Saturday 25 January 2014 YOUR ULTIMATE CAREER & TALENT RESOURCE Do what you love T: 03 7966 8388 F: 03 7955 3355 conquer your GIantS how to trIumph In SpIte of the oddS paGeS 6-7 Accustomed to average Many giants fail because they fall into the trap of being average. Pg 03 Pg 04 tinkEr for big imPact Adaptive leadership can be more effective than a transformational style Pg 05 Pg 09 LifE at maLakoff just say “HELP!” Employees of the power company share why they love working at Malakoff The road to success necessarily involves accepting help from others mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 LiLy SayS KEEp yoUr EyES oN thE prizE “aLL thE worLd iS FULL oF SUFFEriNg. it iS aLSo FULL oF ovErCoMiNg.” - hELEN KELLEr I just can’t grasp what Helen Keller’s learning journey must have been like. She was both blind and deaf, yet succeeded in learning how to read braille, write, and became the first deaf and blind person to graduate with a bachelor of arts. She wrote passionately and beautifully on her areas of interest, and even learned to speak. The accomplished author and lecturer passed away in 1968, but the triumphs of her life have lived on beyond her. There will be challenges in all our lives, though they may come in different forms. For Keller, the inability to hear and see would have been two big obstacles. For others, they may come in the form of a fierce competitor, stereotypes or fear of people. Metaphorically, these are giants to overcome. Like Goliath for David, the old story that anchor’s Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, these giants stand in the way of achieving our goals and purposes, whether it be growing our businesses, being a better leader, or protecting the wellbeing of a group. This week’s stories examine all aspects of what it takes to triumph. How do the seemingly weaker individuals or entities win? You’ll find that on our centrespread pages, as well as in our Starting Young column on page 11. How can you lead and triumph in the face of the giant called “culture” (page 5)? What lessons on this can we learn from Google (page 8) and Napoleon (page 9)? Page 3’s Be A Leader looks at it from the giant’s perspective. After you’ve won and become a giant yourself, it’s easy to feel secure with your size. But beware the danger of becoming average, because this is how giants fall. I hope our stories serve to encourage you in your journey to achieving your goals. For me, if there’s one common thread I see in people who have extraordinary abilities to overcome challenges, it’s focus on purpose. David had a purpose: to protect his nation. Keller had a purpose: to advocate for people with disabilities. If we all set our purpose before us, and keep our eyes on the prize, that may very well help to diminish the size of giants on the way, at least in our eyes, and provide the courage we need to continue moving forward. On page 5, we feature employees from Malakoff, who share why they enjoy working at the power giant. We also continue our brand new column, HR Talk, on page 12. This week, we have insights from human resources (HR) leaders on the topic of the shortage of talent in Malaysia. If you’re a HR practitioner and want to join in on the conversation in HR Talk, do contact us. Have a great week ahead, and enjoy the last week of January. As always, if you have feedback, comments or suggestions, please write to us at [email protected]. try thiS! “thE rEaSoNaBLE MaN adaptS hiMSELF to thE worLd: thE UNrEaSoNaBLE oNE pErSiStS iN tryiNg to adapt thE worLd to hiMSELF. thErEForE aLL progrESS dEpENdS oN thE UNrEaSoNaBLE MaN.” – George Bernard Shaw Galileo Galilei, born in 1564, Pisa, Italy, was a famous physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher. Many important developments in these fields were attributed to him. The most controversial of those was his promotion of heliocentrism. He was the first to insist that sun was stable and what moved around it was Earth and other planets, which are round. He was tried as a heretic, and his theory was dismissed and ridiculed during his lifetime. In the end, he was right. aMELia Earhart Amelia Earhart, born 1897 in Kansas, the United States, was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic. She wrote a number of best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organisation for female pilots. She was a visiting faculty member of the Purdue University aviation department, and did much to inspire women to follow her steps. Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe. Until today, many are fascinated with her life, career, and disappearance. ChriStophEr CoLUMBUS Want practical tips for success on your way home from work? We’re on JoiN US! EDITORIAL Adviser RoshanThiRan Editor LiLyCheah Christopher Columbus, born before 1451 in Genoa, current-day Italy, was fascinated by the adventures of Marco Polo who travelled to the east by land. Determined to reach the East by travelling west, by sea, a plan drafted with the help of his brother who was a map designer, Columbus convinced the Catholic Monarchs of Spain to fund his trips. This led to his discovery of the Americas. Columbus completed four trips to the American continent that increased European awareness of the continent, and let to the initiation of colonisation in that part of the world. in the Klang Valley every Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm. AssistantEditor evaChRisTodouLou OperationsLead hymaPiLLay ContributingEditor PRemaJayaBaLan SubEditor LeeKaRyean When we have an idea that is “radical”, we perceive ourselves as unreasonable, and soon we are pulled back in line, convincing ourselves that it is best to keep quiet. The radicals, however, the unreasonable ones, the heretics, the rebels, the pioneers, are the ones that moved us throughout history and progressed our societies to where we are today. It seems utterly unreasonable, contradictory and entirely misleading that even in this era, we are encouraged, in theory, to think outside the box, yet we are still put back in place and forced to follow the herd. How can we change that? Well, it’s a challenge. Depending on the area and the degree of your “unreasonableness,” you might be risking too much. All I can say to that is only the truly courageous will make it through and emerge triumphant on the other side. Really think about your idea, and if it’s worth it, dare to go the distance! gaLiLEo gaLiLEi tUNE iN 88.9FM THERE are many ideas that we all tend to follow blindly – one of them, is that the majority is right and we somehow have to fit in, by either changing our mindset to fit that, or by pretending we agree and go on as if nothing is “wrong”. The problem with this social construction is that we are bound by this “convention” and we are forced into this mould that everyone falls in. We all become standardised. This is evident in the way we take exams, the way we are expected to answer interview questions and the way we are expected to react to different circumstances. To a certain extent we all, unfortunately, have to play the game and follow conventions. We get a job, get married and have a family (except the true rebels that decide to go against the current), but there is some room to be different and break the mould. The opinions expressed in this career guide are those of the writers or the people they quoted and not necessarily those of Leaderonomics. With my best, LiLy Cheah Editor, myStarjob.com CapitaL FM BE UNrEaSoNaBLE! Layout,Art&Design Tungenghwa ZuLhaimiBahaRuddin ahmadfadZuLyusof adZnamsaBRi hafisidZLa shanKaR mohdKhaiRuL muhdhafeeZ RaZZiah Writers&Contributors simonsineK shanePaRRish huiyi-wen miChaeLeisen eveLynTeh shanKaRnagaLingam suRiahniaBduLhamid ChuaChaiPing sugunahveRumandy ChanChongKong monashafiniaBuBaKaR If you have any suggestions or feedback on our content, get in touch with the Leaderonomics team at [email protected]. For advertising and advertorials, contact [email protected] - 016 974 7087 mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 t A e R G e b O t e S ChOO GiAntS fAll plAyinG the mediO CRe By ROSHAN THIRAN [email protected] A few months ago, I read Malcolm Gladwell’s David & Goliath which showcased how underdogs beat giants. His book chronicles numerous stories of how “underdog” sports teams and business teams out-wit much bigger opposition to win. And we all have seen how small little Google, in a span of a few years, became mighty Google, outhitting the big boys in their industry. As I was thinking through the myriad of reasons why giants crumble, one thought started percolating in my mind. And as I started researching this, I stumbled upon a key reason why giants start to fall. All giants were at one point tiny start-ups. Microsoft was a small company in the 70s struggling to make it back then. Every company started small. But it grew and became successful and managed to scale. In fact, most great individuals were the same way. Many great leaders were not recognised as leaders at birth. They worked hard, grew up, failed, tried harder and slowly built a legacy. As you look back at every great leader and great company, they all began wanting to be different, outstanding, and be exceptional. And regardless of their size, they showed their commitment towards being great. They worked hard to make their businesses think, act and look different. And they soon beat the big boys. What was the issue with the big boys and giants? Many of them became average. They were big and had scale but their businesses and people had embraced averageness. Averageness is a disease that slowly creeps up on everything successful. It is easy to be average. It is comfortable to be average and being average has its “advantages.” The business of AverAge The business of average is everywhere. From service at the bank, to being served at restaurants to speaking to a customer representative on the phone, average service is in abundance in Malaysia. Every day, people consciously choose to be average. Average products, average websites, average advertising. It’s everywhere and it’s accepted as norm. A couple weeks ago, I was browsing the newspaper with my wife and we saw a horrendous advertisement from a rather huge company. I showed it to my wife and she smiled and shrugged it off saying, “Yeah, big companies have no time to bother about little issues like their ads.” Average is a choice. And average leads giants to crumble. According to Malcolm Gladwell, the giant Goliath was fearsome not because he was a great fighter but simply because of his size. In fact, Gladwell goes on to claim that Goliath may have been partially blind. He was an average fighter who got away with victory because he was a giant. And we have seen so many big