What Leaders Do

First of all......Happy New Year 2012!!!
Today I am cleaning my documents and I this photostat article which I want to share with all my readers.

Is not everyone can become a leader have a special criteria which manager do not have in general.

• Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team,using every encounter as an oppurtunity to evaluate, coach and build self-confidence.
• Leaders make sure people not only see the vision, they live and breathe it.
• Leaders get into everyone's skin, exuding positive energy and optimism.
• Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency, and credit.
• Leaders have the courage to make unpopular decisions and gut calls.
• Leaders probe and push with a curiosity that borders on skepticism, making sure their questions are answered with action.
• Leaders inspire risk taking and learning by setting by example.
• Leaders celebrate.

These 8 criteria is in the article but I do not have the author name with me. Anyway, I do agree with the criteria stated to become a good leaders.

“Think globally act locally”

This is a famous tagline for most of the company especially on the expansion into the Asia countries such as Malaysia, China or India. We have read lots of success stories of the expansion strategies but I what I want to discuss is the companies which is still fail in this respect even they have understand the important of this tag or slogan.
 

I have read an article on why there is some multinational companies still fail after aware on the important of “Think Globally , Act Locally” approach. There are 3 main issues which is discussing in the article which is people, ideas and tools.

I do agree with the writer perspective because this is the reason why companies hired consultant, local employees or local expert. These local contacts are really important as it can speed up the expansion initiative of the companies. Ideally, the multinational companies will have hard times to understand the management differences between western and eastern. Reading or attending the culture awareness or culture management course is just a form of preparation and this does not guarantee in the understanding of the way of working in the Asia countries.

The second failure is ideas because of the cultural mindsets. Western and Eastern do have lots of different mindsets because we have brought up in a different way. Mindsets are totally different from person to person and this is the important factor to determine the failure or success of the company.

The third failure is tools. What does this statement means?  Initially, the tools here is focus on what is the tools have been applied. Assumption that all the tools of method are same is a big NO NO!!! Studies need to be done to ensure the right tools can be implemented.

ARE YOU READY ???

Is retrenchment strategy the fastest way to reduce expense?

Actually it have been a while I never update “Buyer Diary”.

Recently, I have been thinking why some company will agree to take retrenchment strategy to reduce expense. I believe most of us still remember that early 2009 many MNC have using the retrenchment strategy as a temporarily solution to reduce expense due to economic crisis.

When we talk about retrenchment, I believe the first thing come to our mind is retrenching the employees. Actually to reduce expense, the retrenchment strategy can involve withdrawing from certain products or service in order to make a beneficial turnaround. Besides that, back to focus on the company core competencies is one of retrenchment strategy as well.

Honestly, I believe we will have a tough beginning of 2012. There is lots of analysis stated that we will have a soft market in the beginning of the year 2012. We can start feeling the pressure of soft market due to the recent Euro Crisis and US Debt Crisis. Theoretically, these crisis have a huge impact to the world crisis because “The World is Flat”

Communication

What is communication? Communication is defined as a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create shared understanding. Effective communication is the powerful tools in determine the successful of an organization.

I really feel that my division has a communication breakdown symptom where proper information not channels effective. When some of the facts not channel correctly, misunderstanding will arise and this indirectly affect the morale and motivation of the entire teams.

This scenario is what currently happens in my division as I am the one who always feel unsecure with the lack of information and planning. The re-organization which is schedule will effective on this coming August just meaningless for me.

My current motto is “When you have tried to change the environment but still do not see any progress, just change your mindset”.

Life ain't that serious!

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from my friend. I just wonder how many people really achieve life-balanced......

Honestly, I think I not really apply lifebalanced concept because I alwalys think that I should work harder if I want to achieve better life.
Below article is written by Chetan Bhagat :

Don't just have career or academic goals.Set goals to give you a balanced,successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationship, mental peace are all in good order. There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if back hurts. Shoppping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your month. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same is with life where health and relationship are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will strat to die.

One thing about nurturing the spark-don't take life seriously, Life is not meant to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up?

It's ok, bunk a few classes, scoring low in couple of papers, goof up a few interviews, take leave from work, Enjoy with your friends, fall in love, little fights with your loved Ones. We are people, not programmed devices.

China no longer a cheap production. What you think?

China is known to low-cost production base due to cheap production cost compare to country like Malaysia. Recently, China no longer a cheap production base due to the monthly wages have increase tremendously from 30% - 40% within 5 years.


Many of us think that, since China starts from a very low base the increment of 30% - 40% do not consider expensive. Besides that, China is investing in his labor forces where to become productive liked most of western countries of their workers in less than 10 years.

