State Management & Managing Your States

No, this is not an essay on how to run a country.

By ‘states’, I am referring to ‘bodily states’. How your body feels and senses at any one time, can be described as your ‘state’. You may be familiar with the song ‘New York State of Mind’, and the term ‘mind over matter’. In cases of legality, one may have to prove ‘the state of mind’.

I learnt about ‘managing my states’ in 1995. I attended a workshop on ‘An Introduction to NLP’, and my mind became aware of what my five senses afforded me at that time. I learnt to play with the voices in my head, feelings, memories, imagination, and other sensations. Certainly, these were all private, internal, processes that I had no working manual to refer to. So, I wrote an operating-manual for it, which has since undergone multiple revisions and versions.

Two-and-half decades later, I am still raising my bar in my sporting aspirations. I began with competitive bodybuilding, and then shifted to racing in marathons and triathlons. Every year, I attempt to complete successfully at least one marathon (42.2km) and Ironman triathlon (3.8km swim, 180km cycling, 42.2km run). For each event, I have to be as well-prepared and mentally-conditioned to face the race-day, whatever the weather and terrain conditions would be.

For each of my fellow participant, their goals can be vary from completion to competition. My hopeful results are based on living and demonstrating the credo of the Olympic Games, namely, ‘Faster, Stronger and Higher’.

My 18-years of tacit experience and wisdom in racing in endurance, multi-sports, events has taught me to manage my physiological (bodily) states on several levels. These include:

1)   Manage my level and tolerance of pain (braving extreme cold and heat, cramps, injuries, painful stings, gut disorders)

2)   Manage my sensory level of discomfort (conditions of water, waves, currents, taste of the water I swim in, sweatiness, dirt, windiness, heat, cold, flies, and much more)

3)   Doing ‘damage control’, especially when my results start to slip away, as my fatigue level increases (deciding to stop and rest, feeding my body, and walking when I have to)

4)   Dealing with disappointments, especially when the results were expected/unexpected

5)   Dealing with distractions, confusion, uncertainty and changes to my plan (consider this: The race distance was modified for safety reasons; or cancelled due to extreme weather)

Managing my states is one of my motivations to racing. Sometimes, it hurts even more when you want something badly enough. In competitive racing, we call this ‘digging deep’. That is, we harness on our resources (limited) and our RESOURCELFULNESS (a useful value to tap on in times of crises). I am sue many entrepreneurs can relate strongly to the string of challenges that may be laid out in their quest for their business dreams. The successful ones keep rising incessantly when they fall. Even skillful cyclists still fall off their bicycles.

When I earned my qualification spots in the Boston Marathon, or the Ironman world championships, they were ‘painful joyfulness’. In managing my states to get there, I had to learn to stay focused, patient and calm (on the inside).

With the current global pandemic, millions of people are affected physically and psychologically by the stress(ors) of a personal viral threat: its impending infection, spread, fear, concern, anxiety, and other equally virulent impact from it (economic, financial, self-esteem, well-being). How can we strengthen our mental and physiological resolve (physical and emotional) to deal with it? How do we manage our responses and reactions to these stressors? What can we do to alter our attitude and behaviors, in managing ourselves and those we are entrusted with?

Only when we actively manage how we think and feel (internal factors) in the face of external factors, can we then sensibly and sensitively manage our people. We won’t be effective in leading others if we are ‘headless chickens’. Meanwhile, stay focused while re-building our teams, and encourage and embolden them for future discomforts and distractions.

How Do We Live With Rigour In A Time of Pandemic? (Part 1)

Caveat: These opinions are entirely my own, and I share my perspectives with those with a sense of optimism and adventure. If we can't be hopeful, what's the point?

Over the weeks, I have been collecting perspectives from senior managers, entrepreneurs, and employees. The common thread is: Everyone is struggling in their own way and braving their private battles. We are faced with threats to our way of life, both work-wise and leisure-wise. The disruptions and chaos that has ensued may lead many to and review and revise the way we think. Here are three key areas to ponder over, and we will go into detail, shortly.