companies and organisations “win” not because their products and services are superior but because they have scale and size. Along comes a “David”, who is a better fighter and also changes the rules of fighting by using a sling instead of a sword. An average Goliath stood no chance against a great fighter who is smart (yet small). The same thing befalls big companies who play the game of “average”. When they meet a smaller foe who decides to be outstanding, different and deliver exceptionally, there is no way they will be able to win in the long-term. AnATomy of AverAge Months ago, I came across a nice “poem” on being average by AJ Leon. He called it the Anatomy of Average. I think it best describes what happens to average people: “Average seeks validation from ‘experts’. Average awaits sufficient case study to prove that it’s worth it, and is therefore late to everything. Average avoids any and all risk, thereby avoiding both adventure and failure (two of the best teaching tools the world has given us). Average praises incremental change because it is afraid of revolution. Average has no courage. Average decision-making uses “playing devil’s advocate” as a way of masking fear and avoiding responsibility. Average service focuses on mitigating complaints as opposed to delivering extraordinary. Average teachers ensure their students never outgrow them. Average charities reach for your wallet instead of your heart. Average restaurants are forgotten before we leave the table. Average people are governed by fear, but convince themselves it’s prudence. Average finds comfort in standing for absolutely nothing in order to evade any possible attack. Average is scared to death of remarkable misfits, like you and I. Average never leads. And most importantly, average is just average and nobody will ever remember it.” overcoming AverAgeness So, how do you avoid becoming an average Joe? Let us imagine that your goal is to bring up outstanding children. How would you avoid the “average” trap of allowing your kids to become like every other “average” child? Firstly, determine within yourself that you will not be an average parent. An average parent will bring up an average kid. Being outstanding requires you to be outstanding first. Secondly, write down your commitment to greatness. Commit to this goal and make sure you believe that you can bring up a child that is not only good but great. Thirdly, write down what it takes to be world-class. List down all the aspects of greatness. Finally, write out action items that will enable you to make point three become a reality. You can use the same process to ensure averageness is a thing of the past in your life. hArd To be greAT Every day I work hard to make sure each person in my organisation is never satisfied with being average. Average is the reason why organisations start to falter and at Leaderonomics, I pray we never reach that stage. Being average is a trap that we can easily fall into. And once the “average” disease starts to spread in an organisation, it is extremely hard to eradicate. Part of the problem is also that being exceptional and different is extremely difficult. You will face numerous obstacles on your path to greatness. You will need to go through them and overcome them. That is a key reason why average is easy and greatness is so difficult. If greatness was something easily attainable, no one would continue thriving in mediocrity. Even if your past may be full of “averageness”, there is no reason why you cannot change your future. Every morning you get an opportunity to choose to be great or average. Fight hard each day to be exceptional. finAl ThoughTs Don’t get suckered into thinking average is good. Average is for average people. You are better than average. You are exceptional. You are different. You are not an average Joe. Remember, average is a choice. It is not something we are genetically predisposed to. In fact, 95% of who you are is learnt. So, we can keep pushing ourselves to greatness. n Roshan Thiran is CEO of Leaderonomics, a social enterprise passionate about transforming the nation through leadership and youth development. He prays each day that he will never become “average.”To get resources to all of Roshan’s videos and articles, go to Facebook and Like www.facebook. com/roshanthiran. leaderonomics. GAme the buSineSS Of AveRAGe iS eveRywheRe. fROm SeRviCe At the bAnk, tO beinG SeRved At ReStAuRAntS tO SpeAkinG tO A CuStOmeR RepReSentAtive On the phOne, AveRAGe SeRviCe iS in AbundAnCe in mAlAySiA. mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP By EVELYN TEH [email protected] A quick look at the Malaysian Labour Law (Employment Act 1955) shows that we are entitled to at least eight days of annual leave for each continuous block of 12 months with an employer. So imagine my surprise when I was reading up Netflix’s “policy” on annual leave, summed up by the following sentence – “We don’t track hours per day or per week, so why are we tracking days of vacation per year?” Wait, people can take holidays as they see fit? No way! But it happens, at Netflix at least. This was enforced as part of its talent management framework where everyone at Netflix is allowed to take leave so long as the employee follows certain guidelines (i.e. informing human resources should he or she takes 30 continuous days off). Yet it is still a high-performing organisation, evident by its soaring stock options, two million new customers and market supremacy. Naturally, the question that follows is, how did Netflix reinvent itself following multiple issues (such as the controversial 60% increase in subscriber price back in July 2011) and with such “disruptive” policies? “Fast-changing”, “agile”, “unpredictable” are common terms we love to use in describing the economic environment today. When it comes to organisational challenges, this form of environment proves to be more perplexing for those of us trying to solve these issues. And if we agree on these premises, then I think we can all agree that we would need leadership that can help the organisation thrive in this unique environment. Welcome to the concept of adaptive leadership; a concept thought and refined by renowed Professor Ronald Heifetz from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. While there are many definitions of adaptive leadership, the core under- standing is as simple as this: mobilising people for a set of creative experiments whose goal is to ensure the organisation thrives. Here are some principles of adaptive leadership: 1 Adaptive change is not overhauling the organisations’ DNA. When Heifertz conceptualised adaptive leadership, he based it on our theory of biological adaptation, similar to how slight changes in our gene makeup contribute to evolutionary differences. This is in direct opposition to the concept of change propagated in organisations as “transformational,” which seems to imply grandiose shifts and overhauling history without respecting the accumulated wisdom that forms the current culture. Change through adaptive leadership can be compared with the concept of tinkering, where mobilising small changes can lead to great impact. Thus, it’s key that in times of change, an adaptive leader addresses the difficult task of choosing which part of their cultural DNA to keep, and which to discard. How do you define change? What has been your experience in instilling change within your organisation, and what struggles follow this effort? 2 Technical vs Adaptive problems. There are two broad-based category of problems to solve in this world; Technical and Adaptive problems (there can be grey areas, but let’s keep it simple for now). Technical problems have an obvious solution. For example, when a manager is unable to attend a meeting, the likely solution is to get his assistant to represent him. It becomes an adaptive problem however, if this same manager is constantly absent whenever his or her presence is required at a meeting. Now, the solution is no longer as simple as replacing the manager with an assistant because we may have a deeper problem, which can range anything from the manager’s personality to company policies encouraging such behaviour. The point is, adaptive problems do not have one obvious solution and it becomes stressful for managers when they try applying a technical solution to the adaptive problem. I am guessing the assistant manager will not be very happy if he or she was obliged to cover up for the manager all the time. If you observe the current issues in your organisation both through empathy and as a detached third party, what is the nature of these problems – technical or adaptive? 3 Solutions don’t necessarily reside with the leader, or who we give authority to – they could be found within the collective organisation. It is so easy to expect a person in authority to provide a quick magic bullet remedy that restores any situation to its optimal equilibrium just because we assume they are an expert. Moreover, as people in positions of authority ourselves, it is common to feel both the external obligation and internal pressure to be that person who is the solve-it-all. However, adaptive leaders seek beyond themselves in solving adaptive problems; they are more likely to shift the responsibility of solution generation to the collective intelligence (i.e. their team or even the whole organisation). An adaptive leader is open to the learning function as a guide who challenges common expectations, discloses threats to people at an optimal level, manages resistance and then sustains everyone through the heat of generating solutions. Who solves the problems in your organisation, especially those you identified as adaptive problems? Are there resources of collective intelligence you have yet to leverage on? Remember the story on Netflix? Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix and then chief talent officer Patty McCord were people who were extremely focused on building Netflix as a high-performing organisation, hence their talent management approaches were aligned for this one goal. cHAngE THRougH ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP cAn bE comPARED To THE concEPT of TInkERIng, wHERE mobILISIng SmALL cHAngES cAn LEAD To gREAT ImPAcT. Netflix has always positioned itself as an organisation with an innovative pursuit to change how we consume filmed entertainment. Yet, as Patty McCord shared in her article on Harvard Business Review, the expectation was for her to default to standard operating procedures which were far removed from innovativeness. Thus, when Netflix met challenges in obtaining IPO and subsequently had layoffs and operated with less than the optimal number of employees, the duo realised there needed to be a change in the way they run the organisation. What keeps the story interesting is that these ideas of change did not originate from a 12-hour-brainstorming session between Hastings and McCord. Instead, McCord credited two Netflix employees in inspiring this disruptive direction. One was an engineer who used to manage a team but realised that he was better off as a lone performer than with underperforming colleagues. The other was a book keeper who had to be given a severance package as her functions were no longer applicable to Netflix’s organisational direction. From these two cases, Netflix drew the conclusion that a high-performing environment is key to success. It decided that it needed to let go of people who were no longer a fit, yet grant them a severance package worthy of their past contributions. These findings formed the foundations of Netflix’s talent management approach. What was seemingly disruptive (i.e. granting the autonomy to take vacation, allowing employees to benchmark themselves with peer organisations) actually resembles the process of adaptive change. Hastings and McCord realised that bringing their organisation to the next level was an adaptive problem which required them to look beyond their scope of authority for solutions – through people who made up this collective. Plus, they might have taken the other direction of usual talent management practices, but the change was still based upon the organisational value of being innovative; this was no revamping of DNA. So the question that follows for organisational leaders is, would you lead adaptive change, which could mean going against the grain of best practices? Perhaps you can consider using the three aforementioned concepts as a starting point to instil adaptive change. And if Adaptive Leadership sounds like a familiar concept re-bottled, maybe it is because 3,000 years ago, we have had such success stories when King Saul succeeded in solving an adaptive problem (Goliath) with an adaptive solution (David). As it goes, it is only impossible, until it is done. n Evelyn Teh is part of the Leaderonomics Talent Acceleration team. For more information on our talent acceleration programmes, contact people@ leaderonomics.com. mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 Love Working at maLakoff By EVA CHRISTODOULOU [email protected] MALAKOFF Corp Bhd is well established in Malaysia and beyond our shores. The power company, which employs 900 personnel in Malaysia and around the world, has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1975 as a plantation company. Malakoff is a leading Independent Water and Power Producer with core focus on power generation, water desalination and operations and maintenance services. It is Malaysia’s largest independent power producer with net generating capacity of 5,020MW from its six power plants. Malakoff has power and water ventures in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Kuwait and Bahrain, and is making inroads into the fast WHat tHe peopLe Have to Say about tHe company growing South-East Asian markets. Notwithstanding its business achievements in the industry, Malakoff has been publicly recognised for its commitment to its employees. In June 2013, HR Asia’s Best Companies to Work for in Asia 2013 study selected Malakoff as one of the 21 winners from Malaysia, out of 145 participants. We spoke to seven Malakoff employees to find out what keeps them excited about working with this organisation. DaniaL LieW Head of production, Prai Power Plant The phrase “our people are our greatest asset” that is constantly uttered by the management is not just lip service. It actually walks the talk by consistently engaging with and adding value to employees, and encouraging employee empowerment. In the context of adding value, Malakoff provides staff development programmes to strengthen their technical knowledge and soft skills. These span almost all levels of the organisation from the nonexecutive level to senior management. Throughout my 13 years journey with Malakoff, I have benefited a lot from its culture of emphasising human capital, from personal development to actual rewards and recognition. Malakoff’s core values and culture has moulded its employees into who we are today, and the employees are now steering Malakoff’s future. This thought has always been a source of inspiration and excitement for me, and it fuels the passion I have for Malakoff. Leny Safinaz iSmaiL Executive secretary, chief operating officer office At the beginning of my time here, I worked with the deputy CEO. Now, I serve three bosses of the group – the chief operating officer, MD and chairman. I’ve been working in Malakoff for 20 years, and I really enjoy working here as I’ve grown both personally and professionally. It’s a good company that offers a good variety of work, good bosses, opportunities, and benefits. The work environment is open and we are like a family unit; yet we are professional when it comes to our work. There is a sense of flexibility and that shows the trust that management has in us. Malakoff is a good company to work in, and you will be working with amazing people, while getting support, encouragement and guidance. The working environment and opportunities to learn new things keep me excited and committed to working here. Huang tiong yeong Manager, enterprise applications I have been with Malakoff for almost 3.5 years now. Malakoff’s working environment can be described as lively. It allows employees to network with everyone in the office, and it provides a family-like atmosphere. Apart from that, it has great benefits, competitive pay, and a unique corporate structure that sets it apart. We are offered benefits such as long employment service awards, yearly bonuses, healthcare insurance and training courses to enhance skills. As long as employees are willing to learn, Malakoff is fully supportive of helping us achieve this. As Malakoff is a leader in power production, people around the world are lining up to join our group. We actively seek out the best students from around the world to join us. The most exciting reason to work with Malakoff is the way the bosses bring out the best in us without us realising it. With their guidance, everyone in Malakoff has achieved a lot, and we are committed to provide the best service for Malakoff. iLy zafira SHaHrinan Senior executive, human resources I started my career with Malakoff five years ago after graduating from a local university. Job satisfaction is what makes me stay here. I’m doing something that I enjoy, perceive as valuable, and I am given enough responsibility to satisfy my desire to be “in control”. The broad scope of work gives me the ability to work in areas outside of my bachelor’s degree. I’m very lucky, or perhaps I just made a wise choice to build my career in this area. I enjoy what I do as my field of work gives me exposure and helps me improve my soft skills. Malakoff doesn’t allow flexible working hours, but it really does care about its employees’ work-life balance. We are given the flexibility to manage our own time as long as we can finish the tasks. Personally, I think this really improves the productivity of the employees. I stay on because I am doing something that I enjoy and feel is valuable and that I have some measure of influence over. naziatuL SHafeenaz naSruDDin Manager, human resources I have been serving Malakoff for over two years under the umbrella of human resources, focusing on organisational development and recruitment. In Malakoff, if you conceive a sound idea – be it on improvement or an innovation – more often than not, you will gain the support and resources to materialise it. Malakoff believes in the concept of continuous growth and lives by that. We take small realistic steps that cumulatively over time breed sustainable success. In terms of culture, when you walk down the hallway or pass through the pantry, you can certainly hear happy chats and bump into friendly smiling faces. Do not be misled, however, on how serious those friendly faces can be when they are at their workstations or meeting rooms. They champion harmony, but they place higher importance on excellence. This is a committed group of people who have been deliberately equipped with functional and leadership skills to take charge in the battlefield. I am – without any reservation – very proud to be in their good company. vinoDHan gopaLan Senior manager, technical and commercial, ventures As much as the organisation needs the employee to achieve his or her key performance indicators, the employee also relies on the organisation for the resources to grow as a person and a productive professional, on top of earning a decent living. This partnership is something I have found in Malakoff in the 14 years I have worked here. At a time when I didn’t really know how to build my career, Malakoff gave me guidance and support to be the person I am today. Through the various roles I have taken up working in the power plants and now in the headquarters, I believe I have undergone a balanced and structured development. Malakoff takes training and development seriously. The training opportunities provided by Malakoff are partly the reason why I was able to make smooth transitions between roles. I am sometimes invited to host the Malakoff booth at career fairs and I tell the doe-eyed fresh graduates who visit our booth this: I still get up excited to go to work because I look forward to the fun that I experience in every aspect of my job. nor azizi mazaLan Manager, technical training , Tanjung Bin Power Plant I have been working with Malakoff since May 2008. Malakoff is very flexible in terms of giving the freedom to its staff to carry out their responsibilities. On top of that, almost all bosses at Malakoff embrace an open door policy without any restrictions on lower ranking staff mingling with senior management. In terms of people development, I consider myself very lucky as I was one of the participants of Malakoff’s leadership development programme back in 2011. That programme was an eye-opener for me as it educated me on the importance of being a good leader in the company. Another factor that keeps me happy working here is the sports activities organised for employees. Every year, there is a Malakoff sports carnival organised for all staff. This annual activity fosters friendships, despite the competitive nature of the tournament. I definitely recommend working with Malakoff as opportunities abound here. n If you are interested to find out more about work opportunities at Malakoff, visit www. malakoff.com.my, or email [email protected] mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 T Defeat your