THE LEADERSHIP MOMENT

Lessons from Shanghai

A recent trip to do some work for a client in Shanghai allowed me to tag on a weekend of sightseeing and meetings with friends and associates. The sightseeing itself was quite marvellous. Though no stranger to Shanghai, just seeing the newly renovated Bund re-opend after a couple of years of construction - was a treat. Shanghai is all about energy, money, rough and tumble of trade, past and future glories. The incredible wealth of the 1920s, as manifested in the stone period buildings, and the new dramatic architecture will make Shanghai a phenomenal host to the 2010 World Expo kicking off in May. And it’s one of those places, where people think it perfectly natural and acceptable to grab you by the shoulder and shove you aside (without so much of an ‘excuse me’) if they want to walk in front of you! My clients and associates shared some further interesting points about success in Shanghai, so here some of theirs and mine:

1) When negotiating in business, don’t put too much emphasis on racial and cultural differences. The realities are far more complex and contextual for, say an American schooled in a one-day cross-cultural seminar to grasp quickly. The chief influencer of a decision, for example, may be a foreigh-educated Chinese business graduate. And you and he/she may share more similarities than you realise, so negotiate as though this person may be fairly attuned to your proposals. The chief decision maker is a former SME leader in his 60s. Again, context is everything - so adjust your style appropriately.  The senior person will not be so transparent, or open as the influencer. Where possible, ask  if unsure .Asking shows humility  (a universally venerated virtue in Chinese societies)

2) China isn’t one market. It comprises of 33 provinces, each with their own level of market-economy, political maturity and openess. To further add to the mix, there are often 1st and 2 tier cities , referring to the size, economic freedoms and political clout. 1st tier are Beijing , Shanghai and Guangzhou for example, while leading the pack of the 2nd tier cities are Shenzhen (nearrest to HongKong) and Nanjing for example. Seek to prepare your business entry and negotiating skills appropriately. Bluntly put, there are many Chineses business people out there who are not used to foreign practices and approaches. What is unethical to you  may be seen by some as perferct business sense. Your forthrightness you consider as ‘assertiveness’ could be tolerated less well outside the more sophisticated cities and might classfiy you as arrogant.

3) Get with the programme - just get used to the fact that Mr Shover and Ms Pusher are just busy, stressed chinese people wanting to get ahead. The sooner you learn to accept that  Shanghai (and China for that matter) and its people will adapt to more common norms over time, and that the Chinese can be VERY patient - the more you’ll be a happy trooper when in China.

4) Don’t miss an opportunity to eat like a Chinese - get out to the local eateries and tuck into everything good there, from soup-filled dumplings to deep fried smelly tofu.  Chinese communities worldwide have experienced famine and hardship - so celebrations and life often revolves around food. After all, a common greeting is not ” Good Morning” but ” have you eaten?”  The more the Shanghainese feel you are making an effort to be like them and to like their ways, the better off you’ll be - Tuck in, and have a great time.

Have a great month ahead!

^{David Lim,
Chief Motivation Officer
Certified Speaking Professional (CSP)}
Go to The Asian Negotiator (see http://theasiannegotiator.wordpress.com) our new blog on negotiating your best and highest futures

Ask us at office@everestmotivation.com for our solutions

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Kodachrome and Change:

Change. Inevitable, and not always welcome, especially when you have the warm fuzzy comfort of knowing - or at least the thought that some things would last forever.  This summer, Kodak ( US$9.4 billion in revenues) announced that they would no longer make Kodachrome, the long beloved, archival quality slide film that has been the staple of photographers globally since 1936.  The colour in the Kodachrome pictures taken by my climbing partner on my first summer Alps trip  in 1992 - remain rich and saturated, locking in time, my youthful, uncrinkled features. Not being  able to avail myself to a lab that supported Kodachrome in Singapore, I opted for the E6  slide processing format. That lesser medium from that sun-soaked summer is already showing signs of fading and discoloration In comparison For the ‘yellow’ in Kodachrome to fade by 20% , you’d need 185 years to pass. But when it accounts for less than 0.01% of Kodak’s revenue, only one lab in the world will continue to process the complex slide film - at least until 2010.