1) Working From Home (WFH): This is inevitable, and the flexibility of working one-day-weekly from home has expanded into a lengthy period of home-based work. This is no different where educators have to, occasionally, teach from their homes via webinars, and the like. WFH may be the ‘New Norm’ as we have to figure out how we can work best in-separation. In my interviews, many managers believe that their staff are, probably, working more productively in this situation. There seems to be more focus and concentration when employees are at their desk, whether conducting a project meeting, or attending an online workshop. When you exclude traveling time to/from work, and ‘water-cooler conversations’, the working day is better spent.

2) Competencies and Skill-sets: It would be opportune to begin planning strategically (firstly for yourself, then for your team) what your career options are. How much of your Job Description and Job Scope will change? Which skills may become obsolete? Which skills will be valued more? Which new skills will you need to adopt? If your profession and vocation runs the risk of becoming obsolete, or easily replaceable with digitalisation then which parallel professions do your current abilities and capabilities allow you to migrate to? If you were, unfortunately, subject to furlough and were laid off, what can you do to pitch yourself for your next job opportunties? Rest assured that if you have specific and endearing skills and are unafraid to venture into new pastures, you may shorten your incubation time before your next employ. Skills like selling, influencing, instructing, relationship, counseling, communication (reading, writing and mathematics, however up-sized and expanded) and negotiating, may still augur well for most industries and businesses. Now, if you are open to the ‘dirtiest and deadliest’ types of work, these will require specific training and an aptitude/appetite for such labour. You will also need to ‘fit’, and ‘fit-for-duty’.

3) Activating Your Values: What does this mean? You, often-times, hear the need to be resilient, enduring, agile, and creative. What do these values entail? Which knowledge, skills, behaviors and mindsets will you need to develop to keep you valued as an employee? Our DNA – core values – when aligned with a company’s can open doors of opportunity for us. In relationships, we need to build mutual trust and respect. We need to develop the tacit experiences and wisdom to work in/with teams? Our ability to manage conflict, confusion, distortions of the important messages, and rising expectations are points of consideration. Applying your knowledge is more valuable than gathering data and information. Almost anyone with access to the Internet can source information, but connecting to sources and resources require more than touching the keypad. We will need to remain connected with customers, partners, and collaborators and be able to appreciate the myriad ‘touch points’ that connect us with purpose and poise towards our collective future.  

I leave you with these considerations. Meanwhile, stay safe, be healthy, and decide to be diligent and discerning.

Valuing Oneself & Others

How do you measure performance and value your talents?

Have you 'actually' measured your value?

'Perceived value' translates into 'actual value'. That is why the best people are sought after by potential employers and executive search specialists. When these people value your skills, wisdom, experiences and competencies you get compensated more, are recognised and  valued even further. 'Pay for the best' is the truism when it come to employment and employability.

How do you appraise your value? How do you get valued like a precious diamond is assigned a price-tag, or your property/real estate is appraised?

Before your next performance appraisal, do a SWOT Analysis. Born of marketing, and used to assess the value of a brand, SWOT can be used to assess your valuable skills, and Unique Selling Points (USPs). SWOT is an acronym for Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. By identifying, in detail and exactness, your Strengths (abilities and capabilities) - you can project your Opportunities (including future value and potential). Your Weaknesses need to be reduced, and converted into competencies or your Threats increase to become your risks.

Do a SWOT Analysis before your next Performance Appraisal interview, job interview, or when updating your LinkedIn profile. 

Leadership Lessons: How do you value yourself? How do you value others? How do you answer questions relating to value, relevance and importance?

Communities of Practice

Communities of practices (CoP), are tribes of practitioners who share their learning wisdom through a shared platform. Most of such CoPs are based as online forums and chat-groups (including WhatsApp private groups). Hobbyists, geeks, sports-fans, amateur athletes, and professionals belong to such communities to network, extend their marketing reach, and establish their credibility.

Why would you want to belong to such a CoP?

