be the leader we are meant to be

A leader initiates most of the time to make things happen; accepts challenges and stirs his (her) inner strengths and resources to get it done! Such a leader has a full range of knowledge, skills and abilities to meet challenges head on without fear or favor..with resolution and enduring strength. He (She ) accepts that their challenges may take time to be resolved and overcome. It may also take everything they’ve got. This fuels their resolve even more.

We are born to lead. Whoever we are and whatever we do. We are leading the greatest and most important being, our lives. We are where we are because of the decisions we made ie how we have led our lives. Be accountable and own up. Blame no one. Just ask ourselves everyday “how can we do better today?” everyday! Set our minds right every morning when we first waking moments and the rest of the day will take care of itself.

At work, a leader manages processes and leads people. He (She) does it in a balance way between the two critical roles to function as an effective leader. Be clear about this, there is a huge difference between managing and leading. Managing is directive whereas leading is non-directive; eg ensuring compliance is managing and coaching people to perform better is leading.

Be the leader we all are meant to be. Break out from status quo. Be different. Innovate even in leading people. Most of all, lead ourselves excellently.

collaborate

Collaboration with others get us quicker results and easier workloads…

No man is an island. To get greater results, we need to work with people. To lighten our load, we need to share it. To enjoy work life, we need to leverage on others knowledge, skills and abilities.

Collaborating fulfills our innate desire to belong and be appreciated. We are connection beings. We need affirmations and recognition. We feed on strong sense of belonging.

To collaborate effectively:

1. We need to consider our needs and the needs of others simultaneously. Put ourselves in others’ shoes. Understand their situations, their thoughts and intentions.

2. We need to challenge other’s ideas, in the right way. And allow them to challenge ours in the right way too. Then, focus on giving birth to the best idea and execute it with gusto!

Collaborate with gusto, my dear friends. Then, we’d be able to enjoy life to a greater extend!

vote wisely

Our Malaysian 13th General Election is here. I’ll vote wisely for the right candidates. I pray this for every one of us. God bless us all and Malaysia!

being grateful

I count my blessings. I remember a quote by a wise man; “Life can be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” I agree with it. Only when I reflect on how I got through my life challenges and difficulties that I know I have been blessed beyond words and my imagination.

When troubles come, stick with it. It is like a teacher and only when the lesson is learnt, it will leave our lives. And if we are slow in correcting ourselves or learnt from it, it’ll still trouble us…again and again.

When it comes, assess its root cause, seek the counsel of the wise, set their advice into our action, set our action into motion, persevere until it is overcome.

There is a story of a great Teacher, who walked on the sea towards His disciples who were in a boat. A disciple of His named Peter was called to walk on water towards him. Peter obeyed and walked on the raging sea towards Him. Peter was amazed. But he looked at the raging waves and started to doubt. He then began to sinking. The Teacher saved him and asked, “Peter, why did you doubt?’ The lesson is when we are going through the raging situations created by our life challenges, focus on the goal and the resources we had put in place to overcome them instead of focusing on the challenges itself.

So, in conclusion…be focus and persevere. And all of these troubles will come to past. Cheers!

my light bulb moment

I had a “light bulb” moment recently. It’s like a switch had been turned on and the light was shining on an area that has come into sharper focus and stronger scrutiny; the coming thirteenth general election of Malaysia.

I have heard and watch campaigns on both sides and I have discussed and heard many opinions. One biggest thing and the surest one, is that we have been ‘controlled’ to perceive all policies in certain ways. In fact, the word government comes from two root words; ‘govern’ which means to control and ‘men’ which means the mind. Hence the word government means to control the mind. I love Abe Lincoln’s Gettysburg address which ends with “government of the people, by the people and for the people so that the government shall not perished…”.

My point is this. There will be somethings we are passionately brewing within our subconscious minds awaiting for the right timing to manifest and brought to light and impact us, our lives, the people with us and maybe, in accordance to our calling, the community and/or our country…

We are all created for a meaningful, personal and deep purpose. And only when we have taken action on our purpose that we experience fulfillment; we find our place in our living or we realize what and why we are here for.

Never cease to discover this for ourselves. Always serve, freely give and explore continuously. And in the end, we’d know that our lives mattered. We’d acknowledged we lived to the fullest. We’d be comforted that we did our best. We’d know we are leaving our legacy.

friends who add & multiply

There are a few kinds of “friends”; ones that add, multiply, subtract or divide. Be blessed by those who add and multiply you mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Be patient with those who subtract and divide and be wary as to not be influenced by their thoughts and perspectives in life.

Friends who add or multiply are those who encourage us. Encouraging us to pursue our purpose and goals for our lives. Positive “influencers” who do not judge us but stick with us through thick and thin. Friends who are by our side as we weather the storms of our lives, who never once put us down. Invest more of our lives into such friends without any expectations of returns (what they can do for us).

Friends who subtract or divide are those who are self-centered or judgmental. They have the “whats in it for me” mentality. Everything seems to revolve around his (her) life. Insensitivity reigns. At times appearing cold and inattentive, these friends seem objective in giving (dishing out) advice and opinions. Invest our time in guiding them to change their ways of thinking with the purpose of helping them to see the light. If they accept, well and fine. If not, limit our time with them till they are ready to listen to us and make efforts to change themselves thereafter.

We are perfect. But we can endeavor to improve along our life’s journey. Friends come in many types. Accept them. But know the different types and connect with them appropriately.

Enjoy the ride and all the best!

our life purpose & goals

It is wise to count our days by knowing our purpose and goals in life.

Purpose is the WHY and goals are the WHATS. Purpose is the reason we are born to do; i.e. our calling or life mission.

Examples of a purpose are “to serve the illiterate children” or “to help the poor” or “to make this world a greener place” or “to eradicate poverty in a particular area or province or country”. One of my favorite model is Bangladeshi banker and Noble Peace Prize winner, Dr Muhammad Yunus.

His purpose is to provide funding for people to make a living for themselves by starting small businesses.

His goals are in developing the concepts of micro-credit and micro-finance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. In 2006 he and the Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts through micro-credit to create economic and social development from below.

A life purpose is the destination or the long term view of our lives and goals are the building blocks we used to get to our destination in life.

Take a moment to search and clarify our purpose and goals for our life. Learn to count our days in pursuing our purpose by achieving our milestone goals, one by one. Then, we’ll have lived fulfilled lives worthy of our calling.