The lesson? Change is inevitable, and we have to adapt to it, kicking ,screaming or willingly. Send me your favourite Kodachrome picture, story or moment. david @ everestmotivation.com

Banker Boy 2 - Or How to Avoid Being a Has Been - continued

It seems after my initial riposte to the insulting email sent by the 30-something Singaporean banker/rock-climber, I refused to be sucked into a flame war all of his making. Amazed at my lack of belligerence, Banker Boy has responded like a dog that keeps barking at passerbys because it is unable to get more attention, being  behind the picket fence. He even challenged the quality of my man-liness, I have looked down recently between my legs and have found my own to be present and perfectly normal. I hope I have heard the last from Banker Boy -for now at least…

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Leaders’ Negotiation Skills: The much vaunted United Nations conference at Copenhagen is over – but not the wheeling and dealing that led to a much criticized conference statement which promised some improvements in carbon emissions, but held no one accountable for any targets. From the outset, from a leadership perspective the challenge was huge: 15,000 delegates and officials, 5,000 journalists and 98 world leaders attempting to agree on something – ANYTHING. Essentially, the delegates were split into two broad camps – the developed countries resisting an agreement that would legally bind them to cut emissions by a certain amount by 2020; and the developing world that wanted more help to reduce their emissions, and also to avoid being tied down to legal agreements that might both save the planet and nix their growing economies. These were dense, multilateral negotiations, and here are what we can learn from the negotiation skills displayed by the players. China, one of the world’s biggest polluter (bit not by a per capita basis) adopted two effective negotiation tactics:….. …..for the rest of the feature, go to The Asian Negotiator (see http://theasiannegotiator.wordpress.com) our new blog on negotiating your best and highest futures

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Cheers.
Adrian Lim | Director KHAL International (S) Pte Ltd

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What’s the skill most underrated in university syllabi, and in business? If you said NEGOTIATION, you win! If you think about it , our success in business and life often revolves around negotiating with our peers, clients and family members. Starting this month, you are welcome to not only the content of the Life Without Limits e-newsletter on leadership and motivation, but get access to The Asian Negotiator (see http://theasiannegotiator.wordpress.com) our new blog on negotiating your best and highest futures. This month, I talk about a negotiation skill called The Nibble:

In many common transactions, value is given, and the negotiations often then boil down to price/fee.

Great negotiators know that they can almost always get a small item thrown in by asking for it at the time they offer to close the deal.  Both timing and the size of the concession are critical here.

At a key stage of a recent negotiation when it seemed like a deal would go through, I would ask at a late stage for a small concession or a ‘goody’ that was of value to me. Your chances are higher if this tactic of nibbling at concessions is done when the other side is quite keen on closing the deal, AND the nibble is from a piece of cheese of lower actual value to them.

….for the rest of the article, go to http://theasiannegotiator.wordpress.com

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HOW TO AVOID BEING A HAS-BEEN

A couple of weeks ago, I found a webpage with some interesting climbing photos taken at a local quarry in which I spent nearly a decade in 1990s climbing. I asked a few questions in a most friendly way to the person who had posted the photos, commenting about how technical grading of some classic climbs had changed since the ‘old’ days. To my surprise, I received a hateful note from the 30-something year old banker, who questioned my contributions to the climbing community, how I made my living, challenged me to climb at the quarry, and called me a ‘ has-been’. This potential online flame war could have lasted to Christmas. Instead it caused me to reflect on what constitutes a ‘ has-been’, and what causes people to respond online in a way they never do face-to-face. Here are some life’s lessons in avoiding being a has-been - which I hope may filter one day to the ‘Banker Boy’, as I’d like to refer to him.

1) Don’t Insult People You Haven’t Met: This is a fundamental, and idiot-proof skill in getting on in life, building bridges and developing new contacts. Just 2 weeks ago at a professional association meeting, the evening’s speaker insulted a member of the audience. You kind of wonder why people dynamite bridges they haven’t even seen fit to cross. Has-beens do this as they struggle with the anger in dealing with declining competency and popularity

2) Constantly Learn From Others and Apply the Learning: Another no-brainer, but how many of us do what we have learnt from others? Often times, has-beens are has-beens because they failed to re-invent themselves, and always focus on fading past glories, instead of building adding fresh value to everyone around us. But when you shut down an intelligent discussion and opportunity to learn by doing Para. 1, how can any wisdom pass through Banker Boy’s ego-clouded brain?