Essentially, you can enjoy the stories of successes as well as disappointments. Much can be gleaned from another professional's experiences learning and applying. I have a major belief about credibility and expertise: The Room is the Expert. Questions can lead to answers, and answers to the right direction for solutions. There is more than one right answer!

The logical way of solving problems: Algorithms or decision-making trees.

Members of CoPs can meet face-to-face as well. They can organise small, unofficial, gatherings for verbal exchanges. This enhances their opportunity and ability to learn, develop and grow. They can seek out expertise and engage these, for profit or pleasure. I belong to newsgroups for magicians, leaders, triathletes and marathoners.

However, as with most new groups motivation to sustain becomes a challenge. Active leadership of the facilitators and moderators determines the direction and determination of the CoPs. Leaders within leaders can employ new initiatives to provide freshness into the discussions and engagements.

At the end of the day, it is about leadership. Without leadership and succession planning, most CoPs diminish in stature and relevance. Thus, new members inject the motivation for the group to sustain and continue.

Twitter Conversations: Shifting Thoughts

Twitter: A platform for text-based communication online.
Tweets: A short, text-based, message not exceeding 140 characters.

I have been back on Twitter over the past two months. I was focused on using Facebook as my main platform of communication, sharing my knowledge, tacit wisdom, and opportunities. My Followers have increased by about 1,000 since I activated my account. It was a passive 660, but the growth has been spectacular with many active connections.

I use Twitter to share my stories about my races, training, leadership perspectives, and social media insights. With the advent of pictures, Twitter functions like Facebook (FB) however with the 140-character-per-post limit.

I was invited to, and have joined a virtual running community called 'Earthathon' and I belong the group called 'RunderfulRunners'. We aim to cover 25,000 miles within a year as a collective group. I have just completed my first 12km, since I am preparing for Ironman Lanzarote (May). I have posted pictures of my new sponsors, too, spreading and 'sneezing' what I think are useful ideas.

My new Ceepo Venom bike.

I am also actively connected to communities of leaders, authors, social media experts, runners, triathletes, and inspiring people. Everyone is special and has something to express and share.

New race attire from Jabra.

I will update you on more of these conversational gems. It is good to be back blogging.

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

Leadership By Formula

Can you lead with formulae?

It is possible, if you treat these formulae (for leadership and management) as guidelines and models of behavior. In today’s demand for microwave-convenience and paint-by-numbers approach to getting things done, we need to stay mindful about simplicity and directness. Get the job done is the goal. Be purposeful, and be directed by purpose for without it, motivation becomes a challenge. You will not successfully motivate people into action, unless they share a similar purpose. Thus, alignment of goals and purpose is vital.

Most importantly, regularly measure your leadership. Evaluate your progress through constant feedback. Get structured feedback (honest and direct) from your peers and managers. Seek the counsel of a coach or mentor. Leadership is a practical approach. We learn best from practice and application. We haven’t truly learnt until we commit to doing and applying ourselves fully and thoroughly.

Use formulae of your choice for reminding yourself of your choices. Even 1-2-3 steps can be more useful than random actions and decisions. Break down your learning by parts, sequence, or priority. Think about how pianists rehearse – individual parts learnt separately, then strung together as a complete whole. It is no different from learning how to swim a new stroke: breathing, entry, exit, pull-through, staying buoyant, gliding, kicking, and driving through.

How Are You Really Connected Beyond Social Media 2.0?

A social network is a social structure made up of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes", which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige. ~ Wikipedia

Let’s keep in touch! I’ll call you. Facebook me! How often do we seriously keep in touch with our network of relationships?

Maintaining our relationships (at last count) can be a complex task that consumes much of our waking hours. However, if you want to sustain your personal and professional relationships, then you will need to decide on a system of managing and, subsequently, leading these people-orientated connections. As I have reiterated, we need to go beyond management and into the realm of leading in every relationship.

Lead, or be led. Be led, and misled.

We have a myriad of choices for connection, however we may be confused by which tools/applications are more useful and relevant for us. Too many apps on your iPhone may not be smart if some of these serve no primary function except to grace your glossy screen on your ‘mobile entertainment and communication system’. We may ‘communicate’ but do we actually engage in actual conversations, between our noses rather than between the screens.

