yers are the first in the country to grow up in an environment of prosperity and stability.
These are just a few statistics of the Gen Y in Asia’s fastest-growing economies. They are a generation who grew up with modern technology and are comfortable with multitasking with the great advantages of the said technology. The way they consume, digest and apply information is very different.
On top of that, they have led a relatively more affluent lifestyle than their parents.
Like their peers in other regions around the world, Asian Gen Y are rejecting the “work hard and get rich” mentality of the older generation in favour of a lifestyle dedicated to freedom and personal satisfaction. They have their own set of values, which the many analytical books on Gen Y (the most on any generation) are still trying to decipher, and they have their own expectations and perceptions of authority and the ideal work environment.
JobStreet CEO Mark Chang, in an Options interview earlier this year, said in a telling statement about the new generation joining the workforce today: “It has now become about employers having to learn to work with the younger generation rather than them learning to work with us.”
The tables have turned and now, it’s no longer the case of the employer selecting the candidate but rather the candidate selecting the employer.
Thus, the ball is in the court of employers. Adjust now to the needs of Gen Y and you might just have the chance of attracting the best talents the generation has to offer. Companies will need to learn how to blend the workplace and the life-place to stay connected to this borderless Gen Y group by offering flexible work schedules, the option of telecommuting, sabbaticals and exchanges with other offices around the world.
Rotational development programmes, leadership development, mentoring programmes, and continuing education are normal expectations of the Gen Y candidate. The Gen Yers’ thirst for a quick path to success means that companies that can provide such programmes will attract the best of the generation.
The influence of this new breed of workers is starting to be seen. Procter & Gamble has already adapted its recruitment efforts and what it offers to meet the needs of Gen Y.
Instead of just stressing higher salaries, this international company is highlighting the opportunity for flexible hours, the chance to work from home, the offer of up to a year of “family leave” to look after children or elderly parents, and the promise of regular three-month sabbaticals. Similar packages are being offered by companies across Britain.
Ascendas, a Singapore-based provider of business space solutions, is focusing much of its products on the expectations and demands of Gen Y as they will comprise one-third of the workforce by 2015.
The environment they seek embraces the “work-live-play-learn” concept and that is why a growing number of IT and business park developments across Asia are incorporating recreational and lifestyle amenities such as food and beverage operations and fitness centres, although these are in the eyes of Gen Y, basic expectations.
Perhaps the solution is to meet them halfway. Both sides should lay their expectations on the table and a synergy could arise from there. There is no point in fighting what looks to be a very strong current of change.
Written by Jacqueline Toyad of theedgemalaysia.com
Now, I’m sure a lot of you are rolling your eyes right now and thinking, “No one eased me into the world of work”. In fact, you find the Gen Y at your workplace a little baffling at times, sometimes questioning their work ethic. You recall struggling through your early days, learning the ropes on the job from day-to-day trial and error. So why should the new generation get help?
Gen Y is the largest generation since the Baby Boomers with the oldest members just hitting 30. According to Prime Times, 50% of its 90 million people are under the age of 30, most of whom are highly literate and speak several languages.
In China, there are 567 million people below the age of 30, of which 200 million are over the age of 18. Half of India’s one billion people are under the age of 25. And in the light of South Korea’s recent economic affluence, Gen Yers are the first in the country to grow up in an environment of prosperity and stability.
These are just a few statistics of the Gen Y in Asia’s fastest-growing economies. They are a generation who grew up with modern technology and are comfortable with multitasking with the great advantages of the said technology. The way they consume, digest and apply information is very different.
On top of that, they have led a relatively more affluent lifestyle than their parents.
Like their peers in other regions around the world, Asian Gen Y are rejecting the “work hard and get rich” mentality of the older generation in favour of a lifestyle dedicated to freedom and personal satisfaction. They have their own set of values, which the many analytical books on Gen Y (the most on any generation) are still trying to decipher, and they have their own expectations and perceptions of authority and the ideal work environment.
JobStreet CEO Mark Chang, in an Options interview earlier this year, said in a telling statement about the new generation joining the workforce today: “It has now become about employers having to learn to work with the younger generation rather than them learning to work with us.”
The tables have turned and now, it’s no longer the case of the employer selecting the candidate but rather the candidate selecting the employer.
Thus, the ball is in the court of employers. Adjust now to the needs of Gen Y and you might just have the chance of attracting the best talents the generation has to offer. Companies will need to learn how to blend the workplace and the life-place to stay connected to this borderless Gen Y group by offering flexible work schedules, the option of telecommuting, sabbaticals and exchanges with other offices around the world.
Rotational development programmes, leadership development, mentoring programmes, and continuing education are normal expectations of the Gen Y candidate. The Gen Yers’ thirst for a quick path to success means that companies that can provide such programmes will attract the best of the generation.
