shortblurb's Xanga

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:14:35 GMT

"Why Should The Boss Listen To You?"

I like to read business books and I read a very good one recently, "Why Should The Boss Listen To You?" by Jim Lukaszewski. But when I was discussing it with Wilson, I realised it is very difficult to remember what you discern from such business books unless you make a point to write it down, so I decided to share it here.

Lukaszewski talks about seven disciplines or qualities that one would need to become a trusted and influential strategic advisor to higher management. Obviously, some of these is common sense but it is still great to be able approach the whole idea with a clear framework. Lukaszewski explains each quality in great detail illustrated with clear examples so I wouldn't rehash it here but I thought I'd give my own thoughts to each discipline.

Be Trustworthy: Do you complain about your boss to other colleagues? When you advise him/her, is it usually in your own best interest or did you ever try to consider would your advice be good for the company? as well as for your boss' career? No boss like advice that might be good for the company but have to commit personal corporate suicide. Balance your advice.
Become a Verbal Visionary: Is your advice clear and concise or long and rambling? Worse still, do you even think through what the boss is likely to ask and prepare beforehand so that you can articulate clearly and on-the-spot? Or is everything "I will check and get back to you?"
Develop a Management Perspective: If you a PR executive, can you advise intelligently about operations? If your staff fuction is HR, do you have clear thoughts on how to improve sales? Or is your advice pigeon-holed to your own staff function?
Think Strategically: I think this means that even if we are rather low on the totem pole, we should try to brush up on our knowledge of the general business environment and the particular conditions of our industry so we can give strategic advice about how and where the company is headed in future. But you may say, I'm just a very junior staff so no one ever ask me about it. But think, if you do not even have the knowledge, why would you ever be promoted to a position where the knowledge matters? So start reading some business websites, magazines and newspapers, and some trade journals specific to your industry or staff function as well.
Be a Window to Tomorrow: Something about recognizing patterns. The author was saying that very few business situations are truly new, which I suppose makes sense. So it helps to keep records of your work because when something similar comes up, you can see the patterns and advise accordingly. For instance, if your key customers are demanding rebates, and if you have the appropriate records to see if something similar has happen before and if rebates have worked well in the past with customers of similar revenues, your advice would be a lot more powerful because it is at least based on similar situations in the past and rooted in fact.
Advise Constructively: Usually if it is very obvious, most bosses would have the brains to see it. So in most cases, there is no one single clear solution. Rather, the ideal advice would be to offer the possible alternatives, examine consequences and discuss probabilities. Don't criticise, but instead offer advice that is practical even if missteps by the boss has led to current situations.
Show the Boss How to Use Advice: It helps if you can lay a constructive manner how your advice can be executed, timeline and resources need, and able to recommend appropriate personnel to execute it if required. Being asked to assess people is one of the roles an advisor often plays so be prepared to assess your colleagues on the spot if required.

A lot of what I wrote here is totally off the top of my head as I have returned the book and took the seven points off the Internet so it may not gel completely with the point that the writer is trying to bring across. Your best bet is still to read the book!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:05:46 GMT

I scolded a moron earlier..... scolded him left right centre upside down..... and he still didn't get it...

two words.....

FUCKING MORON....

Sales meeting in car

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:57:59 GMT

I think there should be a law that says no one who is giving his/her boss a lift should be grilled about work when driving.

First, it's unfair. I'm not hired as a chauffeur, so driving the boss around is not my job. And if I'm kind enough to drive you en route to separate meetings, I shouldn't have to pay for my kindness. Second, it's unproductive. Any fruitful meeting demands that all parties are well prepared and understand the agenda in advance. Obviously, I have no idea the car-ride will turn into a full-blown meeting. And I'm not a damn computer. We have notes for a reason. For reference. How the bloody hell can I remember sales figures for half a dozen markets and hundreds of stores. Do I look a damn Acer or IBM? And lastly, it's a safety hazard. When I'm trying a difficult maneuver of filtering thru couple of lanes in killer traffic, it's very dangerous to have to remember why sales with a certain customer drop 10% or why our sales rep is giving crazy rebates to customers. And AYE traffic can be very unforgiving at times.

SO STAY OUT OF MY BLOODY WAY IN FUTURE OR I MIGHT PRESS THE EJECT BUTTON!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:18:32 GMT

"Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult."

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:35:06 GMT

Blast from the past

about an hour ago at the late hour of 11pm, my mobile rang and I heard the voice of a young man on the other side. A little familiar but I couldn't quite place it. And when he said his name, I had to repeat it three times before it struck me. It was the student I used to tutored! I haven't heard from him for nearly two years but just from his voice alone, it seems he has matured quite a bit.