3) Be Known for Your Expertise, Avoid Being ‘Famous’: Fame is fleeting and people’s memories are short. Instead, whether in your company, or outside, seek to be the “go to” person for specific skills and expertise. I’d like to think that climbing Mt Everest in a flat tropical island can make you famous for a while, but is so much better if you can learn how to help others in their unique context, tackle their own personal ‘ Everests” instead

4) Pick Your Fights: If you want to turn up for a gunfight, don’t bring a pea- shooter. You won’t last long. Knowing which battles to fight in your career can help you win long-term and build your reputation. Picking the wrong ones just send you straight to Corporate Hell, and grant you ‘has-been’ status

So, if you are ever in Singapore, and meet a 30-something year-old banker who climbs, disses older, perhaps wiser people as ‘ has-beens’, just let him be. He’s becoming one quickly without anyone’s help. In the meantime, this old “has-been” is preparing for an expedition in August. Stay tuned at http://www.everest.org.sg

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MAKING YOUR OWN LUCK  ( Life without Limits e-newsletter June 2009)

Very recently, the first Singapore womens Everest team returned in triumph, having put five of their members on the summit of the world. While most people recall parts of the climb up and some setbacks, few may recall that the climb almost never happened. The team, despite having had more than four years to prepare and raise the six-figure sums to go were woefully short of funds with just six months to go to the climb. The climb, originally slated for 2008, had to be postponed to 2009. And still they were not getting ‘lucky’ with corporate sponsors in 2009. What can we learn from making luck on our journey to our goals.

1)    Keep your Radar On

Studies by Dr Richard Wise on luck showed that people who were sensitized more to what was happening around them were likelier to find people and opportunities that benefited them. Many people network, but few get results they want because they do not have their personal radar switched on for opportunities, contacts and valuable connections. In an unusual controlled test, he placed a five-pound note on a path within possible sight to see if people who considered themselves to be ‘lucky’ spotted the notes. People who scanned their environment( and spotted the notes) were more likely to strike up conversations with people who might be of help to them professionally, versus a control group of ‘normal’ people.

 

2)   Be Open to Propositions 

Being open to proposals is a great way to create more luck. Many well-meaning people can help you. You just need to spend some time sifting quickly through who are the timewasters or those who just do not have the ability to help you meaningfully. This works much better than being closed to proposals coming your way, or dismissing possible sources of help. One of things that both helped and hindered the Singapore womens expedition, in my opinion, was that they were too open to proposals and advice from people who were lacking in credibility and experience to help them in the way they needed to be helped. A key question to help you decide is simply: “Does this person have the experience and past record to make an informed statement/opinion?”. 

3)    Nice is Good, Memorable is Better

Being nice to people will help you get on at work and in life. However, you can go one  step further by being memorable, by what you say, how you say it, and stand out from the crowd. In making luck, I venture that ‘lucky’ people are often lucky because others remember them, and they are first to be recalled when opportunities arise. Best, be nice, and memorable!

4)    Do the Work

To get to the summit, you have to put one foot in front of the other. Even if teams on Everest rely on many paid sherpas or local Nepalese climbers to help them, they still have to do a lot of work. Part of being lucky is your own contribution to the journey. Rarely are there ‘free’ rides. When the Singapore womens team realised that the funding was not forthcoming, they rapidly increased their workrate in approaching potential sponsors. They left behind them a professional fundraising agency that could not meet their goals. A goal is a dream with a deadline. You simply have to what is needed to get to the goal. On the peak, when they faced one aborted summit push, they had organized sufficient resources to allow for an additional summit attempt. None of these measures come without additional work. David Breashears, the renown Everest guide and IMAX film-maker said that he believes people create their own luck on Everest.

So do I.

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You could not have been a regular news reader/watcher in the past 30 days here in Singapore without reading of the politics, drama, and tussle for the leadership of AWARE ( Association of Women for Action and Research). For years, AWARE was well known for its outreach programmes to a variety of women from all walks of life, and pursued advocacy in Parliament for certain women-related issues. But as membership dwindled, and with some of it’s programmes viewed as ‘gay-neutral’ by conservatives, a group with no previous affiliation quietly joined AWARE (together with a group of supporters), legally took over the association at the annual general meeting in April.