Social psychology has led us to study human conversations, which have seemingly shifted from personal conversations to personalised communication. We possess personal computing and the like, and now it has shifted (I would not dare say evolved or progressed) to another platform. Observe the number of zombie-like behaviors in public transport, bereft of eye contact and basic politeness. The useful feature of personal communication is that people tend to slow their walking pace, becoming human obstacles during peak-hour, human traffic. We may be, unconsciously, voyeuristic in studying what people do, or even (if we are ever so lucky) be unaware of being stalked by others. Social media is definitely not for the paranoid and purposefully private, but great for the exhibitionist – if you catch my drift.

I am watching The Social Network (screenplay brilliantly written by West Wing co-writer, Aaron Sorkin), which is essentially the story about the co-founders of Facebook and their tumultuous relationships. Facebook has become a global social phenomenon. In one startling scene where Mark Zuckerberg is checking news on Bosnia, a young female lawyer exclaims: ‘There are no roads in Bosnia, but there is Facebook?’ Tributes poured in from the tribes of Apple users, when it was announced that Steve Jobs passed away. That summarises the impact of social media on us.

If one online medium or portal does not meet your needs, discard it. There are too many applications that may not serve our long-term needs. Instead of managing a stable of such relatively under-utilised resources, restrict your attention to them. Be conservative, and conserve your energies and enthusiasm for the mundane. If you connect with your tribe on one medium actively, then stay steadfast and true to one that delivers the most return on your investment. There is not clout in being cloudy in your thinking. Cloud computing will only channel you towards your confusion.

Now, back to where we were earlier: How do you purposefully connect with others? How do you enhance and value each connection?

Moving From Defining To Refining

Defining means having a sense of clarity, scope and purpose. Refining refers to enhancements and subtleties once you have made this definition. Most people enjoy improvements when they are striving for positive change. Even the cliché, ‘change for the better’ expresses that notion with a clear outcome. Innovative practices include focusing on improvements, making refinements, simplifying processes, and making connections with solutions.

Improvements can be made with the appropriate strategies and effort. Even with talent, the difference that may make the real difference would be effort. Working hard is useful only if your energy is well spent. My friends in New York once wrote in their home on a placard: ‘Anger is love’s energy misspent.’

My list of improvement for the next six months includes:

1)    Expand the scale and scope of my professional work (my business funds my sports adventures).

2)    Focus on building my swim fitness and speed (strokes and flotation already much improved).

3)    Ride more and be race fit (my potential weakness is not being fast on the flats, and strong on the climbs).

4)    More brick training for my ride-to-run transition.

5)    More off-road races and time trials to build more dynamic strength and agility.

6)    To build my core stability and strength (with kettle-bells, barefoot running, and on unstable surfaces).

7)    To create more connectivity within my communities of practice.

Leadership Lessons: What have you done to improve yourself? What have you done to enhance your sense of purpose? How have you refined your sense of purpose, decisiveness and collaboration?

Power Outages & Out-Aged Power

‘Age before beauty!’ Rocky Balboa to Apollo Creed

Don’t you just hate it when you experience a power trip? I am referring to ones that hit you when you are busy writing on your keyboard, and then the lights go out. If the electrical surge was extreme, good luck to all unsaved data and a fried motherboard or disk-drive. When energy sources are unreliable, performance of your best digital hardware becomes reduced and unreliable.

Yesterday, thanks to fellow-blogger John Cooke I provided a link to Chucky V.’s blog, about the latter’s piece on being out-chicked by a female athlete. What could be more humbling than that? Being out-aged by a gracefully aging athlete.

These photographs of Masters’ class (over-60 years) athlete, Chan Chan Seng describes it all; I took them on Sunday at the OSIM Singapore International Triathlon. Sport defies age, and age defies sporting abilities. This triathlete showed all the enthusiasm and energy of any other triathlete completing an Olympic Distance triathlon.

