If You Like It, Sneeze It!

The power of the Tribe to influence can be enormous. Consider 'word of mouth', that form of communication 'behind your back' that may make or break you.

Reputation is part of your brand. Who you are, is reflected in your character, persona, style and presence. How we communicate ourselves to others, describes our set of beliefs, values, attitudes, perceptions, and judgements. Certainly, our behaviors are a mirror to who we are for they reflect our inner 'self' to an outward audience. For instance, wearing your sponsors is an attempt to promote the 'duality' of relevance for both advocate/ambassador and brand/sponsor. The relationship is one of collaborative partnership and alliance. 

Promoting ultra-triathlons (IUTA) and my sponsor Jabra on a Channel News Asia featurette.

When I went to Kona for the Ironman World Championships, I wore my Jabra colors with pride. I extended my support for the brand and its Bluetooth-enabled devices by wearing their race-attire in several more Ironman races, and my first Boston Marathon (2014). Channel News Asia interviewed me for that landmark event there, and my sponsors picked up on that in my Singapore interview on 'Ironmen and Ultra-Triathlons). I roped in my friends, Triple-Deca Iron-Triathete (that is 226km triathlons X 30 days) Wayne Kurtz from USA, and Singaporean Deca-Iron Triathlete (10 X Ironman over 10 days), Kua Harn Wei, PhD to be part of this experience and interview. I was informed by my friends, neighbours and family of the first telecast and subsequent re-runs. The 'reach' was highly positive, and I earned a sponsorship for this year.

How thoroughly do you think when you post on Social Media? Have you considered the implications and ramifications of your rants and raves? When you 'tick' on a 'LIKE', or make a 'Comment', what are, in effect, wanting to say. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, when another disagrees with us.

How do you influence for your Tribe? How do you show support for each Friend, Follower, Member, and the like (no pun intended). When a Follower 'Retweets' or 'Favourite' your post, how do you 'return the favour'? Do you read one of their shared 'links'? Do you provide a response or recognition? Giving encouragement to a 'newbie' can be empowering. Sharing a personal tip, nugget of your wisdom, a quotation can translate into future mileage of extended influence. Being charitable, or not as asking for something in return can be a deeply satisfying feeling. 

Leadership Lessons: How do you build you reputation? How does your Tribe spread your influence? How do you live up to your reputation? What are you doing to add value to your Tribe of followers and supporters? How do you apply the Law of Reciprocity?

Sneezing for an author's new e-book

Serious People Have Serious Expectations

This morning, I completed a half-marathon and gained a hard-earned personal best. My Garmin 310XT recorded a distance of 21.2K at a time of 1:39:36.

I am not a particularly fast runner but I think I can hold my own with the fast ones. I bumped into Poon before the race, who is a 10-hour Ironman finisher (and superb rider) and we discussed our race pace. I caught up with him early and we ran side-by-side for the first 10K before I faded in the middle chapters due to insufficient fluid intake (aid-stations were far apart). The highly competitive and mentally strong Poon, came home three minutes earlier, and alluded that he expected me to hold the pace. I cheekily replied that I did not know I was his designated pacer/rabbit, and thus it was stressful to do so with his running ability. We agreed to push the pace harder at the Bay Run in September – which buys me more time to develop a 4:30 pace strategy, and allow my mild case of plantar fasciitis to heal. Fortunately, my heels did not give me grief this morning. I suggested that he be the rabbit in the pack and I would tail him.

Looks like Matthew is recovering well from his pre-Ironman fatigue as he secured a 2-hour finish, and I knew he was holding back. This was a new route, fraught with bridges, slopes, stairs and a significant bay view. We ran past landmarks like the F1 Pit Stop, Marina Bay Sands (casino), Singapore Flyer, Floating Platform, Esplanade (arts and concert hall), and the Central Business District. The post-race recovery chat at the F1 pit stop with friends Brian, Jacky, Teryn, Jolene, Izza, Winston, Poon and Adam ‘One-Armed Runner’ was rich and gratifying.

There was a flurry of displeased adrenaline-drenched comments after I emerged from the finisher’s chute. Apparently, runners were annoyed with the lack of clear directions-signs and race-marshals at strategic junctions. The water-point was also spread wider than expected so hydration was a key issue. I surmised that the prize-giving ceremony would be compromised as leading runners ended up later in the pack due to the additional distance covered. We discussed the possibility that the eventual winners would not want to collect their prizes because they felt it as unfair to the better runners who took a wrong turn. The apologetic organisers bravely and immediately surveyed runners for their feedback. 

Having hitched a ride home, I discussed with my tri-buddy Jolene about our observations about people and their working values (mainly respect and gratitude). One topic that emerged was that people could get personal in an argument over professional matters. One may be thrilled with holding an argument based on fact, observation and perception yet others may be annoyed or threatened by it. I said that there will be haters, and haters will hate. There is not much we can do to change their perception, prejudices and perspectives unless they choose to do so. We also discussed catching people doing right, as well as wrong. If we catch people doing wrong all the time, it may breed cynicism, criticism and paranoia. Be constructive in your feedback and influence people to care about important things. Simple, yet not easy – got to start sometime, soon. This morning, Poon gave me useful feedback of my running posture which I will process seriously - as I am always eager to run injury-free and faster.

Live and let live – I suppose.

Leadership Lesson: Review your values that activate you into action. Explore new values that can enervate you and move you to accomplish new results. Learn to discern conditions where you can accept or reject outcomes and shortcomings. Empower with encouragement and constructive feedback. Correct yourself when wrong. Work towards your next better performance.

Your Blind Side: The Value of Profiling

There are many profiling tools/instruments used in the field of psychology. Some of these are designed to measure personality, personality traits, working styles, leadership styles, attitudes, values, and mindsets. Most of our readers may be familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), DISC, and Situational Leadership. The relevance of a tool depends on two factors: validity and reliability. Validity is about whether an instrument measures what it is purported to measure; reliability is, its accuracy when it is used again in a short period of time.

I watched the film, The Blind Side about two days ago, and like to highlight a point or two about profiling tools and results.

The Blind Side is based on the true story of a young man who went from abandonment to success as a pro-football player and treats it with respect. The plot is almost Disney-like, and therefore inspirational: Michael Oher, is an African-American, gentle teen hulk in Tennessee, who gets taken in by a well-to-do white family. The mother, Leigh Anne Touhy, pushes and mothers the boy, who eventually wins a football scholarship to the University of Mississippi. Leigh Anne can be described in Personality Types as being vain and domineering, at times.

If Leigh Anne did not consider that Michael scored 98% on Protection - which refers to his instinct to protect his immediate family – she would not have strongly suggested to the coach that he play in the defensive position. What shifted Michael’s focus from a game that was fraught with complex rules and play patterns, was when Liegh Anne told him to treat his team as his family – and to protect his family! Despite his, apparently, low score on IQ (probably, due to convenience and negligence) he blossomed as a student with a 2.52 GPA average!

Thus, psychological and psychometric tools are guides, yet they need to be interpreted and used; it would be pointless to measure for the sake of measuring. A tailor would not take your measurements unless you wanted a jacket made! There is relevance if you acknowledge your blind sides (refer to the Johari Window).

As an aside: Watch this film. The cast is well rounded with Sandra Bullock leading the way to several nominations; this could be her chance to be fully accepted as a credible and highly flexible actress! The football scenes are captivating. You will not leave the cinema, or your TV set, when the credits roll alongside all the real-life photos of Michael, Leigh Anne, and the rest of the family that are featured in the credits. It is a touching film about people at their natural, generous, and charitable selves. It also shows us how encouragement can be a powerful process for nudging a person’s potential along.