Business and Money Tips

(This article was first written in April 2014. This is the original un-censored version. The edited version has been selected and published in The Straits Times on 14 March 2015 page R2 Recruit Section) 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 2015, 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 li...

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 know to be tough to themselves, tough to their customers and sub-contractors and even tough to their families but soft on their team members. The reason is the lack of people working due to the tight labour market and the ban on foreign workers in many industries.  As a result, managers are too pleasing and let the subordinates climb over their heads.   On the other hand, there are some managers that are too tough that they become abusive, aggressive and hated by people.  Such managers end up with zero ...

Whether you are a mid-level manager, working level supervisor or high level manager, you need to achieve more with less.  The secret to becoming a high performing manager is to be a challenger. Yes, the manager is a challenger.  He challenges himself, his team and the organization to do better than before.  This challenger manager sees all problems as opportunities and challenges to be overcome.  There are 3 things that a Challenger Manager does well: Teach, Take Control and Touch Hearts Teach The manager teachers people to be better, to be more mindful, more skilled and more skillful.  Most importantly, the manager is never stingy with what he knows, he shares with them and treat his team like his life-long students.  Of course to be able to teach the manager must be competent and that's why he goes for many seminars and courses like this Take Control The manager is always in control of all situations.  In cases where the en...