Apparently, his school is having a band concert at Victoria Concert Hall and he wanted to invite me. I felt a strange mixture of awkardness and warmth and I found myself agreeing to go. the things we agree to do when we are tired, confused and bloody caught by surprise. Let's just say I was a tad touched.

In a life full of twist and turns, in a previous life, I was tutor to a number of young kids. Strangely, for all my supposed disdain for these young gentlemen that I was tutoring, I get along rather famously with them. Perhaps, my memory of being tortured by my numerous tutors made me a better teacher than I imagined myself to be. Or at least more compassionate.

I wouldn't go as far to say I was his mentor, but I do hope I had made a difference to this person's life at a time when he need a older friend and an occasional listening ear. The things that the past throw us at tmes.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:43:23 GMT

Today, I had coffee with a couple of good friends and we had a very interesting conversation, ranging from the investment climate, to death penalty, euthanasia, pro-family policies to other stuff. The one thing that impacted me was a discusson about children, whether anyone of us would consider adoption.

As a single, I very often think of myself as free-spirited and go about my life in a happy and contented manner. Very rarely do dating or married couples make me feel inadequate. But recently I felt this way seeing how two of my close friends' lives have been dramatically transformed. They have been married for awhile and recently have a baby, who is now seven months old now. I must admit that seeing how they and their lives have been changed make me realise that parenthood is one of those transformative events in life, and that it is inarguable on some level that anyone who has never been there has missed out one of the great blessings in life. My friends often think that I hate children. It's not true. I just dislike children whom I have no idea running about in public places screaming into my ears. It's merely an irritant on a practical level. In truth, I think having children is an unsubstitutable blessing. A friend of mine once said, "没有孩子不是个缺陷，但是一个遗憾". I must say I agree with the sentiment.

Back to our discussion, one friend mention that some unfortunate couples try very hard to have children but dun succeed. I suggested adoption as a possible solution but two of my friends immediately say that it is something they would not consider. In fact, they would prefer the surrogate mother route through embryo transfer, the main reason being that the baby having come from the couple's embryo would still be their own flesh and blood. Perhaps my own thinking has been so one-track that I had never actually thought people would prefer this to adoption if normal natural birth is not possible. I have always thought that what is more important is through the nine months of pregnancy, with the mother feeling the child inside her, cemented by the pain and process of birth, forms an emotional and biological bond that transcends the fact that the baby is of her blood. For the father, it is not just because the child shares his flesh and blood, but also that the woman he loves and shares a life with is the one who brought this child into the world. Given that this is no longer the same with going through a surrogate mother, is it really so important that the child must biologically be from the XY-XX chromosomes of the couple? With so many unwanted children in the world, doesn't it make more sense that this love and concern be showered on a baby that the couple can adopt, rather than this absolute insistence on biological sameness?

A friend explained to me that it's not the same when the child is adopted and that it is impossible to love an adopted child the same way. Really? Husbands and wifes do not share the same blood too but rely on a committment of constant love and devotion. We expect a man to love his wife in the same way as he loves his parents, so why not a child who he adopts? Another friend mentioned that it would heart-rendering if an adopted child grows up and turns his back on his adopted parents. But that would be the equally heart-rendering with biological children and we all know the truth is that some children are total ingrates, biological or adopted. I have a neighbour who's child suffers from Down Syndrome and I often feel touched seeing the care she showers on her daughter. Because in my own mind, I imagine it must be so much tougher to love a child who suffers from this unfortunate illness as compared to loving a perfectly healthy child, yet many parents still love their children, healthy or otherwise. And if that love is so all-encompassing that they can still love and care deeply for a child who is so different physically, why not a child they adopt and committed to love and nurture? Surely parenthood is not just about flesh and blood, but about loving a child, growing and sharing a life, and teaching him or her the right things. With more couples marrying later, and unable to conceive naturally, I really hope more couples would think about adoption as a possibility.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:20:15 GMT

Recently, a colleague told me she was often bullied because she's too nice. I tried to be supportive but it's difficult when you dun really think that way. Then I gave up, and admonish her in a gentle tone that if she behaves like a floor mat, then she must expect to be walked all over.

Actually I know how it is like to be walked over. Not a good feeling. SO DUN BE A FLOOR MAT!

"Those who say that nice people finish last don't know where the finishing line is."

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:31:59 GMT

I read/am reading three great books recently. Finding a great book requires a fair amount of serendipity sometimes becauses there is some much trash masquerading as literature and mediocre works passing off as books that can stand the test of thought and time. Anyway, here they are and they can all somewhat be categorised as "self-improvement" books.

