21 2018 1 · famous line in Rocky Balboa goes, “You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life....

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Manfred Kets De Vries is the distinguished professor of Leadership Development

& Organisational Change at INSEAD and the

Programme Director of The Challenge of Leadership,

one of INSEAD’s Executive Development Programmes.

To share your thoughts on this thought-provoking

article, email us at [email protected].

TO create responsible leaders of the future, business schools need to adopt a more holistic

approach to education.Regardless of where they are in

the globe, a common theme running through the mission statements of top business educational institutions (and INSEAD is no exception) is the commitment to develop responsible, thoughtful leaders who will create value for their organisations and ultimately their communities.

In addition, through their research, business schools claim that they seek to expand the frontiers of knowledge and influence business practice.

Lofty goals. But are they really being achieved?

To what degree are business educators helping to transform individuals, and improve and influence business practice?

Are we, as management professors, really doing research to help these business communities?

Or have we created two separate worlds: one for business researchers, while the other is the real world of business? To what extent is knowledge produced for other academics?

And shouldn’t institutions instead spend more time helping business leaders realise what it means to be a leader?

Finding the balance

Too many business schools – and I am thinking of the many scandals that can be read in the newspapers – have produced leaders who derailed badly.

Obviously, asking our students to take some classes in business ethics is not good enough.

The fault-lines in management education are deep and may be invisible at first sight. Of course, management theory and practice can – in theory – work hand-in-hand.

Unfortunately, all too often, academic studies are “lost before translation” – based on theoretical ideas that may be irrelevant to practice.

I cannot emphasise strongly enough that the development of leaders – and here, I refer to the development of thoughtful, responsible leaders – is not limited to the simple transfer of a set of skills. On the contrary.

Going back to the core issues, business schools need to help students find the right balance between being successful, and living a relatively happy life.

And to help students to feel better in their skin, we may need to dwell

Business EducationFinding the right balance in its approach

on such relatively intangible, but very personal matters as how to manage their envy, how to practise forgiveness, and how to express gratitude.

Business schools can learn from faculty like Dominique Héau, a much beloved INSEAD professor, associate dean, programme director, and board member who is no longer with us. Dominique truly empowered the people whom he taught.

Many had an “Aha! Experience” when they were in his classes. He cared greatly and he knew how to get the best out of his students and his colleagues.

Through his energy, intelligence, integrity and dedication to education, he was the kind of leader who inspired others to become leaders.

He was a person who cared about others and who recognised that to be truly transformational, business schools need to support soft skills – helping executives become effective in dealing with the more irrational parts of organisational life – and not merely a production centre of “insecure overachievers”.

A holistic approach to business education

Six hundred years before Christ, the first sage of Greece, Thales of Miletus was asked what was the most difficult thing in the world.

The answer was to “know thyself”. It was also the message written above the ancient temple of Apollo in Delphi.

Keeping this statement in mind, in my work I sometimes refer to the three Cs in the development of leaders.

By MANFRED KETS DE [email protected]

What I mean is that to create these reflective, thoughtful, responsible leaders, we need to develop people with Confidence. We need to develop people who have the Courage of their opinions. And we need to develop people who are able to engage in Critical thinking.

Essentially, for the sake of sustainability, we need to develop leaders who are able to look beyond short-term returns; leaders who are concerned about the common good and who are aware of the societal impact of their actions.

Unfortunately, the right side of the brain – the part responsible for more intuitive processes – is too often not stimulated in business schools.

As a result, too many students remain deficient as far as their emotional intelligence is concerned.

Food for thought

Perhaps it’s time business schools asked themselves, ‘Do we have a holistic approach to business education or are we merely training technocrats?

And shouldn’t these concerns be embedded in each faculty member’s educational strategy?

Shouldn’t they be able to transcend narrow concerns about the transfer of purely technical skills?

And to take this concern a step further: Shouldn’t we, as faculty, make much more of an effort to develop people of character?

The most effective leaders are able to both act and reflect. These individuals not only run, they also take the time to ask themselves where they are going and why.

To revitalise your organisation’s leadership potential for positive change through Leaderonomics’ “Character-wise Leadership” programme, write to us at [email protected] to find out how.

Ask any leader and they will readily agree that self-awareness is critical to success; yet many are not aware of their real strengths or areas of development. The deeper the self-awareness obtained, the greater the leader. Do you know who you are? Check out this article on Leaderonomics.com: bit.ly/RTwhoareyou

Shouldn’t we, as faculty, make

much more of an effort to

develop people of character?


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Facing FailureIt can either cripple you or drive you forward

ELON Reeve Musk – the tech virtuoso who founded PayPal, and the brains behind SpaceX

and Tesla – is worth over USD19bil (as of April 2018).

As a serial entrepreneur, Elon Musk seems to be coming up with new ideas to help him realise his vision: to change the world for the betterment of humanity.

Musk has been described as a “real-life Tony Stark” (of Iron Man fame). Many of his ideas, initially dismissed as dreams by sceptics and doubters, have been transformed into reality – most of which are centred on technological advances that have and will continue to transform the way we interact with the world.

It might look like Musk has led a charmed life and is now enjoying the fruits of his labour, born from a genetically-gifted brilliance that most of us would love to have.

The reality couldn’t be further from the perception.

As with many success stories, the South African-born Canadian American billionaire navigated countless failures, setbacks and tragedies as he persevered through his journey towards success.

The early years

As a studious youngster, Musk always had his nose buried in books and was fascinated by computers.

His lack of social skills marked him out as an easy target for bullies and, during one confrontation, he was thrown down a staircase before being beaten up. As a result, he sustained an injury that continues to affect his

breathing to this day.Despite his troubled childhood

and awkward personality, he went on to receive degrees in economics and physics from Wharton School of Business.

