Split-Second Decisions

Michael Phelps – as experienced and legendary as he was – lost by a tap in his pet race. Nicola Surig of Switzerland won yesterday’s Women’s Triathlon at Hyde Park through a nail-biting, finish-sprint and photo-finish. She beat Sweden’s Lisa Norden for gold by a hair’s breadth; Norden did lunge forwards like a sprinter at the tape although, sadly, officials decided that Surig won. Mo Farah’s and Galen Rupp’s gallant sprint to the end of the 10,000m yesterday made for exciting television. They were separated by 0.48 seconds for the gold and silver.

Our decisions decide our fate. From the simple to the complex of decisions, we make them so as to take action. Inaction is a choice, and it leads to consequences and, sometimes, regret. National Sports Associations (NSAs) and their best choice of athletes for medal prospects may make mistakes. Pre-selections and time-trials can only account for so much. Other variables come into play during fair and unfair play.

A losing basketball team may bounce back from near-defeat to equalize in the last game, and win it during the extra-time of play. A table-tennis player may decide to contest the point, reinstate her point, and recover to win a few more points in the same game. Win or lose – every point counts, and matters.

Injury from a slippery fall may lead to dropping out from a cycling race, yet staying on to complete the race, painfully, reflects signs of a true athlete: faster, stronger and higher.

Mapping Out Your Plans

Have you ever gotten lost before? Have you travelled without much of a firm plan, other than purchase your air-tickets and a few nights’ accommodation? Have you struggled to find your way to your destination without incurring a large cab-fare due to your negligence to prepare your documents and maps?

Going ‘blind’ and leaving it to luck can be a useless decision? Even when travelling with a partner, you cannot rely on an uninformed person and leave them to decide on your mutual fate. You are still responsible for master-minding the original plan, and sticking to a semblance of that plan. You need to do homework – this being your ‘hard-yards’ – before making any definite plans to move.

Map out your plan, decide on possible courses of action, and initiate the first steps. Otherwise, you will remain lost and become dependent on the leaders around you. You may not be factored into their plans. Map out, and man up!

DNF: Down But Not Finished!

Things go wrong sometimes. That is life! There is, however, much we can possibly do to salvage things before they go sour or go south.

In sports competitions, a DNF is a ‘Did Not Finish’ – an unappreciated designation to participants who drop out of race due to mechanical failure or physical fatigue. When a DNF is attached to a participant’s name in the results list, it may be hard to swallow. It is, after all, a blemish on one’s ego – however healthy it may be. It is akin to ‘giving up’ despite the conditions under which one is forced to submit to pain, discomfort or imminent danger to one’s health.

In an earlier piece, I wrote that I did not have a DNF in my DNA; it was meant in a positive, and not arrogant way. If I know I have a bad day, and I can still complete the race, I will. I would not thrown in the towel, as I have nothing to lose, and I still have a tail to drag between my legs. I have been provoked by my ‘demons’ during an endurance event, and considered taking the shortcut to comfort but reversed my decision, as I would regret my moment of weakness.

My good friends had a tough weekend doing the Desaru Long Distance 116K Triathlon. Kevin Siah had to call it quits as mechanical issues from his bike tore into his fierce-some fitness, and Reeves decided to complete it while walking most of the 21K. I recalled suffering cramps (because I failed to consume electrolytes) on my first race there, and had to walk a sub-3 hour half-marathon. It was humbling, yet educational for I learnt to value proper and regular nutrition during a long course event. I have internalized these painful lessons and converted them into gratifying progress.

A DNF can be a humbling but grateful exercise in appreciating our physical and mental limitations.

Leadership Lessons: When do you let things go because it cannot be improved? How do you feel when you have to make compromises? What were the lessons you learnt when you did not achieve your targets? How do you respond to failure?

The Art of Pairing Up

In the early 1990’s, I had the honour of meeting Singaporean wine connoisseur Chng Poh Tiong at a luncheon hosted for journalists. He mentioned the fact that many wine-drinkers had not dared experiment with drinking wines with local foods. Why not pair a Chardonnay with Hainanese chicken rice (a simple but beautiful dish to sample when you are here for the F1 Night Race)? Or, a Northern Indian curry dish with a cabernet sauvignon? Why is it always the simplistic approach: red meat with red wine; white meat with white wine? Rose wine must, probably, confuse many neophyte winophiles – drink it alone and by itself?

This led me to think about the concept of pairing. If we can pair up wines and cuisines, then how can we extend and expand pairing in our relationships and pursuits? If pairing clothes is complicated at times (as in fashion), can you imagine how relations – both professional and personal – can turn out when we pair up carelessly and impulsively?

Racing or training solo may be a straightforward task. However, once you pair up with a partner, you have a responsibility and obligations to look after and look out for your companion. Father-and-son team ‘The Hoyts’ race together in endurance races, including the Ironman triathlon. The fact is that the father is doing most of the work towing his son on a dinghy (while he swims 3.8K), rides with his son perched at the front of his bike, and pushes him in a wheelchair during the marathon. However, it is a strong testament of fatherly love for his son.

When racing in a relay, how do you pair up your members? Who passes the baton or champion-chip to whom? Who swims, rides and runs requires discernment and decision. Pairing is, thus, crucial to gaining time over the competition as it can be a strategic move. You choice of partners in adventure races also matter, as you are as strong as your weakest link (partner, injuries, health, and fitness).

