Business and Money Tips

Just because managers are successful now does not mean they will be doing well in the future. Based on  training  over several hundreds of companies in 12 countries since 1996, the following 5 are the  Must-Have Qualities that all Modern Managers  are Expected to have:  1. Follow From the Front This is about removing roadblocks from the paths of employees to help them to succeed.  It is beyond managing people to empowering and engaging people .  It is about jumping with the people. 2. Make Use of Technology like chatrooms, Facebook and Linked-in The modern manager will know what is happening faster from internet than reading newspapers, because the internet is instant while the print media is about yesterday. 3. Lead by Example Do not just give out instructions, but be the first to follow your own instructions.  Go to the scene to get the real feel and lead from the front. 4. Embrace Vulnerability Instead of playing it safe, managers must now have t

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 pinp

Sounds strange, isn't it? The first step to lead better is to recognize that you're Not a leader.  In fact you are not defined by any title you may have, e.g. Manager, Director, Specialist.  As a Leader, You Are NOT a Leader.  You Lead .  Short and simple.  If you keep thinking that you're a leader, you will miss out the important things in leadership, which is to be  alert to what's happening . You need to  listen well, know how are people feeling, and really get to the bottom of issues .  But you can't do this unless you get rid of the thinking that you are the leader.  You must not have the mistaken belief that you are your job. Because such thinking only clouds your thinking and distracts you from leading.  When you lead, you  let go of any self-ego   that you may have and you can be authentic, knowing who you are and where you are.  It's only when you are where you are that you will become more curious about others than about yourself .  A true leader

Sun Tzu in the Art of War stated that all war is based on deception.  Does he mean to cheat?  Of course not. What Sun Tzu means is that we need to adjust the enemy's perception so that 'when able to attack we must seem weak, and when weak must appear to be strong'. The reason is that people simply assume that the way we see things is the way they really are, or the way they should be. Also, our attitudes and behaviours grow out of these assumptions.  In other words, we are not really seeing, but perceiving. Pick up the phone now and call your own company pretending to be a customer.  How are you treated?  If you are going to adequately manage other people's perception of your company you need to know what that perception is. This is not an exercise to catch people out but to find areas of improvement.  Like my seminar clients, you'll be surprised that the way your people answer the phone is not every business friendly! In business it is imperative that you

Yes, it has been getting more competitive today to sell. In the process of Pitching, i.e. multi-stage selling, every detail must be well executed if you want to clinch that coveted deal that everyone is eyeing for.  The stages involved in the sales pitch starts with a meeting, followed by a formal, stand-up presentation. Even if the prospect decides in your favour, you need to follow-up till the end, as anything can change until you sign the deal.  It should be noted that pitching is process that is cumulative, this means that each stage must be completed to the satisfaction of the other other or you will be wasting your time and effort . To pitch successfully, you need to press the prospect's hot button.  Hot button is not to be confused with Benefits or Emotions, nor is it about Fear and Force. In sales, a Hot button is a Trigger that once activated, the person will NOT go back to the original state of mind . This means that when you press the hot button, a sale will re

1. Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. 2. Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Just as the candle won't be shortened, one's happiness never decreases by being shared. 3. The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. 4. Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world. 5. If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change. 6. Let us all be thankful for this day, for we have learned a great deal; if we have not learned a great deal, then at least we learned slightly; if we did not learn slightly, then at least we did not become sick; if we did become sick, then at least we did not die. So, let us all be thankful. 7. On life's jou

Whenever I ask business owners the question, 'What is the purpose of a business?' I often get the following response: 'To make a profit!’ That answer pinpoints why so many businesses struggle to survive, let alone grow. That answer is centred on the desires of the business owner, not on the needs and desires of their customers. Imagine walking up to a potential customer and saying, 'Hello. My purpose is to make a nice, big profit from you today!'   That would be what we call a 'repelling' action, not an 'attracting' action.  Here's a much more powerful and profitable definition of the purpose of a business: To attract and serve the needs of as many customers as possible at an acceptable profit. Did you notice where the profit came in? Not at the beginning where most people put it, but at the end. Profit is the 'result' of how well you serve your customers needs. Focus on serving your customers better than your competition --

If you are like most people, you find that you are not happy with where you are right now. You think that you can do much more, but you are hampered by many factors, including yourself.  We know that having a Coach will help you to achieve success faster and easier. The only issue is how can you afford to pay someone week after week, month after month, year after year, a coaching fee that takes up almost half of your take-home pay?   Contrary to most people thinking, you yourself can be your own coach . All you need is to learn 7 Key Strategies and Tools. They are: Know Your Mind , Live Your Plan , Be Confident, Weekly Review , Leverage on Others, Enjoy the Adversity and Tap into Your Subconscious Mind.   We know that Coaching is about Asking Questions.  So Start Questioning Yourself and you'll be coaching yourself to success.  There are 3 Key Questions to Ask Yourself:  Ask Questions that Open Up Possibilities , not open up problems. When you cannot do something, instead

