Business and Money Tips

Ask anyone why they queued up for 10 hours under the hot sun just to catch a 10 seconds glimpse of the late Lee Kuan Yew when his body lied in state at Parliament House 2 weeks ago, they will say, "Because we like him" Ask your staff why they are so hard working posting pictures on Facebook when they don't get paid for that, they will say, "Because people click 'like'" Ask employees why they stay in the company for so long despite better opportunities elsewhere, they will say, "Because we like the environment here". Indeed the most important element in people management and leadership is 'Like" and not "Pay". When people like you, they will do whatever you say, even though what you said may not be what they like. When they like you, there is question of loyalty: because they will stick with you forever. When they like you, pay is less important. Because the managers not just pay people money but p...

The past one week of mourning for Singapore's founding father and first prime minster Lee Kuan Yew teach us one thing: never order people to do anything. Get them to volunteer instead.  To manage the big crowds of people queueing to pay their last respect to Mr Lee when his body was lying in state at the Parliament House from Wednesday to Saturday (25 to 27 March 2015), the government did not: Issue orders to the SAF soldiers to work overtime  Ask the private sector to donate food, drinks and umbrellas to the people in queue Get any ministers to speak to ask people to come out and help Ask people to queue up orderly for 10 hours Issue any rule on how to behave while in queue (like what clothes to wear, not to take pictures or videos etc) Instead what we saw were: Non-stop queues of people forming 24 hours since Wednesday 25 March 2015 until Saturday 28 March 2015 Many thousands in queue for more than 10 hours just to pay less than 10 seconds of respect No one...

The 5 Leadership Lessons of Lee Kuan Yew include: Build Winning Teams .  Lee not only built one strong team, he built many strong teams. Most importantly, the teams went on to win many battles, be it the unions, business associations, tertiary institutions or Government-linked companies like Capitaland and DBS.  Lee's legacy is unprecedented Stubborn Yet Flexible .  Lee was stubborn to his goals yet was flexible if times have changed.  Like he pushed for the merger with Malaysia, yet changed his position two years later when things didn't work out Win People Over with Ideas, not Ideals .  Lee won the hearts of many with his far-sighted yet pragmatic ideas.  The US President Ronald Reagan and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher were his admirers. Yet he welcomed debates but would not hesitate to point out you are wrong if he thinks so. In the end even his opponents like Opposition Leaders Chiam See Tong and Lau Thia Kiang spoke highly of him.  ...

Everyone knows how inspiring the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew was.  In fact some called him the greatest statesman Asia has ever known.  In the business community, he is highly regarded as one of the top salesman: for he has promised and delivered on his promises and most importantly, made his clients (Singapore) very rich.  The 5 Sales Success that we can learn from Lee Kuan Yew include: Grab Opportunities Fast.  LKY grabbed the opportunities the Western multi-nationals were looking for in the 1960s and attracted them here.  In the 1970s and 1980s, he sold many Japanese companies to invest in Singapore.  In the 1990s, he sold Singapore successfully as a business haven to the Chinese, Koreans and Arabs.   Passionate, Energetic and Full of Conviction . These 3 attributes are the must-haves for any salesperson and Lee demonstrated all of them in his fiery speeches and thought-provocative interviews Relentless Pursuit and Never Let Go .  Lee recko...

By now over several million of people from Singapore and the workd have paid their tribute to the late Lee Kuan Yew, who passed away on 23 March 2015.  Lee Kuan Yew loves the world, especially Singapore, very much.  In 1965, he shed tears in front of national television when he announced the separation of Singapore from Malaysia. Fifty years later in 2015, the entire nation shed tears for him.  Singapore and the world are showing Lee now how much they love him too. The funeral on Sunday 29 March 2015 reads like a 'Who's Who's' of the world leaders.  No other world leader's funeral has attracted so many visitors, not even the late Princes Diana in 1997.  How does Lee Kuan Yew love his people?  Many young people may not appreciate what he has done for the nation, because they perceive him to be a strict and fierce parent.  One thing for sure: he does not love them by spoiling them, he loves them by developing them.  From watching over hundred...

In 1965 when Singapore went independent, it's per capital income was US$1,500.  In 2014, it has grown to US$59,000.  Many people would consider Lee Kuan Yew as the father of modern Singapore for he is the one that turned Singapore from third world to first world in 4 decades.  But is this what Lee himself consider as his greatest achievement? Lee revealed to us that his greatest achievement was actually able to combine what Easterners and Westerners do: marry the woman you love and love the woman you marry. It appeared that Lee's wife was more than a wife. During the early years of his career in the 1950s when Lee was still in the opposition, Lee's wife was supporting the entire family with her income as an owner of a law firm Lee and Lee.  Lee's wife also took good care of the family and brought up three children very well.  Their eldest son Lee Hsien Loong has been Singapore's Prime Minister since 2004.   Being dyslexic, Lee relied on his wife t...

Mr Lee Kuan Yew, aged 91, founder of modern Singapore and the (late) father of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, passed away peacefully on 23 March 2015. (Get your course listing at here ) In 2009, I was asked by New Horizon Computer Learning Centre to conduct a one-week Management and Leadership training for a group of directors and senior managers from the Ministry of Finance and Economics of the Republic of Tanzania (a eastern African nation).  During the course, I was asked to summarise how Singapore transformed itself from a third world nation in 1963 with per capital income of US$1,500 to a first world nation having the highest per capita income of US$59,000 in 3 decades.  My answer to them is just 3 words: "Lee Kuan Yew". Born on 16 September 1923 to a upper income family, Lee Kuan Yew's grandfathers' wealth declined considerably during the Great Depression, and his father, Lee Chin Koon, became a poor shopkeeper. Lee Kuan Yew speaks English as his n...