Business and Money Tips

Forced Management: Most people are doing Forced Management knowingly or unknowingly. For example, most managers set targets for their staff and simply pressurize them to achieve the targets. They do not get buy-in to the targets, nor do they help the staff to see how they can achieve the targets. And they assume that the staff will hit the targets on their own, if not, they will do some forcing like issue threats. Few would take time to motivate, inspire and lead the staff to hit the targets. Even fewer will sit down and listen to the staff when they cannot hit the targets.   We all know that all goals must be internalized for it to be achieved. If you don't buy-in to the goals, you will not achieve them. Even if you do achieve them in the end, you will not get the pride and satisfaction of achievement.   We also know that if people achieve goals out of their own will, they will do so happily and willingly. Miracles will happen and we can turn all impossible to...

Managers are trained how to manage and lead their people, and some of them are proud of the fact that they can change people.  For managers who are commissioned to hit some aggressive sales numbers, coaching is the last thing on their mind.   But we know that all change must come from inside, and a manager can never push for results or attempt to change people overnight.   Real change happens when people want to change by themselves , and the way to do this is to coach them.   In order to coach people, managers must know the following 5 important facts of coaching: Surrender Your Agenda When Coaching . Coaching is about the coachee, not the coach or the coaching program.  The coach must go into the mindset of the coachees, not his own mindset.  Although the coach may have some objectives when he coaches his coachee, he must remain flexible and realize that the most important thing is not to complete his agenda but to help to solve the coachee's prob...

Every child learns from school that 1 + 1 = 2.  This may be simple, but it could also be the biggest lie that adults teach to children. The truth is that 1 + 1 is never equal to 2.  It could be more than 2 or less than 2, but seldom 2. Two obvious reasons: Synergy, or leverage , where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts . If I have one idea and you also share your one idea with me, our ideas are more than two.  This is because we have both stimulated each other and we will have more ideas than we could think of.  That's why like-minded people like to be together, and birds of the same feather would flock together. Dis-synergy, or negative leverage , where the whole is less than the sum of it parts.  This is because the coming of two things will bring issues like compatibility and thus bring down the total value.  If you and me come together we may have less ideas because we need to trash out our issues like personality. In you...

I realized from our How to Be a Better Manager  and Sales Power  courses that most people need a shortcut on the 5 most important concepts at work.  They are now summarized as follows: 1.  Customer Service Customer Service is not about niceties or doing everything to please the customer.  It is also not about over-servicing until the business makes a loss.  Services that are way beyond your core business are not considered customer service but  entertainment service .   Successful companies will tell you that customer service is nothing but  s olving customer's problems and make them feel good  with a profit .   It is about  service from the heart and not serve from head to toe.  2.   Teamwork Many people thought that if the staff get along well with little conflicts, teamwork is good.  Some people even think that if they go for offsite teambuilding training, teamwork will be improved automatically. Ther...

People are more capable than what you think.  Whether you are dealing with your staff, customers, suppliers, contractors or children, you should adopt an open mind and do not limit people's capabilities.  Currently you may see low performance, but understand that such performance is determined by causes and conditions set before.   Once the causes and conditions change, performance will change .  For example, Japan's economy has, since 1992, on a decline phase and till today 2014, it has not recovered to its glory days of 1980s.  This is because of the causes and conditions that Japan has, chief among them is its closed door immigration policy that limits foreign talents.  If Japan were to change its immigration policy and attract talents like Singapore or USA, its economy will surely improve.   If people are indeed more capable than what you think, what causes them to under-perform?  There are 7 key causes and conditions: No Mood. ...