He applied for a job at Netscape – a renowned tech company then – but failed to get a response. Undeterred, he visited the Netscape offices, but returned home without having spoken to anyone... because he was too shy.

He went on to co-found Zip2 with his brother – a software company that provided business details – and was later tossed out of the company by his own board, who felt that he lacked sufficient experience to be a successful chief executive officer (CEO).

Later, he founded what would become PayPal and was yet again thrown out, following an argument with the chief technology officer at the time.

If these early setbacks weren’t enough to crush Musk, he suffered a near-death experience after contracting cerebral malaria during a holiday in South Africa.

The disease left him with a one-in-five chance of survival, and saw the entrepreneur lose a lot of weight as he battled desperately for his life.

He recovered eventually, but

the incident had a profound, transformative effect on Musk’s outlook on life: nothing was going to stop him from achieving his dreams.

Never giving up

Even with his renewed sense of purpose and strength of spirit, life had more heartaches in store for Musk. He and his then wife tragically lost their first son, who died at just 10 weeks of age.

Understandably, he never talks about the devastating experience and we can barely imagine how much he and his wife at the time must have went through.

With both Tesla and SpaceX, he has been hit by crises that would cripple the determination of the most seasoned business leaders.

The first three launches of SpaceX famously failed, leaving investors apprehensive to say the least about the company’s viability and Musk’s vision of reducing space transportation costs.

With just enough money for one more launch, the fourth attempt was a success and led to Musk winning a billion-dollar contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (or NASA).

These are just some of the difficulties Musk has faced along the way in his journey to realising his dreams.

During an interview with 60 Minutes, he was asked whether he thought about giving up following the three failed SpaceX attempts.

Without missing a beat, he replied, “Never.”

When pressed further, he said, “I don’t ever give up. I mean, I’d have to

be dead or completely incapacitated [to give up].”

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

Musk’s story is extraordinary for all kinds of reasons.

Musk’s story shows how we can achieve extraordinary successes if we develop the resilience to bounce back from all the curve balls life throws at us and believe in our passion to such an extent that nothing can stop us from finding an outlet for that passion to thrive.

I have been fortunate to have met and worked with some amazingly passionate and successful people throughout my professional life, and every single one of these people share one trait in common: they just don’t quit.

Now, don’t get me wrong. That doesn’t mean they never change course when necessary: sometimes, certain avenues will simply lead to dead ends despite even the best efforts.

However, this doesn’t stop passionate people; all it means is having to find another way to reach their goal.

When they meet an obstacle, they go around it, over it or through it: what they never do is lose belief in their passion and their purpose.

Tying it together

If ever you find yourself stuck in a rut or facing a huge obstacle that attempts to end your endeavour of whatever you want to achieve, just remember that there is always a way around: even for the biggest challenges.

Nothing can keep you down if you refuse to allow it.

All of us face challenges in pursuing our dreams. But, as the famous line in Rocky Balboa goes, “You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

Be a leader!

By ROSHAN [email protected]

Roshan Thiran is the CEO of Leaderonomics – a social enterprise working to transform lives through leadership development and nurturing potential. Connect with Roshan on Facebook at bit.ly/LdrRTfb, Twitter @lepaker or LinkedIn for more insights into business, personal development, and leadership. If you would like to engage Leaderonomics for your organisational needs, drop us an email at [email protected].

If more of us can be open about our failures and show how they helped to lead us to where we are today, perhaps we will come to realise that failure isn’t the end of the world but simply a stepping stone along the path of self-knowledge and learning. Let’s remember that failure is not a bug in life. Check out this article on Leaderonomics.com at: bit.ly/2na4pSI

Watch this video on The Leaderonomics Show as Denis Waitley shares some of his life’s key crucible moments where he found fulfilment and personal success even in the midst of volatility at home, finances and in relationships by creating a life based on the belief that the power of the mind can overcome almost any obstacle: bit.ly/TLSdeniswaitley

When they meet an obstacle, they go around

it, over it or through it: what they never do is lose belief in their

passion and their purpose.

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

– Robert F. Kennedy

“The phoenix must burn to emerge.”

– Janet Fitch

“If something is important enough you should try, even if the probable outcome is failure.”

– Elon Musk

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing.”

– Denis Waitley


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Jesper is a thought leader who works to

transform businesses in the digital world and

economy. To engage with him, email us at editor@

leaderonomics.com.

I have led transformation projects for over 20 years – across most industries – from the start of the

Internet and the world wide web, to today’s digital disruption. And each era in between.

All of them hold one thing in common: new technology – which drives new behaviour; which leads to change.

Each new technology attracts its early evangelists. Doom and gloom are upon us unless we adopt the new technology immediately.

In the early 2000s, aggressive software vendors proclaimed e-commerce was essential to survival. But only today is it becoming true.

Apps are another good example. A couple of years ago, they were deemed important as they heralded a new era of process mobilisation.

Today, the business app economy is decreasing because apps limit the customer experience. And not everyone wants their device cluttered with apps.

While e-commerce took more than 15 years to mature, apps only took four to five years.

How critical is digital disruption? In August 2016, I gave a keynote at

the World Forum Disrupt in Sydney. The keynote that stood out to me was presented by the Australian retailer

theiconic.com.au. They have designed and built a digital business from the ground up: connecting analytics with customer journeys to create a compelling, multi-channel customer experience.

This creates a sustainable competitive advantage. I have launched successful online retailers and know the power of an agile operating model and platform, and I know the disadvantage of running many different systems.

To me, this sums up the challenge of the digital disruption and how critical it is. Or perhaps more apt: how different it is.