A few months ago, I featured Mr Kor Hong Fatt who is Singapore’s oldest marathoner. He successfully completed his first Boston Marathon after qualifying for it last year. Having suffered a medical condition about eight years ago, he now runs regularly and competes in marathons annually. His pace/speed in a marathon can embarrass poorly prepared runners, yet he is an inspiration to many for his persistence, patience and perseverance.

Leadership Lessons: When has age been a problem for you at your workplace? How do you value tacit wisdom and experience? How have you added value to yourself and others with each passing financial year? How have you matured in the way you manage and lead others around you?

Photo-credits: Kor Hong Fatt at the Boston Marathon 2011(#21561)

Working Across Borders

Have you worked overseas? Have you considered how you would enhance your conversations with your colleagues, customers and consumers?

With the advent of the Internet, borders have shifted from physical ones to digital to psychological ones. We talk about ‘border-less’ connections, which means we are closer to somebody than we think we are. With the Six Degrees of Separation, we may be more inter-connected than we think and apply.

Having worked in about 19 countries, I continue to learn about what makes people tick differently and similarly. Differences make for uniqueness, whereas similarity builds familiarity. Finding out what matters to people can be integrated into each conversation you engage in.

Which would be useful skills and competencies when working across borders?

1)    Build courage and confidence with each face-to-face interaction.

2)    Speak to internationals and be inquisitive about their culture.

3)    When you are next onboard a plane, engage in mild conversation with the persons next to you (where appropriate).

4)    Observe how proxemics (distance), touching, and seating arrangements matter at meetings and dining.

5)    Apply values that build rapport and trust such as respect, recognition and reassurance.

6)    Asking questions when you are unsure, and especially when you think you are sure. Calibrate your understanding of people, processes and culture.

Enlist a coach to guide you: in-house, external, business, or career. These facilitated sessions can yield many new perspectives so that you can ‘venture boldly where you have not gone before!’ These coaches are sounding pads, sparring partners and platforms to launch ideas from.

Leadership Lessons: How open are you to travel? How quickly do you build rapport with strangers? How do you dissolve your self-imposed barriers to unfamiliar territories? Which are the unspoken rules when you operate across borders? Does the quality of a handshake, smile and nod make a difference?

The Tribe Has Spoken

Those infamous words uttered by host of Survivor, Jeff Probst in every episode decides, ultimately, who will be eliminated for the game. In effect, each member of your tribe gets to vote for the one who they think should be banished from their tribe. By a process of secret ballot - in quasi-democratic fashion – one person will be eliminated, much to their consternation.

Tribes was a phrase coined by marketing guru, Seth Godin in his book of the same name. Gather a group, share a cause and spread the word. You will see it in almost every social media tool – share with your friend, retweet, et al.

Tribes can make or break the strength of a cause. Both brickbats and bouquets are tools of mass distraction and destruction. Careless and callous remarks can influence others, as do partial and preferential opinions. Thinking through the issues and challenging our own thoughts are necessary to ensure that new ideas and innovative practices can emerge during doldrums. Tribes can build a new business, or denounce a well-established one. The connections that tribal members build on are forged through time, shared interests, shared values, commitment and involvement. Leverage on this positively and you can magnify you cause astronomically. Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong yellow wrist-bands are a testament of how tribes rally for a personal and shared cause.

Last weekend, I found out that my friends shaved their heads for Hair For Hope. One-Armed Runner, Adam showed me his bald plate before he ran a half-marathon. This amazing fellow runs in almost every race despite being physically challenged.

Leadership Lessons: How often do you promote somebody’s cause? How widely does your word spread? How much weight do your recommendations hold? How active are you in networking your way through a charitable cause?

Should you want to promote your cause via social media and online marketing, this is a piece on how you can promote your website.

Even David Copperfield, the Maestro in Magic has a cheeky sense of humour. Here, he challenges Harry Potter and J K Rowling. Believe it or not!

The Need For Proper Positioning

Jack Trout and Al Ries – marketing gurus – wrote the definitive 1981 book ‘Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind’ which has become a must-read book for those practising marketing and branding. It can certainly be extended to leadership.

