Take the Lead To Inscribe and Describe

Writing is part of the trilogy of communication mystery. The other two are speaking and reading. Mastery of language involves the relationship of visual, auditory and kinesthetic, which is to see, hear and feel. When we write, we do more than communicate our message – we also express ourselves through personalities and writing styles.

Writing can be therapeutic, so it has been prescribed as writing therapy. Just writing down our thoughts and feelings can help us refocus, feel better and gain better clarity.

With audio-books, we can hear the author speak their written words. It lends another dimension to the medium of ‘the written word’.

You can be a better writer by reading regularly and extensively. This can go beyond reading the newspapers. Increase your knowledge base with bestselling books, journals, literature, letters and essays. Take every opportunity to write properly and with clear intention. Write your best even on Social Media 2.0.

Here are a few books that I am reading, and will follow up with book reviews.

This book (by bestselling author, Steven Johnson) is about the history of innovation and the evolution of thinking, through cross-disciplinary linkages. Reeves Lim presented this book to me as a gift as part of our collaborative research into corporate innovation and innovative practices.

This is an inspiring read about strengthening relationships through challenges and hardship. I met the authors, Sue & Andrew O’Brien at the Gold Coast Marathon in July and they are also keynote speakers.

This is one of my favourite authors on magic – Jamy Ian Swiss. I attended a magic workshop with him in 2004, and he is a critical thinker, honest book critic and a literary writer. This is his latest book on the performance and art of magic.

All the books are available through Amazon.com

Give More Ka-Pow With the Power of Wow!

Conventional wisdom and practice suggests that we ‘catch people doing wrong’. That’s right – pounce on them when they commit errors, err, and live their erroneous ways. Right?

There are ways. Seek the road that leads to your results, or take the road less travelled. Blame and shame, are two ways; proclaim and name, are another two ways. One empowers, while the other robs you of your enthusiasm, motivation and eagerness to perform better.

How do we empower people? Empower means ‘to give power’. How much empowerment have you given lately? Empowerment requires that we give up part of our authority and still retain the responsibility. We do not absolve ourselves of the responsibility – comes with the title and role.

Do like what two-time cancer survivor, Sean Swarner did – empower yourself through others!

Perhaps, encourage others through their performance may be just as useful. Here are several ways to do it:

1)    Write a recognition note with a specific example (evidence of feedback).

2)    Post a story of what your team did well on your company’s intranet. Most intranet portals are under-utilised and, predictably, become digital white horses through time. Apply positive Facebook enthusiasm when you post.

3)    Submit a report of the success story in your corporate newsletter; twist your editor’s arm to get the story in. Make a pitch for space. Print newsletters have a certain permanence that online versions don’t.

4)    Spread a success story over the social media platform: tweet, blog, or submit a Facebook announcement.

5)    Give a WOW-cher (voucher) today! That is a special note that announces to the person what you appreciate about them. Allow them to trade that note for a gift.

6)    Re-gift. Give somebody a present of an unused item (not things you intend to toss out). Avoid returning them their gift to you.

The downside of a lack of recognition extends to former-champions and national sports athletes who have been ignored after injury prematurely ended their career.

Leadership Lesson: Take care of others who have provided and assisted, in our past. Be grateful for small things. No small gesture of kindness is too small to be ignored. Demonstrate your sense of gratitude to another person.

Mapping Your Week on Monday

Monday does not need to be coloured the traditional black or blue. We have so easily bruised it with our off-coloured perceptions. This day has been tainted with the premise of contusions where staff tenderly look forward only to Fridays – TGIF.

How would you like to look at Monday and the rest of the week with relish? Be careful what you wish for. The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy can turn your perceptions into reality. If you believe that this week would be long and arduous a climb for you, then it just might be one. We have the natural, neurological, ability to imagine whichever scenarios may turn out. Having worked last weekend in the Middle East, I viewed Monday as mid-week instead of the start of something unpleasant. You can reprogram your thoughts to be more positive.

Do you plan your week? Do you have a clear and big picture of how you will spend your valuable time with people, activities and tasks?

Get a fresh page of your journal and jot down what you would like to accomplish this week. List down the main tasks from the mundane to the must-do to the marvelous. The best part of having a list is to ‘tick it off’ after you have completed a task. It is like playing teacher, marking students’ scripts.

Consider the early part of the week as preparing for the weekend’s adventures and challenges. Steven Covey touted in his famous book ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ to ‘Begin with the end in mind.’ This weekend, I will teach a half-day workshop, and officiate an event (at *Scape Park) as part of my volunteer duties for the Singapore Sports Council.

Yesterday, I ran in a half-marathon and today was spent running errands and enjoying moments of reflection the race. I reviewed what I have gathered and experienced during my race, as well as the solid data I uploaded onto the GarminConnect website. I evaluated my efforts and determined the relevance of my tactics that led to my satisfying finish. Even if the race route was botched due to professional ignorance and my carelessness, I still considered it a very good training day. It was memorable because I ran alongside my friends and acquaintances, with very good runners and champions. Thanks to Poon who believed that I could set the race pace for him – I did, at least, for a while as the data showed.