Following my article on 22 April 2014 about the 7 Truths in Management , the part on Delegation attracted the most comments.  In our management training , we often emphasized 7 children: the 7 Tasks that Cannot Be Delegated. They are like your 7 children, if you abandon them, you're abdicating them.  That's sinful!  Giving Authorization.  This is very obvious, you cannot delegate approval and authorization, thus you have to sign documents yourself.   Strategic Planning. You can get consultants to help you, but at the end of the day, you must select what strategy to take.  When it comes to planning, you can delegate the details to your subordinate, but the overall master plan must come from you. Praising People.  You can delegate scolding, but compliments have to be dished out by yourself.  If you are afraid that your hair will stand when you praise someone face to face, you can do it via electronic ways.  But no matter how busy you a...

Through discussions with people in my How to Be a Better Manager courses , I realized that many people, despite working for over 3 decades, have grossly mis-understood the 7 common concepts in management.  As a result of this wrong view, they do things the wrong way and wondered why they have lousy results.  Now you have the chance to know these 7 truths and not be thrown around.  The 7 most common mis-understood concepts are: 1.   Teamwork Many people thought that if the staff get along well with little conflicts, teamwork is good.  Some people even think that if they go for offsite teambuilding training, teamwork will be improved automatically. There are even those who think that as long as there is harmony, teamwork is excellent. Nothing can be further from the truth. Teamwork is defined as nothing but Together Everyone Achieve More, with Achievement as the main criteria .  So if the team get along well but the performance is mediocre, there is si...

For decades, businesses have been trying to discover the formula for the 'perfect' manager.  There are tons of books, blog posts and editorial articles out there, and even training courses on  how to be a better manager .  While I cannot claim to have unlocked the secret theory of management, discussions with bosses and managers since 1987 revealed the following 5 traits of a 'perfect' manager: 1. Know How to Be Tough Many managers are tough on themselves, tough on their customers and sub-contractors and even tough on their families - but soft on their team members. The reasons could range from difficulty in hiring suitable people due to the tight labour market and the caps on employing foreigners in many industries to poor people management skills.   As a result, managers are afraid of telling their staff what they expect from them, giving negative feedback when required or being tough on poor behaviour or performance. It is no surprise that their subo...

I like short and simple words because to say something short and simple takes a lot of effort and understanding.  This is unlike some professors who use very difficult to understand terms and words that few can understand.  In people management , the less you say, the more they get it.  I learnt this very powerful phrase from Singapore's highest grossing local dual movies "Ah Boys to Men".  In that movie, while the recruits are preparing for their most ardent training (3-days field camp), their Officer asked them this question: "Before we move out, anybody not feeling well?"  All the recruits answered a resounding, "NO!!!".  Next the Officer said, "Gentlemen, every time the training gets harder, one question comes to your mind: 'Why am I serving national service?'  My answer to you is - 'If not You, Then Who Else?'"  With that the soldiers happily go for their training. Indeed, "If Not You Who Else?" is a very ...

Sun Tzu in the Art of War (which leaders can adopt) advocate the use of non-force to create lasting win-win battles.  However, many people still like to use force. Mention the word 'force' and many would think of violence, aggressive behaviour and verbal abuse.  In fact the problem managers face today is staff are no longer obeying their instructions.  In other words, many supervisors, managers and directors have become too soft and are not using sufficient force in their work to get things done. Over at Asia Trainers, we believe that the sufficient and appropriate use of force in your management and leadership will reap you dividends.  As revealed in our latest course " How to Be a Great Boss " on 1 March 2014 Saturday 9 am to 12.30 pm, you can use force and still get people to like you.  The 5 ways are: Pre-empt People that You'll Not Be NICE .  Because NICE means N othing I nside Me C ares E nough , and since you care for them, that's why y...

All managers must avoid 2 deadly pitfalls or risk being redundant: 1. Control - Too little control or too much control is a problem. Too little control would mean not having rules, but most often we see rules not followed and management never do much about it. For example, many companies have rules on working hours, but ask yourself how many management actually work to ensure that people come to work punctually? Many people have got used to being late, and the common excuse is they work late, so they can come late for work. Many don't know that this is causing some issues in teamwork, e.g. if some people are not here by 8.30 am, how am I going to get certain things done without them? So as a manager, make sure that you set the rules of the game. A good rules of the game is Values. Values like honesty and 'Go Extra Mile' must be laid down and followed by all staff. 2. Losing Their Voice: It's easy for people to lose their voice after working in the company...