I intend to meet an Australian couple, Sue and Andrew O’Brien who are, incidentally authors at next weekend’s Gold Coast Marathon. This couple has run eight marathons over eight countries over eight weeks and will be speaking at the race-fair.

Sponsors have a marketing budget and marketing campaign in mind. Who they pair up with has to maximise their marketing spend. Thus, it is challenging to get them to become key or main sponsors in new sporting events. There is doubt, concerns and apprehension over untested companies and events. Trust becomes the currency and denomination of partnership and commitment. Therefore, pairing decision is dependent on the relationships built through frequent face-to-face and online contact – what we know as ‘touch points’. When companies have a Facebook page or Twitter page, they are hoping to initiate pairings with current and potential consumers that lead to future ‘top-of-mind’ consumer decisions. When we click the ‘like’ button, we have begun the pairing process.

In business, the various relationships we initiate or get into have implications and consequences if we are unaware of the unspoken and unassertive. Many issues emerged after a professional relation matures; disagreements lead to conflicts and prejudices. Partners take up positions of offence or defence; as such, there are forces of struggle within and without, and customers and colleagues notice the incongruence.

Leadership Lesson: When did you last pair up professionally? What would you consider before you enter an alliance or partnership? Which are the implications of partnering with friends and family in business?

From Tarzan to Trazan, From Karma to Crabman

I was watching ‘My Name is Earl’. This television series comprises kooky characters from Earl to his brother Randy to his ex-wife to Crabman – his ex-wife’s husband. Every episode introduces a nefarious and unusual personality. Essentially, the lot revolves about the formerly incarcerated and now-rehabilitated Earl seeking personal redemption from his transgressions on people in his life. He draws out a long list of people and deeds he has to make correct and better. Like his narrative emphases: ‘Karma has a way of coming back in different ways.’ Last night, he reads to children from a mobile library a book about the ape-man ‘Trazan’ (an obvious typological error and questionable content), which he based strongly to one of his karmic deed done well.

Tarzan or Trazan: spelling error or anagram? We can use the same letters but with different arrangement. Scrabble is a brilliant invention of a word game. We construct new words by adding prefixes and suffixes based on the tiles we have, and how we configure them. It is a good way to develop our vocabulary as well as aspects of our grammar. ‘Scrabble’ can be misconstrued as ‘scramble’ if you read it in a rush. Many people do not read e-mails at a deeper level of appreciation. It is so easy to get caught up in tasks that we choose to comprehend messages at a superficial level.

Have you carelessly sent out an e-mail, only to discover later your spelling mistakes? Have you actually subject a person’s name through a spell-check, and dismembered them from their attention?

When you make distinctions on words, then you may make discernments on your decisions. What would be a better decision at that time? When should I make the decision? Who can I decide with?

*****

The vitamin C/zinc supplementation is boosting my immune system. My cold-like symptoms are diminished. Thank goodness for tender mercies! I am reading Phil Maffetone’s book again (featured on our sidebar), and this led me to a fascinating and controversial website on alternative/holistic medicine by Dr Mercola. Enjoy!

Just Having Fun

This afternoon, I conducted a teambuilding session for leaders in education. It was a short session that emphasised, among other outcomes, having fun.

Having fun - sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? How do you have fun? Is it about playing games, and having a few laughs? What is having fun all about?

What we learnt at the end of the session - when I had them reflect on the experience - was that fun was a welcome addition to a working day. Having fun could mean: learning a new skill; solving a puzzle; realising that there are other creative ways to solve the same problem; enjoying a joke; or discovering that we shared similarities.

Having fun may boil down to making a choice. If you decide you want to have fun, you probably will. Fun involves emotions that make you feel good. Don't we want to feel good? Sure, you do. We can feel good by giving or receiving a compliment. We can encourage somebody to do more, because we express that we believe in them.

When you have fun, time appears to go by quickly. It involves values like passion, enthusiasm, curiosity, and intrigue - and these make us more alert, and interested in others.

So, go ahead - have fun at work, and at play!

What Sort of Super-Hero Leader Are You?

In one episode of Season 3 of Heroes, the cheerleader is asked: ‘What sort of superhero are you?’ She was auditioning for a job at a comic-book store.

I thought: That is a good question! If you were a leader, what sort of superhero leader would you be?

Let’s steer away from the simplistic and superficial response of good and bad. Few would unhesitatingly claim ‘bad’. If you were a martinet or dictator you would still be effective. You may not like me for making tough decisions, yet somebody has to make them. Since nobody is willing to step up to the plate – I will. In making painful and tough decisions that affect others, the leader has to decide and act. Think about letting a team-member go, or holding a staff back from promotion because you felt that they were not ready yet.

If you chose to be the nice leader, how would you demonstrate your style? What would be your approach? The leader who is revered?

In comic-book hero term, what would your special power be? If you could heal fast, then you may be leader who resolves conflict. If you could read minds, then you may be skillful in empathy and active listening. If you could move fast between places, then you may be a leader who has a sense of urgency and multi-tasks effectively. If you could move through time, you may be a strategist who links the past and present with future, possible outcomes. You may also make the link between history and tradition, with future-orientated innovation.

What sort of powers would you like to possess?