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When somebody disappoints you, fails to deliver what you expected, or lets you down in some way, what do you do? If you’re like most people, you make assumptions that are usually not positive: That guy is not a team player…he’s lazy…doesn’t care…just doesn’t get it. And then you take action: I’ll just find a workaround…get somebody else to do the work…rethink responsibilities…talk about him to someone else…initiate discipline. We often don’t even realize that we create stories about people in our heads, especially when they disappoint us. This happens all the time. We see behavior, assume we know why the other person acted a certain way, and react based on those assumptions. Many difficulties can be avoided by having a clarifying discussion. Though people usually intend to do the right thing, sometimes something gets scrambled or misinterpreted along the way, and the impact is far from what they intended. Read more here.  Budget 2022 is formulated based on the intention of protecting and restoring the livelihood of the Rakyat adversely affected by COVID-19. As announced, a number of changes have been proposed to change how individuals are taxed with further incentives and subsidies that may provide some relief to you. Check out this Personal Budget Widget, a tool that provides a preliminary calculation of how much tax savings potentially you may enjoy based on your own personal circumstances. In using this tool, you can choose the relevant reliefs that are applicable to you. Assumptions have also been made that all reliefs chosen by you will be deemed to be claimed up to the maximum allowable amount.  Investment-linked insurance policies are perceived to offer the best of both worlds: insurance (coverage against premature death, critical illness or hospitalisation) and investment. But there is an open secret to investment-linked policies which might get you not the best, but the worst, of both worlds. Read more here and educate yourself on such “insurance” products.  Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back. Read more here.  Innovation leaders share the following five distinct traits. These traits enable fast and successful innovation around the customer experience, even under challenging conditions.
1. Digital agility 2. Surround-sound analytics 3. Ironclad data security 4. Strategic investment 5. Customer proximity To find out more, you can download the report at Become 2021. This is an interesting Youtube video, which provides good, comprehensive and complete learning for Microsoft Power BI by Simplilearn. When two minds come together, a third mind was formed: the mastermind. Mastermind groups meet regularly, coming together to listen, support and push one another toward their goals. These groups allow people to “accomplish in one year more than you could accomplish without it in a lifetime if you depended entirely on your own efforts for success.”
Whether you’re new in business, a seasoned entrepreneur, or a CEO who always wants to grow, the support of a mastermind group can be a catalyst for rapid growth. How to find the right mastermind groups? What happens in a mastermind group meeting? Read this article to find out more. The five links are a way to think of ESG systematically, not an assurance that each link will apply, or apply to the same degree, in every instance. Some are more likely to arise in certain industries or sectors; others will be more frequent in given geographies. Still, all five should be considered regardless of a company’s business model or location. The potential for value creation is too great to leave any of them unexplored.  Small businesses in the retail industry have new rules to play by if they want to succeed in the post-Covid-19 era. 1. Find new revenue streams 2. Focus on supply chain and convenience 3. Prioritize health and safety Read more here.  Maximising shareholder value is the world's dumbest idea. There’s something unbearably sad about a great financial journal like The Economist defending shareholder value theory, which even Jack Welch has called “the dumbest idea in the world." Like many unbearably sad things, it involves clever people who should know better struggling to defend something that is economically, socially and morally ugly. Perhaps this is a better idea: The purpose of business is to create customer (and get your ESG proposition right).
The retailer will close down for good after suffering from at least six years of losses amid declining revenues. The company first made a loss after tax of $26.5 million in 2014. It recorded further losses till 2018 of $54.4 million that year. Read more here. Here is Warren Buffet's 7 principles to investing: 1. Managers must have integrity and talent 2. Invest by facts, not emotions 3. Buy wonderful business at fair price 4. Only buy stocks you understand 5. When you see a great opportunity, take it 6. Don't sell unless the business fundamental changes 7. Buy at a price below intrinsic value .A quick guide on negotiation, the Harvard style: 1. Separate the person from the issue (the other side is your partner, not enemy) 2. Negotiate not position-focused, but interest-oriented 3. Develop criteria that a solution must fulfill 4. You should have different options to choose from. No, physical office is still needed. However, companies must have procedures and technology to enable employees to work virtually as and when needed. The new normal. "A lot of leaders underestimate the challenges of running a virtual workplace. We are social animals that need human interaction" Simon Sinek A good reminder on management vs leadership, especially at times of crisis. In management, there are only 3 things you can control: quality, time and money When you choose one, the other two will suffer. You cannot manage people. If you take a chain, pile it up and then push it, what direction will it go? Nowhere you can predict and not very far. If you take it by the end and pull it, which way will it go? It will follow you. Leadership is not about what sets you apart from those you lead—it’s about what binds you together. It is not about controlling others—it’s about trusting others. It’s not about your achievements—it’s about unleashing your team’s greatness. In short, leadership really isn’t about you. It’s about your people. We are in one of the most disruptive period in history right now. The coronavirus has come through and absolutely annihilated some of today's biggest industries. The 3 industries that are likely to be wiped out are: 1. Movie theaters 2. Departmental store 3. Office space operators Source: Forbes Here is a quick guide in surviving financial crisis (oil crisis, Covid-19 etc):  To attract top talent in today’s market, companies need to upgrade their recruiting skills, and their culture. Here are 4 key insights: 1. Companies can’t just adopt 21st-century job titles; they need 21st-century working practices and a company culture to match. 2. Today’s top talent wants meaningful work, opportunities to develop and grow, and flexible working conditions. 3. Employers can’t wait for new talent to find them; they have to go after the best candidates. 4. To attract and retain new talent, including diverse hires, companies need to work on organization-wide culture change or create silos where new cultures and talent can flourish. Source: McKinsey  The coronavirus epidermic in China presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs to retool themselves and prepare for the growth that lies ahead when the outbreak subsides. “Reflect on what you really want, what you have and what you need to give up, or stick to,” Ma said.
Ma told students to “learn digital working methods” and “adopt internet technology.” Alibaba launched its Taobao online shopping platform in 2003 when China was locked down during a nationwide outbreak of Sars. Ma also channelled Kyocera Corporation’s founder Kazuo Inamori, whose management and leadership turned the television component maker into one of Japan’s largest companies. Inamori had five strategies for companies during times of recession, according to Ma: Strategy One: Every employees should turn to sales Every employee should turn to sales, to arouse latent demand among clients, Ma cited Inamori in saying. "Even in a company with tip-top technology, selling a product is still the foundation of the company's operation," Inamori said. "It is impossible to get orders during recessions if employees lack the spirit in making all-out efforts for clients." Strategy Two: Spare no effort to develop new products A recession is a golden opportunity for companies to innovate and expand sales. "Clients are too free during a recession. They will also propose new ideas after listening to yours. This would create orders that you never imagined before, so that you can expand your business." Strategy Three: Radical cost cuts Recession is the only chance to cut costs, as every employee would strive to make it happen, Inamori said. "You need to lower the break-even point of the whole company by making efforts to reduce production costs," Inamori said. "If a company can maintain profitability when the turnover is halved, it would be even more profitable when sales returns to normal." Strategy Four: Maintain high production rate Companies should maintain their usual high productivity rate even in times of recession, by reassigning excess labour from the production line to other tasks to maintain the cadence and vibe of the work cycle. "Once productivity drops, it would not be easy to restore," Inamori said. Strategy Five: Establish favourable interpersonal relations "The most important thing for managing a company is the relationship between the manager and employees," Inamori said, adding that employers must "love and protect" employees, while employees need to understand the manager, they need to help and support each other. Read more here. |