One of the most confused communication in the business world, be it in sales or advertisements, is the concept of benefits.  Often people mistake features as benefits, and many also mistake advantages as benefits. As we know, a feature is a characteristic of what you do. Like your company has 5-day week and 14-days annual leave.  This is obviously a feature and not a benefit.  A feature can be considered as an advantage if such a feature is not common.  But in today's world, 5-day week and 14-days annual leave are too common to be considered an advantage. What about benefits?  They are not general things but things that mean something to people .  That is, p eople do really benefit from them .  So using the above example, if a person wants a career that offers fast promotion or good incentives, 5-day week and 14-days annual leave will not mean anything to him and are thus not considered benefits to him. In short, benefits are special to the per...

All managers must avoid 2 deadly pitfalls: 1. Control Too little control or too much control is a problem . Too little control would mean not having rules, but most often we see rules not followed and management never do much about it. For example, many companies have rules on working hours, but ask yourself how many management actually ensure that people come to work punctually? Many people have got used to being late, and the common excuse is they work late, so they can come late for work. Many don't know that this is causing some issues in teamwork, e.g. if some people are not here by 8.30 am, how am I going to get certain things done without them? So as a manager, make sure that you set the rules of the game. A good rules of the game is Values. Values like honesty and 'Go Extra Mile' must be laid down and followed by all staff. 2. Losing Their Voice It's easy for people to lose their voice after working in the company. Initially new employees a...

In our management and sales courses, we use this famous 4-Step RAST Model to teach our trainees in problem solving. I shall use the case of Getting Your Team to Achieve Their Goals as an example: Step 1: Recognize the Problem Recognize that there is a problem, and don't be egoistic or pretend that there is no problem.  The problem here is that our team is not achieving the goals, and we must not accept this as norma l but recognize this as a problem. Step 2: Actual Reasons for the Problem We need to find out the Actual reasons for the problem, and not be blinded by some non reasons like opinions and 'everyone is doing this' type of excuse.  We must be thoroughly objective in finding out the actual reasons, and not be swayed by some subjective hearsay.  In this case study, we find out that the actual reason for the team not achieving their goals is a lack of competency and confidence. Step 3: Solutions for the Problem With the actual reasons out, we can pi...

Of all the words in the English language, Love is the most mis-understood.  Many mistaken love to be attachment, lust, affection or relationship kind of love. We know that love is more than that. We also know what Love is NOT. Love is not about possession, condition and blind faith .   Many say that love is an inner feeling, and when you express that feeling to the outside world, that feeling is called an emotion. We define love as promoting the welfare of others.  It is to serve others, not ourselves .   It is to use your heart, not just your brain or your body. There are 7 kinds of love that we can use in business and at work: 1.  Showing Kindness, Care and Concern (non material benefits) 2.  Welfare and Material Benefits (e.g. money) 3.  Commitment and Loyalty 4.  Trust and Confidence in People, especially when the going is tough 5.  Empathy (to feel what people are feeling without them telling you) 6.  Friendship and C...

As we know, management is an art and not a science, and the best managers do not manage at all, for they make people better than themselves .   I follow the 8-Path Wisdom in Management as follows, using how to ensure people hit their targets as a case study:  Right Understanding Do we have the right understanding on the reasons for people not hitting their targets?  Is it due to lack of skills, motivation or attitude? Right Intent Is hitting targets our intention?  Or making people perform at the highest level possible our intent? Right Action What is the Right Action to Take if Lack of Skills is the reason for people not performing at the right level?  Let's say it is weekly training, plus monthly new challenges.  Right Effort What is the most positive action, every day, in both ourselves and our team?  How can we engage our people so that their  efforts becomes more effective? ...