Business and Money Tips

Mention the word training and most people would think of going back to school. Some will equate training to those long sessions into the nights where you would be challenged to do the impossible like cutting a cane with your neck.  There are some who think that training is for people who are not up to the par, high performers, they say, do not need training. Recently, most people know that training is a competitive tool to outsell your competition, for the government's PIC scheme gives 60% cash or 400% tax deduction for training. Yet we know deep inside use that the purpose of training is not the accumulation of knowledge and skills, but the use and application of such knowledge and skills to bring about change withi n us .  For when we change, then would our teamwork and organization change.  The teachings of trainers is to help us develop a good mindset so that we can think and act skilfully, not randomly.  Then the productivity and profits of the organizat...

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 pl...

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...

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 oth...

In any organization, there are 2 kinds of middle managers: The first type are those who get the work done but never think beyond what need to be completed in the medium term. Though they may work hard and have good intentions, they fail to see the big picture, and thus add little value to the functions they manage. In short, they are 'good managers'.  E.g the Finance Manager at JPMorgan Chase Bank who got the monthly accounts out on time but never warn the management about the risk in investing in so called 'secure' mortgage securities. The second type are those  High Value Middle Managers who see the big picture.  They know how to manage operational practices and execute tactical goals to support strategic initiatives. They add value to their organization and thus elevate their position from that of a middle man to a key player.  You know it when you come across one (or when you yourself are one). High Value Middle Managers operate at peak effici...

What do you do when your potential client asks, "How much do you charge for your service?" This is a money question. Indeed such money question forces you to confront your sense of self-worth. In other words, what's your self-worth? It takes courage - to place a fair but generous price on your expertise and the time taken to get that expertise. Definitely not the time it takes to do the work, but the time it takes to be able to do the work. Just like we don't pay our Dentist by time, we pay him by his ability to do his work well, regardless of the actual time taken. Sometimes like in the dentist case, the shorter the time, the better it is and the higher is his fee.   In my seminars and trainings, I have always worked toward the goal of giving my participants more than their money's worth. Because I know that when I dedicate myself to raising the top (quality) rather than lowering the bottom (cost), everybody wins. Money is worth and worth is meas...

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...

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...

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 ...

If I were to now transfer US$10,000 to your bank account, would you be richer? If you are like most people, you would say, 'Yes, of course". Yet we know that money by itself has no value . If I transfer money to you and you don't do anything to it, the total wealth has not increased. It is just merely a transfer of wealth from me to you, no difference to mankind's total wealth. Money has to be circulated in order for it to create value and wealth. Same for knowledge. What if instead of me transferring US$10,000 to your account, I ask that you transfer US$10,000 to my account? For that I'll give you the tools and resources for you to go on to create many times more than US$10,000. Is this a better deal? If you were like most smart people, you would say "yes" to this. Just like training. I have been doing training (part-time since 1996) and full-time (my own business) since 2001. I have paid thousands of dollars to acquire knowledge, a...

5 Ways to Make Your Selling Irresistible: State your price using the smallest unit of measure , like per month, per week or per day. Courts always use this method, but just stating the weekly instalment at $14 for a Samsung Galaxy S4, (spread over 24 months), their actual selling price is as high as $1,456! Do not compare your price with your competitor, instead compare your price to Do-It-Yourself or something totally different but offers the same benefit . Like people don't compare Mercedes with BMW or Audi but swimming pool, for the rich man's consideration in buying another Mercedes is should he install a swimming pool instead? Pre-empt the Price Objection , and once you warn people of the price, people cannot give you the objection. Proving Financing . Yes, instead of outright sale, why not sell via leasing?  Not only is there no more downpayment, but the customer get to replace the machine when the lease expires, a win-win for all. Be a Irresistible Salesperson. H...

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...

Selling is base on nothing but needs and wants. A need is something that is basic and cannot be done without with, i.e. a necessity. A want is a preference , something that can be done without with but because it is preferred, it is considered important and often become a necessity, i.e. a want becomes a need. Like smartphones, it is not a need but a preference, but who can live without a smartphone nowadays?  If you sell base on both needs and wants, you have a customer. If not, you have a prospect. There are prospects in prospects. Using SNAP Selling, you can sell anything to anybody with the following 4 steps: 1. Situation . Find out what is the situation of the prospect now, what are his concerns, problems and issues that need to be addressed now. Like my prospect now has high staff turnover that is bothering him. 2. Need . From the situation, you uncover his need. So my guess that my prospect needs to learn how to hire the right people and retain hi...