The reaction to this perceived ‘ infiltration’ of a seemingly conservative all-Christian (many of the new committee were from the same church) group into a secular organisation created a storm in a teacup. As more details slowly leaked out, it seemed that the group had been egged on by a conservative senior ex-university dean unhappy with AWARE’s liberal slant. The controversy commandeered major media coverage like never before. An Extraordinary General Meeting was called last weekend where over 3000 people attended, and a vote of no confidence successfully tabled against the so-dubbed ‘ usurpers’, who then resigned.

Having held leadership positions in two non-governmental organisations since 1993, here’s my take on what went totally wrong for the group that took over AWARE in April:

1) Lack of Clarity of Goals:
A key attribute of strong leadership is clarity of goals in the short and longer term. From media reports, the ‘new guard’ that conducted the dawn raid on control for AWARE eventually made clear that that one of reasons to spur them into action was their self-righteous belief of what was going wrong in the group. However, they did not seem to have a well-articulated vision for the organisation’s future. Though not wanting something can be strong motivator, to inspire the organisation, you need a clear positive, opportunity-seeking goal. When under pressure, the committee failed to lend clarity to future goals.

2) Lack of Communication:
There was no lack of this from the new guard, just a glaring lack of specifics, intentions and transparency, key components of effective leadership communications. Eventually, their real intentions were known, and this made their whole platform for gaining control of AWARE suspect. Had they made intentions clearer, created an internal platform for change of modification within AWARE, they may have, over time, won members over.

3) Leadership is about Influence:
On two separate occasions, the new committee and its septuagenarian mentor alluded to their legitimacy by emphasising a) the legality of their position, and b) the increasingly rowdy meeting attendees should ‘respect their elders’. What a sorry state of affairs when leaders have to press-gang the law to emphasise their legitimacy, and that age alone conferred respect. In short, they failed collectively to understand that leadership is about influence and substance, not legal technicalities (irrespective of the ‘ correctness’ of the law). By failing to engage the membership before the general meeting, and by failing to earn their respect, little wonder why they lost the no-confidence vote by a 2/3rds majority Leaders lead by influence, not by titles or technicalities

4) Play nice:
Nothing, I repeat, nothing, undermines your ability to lead if you are perceived to be a manipulative, with possibly self-serving intentions.  The committee, no matter how well-meaning they were in terms of bringing segments of AWARE’s public programmes more in-line with their own conservative, pro-Christian slant, were viewed as sneaky. Sneaky isn’t nice.

Now it should be interesting to see to what extent the present committee of long-standing stalwarts can subscribe to these leadership skills

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Have you heard of the the global economic downturn? And the doom and gloom with nightly downwardly mobile figures in just about everything (except maybe in salaries)? The recession? I’ve decided not to participate. However, I can’t say the same for millions elsewhere. A common reaction at an organisational level is to “cut costs”.

In my world of imparting mindset skills, and creating improvements in team outcomes, it’s interesting to see how ‘ costs’ are defined. Most people in the corporate world still need to work in teams, and most lack ideal skills to do so, and yet ‘teambuilding’ components of corporate expenditure is often the first to be cutback. Are you still working in a less-than ideal team environment? Are team outputs less than ideal?  That being said, why are initiatives designed to improve the very things that help outputs cut back?  Here’s my take on why people do so

1) Confusion between investment and overhead

You can often reduce overheads by saving on energy usage, head count, new hiring, buying cheaper paperclips etc. Your longer-term goals are better served if you continued to invest in technical and supportive skills in your people. Team development is often erroneously viewed as an overhead as its outcomes have never been measured.

Overhead: the nice venue, barbeque dinner.

Investment: quality programme matched to clear objectives, measurable improvements, and quality people partnering you.

It astounds me how people prefer to chip away at the ‘ investment’, and splurge on ‘overhead’.

2) You can’t measure teambuilding outcomes

A client of mine (a Singapore government Ministry that shall remain unnamed) described how they purchased ‘teambuilding’ programmes.

” We get the budget, and then we spend it. No, we never measure any outcomes”.

Hallo? What is wrong with this? For the past 5 years, we have been offering, and deploying an instrument, which helps measure eight key team attributes and skills, and perceived improvement or lack thereof. Only in the last year has there been a surge of interest in it as organisations realise that team development is part of capability improvement, and what does not get measured doesn’t get done. You can measure results - but only if you work hard in the first place getting clarity in what you want and how you will measure it

3) Fails to Distinguish Team Recreation, and Team Building

Team Recreation is paintball, bowling, karaoke, abseiling, hang gliding etc.