The influence of this new breed of workers is starting to be seen. Procter & Gamble has already adapted its recruitment efforts and what it offers to meet the needs of Gen Y.
Instead of just stressing higher salaries, this international company is highlighting the opportunity for flexible hours, the chance to work from home, the offer of up to a year of “family leave” to look after children or elderly parents, and the promise of regular three-month sabbaticals. Similar packages are being offered by companies across Britain.
Ascendas, a Singapore-based provider of business space solutions, is focusing much of its products on the expectations and demands of Gen Y as they will comprise one-third of the workforce by 2015.
The environment they seek embraces the “work-live-play-learn” concept and that is why a growing number of IT and business park developments across Asia are incorporating recreational and lifestyle amenities such as food and beverage operations and fitness centres, although these are in the eyes of Gen Y, basic expectations.
Perhaps the solution is to meet them halfway. Both sides should lay their expectations on the table and a synergy could arise from there. There is no point in fighting what looks to be a very strong current of change.
Written by Jacqueline Toyad of theedgemalaysia.com
Top 7 Questions to Ask as You Start Each Day Purposefully
Living with purpose and passion is based upon decision. You may choose to live day after day, one after another, in a completely ordinary existence. OR you can choose to greet each day with a possibility mindset. A purposeful mindset. A Passionate mindset.
Begin each day with these questions and be amazed.
1. Why is it important for me to engage myself in my work passionately and purposefully each day?
2. How will I choose to allow my attitude effect how I address stressful situations at work today? How can I be more affective and proactive in regards to stress and attitude?
3. When am I most likely too react with the most passion and purpose today? Meeting with clients? Working on my computer? Following up on a lead? Take note of what makes your passion come alive, so you can use it to better your work performance.
4. Where within the organization am I best able to express my passion and purpose? Is it working with my peers? My supervisors? Clients? Interdepartmentally? Where physically do I perform the most purposefully?
5. With whom do I need to spend time in order to maintain balance as I pursue my passion and purpose? Within the organization, who best supports me?
6. What choices will I make today that align my purpose and passion with the tasks at hand at work?
7. Who am I called to be today as an expression of my passion for living?
By Julie Jordan Scott
Begin each day with these questions and be amazed.
1. Why is it important for me to engage myself in my work passionately and purposefully each day?
2. How will I choose to allow my attitude effect how I address stressful situations at work today? How can I be more affective and proactive in regards to stress and attitude?
3. When am I most likely too react with the most passion and purpose today? Meeting with clients? Working on my computer? Following up on a lead? Take note of what makes your passion come alive, so you can use it to better your work performance.
4. Where within the organization am I best able to express my passion and purpose? Is it working with my peers? My supervisors? Clients? Interdepartmentally? Where physically do I perform the most purposefully?
5. With whom do I need to spend time in order to maintain balance as I pursue my passion and purpose? Within the organization, who best supports me?
6. What choices will I make today that align my purpose and passion with the tasks at hand at work?
7. Who am I called to be today as an expression of my passion for living?
By Julie Jordan Scott
7 Steps to Discovering Your Passion
Even before the first tip, you simply must get out a notebook, journal, piece of paper, napkin...SOMETHING to write on to save your discoveries! These tips will only help if you pursue them, so please either take a moment to find writing tools NOW or print this out and promise yourself to complete this exercise later. It may take you some thinking time to get it done......and now....here are your tips.....
1. Find Your Joy Factor Look at the whole of your life history. When did you experience the most sustained period of Joy? What were you doing then? Where were you? Who were you with? How did it feel?
2. What Are Your 3 Most Favorite things to do? If you had a free day with NO commitments, where would you be found? What would you be doing with whom?
3. In what area do you excel? (NO MODESTY ALLOWED HERE!)Truly, what are you complimented on a lot? This could be ANYTHING.
4. What do you most want to be remembered for? If you were designing your epitaph, what would you want it to say? (NOT what your Mom wants, or your SPOUSE wants or your third cousin twice removed, but what do YOU want your headstone to say?)
5. If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your life TODAY? How would it look compared to how it looks now? Which aspects of your life ARE changeable, both short term and long term?
6. How does your Joy factor overlap with your favorite things and the areas in which you excel? Do the areas in which you excel bring YOU joy, or are they really for someone else.....do you see which are obvious matches, and which do not fit? Those that overlap, that bring YOU the most Joy, are most likely the things that would bring you into Passionate Living.
7. What is the first even teeny tiny step you can take to living out your Passion as you have defined in #6? Take some time to really think this one through... concentrate and focus, and then you will be able to start the next step...BUILDING YOUR ROADMAP.
