Category: leadership

Ask for help…

Asking for help is not a easy thing to do. It does not come naturally to many people.

When we ask for help, we expose our weakness to others. We put ourselves at a vulnerable position, in case we get a refusal, an unfair judgement, or even a destained comments or looks…

However, asking for help also provides opportunity for us to learn, to make connection, to help others clarifying things… And the most important one is that this helps us grew stronger, more connected with others and the world we live.

Asking for help is to build our community, to form our team, to grow our leadership.

About alignments…

Very often I hear that many companies, departments, working groups seek for alignments before a decision is made. We all know that this is a typical culture for many Japanese companies. Consensus decision making is working in Japan.

Obviously there are advantages for aligned decision making approach. Such as, it can reduce the potential risks, it makes everyone throughly understood the approach therefore everyone has a clear goal in mind, it may get the best outcome with many round’s of discussion… this works better in a context of seeking stead growth.

And the disadvantages are also evident. It takes too much time, less flexible, not agile, and may kill productivity… this slows down a company’s development in a fast paced context.

Currently, we are in an environment more or less like the second scenario. We need to respond the demands from marketplace quickly with agility. Therefore, quick decision is needed more and more.

Decisions related to housekeeping matters are more suitable for aligned approaches, while those decisions related to company’s growth and development are required quicker responses, may not need to be aligned from time to time.

Starting to take lead and responsibilities to make decision is not a easy thing. It calls for courages, determination and wisdom.

What is being professional?

It does not matter what you do for living, you often hear the term – being professional.

What is exactly being professional? How does the person being professional look like?

She may be wearing suits, or dressing semi-formal. She speaks with knowledge and pleasant manner. She respects others. She delivers her results. She is herself: disciplined, works hard, emotional mature…

What else?

Is she a leader or a follower or both?

Will these roles change her behaviors as a professional?

One thing for sue is that as a professional, you create and produce values for what you do. Therefore, from time to time you will face situations where you will need break a structure, a system, a rule, or you face challenges to yield, bend your principles, even give up…

what will you do?

Do you need spiritual support, psychic power to beef it up?

Being professional calls for ethics, principles. This is the essence being a professional.

With your values, ethics and principles in mind, they empower you being professional.

Eyes on the goal

When I was walking on the glass ceiling of Toronto TV tower, I was fine until I looked down through the glass ceiling… I felt immediately dizzy, panic and could not walk any more.

I stopped, had a couple of deep breath. Then I raised my head, looked forward towards where I wanted to go. I felt fine again and walked across the glass ceiling to the other side.

We set up our goal and are pumped up to execute it. During the journey, we get busy. Then we are buried into meticulous matters, can’t see the end of the tunnel. We begin to loose our momentum, get lost on the way…

Just like walking on a glass ceiling, if we take a pause, review our goal and direction, we will regain our sense of clarity and our vision. We can then recharge and move forward to our goal. When our eyes on the goal, we are courageous.

There may be many “glass ceiling” sections in our life. This is normal.

The good news is that when we feel panic, it is a good signal for us to stop and take an inventory for where we are and where we are going. This is the wisdom of our physiology telling us to make a choice, to put our eyes on our goal.

Tough love

If use the tough love to link a scene, make a sentence, or tell a story, the first one comes to my mind is that we need to give the tough love to our children to let them grow stronger.

Then on a second thought, I realize that tough love can apply to many other areas of our life.

  • For examples: When we provide constructive suggestions or opinions to others honestly, we are presenting our tough love. When we expose our own vulnerability, we are giving ourselves a tough love.
  • It is not easy to give someone a tough love. This act calls for wisdom and courage.
  • Therefore, when someone presents you with their feedbacks and comments, please welcome and savor them. They give these to you, because they care about you. You are remarkable, therefore they make a remark to you.
  • When you show your vulnerability, you experience weakness, pain. You feel the wound. However, you grow new tissues and new muscles from there, and you become stronger.
  • On the other hand, it is also not easy for people to accept the tough love, because it needs labor – the physical labor and emotional labor, to be able to accept and receive the tough love.
  • It is like the pain for a new birth, receiving tough love needs the labor pain. However, this pain let’s us renew, makes us stronger.
  • Let’s embrace tough love.

  • Do my best…

    I hear people saying “do my best” very often. Actually I used to say this very often as well.

    Then one day, I suddenly realized that when I said “do my best” I was trying to use it as a shield – which gave me a shelter for hiding.

    Because when I said “do my best” people left me alone. There is no measurement for “do my best”, therefore I could goof around, did not care the consequence of my behaviors. I could hide from my inaction and incapability. And it also could become my excuse when I failed to accomplish something.

    So be careful when you say do my best next time.

    And also check whoever says do my best.

    “Do my best” works for people with motivation, ambition, and goal-minded people. “Do my best” works with creditable people. “Do my best” works in a context of common understanding of the ground rules. “Do my best” works for the people embracing the same culture.

    You also can breath and give others’ benefit of doubt when they say this… Do my best is pleasant to hear after all!

    Shipping is working

    When we are on the road to our goals and dreams, the road always seems endless.

    It may have detours. We may face cliffs, revivers, mountains, storms and wild animals on the way. We may wonder if we are doing our work.

    How do we know we are closer to our goals when we can’t seen them?

    Well, as long as we are shipping what we are doing, we are working. Shipping is working.

    Only through shipping, we can find and test our theories, whether we are on the right direction or not. Each test is a shipping. For each test we do, we are getting closer to our goals.

    Keep testing and keep shipping.

    Goal is for action

    We set up goals for work, for life.

    We make dreams for work, for life.

    We have visions for work, for life.

    Have you stopped and assessed the progress you’ve made for your goals, dreams and visions? How far are you progressing from the time you set them up? How long will you get there?

    If you haven’t done anything for your goals, dreams and visions, they are bad ones. Redo them, get some good ones.

    Good goals, dreams and visions are those that bring your action, make you excited to do something about, keep you pumped and continued going forward, and recharge you when you are in a dip.

    Jack Ma said something about the goal and vision he has for Alibaba… I am paraphrasing here: Because I believe, therefore I can see the realization of my goal and vision.

    Goal is the daily drive to get us out of the bed.

    Dream is the direction to keep us go, go, go!

    Vision is for us to use for verifying them in reality, not for challenging other’s statements.

    To be kind

    Confucius said that Human nature is kind… this statement has impacted many generations.

    To be kind is one of the doctrines my parents and school teachers told me when I was young. Therefore, to some extent, I think to be kind is in a personal level for a long long time.

    Then,

    It is interesting to know that today some companies have To be kind as one of the ground rules of their operation. The rule of To be kind has huge positive implication for their employees.

    • To be kind empowers employees to be their best because their employers are kind;
    • To be kind gives people room to grow when their fellows and bosses allow them to make mistakes;
    • To be kind increases people’s empathy when they see themselves from others as their mirror;
    • To be kind increases trust and connects people, makes team work more efficient;
    • To be kind makes ourselves happier because we make others happy…
    • …
  • The companies set up To be kind as one of their rules will attract people alike. Like-minded people will form a positive atmosphere for people working there. Therefore, a positive cycle forms. I want to know more companies having this rule.
  • To be kind is a nature in human.