But how is it different? What makes a new economy business like theiconic.com.au and Airbnb flourish?

Because they think differently. Anyone can copy what they do. But not how they think. And this holds the key to their success.

The starting point is not the business you have right now, but the business you want to create if there were no barriers.

You need to ask the question: how does my business need to look like to thrive in change and disruption?

One thing it will certainly not be is, it won’t look like the current business. It is not about digitalising more of what is being done. It is not about running faster.

It is about re-imagining and re-designing the business to be agile

enough to operate in insane change and disruption.

What does this organisation look like?

It takes advantage of the full potential of digital:

• Speed: How fast a process can run. This has been the preoccupation since computers became commonplace.

• Scale: How fast a process can change and collaborate with other processes. The need for scale is a new phenomenon and is connected to the emerging ecosystem economy.

The problem in most businesses is the lack of ability to scale. This is a consequence of a continued focus on speed and automation.

Over time, it left businesses with many disintegrated systems with tightly integrated business processes. Non-agile and hard to change.

Why is scalability suddenly so important?

Because it provides growth at near zero cost. Scalability is about leveraging an ecosystem or network to create multipliers.

In the analogue world, the ratio is 1:1 but in the digital world, it can reach 1000:1.

Yet to achieve and sustain such a ratio requires an agile enterprise platform, purpose-built for the digital

world and economy. This is different to enterprise

systems that are designed to meet internal capability requirements.

Developing an enterprise platform Here are some guiding principles

for developing and sustaining your enterprise platform:

• Single source of truth: Core information is continuously updated and normalised.

• Customer value: Customer value propositions are clear and continuously updated.

• Continuous simplification and transformation: Core processes are continuously reviewed, challenged and decomposed.

• Narrow coupling of processes and system components: Multiple vendors preferred. Single technology or vendor dependence to be avoided.

• Interoperability: Processes and system components can easily inter-operate with other internal and external processes and systems via application programming interfaces.

The time for change is at hand This is different from the old

challenges of picking a new system to solve a problem. Because this time there is no new system to pick.

Indeed, the system is not part of the solution, it is part of the problem.

Are you an SME leader struggling to scale up your business? What’s preventing it from growing further? Here, Leaderonomics CEO Roshan Thiran shares his insights on four common business constraints faced by leaders after an initial business success: bit.ly/AskRTsmescale

Walt Disney was always an innovator. He found an approach with his three-chair exercise, “Imagineering”. To find out what it is all about, go to: bit.ly/BAL3chairs

Digital DisruptionEnterprise Systems vs Enterprise Platforms

By JESPER [email protected]


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EVERY time I speak or train at a different company, I am faced with the same response: “You

make presentations sound so simple. I get it, but how can I get buy-in from everyone else?”

Sound familiar?The goal of any presentation is to

influence your audience to act. Maybe you want your employees

to get on board with your new vision or idea, or to motivate your client towards a new outcome. You want to make them feel excited, inspired, and raring to go.

Yet nine out of ten times, at the end of a presentation, you’re probably met with blank faces or stifled yawns (if your audience hasn’t fled the room already).

So, what gives?

What’s your point? The problem that most of us trip

up on is that you need to think about the behaviour of your audience way before you even start talking.

You can only claim that you have a ‘winning presentation’ if your presentation achieves what you wanted it to achieve.

If your audience does what you want them to do; that they respond in the way you want them to respond, that’s a winner.

That is how you measure whether your presentation has been successful or not.

But all too often when I ask a speaker what the objective of their presentation is, they don’t know what it is.

Impactful PresentationHow to engage your audience and inspire them for change

They can’t tell me why they are presenting (other than because they’ve been told to) or what they want the audience to feel, act or do after they’ve seen the presentation.

You have to be 100% clear on what your purpose for your presentation is.

To identify your purpose, ask yourself:

1. What is your main message? You should have only one. Less

than 10% of a presentation is remembered, so if you start jamming in too many messages then you will lose your audience.

As communication expert Dianna Booher once said, “If you can’t write your message in a sentence, you can’t say it in an hour.”

2. What is your objective? Are you trying to educate your

audience, share results or sell them something? Again, you should only be doing one of these.

3. What are your audience’s needs? Do you have a clear understanding

of whom you are presenting to? What do you want them to think, act or feel after you present?

You must assess their beliefs, values and motivations. What makes them tick? Get into their shoes at the start, listen to them as you walk through the presentation and gather feedback at the end.

Be human The key challenge we face is that

the world is more competitive every day.

It is harder than ever to stand out

and be noticed; to communicate your point of view with the right people in the right way.

But there is one thing that is not going to help you, i.e. business or corporate jargon.

There is no more B2B (business-to-business) or B2C (business-to-customer) in today’s communication landscape. In fact, is has created unnatural, overcomplicated messages and solutions that people can’t engage with.

What the world needs today – your customers, clients, stakeholders and team members – is H2H (human-to-human): a natural connection through compelling visuals and emotional stories.

In business, we’ve been taught to

stick to the facts and to leave out any hint of emotion. Yet research proves that our decisions – whether we buy or buy-in to something – are influenced by our emotions.

Remember, people buy from people they like. So, you need to make your audience feel something towards you other than the urge to flee the room.

The best presenters are those who can use a combination of facts and emotions to explain a future goal that everyone wants to work towards.

Use images to create sadness, excitement, inspiration or even anger if it’s appropriate to your cause.

Pair these with infographics and diagrams that sum up your main points and data.

I’ve also seen people use videos successfully to create something that moves the heart strings and lingers for a long time in everyone’s memory.

When you share your vision and goals through compelling stories and slides, you reduce fear and instil confidence in your audience.

That’s when they will connect to a future they want to be a part of.