By Julie Jordan Scott
1. Find Your Joy Factor Look at the whole of your life history. When did you experience the most sustained period of Joy? What were you doing then? Where were you? Who were you with? How did it feel?
2. What Are Your 3 Most Favorite things to do? If you had a free day with NO commitments, where would you be found? What would you be doing with whom?
3. In what area do you excel? (NO MODESTY ALLOWED HERE!)Truly, what are you complimented on a lot? This could be ANYTHING.
4. What do you most want to be remembered for? If you were designing your epitaph, what would you want it to say? (NOT what your Mom wants, or your SPOUSE wants or your third cousin twice removed, but what do YOU want your headstone to say?)
5. If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your life TODAY? How would it look compared to how it looks now? Which aspects of your life ARE changeable, both short term and long term?
6. How does your Joy factor overlap with your favorite things and the areas in which you excel? Do the areas in which you excel bring YOU joy, or are they really for someone else.....do you see which are obvious matches, and which do not fit? Those that overlap, that bring YOU the most Joy, are most likely the things that would bring you into Passionate Living.
7. What is the first even teeny tiny step you can take to living out your Passion as you have defined in #6? Take some time to really think this one through... concentrate and focus, and then you will be able to start the next step...BUILDING YOUR ROADMAP.
By Julie Jordan Scott
One Hundred Goals? YES! One Hundred Goals!
Was this speaker stark raving mad? One hundred goals? He thought I could come up with 100 goals for my life?
The speaker, Mark Victor Hansen, compiled the hugely successful Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books with Co-Author Jack Canfield. He challenged the assembled throng at the Women's Business Conference to brainstorm 100 life goals.
Further, he encouraged us to work with a partner with whom we would swap lists. Together we would encourage each other to develop our list. We would hold each other accountable. We would help each other eventually reach these 100 life goals.
Seeing that he was where he was, and I was where I was, I decided to take his advice! How many best sellers does Mark Victor Hansen have anyway? Exactly my point! He was a best selling writer, highly paid motivational speaker, darn good dresser too! And me? I was an employee of local government who read a lot of inspiring books. The kids in my Sunday School class were motivated by my speaking. That was certainly worth something.
My wardrobe? Usually bought on sale, or at the end of the season on clearance.
If Mark Victor Hansen got where he was by writing 100 goals? Then I figured it would not hurt to try! My co-worker and I buddied up to walk together through the process.
The next day I sat at my keyboard. At first I thought I would have difficulty in thinking up goals. Soon, though, I was on a roll. My goals were as diverse as "Have lunch with a friend one time weekly" to "Host a radio talk show" to "travel to Europe".
I approached my co-worker to share my list with her. I also wanted to do my part as her buddy. I knew I needed to encourage her to write her own 100 goals. She read through my list, saying "Great! Oh, and you wrote ‘Learn French twice!' ". With that, she went back to the tasks on her desk.
"Ummmmm.....how is your list coming, buddy?" I tried to sound as positive as I could on this one. Never sound accusatory towards your buddy, I thought
She looked out her window and replied, "My 100 goals are to get up tomorrow and the next 100 days!" She laughed at her humor. Me? I didn't understand.
Then again, her dream in 5 years is to still be working in local government. Perfectly respectable. Nothing at all wrong with that goal.
It is just not something that I could be particularly passionate about. Not something that I would be especially inspired by.
So where does that leave you, today?
Can you think of your 100 goals? Where would you like to be in 5 years? If you had a magic wand and your life could look like anything, what would I see when looking at you? What would it feel like to live that ideal life? What would others think of your life? Would you inspire people? Annoy people? Learn from people?
In other words, what do you really want to do with your life?
Start slow if you think you can not possibly think of 100 goals. Take out a piece of paper or open a new document on your word processor. Go for ten goals at first. No set order of preference, just let your mind go. Let the ideas and thoughts flow.
You may find you need to write more than ten goals as your ideas start moving less like a trickle and more like a deluge. If you run into a roadblock? Stop working. Walk away. Save the goals you have written. Promise yourself that you will come back later.
And then do exactly that! Come back later. Challenge yourself to finish your list of 100 goals.
Finally, find someone with whom to share your goals. A buddy to encourage you as you grow. Do you have anyone who would encourage this kind of challenge? If not, I invite you to join our discussion list entitled LivePassionately2day.
We have set up Goal Buddies in addition to discussing Goals and Goal Setting on a regular basis.
As for me, I am on my way to reaching more and more of my 100 goals. I no longer work in Local Government. I spend my hours caring for my precious babies (one goal was to have another baby, who is now 2!). I am also writing, speaking and am a webmaster. You can find me at a place called 5Passions. It is all about Living a Passion Filled Life.