giants HINK of the movie Moneyball back in 2011. Oakland A general manager Billy Beane managed to assemble a successful baseball team for a season on an extremely lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players. Out of nowhere, for that season, Oakland A managed to beat much wealthier, betterequipped teams, by using a new, revolutionary approach for choosing players. The method was so successful that it was later adopted by big teams including the Boston Red Socks. Think, also, of Susan Boyle, back in 2009. Born in 1961, she only managed to kick start her singing career in 2009 when she first appeared in Britain’s Got Talent, leading to a standing ovation just after her singing the first phrase of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Misérables. Immediately after that, there was a huge craze with Boyle, leading to millions of views of her songs on YouTube, over 19 million albums sold worldwide by 2013, and two Grammy Awards nominations. Now, think of Impressionism. An art movement that started in the dens of 1800s Paris, again and again dismissed by the art critics and art lovers of its time and barred from the Salon – the place to showcase all meaningful and valuable art back then. It eventually went on to become one of the most recognised, admired, and influential art movements of all time, with its “founding fathers’” paintings selling for millions of dollars. Coming back to this year – for those that watch the History Channel once in a while, think of the Duck Dynasty. It’s a reality show about a “redneck” family that built its wealth by producing whistles that help duck hunters attract the birds and other duck-hunting necessities. it was never thought to do well, but it somehow made it to America’s favourite reality show in 2013. The fourth season premiere attracted 11.8 million viewers, surprisingly, making it the most-watched non-fiction series in history. By now you must have recognised a pattern – we are talking about underdogs, and how time and again throughout history, whatever their area of expertise is, these unassuming characters have managed to take on wellestablished personalities or entities and prove a point to the world – that everyone gets a chance to be great, if only he/she believes in it and uses resources wisely. have the courage to know that you have nothing to lose trying anD everything to win if you succeeD. succeeDing when the oDDs are stackeD against you WHY DO PEOPLE ROOT FOR THE UNDERDOG? By eVa CHrIstodouLou [email protected] Researchers Joseph Vandello, Naday Goldschmied and David Richards from the University of South Florida conducted a series of studies to test people’s support for those expected to lose in various situations. By using sports as well as politics as case studies, the researchers asked the study participants to react to various scenarios where one side was presented as having an advantage to the other. For example, one such case study used the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, where the participants were given an identical write up on the history between the two sides, but with different maps to reference, one showing Palestine as bigger and one showing Israel as bigger. In all case studies that were presented to them, participants constantly favoured the underdog to win. In the example above – the ones that got the map showing Israel as having a larger land mass favoured Palestine, and the others that saw Palestine as larger on the map, favoured Israel instead, despite the historical run-down. Research conducted by University of Tennessee professor Sergey Gavrilets, an ecology and evolutionary biologist, offers an explanation for this. According to his research, we are genetically inclined to help weaker victims against domineering bullies. Through a mathematical model, Gavrilets has chronicled how the human race may have evolved and is now interdependent, valuing equality rather than the dominance of the strongest. He goes on to say that our want for equality does not have to do with empathy, but instead is motivated by our own well-being. WHY DO UNDERDOGS WIN? When we are born, we are thought to be given a head start in life and be on the road to success if we are coming from a loving, caring family that is able to provide us with all the luxuries, education, and support in the world. We tend to think that those born in the most unfavourable circumstances are the ones that, will have few chances in life to do well, and will most likely end up on the wrong road, perhaps heading towards prison. It is indeed strange to discover that some of those born into these “unfavourable” circumstances overtake those coming from the “perfect” background, doing more good in their lives and becoming more successful, and useful to society. Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, David and Goliath explains this phenomenon, and how the “underdogs” manage to battle so-called giants. Through a series of examples, in his book, he explains how adversities make a person much stronger – of course not always. It takes a strong, persistent individual to overcome some of the difficulties discussed, however, those that do, end up being much stronger than others. And so, Gladwell narrates the cases of various people that had to deal with something unexpected, and how that made them stronger. How, for example, can dyslexia make you more successful? By forcing you to compensate by improving another skill such as listening, or even negotiating. Dyslexia takes you through so many ups and downs that you develop a character that dares to do things that you would not otherwise do. Similarly, being in a community that has always been “the underdog”, like for example the African Americans in the United States prior to the Civil Rights movement, makes you learn how to deal with those stronger than you. As Gladwell puts it, it gives you “the unexpected freedom that comes from having nothing to lose.” Losing a parent at a young age is a tragedy. However, as Gladwell explains, in some occasions, the loss can make you feel undefeated. There is nothing else you cannot take, nothing you cannot come out the other side of stronger. A tragedy such as this may make you dare to do things that no one else would ever consider doing – because you know that just like you, those around you can overcome enormous pain and emerge stronger on the other side. This is similar to what surviving a bombing can do to you too – Gladwell explains how during the second World War, the Germans bombed London, then the biggest power globally, and how everyone, including the British, thought that this would have detrimental effects on the British psyche, rendering the Allies as a whole powerless to carry on the war. To that effect, the British prepared for the catastrophe, building mental institutions that would aid the survivors of the bombing and help them cope with the horrendous experience they just had. They planned evacuation strategies so that they could offer the choice of relocation to any survivors of the bombing. But after months of bombing, the survivors grew stronger. The “near-misses,” that is, the ones that miraculously were not personally affected by the bombing, grew more confident and had a strange sense of happiness. They believed they could withstand anything. They lost fear – and once you lose fear, you are willing to risk everything to get what you want. And this is exactly what makes the Davids of the world – the underdogs – tougher, and likely to overcome all adversities and win against the giants. but after months of bombing, the survivors grew stronger. the “nearmisses” grew more confiDent anD haD a strange sense of happiness. they believeD they coulD withstanD anything. they lost fear- anD once you lose fear, you are willing to risk everything to get what you want. anD this is exactly what makes the DaviDs of the worlD. 1 People ge n see unde erally rdogs as puttin ga effort into lot more and there something fo to succee re deserve d. His research looks into a long-existing theory that our species was once ruled by a hierarchy that put the strongest at the top, similarly to the animal kingdom. However, over time, our societies have become more cooperative. Culture has allowed for a society with systems in place that protect the weak ones – evidently to a debatable extent – such as law enforcement and schooling. At the same time, Gavrilets suggests that there also had to be an instinctive genetic change that came before the evolution of language and communication. Through examining these tendencies, Gavrilets developed a model that shows that such instincts can be passed through generations to a point that they become a dominant trait. Bullies for example are not so because they are bad, but because it’s in their genes. “It’s an echo of our past of struggle to achieve a high level of social dominance in a group,” he says. “At the same time, as the model suggests, we also have a counter-dominant (trait) in our genes. It also suggests tendencies to help people.” 2 They gen era view und lly erdogs as “disad va and their ntaged”, w as a sens in is viewed e and justi of fairness ce. 3 Stories of underdogs are somehow refreshing and inspiring, and help us also believe that we, too, can also manage to reach great heights one day if we put our mind to it. And some of the reasons people usually root for the underdog are: these unassuming characters have manageD to take on well-establisheD personalities or entities anD prove a point to the worlD – that everyone gets a chance to be great. seeing an underdog win makes pe o that they ple believe , too, have the ability to overcom e and do so adversities . 4 The unex pe nature of cted the win make s more thri it all the lling. HOW TO BE THE “DAVID” Of course, it would be insane to wish any of these adversities on ourselves. The truth is that more people get broken by such adversities than those that manage to overcome them. There are certain things though, that everyone can do to make sure that they have a chance against the Goliaths of this world. 