Business and Money Tips

If you are like most managers, you'll probably find that you are lacking in certain skills.  This lack is causing you delay in your career growth. Worst of all, your boss expects you to know all and your subordinates are watching you.  The truth is that most managers and supervisors are promoted based on their technical skills, and yet it is the managerial and leadership skills that will make them more successful. This management development program is for managers, bosses, directors, managers, supervisors and executives who want to implement tomorrow what they learn today. This is hands-on learning, conducted over 4 weeks, to give you the impetus and momentum needed. Best of all, you will get coaching from a seasoned Coach.  Now you might be saying - Yeah, I have heard it all before - and maybe you have. But if you are serious about actually doing and implementing something that will improve your career, then invest some time and get the help you need. ...

Most managers are promoted based on their technical expertise.  For example, if you are a good engineer, you will be promoted to an Engineering Manager. After being promoted, managers are expected to perform their managerial and leadership roles well, on top of also performing their technical roles well. And when managers have problems, they often consult their bosses.  Unfortunately their bosses too have no formal training on management and leadership.  Even if they have a MBA, it is the day-to-day people management issues that make bosses headache. For example, many companies until now still cannot cope with the tightening of foreign labour .  Unable to find locals to take up jobs, they choose the obvious route: cut down business.  That's why you see Robinsons shrinking and many restaurant groups reducing their outlets.  Other than people issues, managers are always in a c...

I love unconventional management: the management ways that only those people that never study management do.  People like Larry Page, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin all never went to MBA school, they are just computer nerds that know nothing other than computer programming.  Yet the companies that they lead - Google, Facebook and Apple - are one of the world's most admired employers. Indeed unconventional management leads to unconventional profits.  The 7 areas of unconventional management includes: Never hire the best people available in the market , hire the best not yet available in the market. Only in this way can you grab talents before your competitors. Never hire people that look for a job, hire people when they're still in schools or never think of changing jobs Smart creative people are what a company needs, not just smart people.  People are creative when they do things in their own ways even when they're not left alone . Some people ca...

Many people today are very wise, wise in pounds and foolish in penny.  Check to see if you do any of the following 7 things.  If the answer is none, call us at 6225-1784 for a chat.  If the answer is yes to the 7 questions, congratulations and please forward this article to your friends.  1.    Build Relationships with Suppliers by Not Squeezing Them .  Penny wise pound foolish Purchasers like to squeeze suppliers.  They often end up with very few choices as few suppliers would like to work with them.  As a result, they buy cheaply but didn't get the best choices in the market. In fact their purchasing cost went up! 2.    Train the Managers and Directors First Before Training the Staff. When things go wrong, the first thing managers do is to send their staff for training. For they feel that if the staff are better trained, there will be fewer problems.  Truth is the managers...

There's a Zen story in which a professor visited a Japanese master to inquire about Zen. The master served tea. When the visitor's cup was full, the master kept pouring. Tea spilled out of the cup and over the table. "The cup is full!" said the professor. "No more will go in!" "Like this cup," said the master, "You are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?" If you want to understand and learn, you need to empty your cup.  So how do people empty their cup when they go for training courses?  From experience in conducting in-house trainings for over 440 companies and over 81,131 people in 14 countries since 1996, there are 7 ways to empty your cup:  (click here for list of courses) (For slides, read here ) Learn with an Open Mind . Do not hold any fixed ideas before the course.  Like the parachute, the mind is only useful when it is open.  Opening your mind also mean...

Many people in business like to work on things even when they are well known to be not working. Today let me share with you the 5 most common practices that don't work. Avoid them and you won't be having any chance of disappointments: Auto-Pilot .  The myth people have is that pilots, once they put the plane on auto-pilot, have basically nothing to do during their flight hours. Nothing is further than the truth: even with the plane on auto-pilot, pilots have to go through their flight navigation plans, make notes on where they have passed and plan for landing and watch out for tubulences.  In short, they have to be on the alert and work all the time even when the plane is on auto-pilot.  Same for business.  Even if your business is as big as Apple, Facebook or Alibaba, you the CEO still have to clock in many hours of work everyday for there is simply no auto-pilot in life Threat of Termination works.  This threat only works with those that find it difficu...