Team building is using some of the above, or other group experiences to build linkages in people behaviour in situations of challenge, stress and problem-solving, and transferring it back to the office, This can be a fun structured, facilitative process. Some actual work processes can also be used onsite (not offsite) to create a fun, team-enhancing  workplace. The problem is that most providers out there enter the market selling ‘recreation’ and ‘activities’, rather than an outcome, and most buyers don’t know different, or buy something they want, not what they need. For example, can you tell me how a highly competitive, individualistic activity like go-karting teach teamwork to a group that needs to work collectively to improve results? Or how paintball won’t stir up latent hostilities, and an ‘us’ versus ‘ them’ attitude when what you need might be the opposite?

4) Respecting only Tasks not Teams

People who have, for example, pooh-poohed experiential-based team development have vast experience in task accomplishment and delegation, but have few team supportive skills. Teambuilding often puts a team under stress in a safe, controlled environment to reveal strengths and weaknesses that are often reflective of their present attitudes. The follow-up helps cement that renewed learning in the workplace. You don’t get better teams by simply going to work each day and working harder.

5) We Can’t Afford Teambuilding!

Absolutely correct - if you have been spending thousands in the good years on stuff that was largely team recreation (see QPoint 3). My question would be: Can you afford NOT to spend on creating better teams?

Here’s my challenge to you if you’ve been reading this up to this point:

Write to me in detail about your best team investment so far in the past 6 months, and I’ll come and give the best 2 entries a lunchtime presentation* on high performing teams and how to get close to this golden standard - without cost.

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I’m not one for gazing into the crystal ball too often, but in these unprecedented troubled times, here are my predictions in what will  be the key leadership trends In 2009 which will sink and save jobs:

1) Integrity will Rule:

For the past 8 years, I’ve delivered, as a member of INSEAD’s adjunct faculty, a module for their Ethics programme. This leading business school believes that business ethics can not only be taught but makes a case of why integrity is good for business. In a world of seemingly obscene bonuses given to people who appear to have been partly to blame for the financial excesses, outright fraudsters like Bernie Madoff , and many more dishonest people,  you will be judged more so than ever on your integrity. How do you deliver on this? Simple, start by doing what you said you would do. Leave the ’spin’ aside and come clean on all issues to your people. If you have done wrong, say, ’sorry’ and move on, and make reparations

2) Leaders who Communicate Well will Win:

Linked to (1), in time of tremendous change, cutbacks, bad news et al, there is nothing better than being able to communicate the bad and good news effectively to your people or team. Give cogent reasons for every decision you make that will impact your people - and seek their understanding and feedback. Reduce corporate babblespeak and return to good ‘ol basics of communication. And remember. It aint about what is said, but what is received. You are more responsible for the quality of your communication than anyone else.

3) Self-Leadership First:

For the first time since the late 80s, massive numbers of smart, white-collar workers and professionals are being made unemployed. Many will be rethinking their needs, lifestyles and aspirations. More so than at any time in the past decade, the power of business and social networking, leveraged by technology, will allow a large number of these newly unemployed to consider starting a business of their own. Those who can motivate themselves, create compelling goals, aligned with their higher purpose, beliefs and family will seek to improve their self-leadership skills in setting up a new life

4) Those Who Lead Change will Change Leaders:

As organisations become flatter and leaner as a result of restructuring and re-organisation, change will be led from organisational leaders, as well as those best empowered to do so. Those who lead change are those who can seek opportunities in these hard times, persuade themselves and their people to to adopt an Alpinist Attitude  (doing more with less) - going light, being nimble and seeking virgin routes on ‘mountains’  that are rarely climbed. And these people will not only seek changes at their peer level, but will also trickle up change to their own leaders. Leadership will cease to be a monopoly exercised solely by the anointed in truly enlightened organisations

5) The Best Leaders will Re-tool and Renew:

Just as organisations that step up training in areas that matter most in downtimes, leader who upskill during these times instead of firefighting to achieve short-term/short-sighted goals, are best in the position to lead and innovate in their teams. Key issues include picking the right programme, as well as linking otherwise sterile leadership learning with their unique, professional challenges

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