1 IdentIfy your weakneses For one, you have to identify your weakness, and see how you can capitalise on it. For example, you are a new company that has just entered into the field of, say, coffee retailing, by opening a coffee shop in a city where a “coffee” culture is already present and well-advanced. What would your weaknesses be? No brand name to boast about, no experience, and huge competition from already well-established names – either chains or boutique coffee shops that have set the standards. Your strengths? Well, you have a blank canvas to draw your path on – you are starting from scratch, so you can plan your business strategy, the design of your shop, and the culture you would like to sell with your coffee any way you want. So instead of following the existing trends of say, industrial-looking, cosy hang-out spots, you can offer something different. Or, instead of offering the usual blends and usual drinks, you can offer a twist to them by really knowing what you are using (high quality coffee beans, specialist machinery, etc). Or, you can even revolutionise your customer service by providing a unique experience to your customers – by equipping barristas with the knowledge of storytelling, or encouraging a culture of “sharing” between customer and barrista (think of old American films and how people used to confide thoughts and troubles to barmen). The truth is, the giants of the world are already set in their ways, and the bigger they are, the longer it takes for them to adapt and change. As a small-timer, you have more freedom to mend yourself to the shape you want to take. 2 Compensate for your weaknesses Once you have identified your weaknesses, you need to find a way to compensate for them. For example, you have never managed to finish university, for whatever reason. Granted, something like this can prove to be a big obstacle when it comes to getting certain jobs. You can, however, find a way to compensate for the knowledge you “missed”. One way is to sign up for an online, free or paid, distance learning course. Another, is to take up a job that is not ideal, but would allow you to gain valuable experience in the field you would like to end up in. Yet a different approach, a more creative one, would be to use your life experiences and convince the people you would like to hire you that you are the best candidate for the job despite your lack of a degree. Skills such as negotiation, excellent communication, storytelling, and inspirational speaking will likely come very handy. And I am not suggesting making up stories here – but merely capitalising on the opportunities you were given since you had the university years to do other things. 3 dare to go for It Finally, with weaknesses identified, skills to compensate them developed and mastered, you have to have the courage and the belief that you, too, can achieve big things. With enough belief, drive and determination anyone can do the impossible. With courage, anyone can face one obstacle after the other, conquer their fears and what life throws at them, and come out the other side a winner. True, not all human beings have the courage, or the determination, for that matter, to succeed against all odds. Most people would give up and surrender to life’s mishaps. If, however, you manage to overcome the pain, and realise that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, you can go the distance, learn from your life’s experiences, and use those to take on whatever comes your way. Whether we are talking about taking on a giant multinational with your new start-up, or going up against years-old, long-established rules and conventions within your organisation or industry, or simply getting your dream job despite some personal adversities that might be holding you back, have the courage to realise that you have nothing to lose trying and everything to win if you succeed. You could go down in history as one of those underdogs that fought the battle and won. n There is something fascinating and awe inspiring about the stories of those that made it in life against all odds. For many more examples of underdogs that went against “giants” and how they did it, pick up Malcom Gladwell’s latest book David and Goliath at all leading bookstores, distributed by Penguin Books. mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 DON’T SETTLE IN YOUR STRENGTH By LILY CHEAH [email protected] R EMEMBER Lycos, Excite, Ask Jeeves and AltaVista? These were just a handful of names that dominated the search engine landscape in the mid-1990s. But in 1996, the early beginnings of a new search engine called Google dawned in Stanford University. Students Larry Page and Sergey Brin began working on a search engine project with a difference. On top of the capability to search for websites that corresponded with search terms, Page and Brin inserted a popularity mechanism that assessed the relevance of the pages via links from other websites, and ranked the results accordingly. This change meant highly relevant search results for users. Google registered its domain name on Sept 15, 1997. A year later, it was operating out of a garage in Menlo Park and hired its first employee. In Dec 1998, just a few months later, PC Magazine recognised Google as the top search engine of choice. Today the organisation hires over 40,000 employees throughout the world, under the mission “to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. But what has it taken to sustain Google’s success as a business and how does it plan to do so going forward? The challenge with being on top is staying on top. Though revenue for the company continues to grow, the growth rate of Google’s core business (advertising) has slowed, from 35% in 2011, down to less than 20% in the previous four quarters according to BGC technology analyst Colin Gillis. Advertising is the bread and butter of the business, and mobile advertising, which is increasingly the method of choice for advertisers, commands lower ad rates. Gillis, quoted in a Time article from Oct 2013 says, “We see the slowing core business as a one reason why Google is investing so heavily in new ventures as new products are needed to reignite revenue growth,” says Gillis. At the end of the day, it’s all our long-term journeys that will be assessed. In spite of the raging success Google has had so far, in the longterm, where will it head to? Here are three simple thoughts to ponder from Google’s 15½-year journey so far, with questions to ask yourself about your personal growth journey and that of your organisation. In reflecting on these, summon your selfawareness. 3 THOUGHTS TO pONDER fROm THE GOOGLE jOURNEY 1 What do you do Well? Search is Google’s strength, and as of August 2013, it held 66.9% of the Internet search advertising market. This remains the core of its business, and will continue to be, even with declining ad rates. “It’s best to do one thing really, really well,” writes Google’s 10-point philosophy. “Our hope is to bring the power of search to previously unexplored areas, and to help people access and use even more of the ever-expanding information in their lives,” the company writes. What is your core strength and that of your organisation? This provides the bulk of the momentum for growth. you need 2 do to think bigger? While search will remain the driving force of Google, the company has also been actively looking beyond to other possibilities. While at times causing worry for investors as they could distract from the company’s core business, other commentators like Gillis say Google is building new revenue streams. Google seems to be finding new ways to become a big part of people’s daily lives, whether it be in building driverless cars, launching balloons into the stratosphere to provide Internet access to rural and remote areas (Project Loon), or its recent acquisition of Nest for US$3.2bil, opening doors for Google to enter into home automation. “It isn’t difficult to understand Google’s motive for purchasing Nest,” writes Drew Hendricks in a Forbes article earlier this week. “Consider a world in which one consumer has a home full of devices powered by an operating system, combined with a smartphone and car with the same O/S. Each of those devices could speak to each other, seamlessly learning a user’s preferences. “A person’s home thermostat could begin warming the house up an hour before he gets up, with the coffee pot chiming in an hour later. Fifteen minutes before he ordinarily leaves for work, his car could fire up, ensuring the interior is comfortable and the windows clear for his drive in. “There’s tremendous potential for technology more generally to improve people’s lives,” says Larry Page in a Google+ post announcing Google’s establishment of Calico, a biotechnology company focused on health and well-being. “So don’t be surprised if we invest in projects that seem strange or speculative compared with our existing Internet businesses.” “And please remember that new investments like this are very small by comparison to our core business,” Page adds, surely to assure the nerves of investors. Only time will tell the success of these projects, but if they go as hoped, Google could cement itself as a key entity in both our digital world and physical world, going far, far beyond the possibilities of just a search engine company. Here’s the question for us. Are we dreaming too small? The danger of winning is that we focus too much on the strength that brought about that victory. Looking forward, what are the future challenges? Bear in mind what won the battle last year may not win it this year. you make time to 3 do dream and build dreams? Google’s “20% time,” where employees get to spend one day per week on a side project, has birthed products like Gmail and AdSense. Some controversy was sparked last year, with former employees telling Quartz that the “20% time” at Google was now dead, pummelled by bureaucracy and the need to keep up with productivity. But other Google engineers have stepped forward to label the claims as untrue. Whatever the current reality with “20% time”, Google X is definitely a permanent fixture of Google operations today. The secretive hub is where new ideas like Google Glass are built, under the keen eyes of Sergey Brin. Daily execution can take up all the time we have, but do we build in “dream time” to our schedules to keep our eyes constantly looking forward to other possibilities? This could be by way of a time slot integrated into the schedules of all employees, or like Google X, be the core function of a team. Do you make time to think about and work on new possibilities? Google has had tremendous success as a search engine, but is gearing ahead for a future with many different possibilities. It naturally requires an appetite for risk, which not all may have. But in order to remain a disruptor and game-changer, this exploration quest seems essential. The danger, which is to sink into comfort and do what you’ve always been doing, seems a greater risk. HERE’S THE qUESTION fOR US. ARE wE DREAmING TOO SmALL? THE DANGER Of wINNING IS THAT wE fOcUS TOO mUcH ON THE STRENGTH THAT bROUGHT AbOUT THAT vIcTORY. LOOkING fORwARD, wHAT ARE THE fUTURE cHALLENGES? bEAR IN mIND wHAT wON THE bATTLE LAST YEAR mAY NOT wIN IT THIS YEAR. mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 NAPOLEAN BONAPARTE’S By SHANE