De-clutter and simplify Many of us believe that sharing

everything and anything, blinding our audience with numbers, is the best way to be transparent and open when it comes to a presentation.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. It will only put off the people you are trying to engage with and make them lose interest faster.

It’s more important to cut out all the clutter from your presentation.

A powerful presentation has content that is clear, easy to understand and uses simple language and images that connects and engages your audience through a balance of emotion and analytics.

Your audience will leave the presentation feeling different, i.e. inspired or excited to act on what you want them to do.

A poor presentation, on the other hand, has content that is overloaded with facts, statistics, numbers, corporate jargon and dense text.

It leaves the audience feeling confused and disengaged. They will leave the room with no idea of what to do next – except never attend one of your presentations again.

Be honest Be clear and honest in your

presentation. It’s also important not to cover up negative information or numbers.

Nothing turns your clients or customers off more than when you lie about your financial position.

You need to be future-focused and take ownership of any problems. Explain the steps you’re implementing to turn things around to minimise loss, and get your team involved to help with this, too.

Be open and transparent about where you are at right now, and what is involved in the journey to get where you are going – together.

Leave them inspired, not deflated like it is their fault.

To sum it up Bad slides and presentations are

used like a security blanket to hide things under.

So, start with small changes to your content and attitude, and stop hiding and hoping for the best. Your customers, clients and team members will respect you for that.

Yes, getting buy-in from your people really is as simple as that.

By EMMA [email protected]

Emma is passionate about presenting big, bold and beautiful ideas. She is the founder and CEO of Presentation Studio, and author of “Visual Thinking: How to transform the way you think, communicate and influence with presentations”. To connect with her, email us at [email protected].

Understanding business reality and how decisions help shape it is one vital step in becoming a great leader. Learning how to develop shared objectives between leaders and followers are great additional qualities. The Leadership Simulation Programme by Silega is a business simulation that helps participants unlock the hidden potential of their organisation and achieve sustainable growth. Contact [email protected] for more details.

Our body language plays a very important role in how people perceive us. It is also a very useful communication tool. Here are a few tips on how to make the best out of any situation. Go here: bit.ly/HPbodylanguage

The best presenters

are those who can

use a combination of

facts and emotions to

explain a future goal

that everyone wants

to work towards.


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Lauren Keys is the editor-in-chief at

DealCrunch.com, an online publication that

highlights the retail industry’s influential companies, up-and-

coming start-ups, business solutions, and more. Liked this article?

Share your thoughts with us at editor@

leaderonomics.com.

WHEN disruptive companies weave themselves into our daily lives like Apple, Amazon

and Google – they become the standard.

Once those brands become established, other companies try to improve their value propositions – carving out their own market share.

That is just the cycle of disruption, and the advantage always goes to the company that is prepared to sustain innovation over the long-term.

Apple, Amazon and Google have set themselves up for a long run of success because they’ve built disruption into their business models.

I’ve recognised some trends among the modern companies that have baked disruptive thinking into their brand, so let’s take a look at their successes and what that can mean for your business.

1. Redefining subscription as its own business model

While people once paid monthly for newspapers, magazines, and cable, subscription services have touched more parts of our daily lives in the past decade, especially as internet speeds increase.

Some companies have disrupted entire business models by turning everyday necessities into subscriptions and shipping products directly to consumers.

Birchbox led the charge in subscription services by bringing the beauty industry into the homes of women across the United States through monthly boxes of makeup, skincare and haircare products.

Dollar Shave Club’s success in delivering razors to consumers for a fraction of the price sold by major companies led to a major acquisition by Unilever.

Other companies have taken advantage of advancements in internet speeds and the proliferation of mobile devices to stream high-quality content for a monthly fee.

Pandora and Spotify found success with their streaming music subscription services, which provide listeners with access to millions of songs on demand.

And Netflix is a shining example of

the continued innovation it takes to sustain a disruptive business model.

It began with renting DVDs by mail, which disrupted the video rental industry and changed the fate of Blockbuster.

It introduced streaming services in 2007 and has built its reputation and library, even branching out into original content – to the delight of critics.

Netflix is now a contributor to the current cord-cutting phenomenon, which is profoundly impacting cable companies that charge premium prices.

2. Capitalising on consumer demand for convenience

As the consumer definition of convenience has shifted, businesses are finding new ways to interact with and serve customers more seamlessly.

For instance, anyone who has booked a hotel knows it isn’t always an intuitive, cost-effective or pleasant experience.

Airbnb became a disruptor in the industry by improving that experience, offering local rooms in homes or apartments at significant savings for the traveller – and profit for the host.

Meanwhile, e-commerce pioneer, Amazon, has always been focused on making shopping convenient by placing the nearly 500 million products in its marketplace at the fingertips of consumers.

The company has continually innovated convenience with services, including Amazon Prime, granting members access to free two-day shipping on millions of products plus streaming video and music libraries.

But, Amazon is also bringing its disruption to the brick-and-mortar space.

Amazon Go is the company’s foray into grocery stores, with a model that allows shoppers to walk in, select items, and walk out, while their Amazon account is charged for the items without friction points like checkout lines.

3. Providing more efficient communication and collaboration

As the world becomes more

connected, both socially and in business, some disruptors have focused on fostering those connections through technology.

Business collaboration is no longer confined to email chains and PowerPoint presentations, which is why Dropbox found success making teamwork faster through its dynamic file-sharing platform. It enhances access, participation and productivity.

Dropbox caters to individuals, too, allowing users to store and share photos, videos, and documents with friends and family members easily.

Skype has innovated more personal types of communication. Beginning as a peer-to-peer internet voice platform, Skype exploded as a popular network for both individuals and businesses. It has continued to innovate – through video chat, conferencing, and messaging.