"One Person / Multiple Careers" by Marci Alboher

- Am only a quarter way into the book but so far, enjoying it as it speaks to what I often believe, that we are more than what our carefully and narrowly defined career make us out to be. You read about a rabbi who is also a stand-up comic among other quirky alternative choices. These are people who believe that work is more than merely a pay-check and that self-actualization means something. They make choices, which sometimes adds value to their career and sometimes which are totally irrevelant though it enriches their lives. And in the process, you realize that people are more than just the labels that job titles are.... "doctor/violin maker" suggests something intriguing about a person, doesn't it?

"Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi

- Talks about the importance of networking and how it goes beyond handing out name-cards like a mad person. As a person in sales/marketing and yet eat alone very often, the book is an eye-opener to me in that networking does not have to schoomzing like a slimeball and how simple practices can help enhance a person's networking. That are a lot of stuff in this book that I find it unactionable at the moment, but still highly enlightening. And the techniques that I can use right now, I'm definitely gonna use it.

"What You'll Never Learn on the Internet" by Mark H. Mccormack

- Think Business 101, Office Politics 101, plus huge doses of Lucy Kellaway style workplace wisdom combined into one book. This book is not about any specialised skill, but rather street-savviness in the office and how to get ahead in your career. Of course, like most good ideas, a lot of them are common sense, but it never hurts to be reminded and for those of us who have been working a few years, and long enough to be cognizant of the harsh realities of life and the office but not old enough to be world-weary and cynical, this book is a great wake-up call in many ways.

Happy Reading!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:59:46 GMT

i read today in the papers about the student union in NTU raising funds for a cancer-stricken NTU student from China. apparently, this has raised the hackles of some of the local students who left remarks making clear that they dun think locals should be donating to help a mainlander Chinese.

Sad. tat's all I can say. I'm no helpful saint myself and the occasional coin in the flag-day tin is sometimes as far as I go these days to help the needy and the unfortunate. And I'm ashamed to say so when I know I can do more. But at least I can say I never discriminate from helping purely from the basis of nationality. And the strange thing is, I bet among those who posted such remarks, there would be a few who once helpfully donated to the poor souls who suffered in tsunamis, earthquakes and floods. And I wonder if they thought twice before they help the needy Indonesians, Thais, Indians or Sri Lankans? or have we harden so much that we are now reduced to the lowest denominator of judging a person by his passport? Or is there something we really hate so much about mainlander Chinese, that it does not matter their character, whether they are rich or poor, healthy or sick that we must judge them more critically.

I dun have many friends from China, and the few I do know have since long receded to a place where old friends that you dun keep in touch with goes to. But in the recess of my mind, I vaguely recalled when I used to stay in the Uni hostel in HK during my internship, I had two roommates from China, one from Beijing, the other from Nanjing. I can remember the one time at 1am in the morning when they went round and round the campus with me, hunting for a TV that we can watch my beloved Arsenal play in the premier league. And I recalled how they helpfully let me sleep in their rooms and store my stuff there when my lease was up a couple of days before I was due to leave. I am suddenly strucked by memories of my China colleague, who knowing how bored me and my fellow Singaporean intern were, brought us to some bars to drink ourselves silly, and then brought us over to sleep in his apartment. Perhaps kindness do beget kindness, for after having been treated so well by them, I am ill-disposed to think badly of mainlander Chinese. Hopefully, when this poor cancer-stricken NTU student has recovered thanks to those Sporeans who did donated, he would think of us as people who look beyond passports.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:15:39 GMT

I just read online that Hillary Clinton has beaten Obama in the Ohio and Texas Democratic primaries. I suppose American politics has minimal impact on my everyday life as a Singaporean but I find myself rooting for her as she began to lose ground against Obama over the last few weeks and has essentially been written off by every Tom, Dick and Harry. I think this is the same reason why I support any team but Chicago Bulls in the 90s, Anybody But United in the Premiership and anti-Ferrai in the F1. I like rooting for the underdogs! Since everyone worth any damn thing in America has endorsed Obama as the best thing since sliced bread, I would like to state my OFFICAL ENDORSEMENT for Hillary Clinton!!! I believe my endorsement will help her to capture the Asian American minority segment, the youth segment, the overworked but underpaid corporate employee vote, the singles vote, the TV sports addict, the MSN plus Facebook bloc, all of which are clearly major swing votes. GO GET THEM!

"For everyone.....who's been ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out, for everyone who has stumbled but stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up -- this one is for you,"