PARRISH [email protected] F fATAL miSTAKE RANCE of 1790 provided an ideal place for Napoleon Bonaparte’s unlikely rise to the top. In Napoleon: A Life, Paul Johnson explains “It demonstrated the classic parabola of revolution: a constitutional beginning; reformist moderation quickening into ever-increasing extremism; a descent into violence; a period of sheer terror, ended by a violent reaction; a time of confusion, cross-currents, and chaos, marked by growing exhaustion and disgust with change; and eventually an overwhelming demand for ‘a Man on horseback’ to restore order, regularity, and prosperity.” Bonaparte epitomised opportunism. He didn’t want a revolution. He wanted change. In a way, his rise, was a product of the revolution itself. Johnson writes: “Bonaparte would not have possessed the ruthless disregard of human life, of natural and manmade law, of custom and good faith needed to carry it through without the positive example and teaching of the revolution. The revolution was a lesson in the power of evil to replace idealism, and Bonaparte was its ideal pupil.” In his first invasion of Italy in 1796, an “imaginative and symbolic” success he set the tone for his relationship with his troops. Naked and ill-fed he gave them hope with the spoils that awaited them. The implicit contract with his troops was clear: win the war and take the loot. One small and powerful gesture that might be looked over is that Bonaparte made it logistically easy for their spoils to be transferred back to their families. This also made military sense, for it enabled soldiers to save instead of squandering their trophies on drunken debauchery. Part of Bonaparte’s success resulted from the difference between him and his enemies. The Duke of Wellington, who would ultimately be victorious at Waterloo, pinpointed Bonaparte’s advantage. “I can hardly conceive of anything greater than Banaparte at the head of an army – especially a French army. “Then he had one prodigious advantage – he had no responsibility – he could do what he pleased; and no man ever lost more armies than he did. “Now with me the loss of every man told. I could not risk so much. I knew that if I ever lost 500 men without the clearest necessity, I should be brought one my knees to the bard of the House of Commons.” Before Bonaparte, Wellington had only seen delegated power in the field. Now he was facing direct power. Bonaparte, for example, appointed his own subordinates whereas Wellington often had generals foisted upon him. This reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, David and Goliath, in terms of how the weak win wars. Often they don’t appear to play by what we consider the “established rules”. When underdogs choose not to play by Goliath’s rules: they win more than the underlying statistics would indicate they should. Bonaparte enjoyed a freedom to take risks that his adversaries wouldn’t or couldn’t take for political or other reasons. These risks fit perfectly with “his general strategy of swift aggression and offensive battle seeking.” Soldiers, of course, like this high-risk approach. They viewed the odds of death the same regardless of whether their commander employed a defensive or offensive approach. The offensive approach at least gave them a shot at some loot. Ultimately Bonaparte’s most useful weapon was fear. “It was this one,” Johnson writes, that “he employed most frequently. In his aggressive strategy, it gave him a head start – it was as though an invisible army had softened up the enemy’s defences before a French shot was fired.” When fighting campaigns, Bonaparte, with few exceptions, was usually vastly outnumbered. Often the other side was a coalition of nations. Rather than wait for his opponents to become organised he struck quickly and divided them before they could join together. By dividing and conquering he defeated them separately. Bonaparte also showed a great understanding of his era by aligning his instructions with his strategy. Johnson writes: “No matter how well drilled and disciplined, a unit was likely to lose formation if ordered to carry out complicated movements over distances. Hence, the simpler the plan the better, and the simplest plan as: attack!” Generals, for their part, preferred simple plans. Often these instructions had to be carried by hand to the front line and innumerable things could go wrong. In the end Bonaparte’s main advantage was also what caused his failure. His subordinates, almost without exception, were eager to please and thus obey. They wanted to do as he instructed. They wanted his praise. They wanted promotions. When things changed, as they often do on the battlefield and in business, they were left to act on their own. Having rarely faced problems without explicit instructions, they were ill-prepared. If you’re hiring men and women who, while they can carry out instructions lack a general ability to think, what makes you think your results will be different? BY SIMON SINEK [email protected] THERE is something to be said for being the smartest or the most talented one in the room... too bad it doesn’t help much in reality. Success, by any definition, is a team sport. I learned this little detail the hard way. There was a time in my life that I thought that if I wanted to make anything out of myself, I’d be responsible for all of it by myself. I thought I could do everything primarily because I thought I should do everything. I needed to know how to be the boss, the accountant, the creative director, the marketing manager, the human resources director, set the strategy and do the work with my clients. Even if I hired or worked with others, I wanted to have the final say on everything. This was a brilliant strategy until three things happened” 1. I learned I wasn’t good at everything. 2. I didn’t have the energy to do everything. 3. I failed. “NOTHiNg iS mORE POwERfUL THAN AN idEA wHOSE TimE HAS COmE.” — Victor Hugo n Shane Parrish is the editor of farnamstreetblog. com. He helps companies make better decisions and foster innovation. For inquiries, including speaking engagements please write to mystarjob@ leaderonomics.com. SUCCESS TAKES HELP The human animal is a social animal and our survival and success depend on our ability to find communities of people who share our values and beliefs. When these communities form, trust emerges. It is then that the human animal will adapt from a survival instinct by self-preservation to one of working for the good of the community. Both are designed to help the individual survive, but it is the community that has the greater chance of not only survival, but success. The book Wisdom of Crowds delves into this. Groups of people make more accurate decisions than individuals, for example. In other words, asking for help is scientifically proven to enhance the quality of the decisions we make. Once I hit a point where I had no choice but to ask for help, things started to dramatically change. For one, I let go of the belief that I should do everything which meant I finally accepted that there was no way I could do everything. The more honest I was to myself and out loud about my strengths and my weaknesses, the more people showed up to help do the things I was not good at. There is not a single thing I’m doing these days that is not as a direct result of someone helping me. Some showed up to do specific tasks that I’m no good at – like accounting. Some take specific responsibility for things that I don’t excel at – like developing systems. But the vast majority of the help that I’ve been given comes from people who have introduced me to someone they think could benefit from my message and from whom I could benefit from their platform. In other words, mutually beneficial introductions. introductions that are good for the community. The more willing I am to ask for help, the more I am able to help others. I’ve transformed from working for myself to working for others which, ironically, has helped me grow as an individual more than I ever imagined. Offer your strengths to others and you’ll be amazed how many people offer their strengths to you. n Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer and author of Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action. An optimist, he believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. 10 mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 FROM LIMITATION TO LIBERATION: A 2 sTEP PROCEss FOR OVERCOMINg INTERNAL OBsTACLEs By MICHAEL EISEN [email protected] W HEN we were children, many of us were taught belief systems by our parents, teachers, friends and the society as a whole. We were like sponges absorbing everything that we witnessed, heard and experienced. However, as we get older and start to have our own identity, we often are held back from living the life of our dreams, because of something we were taught to believe as truth by someone else. If we don’t have a certain level of self-awareness, a lot of the time we don’t even realise we are living a life based on someone else’s truth or even someone else’s dreams! In order for this process to stop and for each of us to be able to step into our own truth and beliefs. We need to examine everything we learned growing up and begin questioning whether it is serving us in a positive or negative way. At the back of my book that I coauthored with my father, Empowered Youth: A Father and Son’s Journey to Conscious Living, you will find a resources section that is full of practices, exercises and tools that you can put into place in your lives that will help you overcome some of your most pressing challenges and lead you towards living a more empowered life. Here is one of the practices that will help you acknowledge and shift the internal belief systems that are holding you back and no longer serving you at the highest level in your lives. PRACTICE: OUT wITh ThE OLd, IN wITh ThE NEw EPE: QUEsTION ALL YOUR CURRENT BELIEFs t S N O Think back to when you were growing up and Some of these may seem ridiculous when put reflect on all the things that you were taught by your parents, siblings, teachers, and so on. These should pop into your mind quite easily, because they were ingrained into your consciousness at an early age. They have most likely become things that you believe to be the truth today. Here are some possibilities: l You must work hard to get ahead. l You won’t succeed in life without an education. l Be respectful of your elders. l Beauty is on the inside. l It’s important that others like you. l Expressing emotion is bad. l Be true to yourself. l Save the best for last. l Don’t get too excited, or you’ll be disappointed. l Help those in need. l You must earn a lot of money to be successful. l It’s important