Your purpose as a manager or employee is to get things done, not to impress your boss. But we know that to get more things done you need to impress your boss so that he will trust you and pass to you more things. Here are the 7 Easy Ways that Anyone Can Impress their Boss Without Licking his Boots: Be Frank and Open . Admit mistakes. Never shade truth.  This is key to gaining long term trust Help Your Boss to Be Right . This is not being subservient or time-serving, but means you support your boss in whatever ways so that he can be right.  For example, you help him to improve his writing so that he will not be mis-understood.  Respond Fast or at least Show him Enthusiasm .  Show a Can-Do attitude, not 'See-What-I-Can-Do' style Handle your personal problems well so that he knows you can be trusted to handle the organization's problems. For example, don't have frantic calls from your family members frequently. Protect him with your willingness to take the '

Among all natural laws (i.e. not man-made laws but laws governing all nature), the Law of Action and Reaction is the most prevalent. This is also called the law of Cause and Effect, or Karma to some people. Simply put, for every action, there will be a reaction. That's why good beget good and bad beget bad.  But the point to note that there is no direct relationship between cause and effect , i.e. you cannot pinpoint a particular action and say for sure that it will precisely lead to another action.  Also, results do not arise in the order in which their causative actions have taken place . What this means is that other causative factors also come into play and often it is their combined effect that determines the result . A single cause cannot produce a result, much less many results, nor can many causes produce just one result. How does it apply to training then?  From my over 17 year of training (including part-time 1996-2001 before becoming full time since May 2001 till

Yesterday my blog about how to solve problems the SAD Way (See-Address-Do) Way has made some people sad. Today I'm going to make you HAPPY: the proven way to Build Great Teams: H - Harmonize the team, conflicts should be put aside first A - Align the different goals of the team to that of the organization. P - Purpose : find a common purpose for all P - Path : create the path to achieve the common purpose Y - Get people to say ' Yes ' to commit and do the path created above A typical team-building session using HAPPY would run like this: Harmonize : Get everyone to write down their differences and agree to harmonize, i.e. work through the differences; Goal Alignment Session t o align the different goals to the organization's goals.  Eg Sales Department goal of 20% growth must be aligned to company's profit goals Purpose : Find a common purpose that will get people charging. Like to beat the competitor; Path : here will be the detailed Road Maps and

Customers are demanding lower prices. Factories are moving overseas. How can salespeople survive?  These are tough times for salespeople. Customers are demanding more services and lower prices.  Many are purchasing directly through the internet and from manufacturers. Salespeople find themselves caught in the middle - doing more for customers, making less money and wondering about their paycheck. The solution is simple.  Salespeople Must Add Value. How?  Salespeople add value in many ways - before, during and after the sale.    These services include product availability, problem solving and technical support, just to name a few. But customers often do not realize how these services translate into dollars-and-cents value. Why? Because salespeople are generally not trained in how to calculate this value for customers. Beyond product training   Customers are interested in more than product features and benefits. They want to know how these benefits translate into   dollars-and-cents

Often in my training courses, my participants would like to share with me their problems at work and ask me for advise. The advise I gave them is to solve problems in a 3-Step SAD way:  Step 1:  See the problem as what it is, not what you wish .  Reason is that if you  don’t exactly see what the problem is, you're going to perpetuate it.  Y ou are already in reality, all you need to do is to see it. All problems at work, be it sales, cash flow or people management, can be summed up in two words: Human Problems. Settle the human problems and you'll settle all problems.  Human problems can be in the area of motivation, morale, competencies, distraction, complacency, leadership, communication, inter-personal skills, teamwork and compliance.  Step 2:  You don’t lack ideas, strategies or solutions to your problems. S o stop blocking yourself and attend to what’s going on .   When you really attend to the problems, the solution is obvious.  For example, my clie

They say that the Singapore workplace is getting complacent due to our maturing economy and the tightening of foreign labour. In fact many bosses lament that employees are too comfortable and do not strive hard to do their best. Experts say that there is a lack of healthy competition at work. Unknown to many people, without a healthy dose of competition, work standards drop and soon your company may not be able to compete in the tough business environment. Just look at fallen companies like Nokia, Blackberry, Sony and Oracle and you will know what I am talking about. If you too want to make the best out of your people, inject healthy competition at work. Remember, if your people are not competitive, your company will be chased out of the market.  Power-packed Contents Include: 1. Test on how Competitive is Your Company in the workplace 2. Myths and Truths of Competition at Work 3. Five Steps to Creating Healthy Competition at Work: a. Get People ON b. Get Peop

As we know, the workplace today is very different from the workplace of yesterday, yet how many people are doing the following 5 right things? From hierarchies to a more flattened structure , so there are less people doing work and one-man-operations is very common. There is no more such thing as senior people or junior people but people that interact and people that don't interact. Obviously those that don't interact are losing out as no one is helping them! From hoarded information to shared information . Yes, instead of managers holding some privileged information, information are now shared instantaneously on What's App, Line, twitter and facebook. In fact even SMS is dying. If you are still using your smartphone only for reading e-mails, you are becoming another Nokia. From fear-based leadership to Empowering and Inspiring Leadership .  Smart leaders understand the concept of following from the front, not just leading from the front.  Following from the front mea