Communication and collaboration are constantly evolving, and any platform that is popular now may look completely different in five years, so constant innovation – while staying responsive to current customer needs – is vital.

4. Building in gamification helps increase engagement

As new and established companies look to engage consumers, gamification has entered the business lexicon.

Gamification involves integrating elements of gaming into an application or interface – like points, rewards, competition, or an overall engaging experience.

Established companies, like Starbucks, have introduced rewards systems that encourage users to visit the store and buy certain items to earn points for future purchases.

Target introduced its Cartwheel app as a way to engage in-store shoppers by making savings more interactive and to build customer loyalty.

Other companies, like Tinder, began with gamification in mind. For those unfamiliar with how Tinder works, it’s the dating app that introduced the swiping phenomenon.

By focusing on the experience first, Tinder built an engaging interface where matching with other singles feels much like any game would on a

mobile device, but with the goal of meeting someone new.

That type of disruptive engagement – and payoff – is what many companies are already trying to replicate in one way or another.

5. Transforming retail leads to changes in transportation

While the transportation industry is slated for huge changes with autonomous driving technologies being developed, some companies have already changed the way we think about getting around.

Through its technology, Uber [Grab has acquired Uber’s Southeast Asian business in March 2018] has transformed the task of summoning a ride into an easy, affordable proposition.

Through its mobile app, users can request a ride and choose a vehicle based on luxury level and fare for their destination, a vast improvement on the previous taxi model.

And as people are starting to consider whether owning a car is even worth it, Zipcar can give them the benefits of using a car without all of the hassles of owning one.

Tying it together The best innovation strategy for

business is self-disruption.All of these products and services

are aimed at affecting the lives of consumers today but they started out as disruptive ideas that were ahead of their time.

To stay relevant, companies must adapt and evolve – which means finding new ways to disrupt the economy and recapture market share.

That’s why even the biggest companies – like Apple, Amazon and Google – are focused on self-disruption.

Disruptive companies anticipate consumer needs and seek solutions to problems that may not have even fully developed into pain points yet.

To truly thrive, a company must always focus on the customer experience, which includes devoting resources to solving future problems – or they will find themselves the victims of disruption.

Almost everything we do in today’s business world involves one risk or another: customer habits change, new competitors appear, markets get saturated and strategies fail. Formal risk analysis can help you assess the risk factors and suggest solutions to minimise disruptions to your business plans. It will also help you to decide whether the strategies you apply to control risks are cost-effective. Leaderonomics has suitable risk management programmes that can help your business achieve the above. Drop us an email at [email protected] to find out more.

Innovation only happens in the right environment, one where everyone is allowed to innovate, speak up and bring new ideas to the table. This sound like common sense, but it is far from common practice. Check out these tips on how leaders can kickstart an innovation culture into their company DNA: bit.ly/PJinnovationculture

A Force For Good5 ways disruption has changed the world

By LAUREN [email protected]


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IF someone handed you a sledgehammer and told you to start smashing your company’s products,

would you do it? That’s exactly what Haier chief

executive officer (CEO) Zhang Ruimin did to prove a point to his employees.

That was the first in a long line of radical decisions that have transformed the company from a fledgling refrigerator maker to the world’s No. 1 appliance manufacturer – and kept it there.

Haier has managed to consistently grow year after year for more than three decades by doing what its competitors can’t or won’t: taking an uncommon stand, expanding and diversifying, unleashing the power of employee entrepreneurs, and encouraging internal competition.

Take an uncommon stand When Haier started, it was one of

about 300 refrigerator manufacturers in China, most of which were making low-quality products that they sold inexpensively.

But Zhang believed consumers would be willing to pay more money for high-quality, reliable products.

Zhang instilled this focus in his employees immediately by handing out sledgehammers and having them personally destroy appliances that didn’t meet quality requirements.

“They finally understood that I

wasn’t going to sell just anything, like my competitors would,” said Zhang.

“It had to be the best.”By shifting their focus to quality

and dependability – something no other refrigerator maker in China was focusing on at that time – Haier was averaging 83% sales growth by their second year in business.

By the late 1990s, China had an over-saturation of refrigerators. While competitors slashed their prices to compensate, Haier went the other direction and raised its prices – and the risk paid off.

Consumers were willing to pay a premium because by this point, they recognised Haier as a brand that would deliver high-end, quality products.

When your competitors zag, you can only differentiate yourself with a zig.

What uncommon strategic stand is your company taking?

Expand and diversify By 1991, Haier’s positioning as a

quality-focused company was proving successful, as they had become China’s top refrigerator manufacturer. The next step in their growth was to expand and diversify.

By the mid-1990s, the company had opened production facilities in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Around the same time, Zhang began to acquire other companies. He looked for appliance businesses in China that had strong products and markets but weak leadership that he believed could be fixed by bringing in excellent managers.

Zhang found what he was looking for, assuming control of an air-conditioning plant, a freezer factory, and a washing machine company.

Haier now has additional factories throughout the United States (US), Europe, Asia and Africa, and is the world’s leading appliance manufacturer.

In 2016, Haier Group acquired General Electric’s appliance division for USD5.6bil to help build a stronger presence in the US appliance market.

After you have proven your uncommon stand is working, how will

you expand and diversify?

Unleash the power of employee entrepreneurs

Haier is adopting a model for its enterprise that we believe will define which organisations will thrive in the future.

The company considers itself a platform company. But while standard platform companies – like Li & Yung – coordinate action among outside suppliers, buyers and other stakeholders, Haier has become a platform to its own internal units located around the world.