to have fun in life. l Live each day as if it’s your last. down on paper, but somewhere in your subconscious you still believe them to be true. Others you may have already let go of, and others still are more valuable now than ever before. Once you’ve completed your list, start questioning each of these beliefs: Is this still my truth? How does it make me feel? Ask yourself probing questions to determine whether they’re all truly your own or if they belong to someone else. This will help you determine which ones you want to keep around and which ones you want to replace. Here are some more questions to begin with: l Do I really believe this, or is it something that I’ve just been taught to believe as the truth? l Does this even make sense? l How does this belief make me feel? l Does this belief scare me? Try to be completely honest with yourself when you answer these questions, and record your answers as they come up. EPO: sUBsTITUTE NEw “FEEL gOOd” BELIEFs t S W Picture your life is like a tree. The roots of that t For all of the beliefs above that you identified as no longer making sense, no longer holding truth, or no longer making you feel good, it’s time to find replacements that feel better. Here are a few examples to get you started: Old belief: Expressing emotion is bad. New belief: It’s important and empowering to express my emotions in a healthy way. Old belief: Money makes me successful. New belief: My success is determined by many things — most important, how I feel about myself. Old belief: Save the best for last. New belief: As I enjoy all the good things in life, more good things will come to me. As you begin to question everything you believe, and take a deep dive within, you will most likely begin to uncover the roots of the beliefs that are holding you back from living the life of your greatest dreams and deepest desires. tree are the foundation and they hold everything in place and very rarely will the tree grow in a different direction if the roots stay as they are. These roots are like your beliefs. The trunk is your thoughts, the branches are your words, the buds are your actions and when everything blooms, that becomes your life experiences. So, if you want to continue to have the same thoughts, words, actions and experiences – then don’t change a thing. But, if you are not satisfied in any way with your life – the first place to look is at your beliefs as they are the root of all creation in your life. The more you work on changing your beliefs and letting go of the ones that are holding you back, the more liberated and empowered you will feel to create the life you have always dreamed of! n Michael Eisen is a passionate and charismatic inspirational speaker, author and social entrepreneur. He is also the founder of the Youth Wellness Network (YWN), an organisation dedicated to inspiring and empowering youth across the globe to live happier and more positive lives. For more information, email mystarjob@leaderonomics. com. g N I g A T O B A s U O Y ARE YOURsELF? YABALAN By PREMA JA ics.com n@leaderonom la ba ya ja prema. and t the obstacles mplaining abou ost of the time, we co ly nt ta ns co WE are urney. M to achieve ce in our life jo problems we fa external factors when we fail g in am bl are busy we party but have our goals. to blame a third n obstacle hinderr sie ea h uc m It is our ow at we could be ever thought th plishing things? m e is a ing us from acco urge to do something but ther t do it, e no th ld If you have can’t or shou at screams you to back it up, then that feeling inside th n io at an tional expl without any ra self-sabotage. of that indiis an indication any of the following things, it is g in r do behaviou and If you are self-sabotaging ve ha u yo at th cates ething about it. time to do som d ills, qualities an omote your sk pr t to ha t w an of ct lu ar for the fe l You are re you have one), is the your business (if about you. Be confident, that k in th ay others m g success. of selfkey to achievin inator. This is a definite sign st success ra oc ur pr yo a l You are at can assure th s sk ta ve ha when it comes sabotage. You procrastinating ing things ly nt ta ns co e ar but you d stop putt them. Sit up an ete all your tasks as to completing pl m co d an ork on away. Aim to w o new projects they come. u try one or tw raged and let Yo y. sil ea up t discou l You give your backfire, you ge and when they ent defeat you. Don’t dwell on m g. nt in oi ss re pp sa your di from prog ill only stop you them as lessons to failures. This w e us d an s re failu Learn from your keep trying. d an move forward mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 11 overcoming adversity Lessons from david and goLiath By HUI YI-WEN [email protected] I AM small. Small even for an Asian girl. All the way through school, I never had to think twice about where to stand whenever the teacher told us to arrange ourselves in height order. My twin cousins used to walk on either side of me, the running joke being that I was the “valley between two mountains”. Even now, as a working adult, I’m the little “Hobbit” amongst graceful Elves and lumbering Orcs! But lame jokes aside, my small size meant I stood out as an irresistible beacon for teasing and, on occasion, actual bullying. The ancient story of the shepherd boy David and the giant warrior Goliath is one that I remember from childhood. It’s a story familiar to most of us – a small, brave underdog takes only his sling, faces the monster of a warrior, and defeats him with a pebble. A whole nation’s army couldn’t defeat Goliath with their swords and war machinery. It’s the eternal story of the triumph of good against evil, in the face of insurmountable odds. When I was studying in college in the UK, I used to get picked on by an English classmate. The cili padi that I am, I’d retaliate and we’d regularly get into near-fights. In the real world, you could be just an ordinary person, yet like me, different enough from the norm and easy for others to target. Built within all of us is nature’s own mechanism for survival – the fight or flight response. We can choose to flee from threatening situations where the bully can overpower us, or we can choose to stay and (sometimes recklessly) fight back. The story of how David defeated Goliath has many lessons for us all. Fear can paralyse you In the original story, the Philistine army had gathered for war against Israel. The king at that time, Saul, was known to be the tallest man in Israel and he had gathered his army to defend his nation. Every day, a huge man called Goliath came out from the Philistine camp wearing full armour, shouting, mocking and challenging the Israelites to settle the fight, man-to-man. Terrified of Goliath, Saul and his army sat there for 40 days. Saul and his army remind me of a cat or small animal that stops in the middle of a dark road, body rigid with fear and eyes shining back at the oncoming car’s headlights. Whether you’re facing up to the school bully, or having to tackle something huge you’ve never done before, having fears and doubts is inevitable. Because fear is a very real thing – tangible, visceral, and yet only understandable by the person actually experiencing it. So, why didn’t David freeze when he faced Goliath? The one single thing you can do in any fear-filled situation – and this is the choice that can change everything – is to recognise it. Recognition and self-awareness of the fears you hold, will empower you to work to overcome it. Things may noT be as big as They seem With larger-than-life personalities, or intimidating tasks and situations, we often allow fear to influence our perspective on things. When you stand at the foot of a mountain, it fills your vision and you can see nothing but the tremendous uphill journey ahead. Compare this to a mountain viewed from a helicopter, or even an eagle’s eye! The mountain looks much smaller – and yet, it has not changed its size at all. The only thing that has changed is your perspective of the mountain. Similarly, the school bully might be the biggest fella in the playground, but when he is with adults, the bully is just a young boy after all. When faced with any challenging situation, recognise that fear alone distorts your perspective so that mountains appear bigger than reality. And on top of that, be aware that the crowd factor – gossip, rumours, hearsay – can amplify your “Goliath” to be larger than he is. Do noT wear someone else’s armour The story goes that after David volunteered to fight Goliath, King Saul personally dressed David with his own royal armour and helmet. David tried on his sword and walked about in the armour, and then promptly took them off. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “Because I am not used to them.” The shepherd boy then took up his staff, sling, and five stones in his bag. Saul’s offering of armour to David symbolises two key things the world gives us: expectations and solutions. If David had worn Saul’s armour into battle, everyone watching would have expected him to behave and fight like a king. But David was just a lad, too young even to qualify for the army, let alone bear the weight of a king’s armour and wield a grown man’s sword. David analysed the situation from his own perspective – not as a king, an army general or a warrior. He saw that Goliath was too huge to fight, too well-protected to stab with a sword, and even too tall to run away from. So he used his own solutions and approach to tackle the problem, without fearing what others would have thought of him. Know yourselF Even before he challenged Goliath, David knew exactly what his strengths and weaknesses were. As a shepherd, David must have spent a lot of time perfecting his slinging skills, even telling Saul that he had killed a lion and a bear in defence of his father’s sheep. If David had fought Goliath with a sword, it’s highly unlikely we would have this famous tale. Although the sword was a weapon of choice for King Saul and many warriors, it was clearly not the right decision in this situation. Similarly, David knew his enemy and correctly analysed that Goliath’s strength was not speed. He did not waste time formulating different battle strategies, but ran quickly towards the battle line with his sling and stones. In any situation, remember that what worked for others may not work for you. It’s a human response to take the “tried and tested” route, especially when we are bound by the expectations of those around us. For David, he chose the solution that would work according to his unique skills, in the specific situation that required it. have FaiTh! When David told Saul he would go and fight Goliath, Saul tried to stop him, saying “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” Many others may say the problem is too big to handle, the giant too terrifying. Yet David went forth into battle just as he was – a young shepherd boy with a sling. He didn’t wait to be fully-grown in the eyes of the world, or equipped as a famous fighter capable of leading armies. Instead of seeing Goliath as a frightening giant, David must have seen him as a nice big target to hit because of his large size! But more than that, he was willing to try, fail, and try again. Sources record David picking five stones from a nearby stream – clearly, he was prepared to fail a number of times before defeating Goliath. Face The gianT wiThin Did David fear, when he faced Goliath? We will never know. Many will say that David was brave, courageous, fearless, a man of great faith. I will say, that David was a man of love. His love for his nation, people, family, and king was far, far greater than whatever fear he might have had of Goliath. In the end, it was out of great love for what he believed in, that was driven to fight and conquer the giant. Discover for yourself then, what you will love and believe in, then conquer the giants on the outside and inside. 