Another concern on low cost-production is the quality of production. As all of us know, most of its bulk production of goods has a poor quality but it remains cheap. One of the problems facing on China is that manufacturers continue to engage in a practice which someone calls "quality fades." This is the deliberate and secret habit of widening profit margins through a reduction in the quality of materials.

It depends on how you judge whether China is still a low-cost production based or countries such as Vietnam, Mexico or India will be consider the low base in the next 5 years.

A brilliant interview... What you think?

This is just for sharing. Everyone have their own justification on the job and the environment. Is money play the most imporatant point?

Some, rather most organizations reject his CV today because he has changed jobs frequently (10 in 14 years). My friend, the ˜job hopper™ (referred here as Mr. JH), does not mind it. well he does not need to mind it at all. Having worked full-time with 10 employer companies in just 14 years gives Mr. JH the relaxing edge that most of the ˜company loyal™ employees are struggling for today. Today, Mr. JH too is laid off like some other 14-15 year experienced guys “ the difference being the latter have just worked in 2-3 organizations in the same number of years. Here are the excerpts of an interview with Mr. JH:

Q: Why have you changed 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: To get financially sound and stable before getting laid off the second time.

Q: So you knew you would be laid off in the year 2009?
A: Well I was laid off first in the year 2002 due to the first global economic slowdown. I had not got a full-time job before January 2003 when the economy started looking up; so I had struggled for almost a year without job and with compromises.

Q: Which number of job was that?
A: That was my third job.

Q: So from Jan 2003 to Jan 2009, in 6 years, you have changed 8 jobs to make the count as 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: I had no other option. In my first 8 years of professional life, I had worked only for 2 organizations thinking that jobs are deserved after lot of hard work and one should stay with an employer company to justify the saying ˜employer loyalty™. But I was an idiot.

Q: Why do you say so?
A: My salary in the first 8 years went up only marginally. I could not save enough and also, I had thought that I had a ˜permanent™ job, so I need not worry about ˜what will I do if I lose my job™. I could never imagine losing a job because of economic slowdown and not because of my performance. That was January 2002.

Q: Can you brief on what happened between January 2003 and 2009.
A: Well, I had learnt my lessons of being ˜company loyal™ and not ˜money earning and saving loyal™. But then you can save enough only when you earn enough. So I shifted my loyalty towards money making and saving “ I changed 8 jobs in 6 years assuring all my interviewers about my stability.

Q: So you lied to your interviewers; you had already planned to change the job for which you were being interviewed on a particular day?
A: Yes, you can change jobs only when the market is up and companies are hiring. You tell me “ can I get a job now because of the slowdown? No. So one should change jobs for higher salaries only when the market is up because that is the only time when companies hire and can afford the expected salaries.

Q: What have you gained by doing such things?
A: That's the question I was waiting for. In Jan 2003, I had a fixed salary (without variables) of say Rs. X p.a. In January 2009, my salary was 8X. So assuming my salary was Rs.3 lakh p.a. in Jan 2003, my last drawn salary in Jan 2009 was Rs.24 lakh p.a. (without variable). I never bothered about variable as I had no intention to stay for 1 year and go through the appraisal process to wait for the company to give me a hike.

Q: So you decided on your own hike?
A: Yes, in 2003, I could see the slowdown coming again in future like it had happened in 2001-02. Though I was not sure by when the next slowdown would come, I was pretty sure I wanted a ˜debt-free™ life before being laid off again. So I planned my hike targets on a yearly basis without waiting for the year to complete.

Q: So are you debt-free now?
A: Yes, I earned so much by virtue of job changes for money and spent so little that today I have a loan free 2 BR flat (1200 sq.. feet) plus a loan free big car without bothering about any EMIs. I am laid off too but I do not complain at all. If I have laid off companies for money, it is OK if a company lays me off because of lack of money.


Q: Who is complaining?
A: All those guys who are not getting a job to pay their EMIs off are complaining. They had made fun of me saying I am a job hopper and do not have any company loyalty. Now I ask them what they gained by their company loyalty; they too are laid off like me and pass comments to me “ why will you bother about us, you are already debt-free. They were still in the bracket of 12-14 lakh p.a. when they were laid off.

Q: What is your advice to professionals?
A: Like Narayan Murthy had said “ love your job and not your company because you never know when your company will stop loving you. In the same lines, love yourself and your family needs more than the company's needs. Companies can keep coming and going; family will always remain the same. Make money for yourself first and simultaneously make money for the company, not the other way around.

Q: What is your biggest pain point with companies?
A: When a company does well, its CEO will address the entire company saying, ˜well done guys, it is YOUR company, keep up the hard work, I am with you. But when the slowdown happens and the company does not do so well, the same CEO will say, It is MY company and to save the company, I have to take tough decisions including asking people to go. So think about your financial stability first; when you get laid off, your kids will complain to you and not your boss.