As clichéd as it may sound: ‘Not everyday is a Sunday.’ This is because today and this moment matter as much as any other day. Enjoy your week with a sense of purpose.

Leadership Lesson: Plan how you would use your week; lead with your time. 

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.

When One Door Closes, Another Opens

This morning, I taught my class the final module of a personal leadership workshop. Their mood was positive and they were highly participative of the physical challenges that I posed them, and highly engaging with my questions. Perhaps, the finale of any performance, experience or process deserves a sense of celebration. And, we did celebrate in fun style as I taught them a fun cheer, with dance choreography and lyrics.

Despite having their last three sessions on a Saturday morning, it was so easy for my students to complain about having their weekends affected. However, it also stands to reason that by attending these sessions, they also created opportunities in spite of potential losses to their recreation and pastime. The choices are simple (although not easy): to learn, or learn to live with it.

All good things come to an end, clichéd as it may sound. So does suffering, unless you decide to prolong it. Suffering may test your mettle or some value like perseverance, persistence or tenacity however it may not build on other positive qualities. There is no crime to enjoy your life, and derive some sense of pleasure or satisfaction out of it.

My friend asked me: ‘What is the opposite of hate?’ I answered, albeit superficially, ‘Hate.’ He corrected me: ‘Indifference.’ Indifference is about not caring, and that can be a form of suffering we do not want to enchain ourselves to. The world will always have ‘haters’ and their sole purpose in life is to hate things and sow their seeds of discord. However, there are other choices of behaviors if we choose to exercise them. Learn to appreciate things in a different light. How long can haters disagree and resist before they tire of themselves?

Attempt to open doors, or even windows of our minds. There is always a window of opportunity if we are patient enough, or bold enough. Ask, and you may get. Don’t ask and you’ll never get or know.

I am glad I asked a few questions and made requests. I haven’t received any ‘no’s yet, and that is the optimism I create and positivism I tap on. Sometimes, a possibility is enough impetus and motivation to set the wheels in motion.

Onward!

Leadership Lessons: When was the last time you opened doors for yourself, professionally? How long did you hesitate when there was a window of opportunity, before you lost the chance? How do you keep you mind open to possibilities? Who have you been indifferent to lately?

Post-GCM 2011 Scenes

Here are more photographs, mainly after the Gold Coast Marathon 2011. Spectators will be directed towards their recovery stations, and then collect their medals and t-shorts, before they join the post-race festivities.

Immediately upon crossing the line, volunteers offer you water and oranges. This volunteer was a cheerful and inviting. By they way, I polished the remainder of my High-5 energy gels in my single dispensing-bottle.

Before you leave the finishing-point, you will collect your well-earned race-tee and beautiful medal. 

Volunteers assist you in taking your race-chip (actually a mini-credit card) from your laces. My volunteer struggled to get my quick-laces off, but ironically, it took a while.

The Race Pacers (from PatCarollOnline.com) were brilliant! Spot-on in their timing. They were the selfless, real leaders during the run. If you got a PB, you would thank them profusely.

The sponsor tent: you wait to be offered stuff, or you help yourself. No worries! I love their abundant attitude - not much abuse by runners and their families to take more than needed. Sponsor, SunCorp Bank gave stuff away, and we sat on the large groundsheet for a while, enjoying the 'live' band, short-but-to-the-point awards ceremony, and 'live' race report on the giant screen. Great coverage of a state-organised, but international event.

We could not resist taking this shot of the birds, who were painfully shy and attempted to slip away.


Photo-credits: Melina Chan, 2011

TGIF: 20 Things That You’ll Do Once In Your Lifetime*

1)    Bungy jump from a bridge (literally, jump off a bridge).

2)    Parachute from a plane in tandem.

3)    Ride a unicycle or pogo-stick (or was it a unicorn?).

4)    Win it big in a lottery (wishful thinking?).

5)    Go to Disneyland or a similar theme park for adults.

6)    Participate in a marathon (running, films, dancing).

7)    Eat a 12-course meal that includes creatures that used to walk, crawl or slither.

8)    Have a huge hangover (too much Red Bull and coffee) and live to regret it (and do it all over again).

9)    Get married in Las Vegas (or more often, if you need the practice).

10) Phone in sick, after you watched a marathon of films.

11) Burn a candle at both ends (?).

12) Eat hot tom yum soup in Phuket (the way locals love it) before your triathlon race.

13) Swim with the sharks without being eaten alive.

14) Swim in the sea during jellyfish season, and live to tell.

15) Write your book.

16) Take part in the Amazing Race. Get your partner to do the physical challenges, while you do the food challenges.

17) Ride on a wild animal.

18) Go white-water rafting.

19) Seat yourself in First Class of your favourite airline (upgrades allowed).

20) Join a secret society (but you can't tell anyone).