“After the arrival of the Internet, we realised that under this triangular hierarchical structure, people had a difficult time adapting to the requirements of the times,” said Zhang. “

So, we reorganised ourselves as an entrepreneurial platform.”

Haier’s employees are considered “micro-entrepreneurs” and are broken up into 3,000 “micro-enterprises” that act like start-ups.

Each unit is centred around an innovative idea or product and behaves as an independent business within Haier.

The micro-enterprises are small and nimble, allowing them to quickly respond to customer needs, cultivate new ideas and innovate.

Unit leaders have the power to make big decisions, including hiring and firing their own staff, and are responsible for their own budget.

They propose new ideas to Zhang and other executives, and if approved, receive financial backing to move forward with their venture. They are required to hit financial targets but are otherwise left alone to manage their unit.

“I want each employee coming to work for Haier to have the sense that he or she can find a place in the company to realise his or her own values as well as creating value for the enterprise,” said Zhang.

Haier is also breaking the rules when it comes to compensation. Rather than a fixed salary, employees are paid based on the value they create for the company.

This makes strong strategic sense. Companies are, essentially, centralised mechanisms for allocating talent and resources.

We have given up centralised planning in economies, but not yet within corporations.

In 2017, we interviewed Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, and he expressed his desire to do the same, to convert his employees into “mini-CEOs”.

How can you transform your employees into “micro-entrepreneurs”?

Encourage internal competition In most hierarchical structures,

projects are vetted, chosen, and assigned through an orderly process that removes redundancy.

The thought behind this is that it’s inefficient to have two groups investing resources on the same idea at the same time.

But at Haier, employees must pit their projects against other teams with similar ones. They must compete to secure projects, and then compete further to ensure their projects succeed.

This pushes them to be creative and innovative, and to use their resources wisely.

When Bruno Mars won “Album of the Year” at this year’s Grammys, he addressed the other artists nominated, saying: “First off, to the other nominees in this category – Lorde, Kung Fu Kenny [Kendrick Lamar], Jay-Z, [Childish] Gambino – you guys are the reason why I’m in the studio pulling my hair out, because I know you guys are gonna come with the top-shelf artistry and music.”

That is the spirit that internal competition can activate.

But it’s not for everyone. And that’s okay, according to Zhang.

This method helps filter out the employees who can’t cut it in this environment, either because their projects rarely succeed, or because they realise they simply don’t want to work this way.

People who are entrepreneurial in spirit and thrive on competition will be attracted to Haier, and will ultimately succeed there, and others will be filtered out, leaving behind the cream of the crop.

Do you allow, even encourage, healthy internal competition?

Are you ready to make radical decisions for your own organisation?

Consider the following:• Take an uncommon stand: When

your competitors zag, you can only differentiate yourself with a zig. What uncommon strategic stand is your company taking?• Expand and diversify: After you

have proven your uncommon stand is working, how will you expand and diversify?• Unleash the power of employee

entrepreneurs: How can you transform your employees into “micro-entrepreneurs”?• Encourage internal competition:

Do you allow, even encourage, healthy internal competition?

Haier On TopThanks to 30 years of radical decisions

By DR KAIHAN [email protected]

Almost everything we do in today’s business world involves one risk or another: customer habits change, new competitors appear, markets get saturated and strategies fail. Formal risk analysis can help you assess the risk factors and suggest solutions to minimise disruptions to your business plans. It will also help you to decide whether the strategies you apply to control risks are cost-effective. Leaderonomics has suitable risk management programmes that can help your business achieve the above. Drop us an email at [email protected] to find out more.

Dr Kaihan is the founder of Outthinker, a former McKinsey & Co consultant, and author of four business strategy books—his most recent, ‘Outthink the Competition.’ He is a sought-after keynote speaker and a recognised expert on the topics of business growth strategy and innovation. He is also a faculty trainer with Leaderonomics. To engage him for your organisational needs, drop us an email at [email protected].

Haier was founded in 1984 when the Chinese government took over a nearly bankrupt refrigerator factory, and put Zhang in charge.

The company brought in about RMB3.5mil (just under USD600,000) in its first year with Zhang as the CEO.

But within two years, it was experiencing unprecedented growth, and has continued to flourish ever since.

Today, the company generates over USD30bil in revenue and USD20bil in profit, and employs around 80,000 people.


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Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most

influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human

nature. She’s known for her ability to distil and convey complex

ideas with humour and clarity, in a way

that’s accessible to a wide audience. To share your thoughts

with her on this article, email us at editor@

leaderonomics.com.

PEOPLE often ask me, “Why do we struggle to change our habits – why do we so often fail?”

There are a few reasons, but there’s one that stands out: a popular myth about habits that lead people astray.

It makes them accuse themselves of being lazy, self-indulgent, and lacking in will power. It causes them to fail.

The myth It’s the myth that there’s a magic,

one-size-fits-all solution for habit change. You’ve probably read the headlines:

But here’s what I’ve discovered. And you know this too because it’s perfectly obvious from looking at the world around us: there is no one, “best” habit.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss this notion.

Maybe there is a one-size-fits-all-solution: follow the habits that work for you, that help make you happier, healthier, and more productive.

Don’t copy others Often, people make the case

for adopting a particular habit by pointing to a renowned figure who practised that habit, with great success.

For instance:

The fact is, there’s no magic formula, no one-size-fits-all solution – not for ourselves, and not for the people around us.

We won’t make ourselves more creative, productive and healthy by copying other people’s habits. We must know our own nature, and what habits serve us best.

What works for you might be very different from what worked for your brother or Steve Jobs or Virginia Woolf.

Tailor your habits In his fascinating book Daily Rituals:

How Artists Work, from which the examples are drawn, Mason Currey examines the work habits of 161 writers, composers, artists, scientists, and philosophers.