Positioning also shows you how to:

1) Build your strategy around your competition's weaknesses

2) Reposition a strong competitor and create a weak spot

3) Use your present position to its best advantage

4) Choose the best name for your product

5) Determine when, and why less is more

6) Analyze recent trends that affect your positioning

Battles may be won without seeing your adversaries. War of words can take place off-line as well as online. The digital domain has become a non-physical, yet honest platform for people to air their emotions and opinions. Each approach has its consequences and impact, and these must be considered for we leave our imprint behind.

Writers leave their indelible print behind. Noam Chomsky writes about his reaction to global news and questions our over-reaction and premature celebratory responses.

Leadership Lessons: How do you earn the hearts and minds of your team members? How does your staff view you in their mind’s eye? What is your status to them? How alert and aware are you of the impact of your messages on others? How do you lead the head, hearts and hands of your people?

Patience As Your Virtuosity

I recall the opening credits for each episode of the 1970’s television series, ‘Kung Fu’. The blind Shao Lin master monk would say to the young Kuai Zhang Kane: ‘Grasshopper – you have finally snatched the pebble from my hand. It is time for you to leave the monastery!’ A visibly sad, Kane would then get his first and last tattoo (of a dragon – what else?) seared into his puny forearms when he carried the hot cauldron with the embossed tattoo outline across a reasonable distance (to set the imprint). Indelible printing technology has come a long way! When I see the blood red ‘M-Dot’ on the Achilles Heel of triathletes – I know that they may have made their pilgrimage to Kona, Hawaii for the Ironman triathlon world championships. Such is pride born of patience.

My friend, John Cooke reached his target weight whilst training for his next Ironman in Lanzarote, Canary Islands. He has been patient and continues to reap benefits from his discipline to stick to his plan. We will be headed up their in about two weeks’ time. Three other participants dropped out from the original team, and are focused on Ironman China instead. This is a blog about a patient 45-year-old runner.

It takes time to improve. Youth has an advantage in terms of physical recovery. That does not mean Masters athletes don’t have an edge: we can get more with less. The over-40, athlete can become fitter and stronger with shorter mileage, and increased intensity. Thus, strength and power training through kickboxing, interval training, kettle-bell training, CrossFit (circuit training), core stability work, Pilates and yoga can enhance one’s physical performance when included in a weekly training menu. Proper nutrition takes time to be processed (digestion is about patience) and assimilated by your body.

The more challenging the goals or higher the expectations – the more patience we need. You cannot rush a professional photographer through a session and hope for great shots. You cannot be impatient with your convalescence when you realize that antibiotics and medicines take time to work their effects. You cannot rush potential business-partners or clients to seal a deal when trust and honesty is not fully there. Patience pays. It pays to be patient. Education takes time. The marathon is a longer race, run at a slower but sure pace – but you will get there, even if you walk.

If you like to test your patience, sign up for this mint race! It promises a totally new scenic view.

Leadership Lessons: How patient can you be? When do you lose your patience? How do you apply your patience to your profession, recreation and relationships? 

Repositioning Yourself For Optimum Impact

What do road-bicycles, clothes, and shoes have in common? Clue: The F- word.

Fit! How equipment or attire feels next to your skin and sinews are important. Given time, improperly fitted gear will provide physical feedback. Abrasions, calluses, cuts, cramps, numbness and muscular fatigue can hold you back from your full ability to perform physically. Comfort reigns; carelessness pains.

My conversations with runners and triathletes recently yielded interest in reducing fatigue, and warding off debilitating conditions like muscle cramps. I postulated that how you ride could seriously impact on how you would run afterwards. My friend Barney Tee strongly states: ‘The ride determines the run!’

Muscles used for cycling & running are similar, however the exact focus is different. There are strong reasons why you should not pre-exhaust them with bad techniques. Power your way through the ride, yet save your calves and hamstrings for the run.

I have adjusted my cleat position on my riding shoes and I have kept my calves released (not so tensed) during my run. Now, I ride more neutral with my feet parallel to the ground when I pedal. Find your best feet forward. Re-position your cleats onto your soles of your bike-shoes at the joint of your forefoot. You can mark it out with a silver-coloured permanent marker. Better style, get a bike fit done by a certified professional.