*This is a partial parody. Therefore, this is not to be taken too seriously. However, should you wish to consider any one of these suggestions, then what you will seriously do to ensure that it happens?

Leadership Lessons: It would be nice to joke about things. However, when a seed of suggestion has been planted, then it may germinate into a possibility. Possibility requires the fertile soil of purpose and planning to grow into reality. If you read about the parable of the seeds, you would be reminded of how environmental conditions matter if you want to ensure success in initiating and engaging things.

Classics Regain Popularity

I was at Borders tonight, and checked out their top-100 bestselling books. Interestingly, at least eight out of the top-40 books were classic literature books. They included The Little Prince, Wuthering Heights, A Tale of Two Cities, Catcher In the Rye, Lolita, Animal Farm, War & Peace, and The Great Gatsby. I surmise also that these are still standard text for secondary school students, since some of these still bore the Penguin Publishing label.

I bought a new running book ‘Barefoot Running Step By Step’ by Barefoot Ken, whom I got to ‘know’ via Christopher McDougall’s book ‘Born To Run’. Apparently, running in Vibram Five Fingers minimalist shoes is still not exactly, anatomically correct as nature intended us to. That is, running forefoot is not exact to running unshod, with your bare feet. I will post a review shortly.

The other book by David Linden is called ‘Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good’ and it focuses on the neurology of the human brain, and how it develops addictions and preferences for food, exercise, sensations and chemicals.

Perhaps, old is not new but classical. We love traditional Coca-Cola, but rename it Classic Coke; we expressed how we hated the New Coke by not purchasing it. We are indulging in back- to-nature holidays, so that we can return to our roots. We are strongly immersed in Tradition, and this was what Faith Popcorn predicted as one of the future trends in consumerism. From cooked to raw, from processed to the least processed, and from complex to simplicity.

Would you consider a full body workout in less than six minutes? Combine two classical compound exercises together within a short timeframe. Doing more with less is the way to go these days.

Leadership Lessons: How much of tradition do you carry with you in your business? How often do you review the way you do things, from mundane tasks to complex processes? Do you reference the classical texts for ideas to lead people and run your business? Here are the downsides of traditions.

Being Musically-Inclined and Manipulating Musical Chairs

‘Music can soothe the savage beast.’

I spent most of my second flight home last night (from Dubai to Singapore) listening to music albums. I focused on the British #1 hits of the years 1980-2010. I caught some shut-eye whilst I was at it, and the collections looped to allow repetition. I now have a knowledgeable compendium of new performers and their smash hits. I am now on a first-name relationship with Bruno Mars, B.o.B. (aka Bobby Ray), DJ David Aguetta, Paramore (with Hayley Williams) and Cee Lo Green. Rap-artist and songwriter, B.0.B. would be in Singapore on 3 August to perform an-hour’s concert at the Hard Rock Hotel on Sentosa Island. His song ‘Airplane (featuring Hayley William and Eminem) was a hit.

Touch-screen monitors make it easier to manipulate the menu of entertainment systems. The competitive edge that airlines bring to the business of in-fight entertainment includes latest film releases, wider selection (and more episodes) of television hits, music, radio, games and news. Certainly, having Internet access onboard empowers the digital denizens who are independent in their search for intellectual self-gratification.

Thanks to Yasser of UAE for recommending this link of musical duo, Karmin Covers. They both appeared on The Ellen Show – a platform for many new stars including Clarice Pempangco – and their YouTube video (of a cover song by Chris Brown) garnered over-26 million views! Amy can rap and play the guitar very well; that’s her fiancé, Nick playing the keyboards and box.

It has been Day 10 of the Tour. For the TDF-challenged, aka Tour De France, here is a good source of education. There was lots of drama in the last ten days including thrill and dangerous spills. A French TV van was banned after it threw riders off the road.

Smorgasbord Syndrome

I read about the term ‘smorgasbord syndrome’ in a leading leisure magazine; it was part of a book review of ‘The Good Enough Diet’ (Wrightbooks).

According to the authors, we tend to overeat when there is variety. Variety is not the spice of life when it comes to eating. A buffet spread or smorgasbord can be threatening to your weight watching, since most people like to partake in a bit of everything. Since I have paid for it, they reason, why not eat everything I can? So, we witness weightwatchers anonymous weigh in with plates piled high with food. In the same book, the authors conclude that occasional bouts of incidental exercise, like stair-climbing or walking to talk to colleagues may be ineffective.

In watching your calories, predictability may be more useful in that we tend to eat less of that which is familiar. The economic law of diminishing returns asserts that subsequent servings of the same meal leads to reduced interest through time. We can learn to hate our favourite foods – really. People do develop phobic responses to a certain food when they suffer gastrointestinal distress. A bad stomach leads to fearful responses associated with the same food. It is akin to ‘guilty by association’.

Leadership Lessons: Do you take more on your plate than you can handle? Do you have too many irons in the fire? How aware are you of impending burnout? Do you push compulsive and impulsive work behaviors on others?