I have not yet made reservations for a European Trip, nor have I hosted a Talk Radio program, but listen to your local station. You just never can be sure when that goal will also become a reality!
100 Goals. A method for uncovering what you really want. 100 Goals. A way to find out what is stored in your heart. 100 Goals. The beginning of your future. 100 Goals!
By Julie Jordan Scott
The speaker, Mark Victor Hansen, compiled the hugely successful Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books with Co-Author Jack Canfield. He challenged the assembled throng at the Women's Business Conference to brainstorm 100 life goals.
Further, he encouraged us to work with a partner with whom we would swap lists. Together we would encourage each other to develop our list. We would hold each other accountable. We would help each other eventually reach these 100 life goals.
Seeing that he was where he was, and I was where I was, I decided to take his advice! How many best sellers does Mark Victor Hansen have anyway? Exactly my point! He was a best selling writer, highly paid motivational speaker, darn good dresser too! And me? I was an employee of local government who read a lot of inspiring books. The kids in my Sunday School class were motivated by my speaking. That was certainly worth something.
My wardrobe? Usually bought on sale, or at the end of the season on clearance.
If Mark Victor Hansen got where he was by writing 100 goals? Then I figured it would not hurt to try! My co-worker and I buddied up to walk together through the process.
The next day I sat at my keyboard. At first I thought I would have difficulty in thinking up goals. Soon, though, I was on a roll. My goals were as diverse as "Have lunch with a friend one time weekly" to "Host a radio talk show" to "travel to Europe".
I approached my co-worker to share my list with her. I also wanted to do my part as her buddy. I knew I needed to encourage her to write her own 100 goals. She read through my list, saying "Great! Oh, and you wrote ‘Learn French twice!' ". With that, she went back to the tasks on her desk.
"Ummmmm.....how is your list coming, buddy?" I tried to sound as positive as I could on this one. Never sound accusatory towards your buddy, I thought
She looked out her window and replied, "My 100 goals are to get up tomorrow and the next 100 days!" She laughed at her humor. Me? I didn't understand.
Then again, her dream in 5 years is to still be working in local government. Perfectly respectable. Nothing at all wrong with that goal.
It is just not something that I could be particularly passionate about. Not something that I would be especially inspired by.
So where does that leave you, today?
Can you think of your 100 goals? Where would you like to be in 5 years? If you had a magic wand and your life could look like anything, what would I see when looking at you? What would it feel like to live that ideal life? What would others think of your life? Would you inspire people? Annoy people? Learn from people?
In other words, what do you really want to do with your life?
Start slow if you think you can not possibly think of 100 goals. Take out a piece of paper or open a new document on your word processor. Go for ten goals at first. No set order of preference, just let your mind go. Let the ideas and thoughts flow.
You may find you need to write more than ten goals as your ideas start moving less like a trickle and more like a deluge. If you run into a roadblock? Stop working. Walk away. Save the goals you have written. Promise yourself that you will come back later.
And then do exactly that! Come back later. Challenge yourself to finish your list of 100 goals.
Finally, find someone with whom to share your goals. A buddy to encourage you as you grow. Do you have anyone who would encourage this kind of challenge? If not, I invite you to join our discussion list entitled LivePassionately2day.
We have set up Goal Buddies in addition to discussing Goals and Goal Setting on a regular basis.
As for me, I am on my way to reaching more and more of my 100 goals. I no longer work in Local Government. I spend my hours caring for my precious babies (one goal was to have another baby, who is now 2!). I am also writing, speaking and am a webmaster. You can find me at a place called 5Passions. It is all about Living a Passion Filled Life.
I have not yet made reservations for a European Trip, nor have I hosted a Talk Radio program, but listen to your local station. You just never can be sure when that goal will also become a reality!
100 Goals. A method for uncovering what you really want. 100 Goals. A way to find out what is stored in your heart. 100 Goals. The beginning of your future. 100 Goals!
By Julie Jordan Scott
Positive Thinking Every Day
If you want to get somewhere, you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up.
The secret of life isn't what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.
Help other people to cope with their problems and your own will be easier to cope with.
Never use the word impossible seriously again. Toss it into the verbal wastebasket.
Self-trust is the first secret of success. So believe in and trust yourself.
Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have.
Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible.
How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself - so always think positively.
Go at life with abandon; give it all you've got. And life will give all it has to you.
Norman Vincent Peale
Positive Thinking Every Day
The secret of life isn't what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.
Help other people to cope with their problems and your own will be easier to cope with.
Never use the word impossible seriously again. Toss it into the verbal wastebasket.
Self-trust is the first secret of success. So believe in and trust yourself.
Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have.
Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible.
How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself - so always think positively.
Go at life with abandon; give it all you've got. And life will give all it has to you.
Norman Vincent Peale
Positive Thinking Every Day
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