The other day I talked to one manager about how to upgrade his team so that they can perform better. He answered me, "I don't know, if I upgrade them, wouldn't they be more capable than me and soon take over my job?" This is a clear example of the thinking of a messenger not a manager. There are 7 ways that you can tell your manager is just a messenger and not a manager: Never Develop himself or his team .  You'll be shocked to find out that there are many managers out there that have never attended any non-technical courses since they left school.  Some of them don't even know that such courses exist!  Unbelievable but true! Good in Passing the Buck .  As we know, a manager must take up the blame even though he has no control over the hiring of his team.  As long as the team is under his responsibility, he must be responsible for ALL their actions Hardly Motivate, Inspire or Encourage his people. Worse still, such 'managers' often de-motivate...

Give us 4 weeks and we'll turn your managers into better managers at here Although few dare to admit, we know that many managers are not real managers because they lack power. Some are at the mercy of their staff, while others are so dependent on their bosses that they are just figure heads or administrators.   To be a real manager takes 4 things as follows: 1.  Have the Right Skills, Beliefs and Identity of a Manager .  The believe in the impossible and the identity of a can-do and a Solution Provider.  The 6 skills to posses include: Planning, especially budgeting and forecasting Decision-making, especially taking risk People Management, in terms of handling difficult people and get people to work for you Leadership, to be important, not impotent Communication, how to get your message across and influence people Business Strategy and Growing the Business, this must be the most important skill of all 2.   Have the Opportunity to Excel, to Real...

Are you pushing your team hard for results? Is motivation and morale becoming an issue? Make no mistake: higher performance comes not from pushing but PULLING. The truth is that most managers are not trained in the softer side of things: how to get to the heart and soul of each staff so as to get the most out of them. This course is for people who want to take action to get real results. It is NOT for people looking for excuses. There are 11 powerful lessons spread over 7 videos, 3 games and 1 challenging test. Note: We also run this course in-house, subjet to a minimum of 7 persons. Call Andy at 8201-4347 to enquire Power-packed Contents Include: HOW TO BE AN INSPIRING & MOTIVATING MANAGER Date : 25 Feb 2015 Wednesday 9 am to 5 pm Venue : The Plaza 02-346, 7500A Beach Rd (inside Parkroyal Hotel building) Fees : $398 each; $299 each for 2 & above; $199 each for 5 pax & above Test on Are you Inspiring People or Just Perplexing them? What is tr...

As a Trainer Coach, I sometimes start the first minute of my leadership and management training by asking my students this question: what does it take to be human?  We were trained to be smart, shrewd, and even manipulative to get things done.  Many were stunned by my question as they thought that being human is inconsistent with being an effective leader and manager.  Truth be told, being human has nothing to do with management and leadership but everything to do with management and leadership EFFECTIVENESS.  You can't be an effective and sustainable leader and manager if you're not being human.  I think being human means the following 7 things: It has different meanings for different people It also has different meanings for different cultures and faith. We must accept cultural diversity as the new norm Practice what we preach Skillfully, not unskillfully put down the thoughts and comments of others Not engage in wars to prove that we are ...

Management training in Singapore and the region: bosses and HR Managers have asked me what topics must a good management program cover?   Based on full-time training since 2001, there are at least 7 things that all management training must cover: How to Look for Solutions to Manpower issues without extra hiring Getting staff to take ownership for their work, not excuses Increasing the productivity of office and operational workers without $ Converting all dis-engaged staff into highly committed team members How to Present your message to the people so that you're not seen as a messenger but a leader that adds value Managing from the heart and how to go the extra mile to serve the team Asking questions so as to coach and mentor staff and not just give instructions and expect compliance On top of that, management training must also cover 4 soft skills: How to set your own goals and help your team members motivate and work towards the organization's goals Persuasi...

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 ...

Most managers are doing their job well, in fact, too well, and that's the problem.  They do not make any difference to their organization, the people and most importantly themselves.  Just ask any manager this question and you'll get stares from them: "What is the most difficult decision you made in your career and how has this decision turned up now?"  Many managers will be asking you this question instead, "Am I supposed to be doing this?  I am a good manager, you know..." To me, if a manager does not make a difference, he is irrelevant and will either be by-passed or made redundant.  Just look at many companies where they don't make any replacements for resigned managers and you'll know what I'm talking about.  In fact with today's workforce being more educated and experienced, many jobs can be done directly, with the staff reporting to the boss without a middle manager.  In many cases, the staff just report to the client directly and ...