Learning: The Magic of Making Training FUN

I was there at the Sime Darby Lecture series with my colleague Subra to listen to Prof Ram Charan, renowned author and former Harvard Professor. Simple message: Leaders work on their basics just like athletes do. And, they are not shy of hiring people who are more clever than them.

If you want to unlearn, relearn and change for the better, here is a movie you must watch. I watched Sharukh Khan's movie, I was so touched by the story line. My family enjoyed it too. The film is about an autistic person who shows leadership in adversity. He shows you to be yourself, taught me so much about what prejudices mean. I only wish every American Caucasian gets to see this film. The country that elected a non Caucasian to the country's highest office must be proud of this movie. It helps erase so much of the prejudices prevailing about Muslims and clearly communicates you cannot stop someone from showering their love and goodwill for you. A wonderful movie. Just made me sit up and recognise what I should be doing for the needy every day of my life.

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man but he is braver five minutes longer - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just like millions of others I waited for the results of the US Presidential election. Well, the historic event happened, America chose a new President not because he was black but because of his appeal to a majority of Americans. As I said in my last e news some loved him, some did not like him and some really thought it was McCain’s turn. There is a famous expression in the community where I grew up. When the time is right, nothing can stop change. Whatever happened is immaterial. The important thing is the character of America.America is truly the land where everyone and anyone can aim for the impossible. The majority white population proved they could vote for a person from another race. It is not the color of the skin but the policies of the candidate. Secondly, the gracious concession speech by the defeated candidate McCain said so much about the person. Thirdly, Obama’s acceptance speech was equally gracious Read the book Say it like Barack Obama. Fourthly, America is indeed abl...

I spoke at the ARTDO Bali Conference. Around 300 participants attended the event. While I wished the Conference programme could have been more engaging, the hosts were very hospitable. And, Bali was wonderful. I happenned to read the monograph from Hay Consulting who were exhibiting at the event.Two key statements from the monograph attracted me: 1. The phrase 'our people are our greatest asset' may sound like a platitude, but the evidence is that this is true. 2. In evaluating CEO's, accountability for human capital is a key differentiator. What do you think?

Successful Companies enforce Postive Discipline. They are high on Emotional Intelligence, that does not mean being nice but straight to the point. My friend Uday calls it straight talk. What can we do to enforce positive discipline and get employees to recognise it is for their well being.

Yesterday we talked about Accountants with a heart and the benchmark data, to day, let us review the need for HR professionals to be business savy. One reason HR professionals have not been able to make headway is their inability to partner with business. Jim Kirkpatrick has time and again written about the need for business partnerships. Business Savvy is a competency in short supply among HR professionals. What can we do about it?

Heinfield, Meech & Co. PC,an accounting practice,rated by their clients as "nice", "helpful" and "great staff" to describe the partners, believes that happy employees equal happy customers. FUN is a big part of the firm's culture. Their principal partner says that they don't have a 'gotcha' attitude but reverse their approach with a positive orientation - seeking what they can do or teach rather than catch. They practice diversity, team work and a strong service orientation. They recognise their power comes from helping the businesses. The company was rated one of the best 50 Small & Medium Companies to work for in America by the Society of Human Resources Management(SHRM), USA. Interesting piece from the SHRM magazine.

The progressive transform simple lifes into great destinies. Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Nasser, George Washington, Mohammed Yunus are some great and outstanding people who started ordinary but created extraordinary feats. How can we collaborate to be progressive?

What is resonant leadership? Change has happened so quickly, so completely, or so globally. The new world requires a new kind of leadership competency. Resonant leaders as the authors call it, are stepping up, charting paths through unfamiliar territory, and inspiring people in their organizations, institutions, and communities. Leaders who can create resonance are people who either intuitively understand or have worked hard to develop emotional intelligence - namely, the competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. The Renewal process Renewing yourself and connecting with others relies on three key elements that might at first sound too soft to support the hard work of being a resonant leader. Mindfulness, Hope, Compassion. These are the three elements absolutely essential for leaders to create and sustain resonance within them and others. Dr Richard Boyatzis Leadership and Managerial Competency guru Dr. Richard Boyatzis was in Kuala ...

I had the privilege of speaking to the CEO Forum in Jakarta, Indonesia. My keynote revolved around the subject of Leadership: Pathway to Greatness. I based my session on the work of Jim Collin's - Good to Great and Kouzes & Posner's Leadership Practices. Though both were Western models, I used them as a reference point to highlight Asian best practices. I did not touch upon much of Jack Welch's thoughts though. Interestingly when I brought up the subject of getting the right people on the bus as an important element to achieve Level 5 leadership, the President of one of Indonesia's leading airlines highlighted his situation. It was not about getting the right people on the bus but it was about getting rid of the poor performers. To him, that was the most challenging role as a CEO particularly in a highly political situation. He referred to JackWelch's focus on getting rid of the 'C' players if all the attempts to move them to 'B' or 'A...