These examples make one thing perfectly clear: while these brilliant people vary tremendously in the specific habits they follow, they know very well what habits work for them, and they go to enormous lengths to maintain those habits.

This “one-size-fits-all” myth is dangerous, and it makes people feel terrible about themselves.

They think, “Well, you’re supposed to get exercise first thing in the day, and I tried to get up early and go for a run, and I totally couldn’t stick to it. See, I’m a lazy person with no willpower.”

Or they think, “The secret is to indulge in moderation, and I’ve been trying to limit myself to half a cup of ice-cream, but each night, I break down and eat the whole container. I’m such a loser.”

When I talk to such people, I say, “No, that’s not true about you! You just haven’t set yourself up for success.

“There’s a way for you to change those habits, with much better results – because it’s tailored to you.”

Tried and tested Now, I speak of this one-size-fits-

all myth from first-hand knowledge, because for a long time, I believed in it, too.

I used to tell everyone that working slowly and steadily was the best way to produce creative work – because that’s what works for me.

I used to encourage everyone to get up early, to work in the morning – because that’s what works for me.

I used to say that it was better to work in a reasonably quiet, calm, orderly environment – because that’s what works for me.

And I used to say that it was better to give up sugar, cold turkey, and just never indulge – because that’s what works for me.

Self-mastery is an important ‘tool’ that will keep us on our toes, pushing us out of our comfort zones and driving us towards excellence. Leaderonomics has several empowerment programmes that uncover self-mastery techniques to help you discover and maximise your potentials. Reach out to us through [email protected] to learn more.

We make decisions all the time. Whether we realise it or not, how we feel has a big impact on the decisions we make. So, how do we find a level of personal consistency, where we never look back and regret our choices? Check out this infographic to help you make more objective decisions, personally and professionally: bit.ly/IGmakedecisions

Hardwired HabitsWhat’s stopping us from successfully changing our habits?

By GRETCHEN [email protected] However, as I worked on Better

Than Before, it became increasingly clear that the opposite habits work better for some people.

What works best for you We have to think about ourselves.

It’s helpful to ask, “When have I worked well in the past? What did my habits look like then – and how can I replicate them?”

Maybe you work more creatively with a team – or maybe you work best by yourself. Maybe you need deadlines – or maybe you feel strangled by deadlines.

Maybe you like working on several projects at once – or maybe you prefer to focus on one project at a time.

Self-awareness mattersWith habits, as with happiness, the

secret is to figure ourselves out. When we shape our habits to suit

our own nature, our own interests, and our own values, we set ourselves up for success.

Once you know yourself better, you can figure out how to use other strategies more effectively, and with less frustration.

It’s not that hard to change your habits when you know what to do.

What have you learnt about yourself and your own unique habit fingerprint – and what works for you? Anything that surprised you?

Maybe we should live a life of quiet predictability, like naturalist Charles Darwin. Or maybe we should indulge in boozy revelry, like painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Maybe we should wake up early, like Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. Or maybe we should work late into the night, like screenwriter Tom Stoppard.

Maybe it’s okay to procrastinate endlessly, like psychologist William James. Or maybe it’s better to work regular hours, like novelist Anthony Trollope.

Should we work in silence, like composer Gustav Mahler? Or amidst a bustle of activity, like novelist Jane Austen?

Are we better off producing work for many hours a day, like satirist Henry Louis Mencken? Or maybe for just 30 minutes a day, like playwright Gertrude Stein?

“The habits that successful people follow each morning!” “Follow these three secret habits of millionaires!” “The one habit you must follow if you want to get ahead!” “The five habits of highly creative people!”

I’m a Marathoner, but some people are Sprinters.I’m a Lark, but some people are Owls.I’m a Simplicity-Lover, but some people are Abundance-Lovers.I’m an Abstainer, but some people are Moderators.


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“This is what I see you doing. Your actions indicate that this is important to you.”

#3. Explain how they’re changing. • “I notice you’ve improved the

way you lead meetings.” (Skill)• “This bothered you in the

past. Now you’re great at it. Way to go.” Explain what you mean. (Character)• “Your numbers are improving.”

(Results)

How might leaders change people?

You can’t change someone who refuses to change. Everyone else is fair game.

IT’S absurd to say we can’t change people.

The people in your story have changed you. You’re who you are, in part, because of them. Likewise, you too have the power to change others.

Here are three ways you can bring about a change in others.

#1. Change what they believe about themselves.

If people believe in you, encourage them to believe in themselves. You can:• Explain the positive influence

of their passion, strength, or behaviour. For example, “The influence of your (strength) on (name people) is (impact).”• Avoid superficial compliments.• Offer assessments based on

character. For example, “You’re loving, kind, tenacious, and forthright.”• Accept that doing poorly comes

before excellence. Ask questions like, “What are your learning points from this failure?”

#2. Tell them the truth. Blind spots are deadly because

they aren’t seen. Positive blind spots occur

when people don’t see their strengths, values, or contributions.

BUSINESSES in Asia and Europe are facing a number of challenges in today’s market

– but leaders should avoid taking a gloom and doom perspective and look instead to putting solutions in place.

This was the central message offered by Professor Olaf Plötner, dean of Executive Education at European School of Management and Technology (ESMT), on The Leaderonomics Show as he discussed the outlook of global business with the show host, Roshan Thiran.

Business approach between Asia and the West

As a renowned expert in business strategy, Plötner believes that one of the biggest challenges facing businesses in the West is growth, which has stagnated while emerging markets are currently enjoying a period of growth and development.

He advises, “If you would like to grow, you have to go to the emerging countries. These countries don’t only look for premium products, there’s also a lower willingness to pay, so you have to think about having products in your portfolio that fit with the low willingness to pay from the customers.”