12 mystarjob.com, saturday 25 January 2014 EVERY week, we pick a human resources-related topic, and gather a few HR experts to share their opinions on it. If you have any questions about the HR industry, do drop us an email at mystarjob@leaderonomics. com. We would love to hear from you. D E T N A W T TALEN Shankar nagalingam, Human resources director, South Asia and ANZ Dell In today’s world, especially for organisations like Dell that provide end-to-end solutions, HR leaders no longer look for candidates with specific, teachable and measurable skills; instead, they look for those who possess a combination of both hard and soft skills. Businesses are going global and candidates with good business acumen are highly in demand. The critical skill sets that organisations are looking for include the ability to influence global leaders, excellent networking capabilities and strong understanding of the global economy, market trends and competition. A suitable candidate will be someone who is innovative, creative and self-motivated; highly energetic with a positive attitude; has strong work ethic and an ability to change complexity to simplicity; and importantly, a team player. The Malaysian government understands the needs of the global organisations and provides the infrastructure to produce graduates in various fields to support the current and future needs. There is abundant supply of graduates with the basic skills but they have to make themselves employable by enhancing their core skills, encompassing teamwork, business sense, flexibility, ability to think creatively and solve problems, and ability to learn fast and effectively. Graduates who are equipped with these skills will help to develop Malaysia into a globally acclaimed centre of excellence. Suriahni abdul hamid HR consultant and executive coach Talent shortage has been a topic frequently raised over the years. It’s becoming more and more challenging. The market landscape drives the need for companies to continuously grow at a faster rate whilst delivering quality and innovative products and services. In order for companies to progress and sustain growth, new capabilities need to be built. A few competencies that are in high demand are in areas such as analytics, digital, application development, strategic procurement and system integration. Stronger business and financial acumen in all roles particularly in technology, marketing and human resources, are no longer a nice to have but a must have competence in today’s market. On top of that, talents are much more mobile and they opt for roles that give them the most opportunities for career exposure, growth and a better financial standing. Given these dynamics, in addressing the tal- ent shortage issue, companies are now paying closer attention to building and having more holistic and comprehensive talent management frameworks. These include focus on optimising resources, driving higher performance, planning for succession, having competitive rewards and recognition, and cultivating the mind-set of being agile. The intent is to ensure that whilst companies aggressively acquire new competencies from the market, they are also strengthening the development of the internal talents. The hope is for these initiatives to enhance the capabilities of the people and drive towards having an engaged workforce, one that has a sense of pride and belonging to the company. Chua Chai Ping Human resources director, Accenture Malaysia Talent shortage is a perennial issue that will always be an area of focus. Hence, talent supply mapping, planning and strategising is crucial. HR practitioners need to work closely with business leaders to help address the organisation’s skills requirement, paradigm shifts and mindset transitions. Only then can the right talent be acquired for the organisation’s competitive advantage. Predicting what new skills are required in the new world will help academia decide on the syllabus’ new content or revamp. Many companies today including Accenture are partnering with local universities at an early stage to help create a learning curriculum that can help bridge the skills gap in Malaysia. One of our latest initiatives is the Accenture Future Technology Leaders Programme which addresses the technology talent shortage. At the same time, talent constantly needs to evolve and change in a volatile marketplace. It is therefore very important to ensure employees are re-skilled and up-skilled to meet current workforce demands. It is important for HR to focus on learning curriculums to cater to the ever-changing demands of their respective businesses and ensure that their talents cater to the needs of the business. Accenture employees are continuously engaged throughout their career journey, through career counselors, global training and development programmes online, on their mobile devices or even at our learning centres Topic of tHE wEEk HR TALK TalenT shorTage is The key focus area for hr in 2014. Do you agree? Sugunah Verumandy Human resource director GE global growth and operations Malaysia/Brunei around the world. We also provide opportunities for our employees to explore lateral movements through internal job postings and make it easy for our alumni to return through our Accenture Alumni programme. Chan Chong kong Executive director, human capital, and mona Shafini abu bakar Head of re-sourcing, PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia Talk to any HR practitioner about the challenges in today’s ever-changing business environment, and on the top of that list is “talent shortage”. On a macro basis, opportunities abound. The thriving Asian economy has opened up more options within Malaysia and beyond for our local talents. As countries in the region move up the value chain, the demand from Malaysian companies for specialised skills and qualified professionals is on the rise. Malaysian talents are also enticed to relocate and work in other countries offering better remuneration packages based on stronger currencies and more attractive tax structures. There has also been a shift in the way today’s workforce views and approaches work. There is now more emphasis on work-life balance and career opportunities besides looking for meaningful and interesting work. Talents do not hesitate to move on if they are able to find better options or opportunities in the market place. In addition, there is an apparent trend of burgeoning entrepreneurship and start-ups among young qualified talent who would like to pursue their personal dreams and aspirations. Their non-entry into market workforce has further contributed to the shortage of talent that is already acutely felt now. Retention of talent with the right skills is thus our top priority for 2014. Companies which are able to execute sound talent retention strategies to keep and motivate their talent will have a competitive edge over others. It is undeniable that the topic of talent shortage has been a key focus area for HR practitioners for many years now in Malaysia. However, moving forward especially in Malaysia, it would be a key imperative that the topic on talent should be a leadership agenda rather than human resources only. Secondly, it is also imperative that key attention is given to talent development as an integrated approach in addressing the needs of capabilities building in Malaysia. This combination of leadership agenda and the thirst to develop talent would, to a large extent, reduce the concerns about talent shortage in Malaysia towards becoming a high income nation by 2020. It is crucial that leaders invest considerable resources in developing their best bets to take on the toughest challenges. There are numerous ways an organisation can approach talent development. A proven way is certainly a combination of both on-the-job experience and formal training. In GE for example, we use a guideline of 80% on the job and 20% formal training. On the job training constitutes providing talents with challenging job assignments, stretch opportunities, visibility and accountability underpinned by candid assessment and feedback. At the same time, formal training involves leadership programmes, functional training and business skills. Leaders know their team members best and they play a key role in taking high performers and stretching them to take on bigger jobs, providing them with the support they need to be successful and accelerate their development. HR can play a facilitator role to make this happen. A culture of “leaders developing other leaders” helps address talent shortage in an innovative way where senior leaders thoughtfully spend time in developing emerging leaders. This act also provides both groups continuous growth. How many top leaders really do step out from their regular job to teach or nurture the next generation leaders? It often dawns upon me, whenever I see a great talent, that someone once made a courageous decision, and companies worry too much about the cost of investing in talent. They should instead worry about the cost of not doing it. Also next week stressed at work? Insights and tips on how to manage stress The stig from Top Gear on managing pressure and emerging a winner Career tips and life wisdom from the film Anger Management stretch your people, but don’t break them If you have any suggestions or feedback on our content, get in touch with the Leaderonomics team at [email protected]. For advertising and advertorials, contact [email protected] - 016 974 7087
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