Thursday, September 22, 2011

Redesigning and Re-engineering Your Purpose

Designer fashion is about personalizing your style. What you dress in, and how you express yourself, and your personality – that becomes your presence and penchant for the world. When we are suspected of having evil designs on somebody, then we have designed ourselves for being a suspect and suspicious.

Organisations undergo transformations in order to survive, strive and thrive. They apply methodologies and business interventions like re-engineering, re-structuring, right-sizing, downsizing – all the seemingly brilliant buzzwords that, invariably, end in disappointment for a few or the majority - like empowerment.

From good to great; or, from good to gone? The distinction is very clear. Will you still be around three to five years from now? Nothing is permanent, yet people do leave behind a permanence even after they depart from an organization. Leaders leave behind their legacy, an indelible imprint that others speak fondly about or with distaste. We have sustained cynicism when companies continue to pay errant CEOs large compensation packages after their resignation or re-designation.

Change involves transformation: changed, develop and grow. Which stage are you now? Companies cannot make the changes smoothly and effectively unless people also make their own decisive transformations. If people are the backbone and asset of your company, how do you develop their entire being and help them enhance their capability and careers? How do you engage the other 80 percent of the employees to create more than the expected 20 percent of the results of the company? Can we reverse Pareto’s Law, and turn the scarcity mindset (Law of the Few) into abundance?

Leave it to chance? Chance may make a random appearance – long after your demise. Whether you believe in Evolution or Intelligent Design, we need to review how we design our workspace and workplace, so that staff feel valued, appreciated and recognized.

Leadership Lessons: What will you do to stay real and relevant? How do you create your competitive and comparative edge? How do you actively design your workplace experiences that promote high morale and good work values? What kind of success is your team engineered for?
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Hawaii-based, Physical Therapist, Nathan Carlson, who was here for the Singapore Bay Run (time of 1:11) completed the Maui Half-Marathon on Sunday in 1:09:44 for 1st place. Congratulations, Nate!

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