In sports, I strongly believe that rehabilitation is the foundation of performance. You cannot train hard if you are injured. Heal before you reveal. Reposition you body by seeking experts like physiotherapist, chiropractors, and body coaches. Yoga, Pilates and core stability work help to align our spine, enhance joint integrity and usher in muscular strength and power. Move about when you can and stop playing prisoner to your chair!

Leadership Lessons: Deliver to your audience’s needs. Tailor your material exactly. Express, then impress. Dress for the part – impressions matter. Speak with authority, commitment and conviction. How do you position your leadership style for greater influence? How do you spread your personal values around your team, department and organisation?

Leadership Branding (Redux)

We have spent the past two years of this blog focused on your unique brand of leadership – be it, direct or indirect approaches. To lead others around you is to express and assert your influence.

What about leadership branding? How do you brand your leadership? Applying Philip Kotler’s principles of marketing, what are your Promotions, Product, Place and Price? How about brand equity, brand value, brand positioning, managing brands, and rebranding? Leadership is about solving, serving, and supporting. Each dimension of your leadership style and philosophy has sub-sets to them, to which I propose: Positioning, Purpose, Prediction, and Providence (if all else doesn’t work – pray!).

Reeves Lim Leong of INGENS – a consultancy for branding and marketing research – offers us his professional perspectives:

1) Soft power. The ability to exert power and authority yet maintain the respect of brand followers. This is a principle from philosopher Lao Tzu.

2) Empowerment. Brand leadership empowers people to take their destiny into their own hands.

3) Influence. Listens to people's needs and the brand reflects these in action and communications.

4) Reproduction. Ability to reproduce and energise brand ideas and make it larger than the originators. Social networking empowers this form of idea virus or reproduction.

5) Love Leadership. I am sure you are quite familiar with this. A leadership brand takes people's love for life and exudes it. It allows for leadership that steers through the very same conduit.

Leadership Lessons: How will you express your leadership brand? What do you do to re-brand your style of leadership? How do position yourself around others? How will you lead with purpose?

Scenes From A Race: A Photo-Log of Self-Discovery

I was intensely fortunately that many friends and acquaintances took photographs of me during yesterday’s Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore triathlon. Here is a sampling of the many great action shots from these immensely talented shutterbugs. Photography can be described as accidental blink, or an artistic form of stalking – depending on your sense of humour. The following is my blog-roll of appreciation to the sun-kissed, digital publishers for yester-morning. High-5 to you!

Photo-credit: Dave Poh

Photo-credit: Richard Leong

Photo-credit: David Tay

Photo-credit: Tomoya Tsurata

Photo-credit: Agatha Susila

Photo-credit: Grace Li Hui Koeppen

Photo-credit: Raymond Croc Borromeo

I intend to replace one of these photos for my blog; perhaps, have a rotating series every month as suggested by one reader. Race photographers surely know how to make us look good, and they are some of our ardent supporters. Because of these visual captures, I was called a ‘poster boy’ – not too shabby for a middle-age, amateur, triathlete.

Race-day is an event to test the plan. That is where the training is supposed to fall into place. Yet, plans do go awry and results may vary (sounds like a disclaimer for a weight-loss advertisement). You discover aspects of racing which training did not reveal. You also learn about managing disappointments and doing damage control. However, photographic evidence reveals a lot about the inner workings of the human mind and heart as you proceed in the race. Unless you have a mirror of how you look, you may be unaware of what happens at that moment when you were photographed. Did you hesitate, doubt yourself, or consider giving up? When you smiled, did your mantra work? When you acknowledged the spectators beside you, were you optimistic, enthusiastic, intrigued or appreciative?

Here is a report of a fellow endurance athlete who paid tribute to his wife for his race.

Leadership Lessons: When was the last time you raced for a cause? Think of a plan, and execute the plan. Let your actions do your talking. Were you aware and alert to your surroundings when you were focused on an important task?