Another challenge facing businesses across the board comes in the form of data management and technologically-driven advances.

Taking the example of jet engines, Plötner talks about how technology is able to tell when a blade within an

• Immediate feedback opens eyes to blind spots. Lights come on when you catch people in the act of offending behaviours. • Acknowledge their values

based on their behaviours.

issues on both sides are deeply rooted in culture.

However, he suggested that one area of focus in Asia could be a commitment to quality improvement and control.

Using his native country, Germany, as an example, he said that there exists a “deep-rooted passion for quality,” adding that, “I talk to normal workers and if they produce a product, they are committed to quality.

“Somebody once told me that in the US you work for your boss; in Japan, you work for your company. In Germany, you work for your task.

“You’re committed that this product will have the highest quality. I’m not sure I would say that this is something for others to learn, but it has given us certain advantages in the global economy, and I’m very happy that you still buy German cars.”

Moving forward With regard to how companies can

grow and move forward in today’s market, Plötner says it’s all about having the ability and the willingness to change as the world changes.

He advises chief executive officers to ask themselves, “Do you have the right people to do this, based on capabilities and, second, are they willing to change?

“If you talk to the people, usually everybody says change is needed.

“If you ask them ‘How will you personally change?’ people become very quiet about it. So it’s about how to motivate people to come with you to change.”

Sandy is a freelance writer with over 10 years of experience in journalism and public relations in the UK. Throughout this time, he has seen for himself the adverse effects on leaders and organisations who fail to embrace change, and the successes of those who are willing and able to adapt. To share your thoughts with us on change management, email us at [email protected].

Dan Rockwell is a coach and speaker who is freakishly interested in leadership. He is the author of the world-renowned and most socially shared leadership blog, Leadership Freak. Not sure when to bring up change or when to let it go, write to us at [email protected].

3 ways to facilitate behavioural change in others

Embracing changes and challenges for growth

Strategic Influencing

Inevitable Change

• Don’t bring ‘sour’ to the table unless you’re prepared to add some ‘sweet’. Coach when you critique. Criticism apart from coaching is an arrogant power-play designed to put people down.

national thinking,” says Plötner. “If you see this in terms of

investment funds, the smaller you are, the less you can invest and bring everyone in the continent together.”

Roshan suggested that part of the reason for the current slow growth in Europe is perhaps due to the notion that developed countries reach a point where there’s nothing more to aim for, and so growth begins to see a decline.

In his response, Plötner acknowledged that growth is slow in Europe, adding, “If you see the market shares worldwide, usually most of the industries are going down. The big winner at this point in time is China, taking the lead in many industries.

“However, in the world there are always ups and downs. If I were to buy shares now, I would buy European, because they’re down… but maybe that won’t be the case in 20 years, and so we’ll see how this goes on.

“Of course, Europe has to change – we’re pretty much stuck – the structures are not there to be flexible, but that’s always the phase before you change.”

Great challenges instigate change According to the professor,

businesses and economies will always have times where they are stuck in difficult situations. However, he believes the experience of facing difficult situations is precisely what instigates change.

When pressed to suggest areas in which Asia could learn from European practices, Plötner qualified his answer by acknowledging that Europe has many issues to overcome, and that

Negative blind spots are imagined strengths, values, or contributions.

Blind spots – positive or negative – limit our reach and hinder our potential. So, how do you address this?

engine will break. As a result, companies have

become less keen on buying engines outright, and instead lease them, paying manufacturers according to the number of hours used – an approach Plötner describes as paying for “power by the hour”.

Commenting on the difference in business approach between Asia (in particular, China) and the West, Plötner suggests that the Chinese government’s approach is one whereby the government invests in businesses who in turn build up their research and development (R&D) in order to grow and expand.

The European dilemma Conversely, the European Union is

becoming decentralised due to the Brexit vote, which saw the United Kingdom (UK) voters choosing to leave the European Union and, by association, the single market.

“Instead of having the united states of Europe, we go a little bit back to

By DAN [email protected]

By SANDY [email protected]

Influence is the power to produce change.

If you want to change people:1. help them change themselves.2. know where they want to go.3. know who they want to become.4. give them new information, strategies, or plans.5. care for them.

To watch this corresponding video interview on our YouTube channel at Leaderonomics Media, please go to: bit.ly/TLSolafplotner

Admit it, we all hate crisis. Why? Because they can be extremely painful. And we are naturally hard-wired to avoid pain. Yet, crisis is the basis of change and potential success. Do you have a clear case to take that leap of faith for change? Check out this story here on Leaderonomics.com: bit.ly/RTcrisischange

“If you ask them

‘How will you

personally change?’

people become very

quiet about it.


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culture encourage – or sabotage – professional growth?

How is professional development fostered? How are training opportunities determined? What other development methods are employed?

How are the new skills nurtured and reinforced? How does the organisation support time for development? How is individual professional development tracked and rewarded?

It’s critical to identify the desired outcomes and possible restrictions for any project and how you will know if the effort is successful.

2. Identify gaps What is the performance of the

group or individuals now? What do you want it to be? What performance measures are in place now? Are they sufficient?

Are they really measuring the appropriate outcomes or do you need to put new metrics in place? How and what measures will be gathered before the plan is launched?

Establish key ways to measure improvement in the target group’s or individual’s behaviour.

How will you see the results of the new or strengthened skills and behaviours? How often will this be measured?

If your people aren’t performing as you want, why not? What gets in their way? Is it a skill issue or a motivation issue? What is your plan to close the gap?

Gather feedback on each person’s performance via a 360-degree assessment or other methods and build individual development plans.

3. Streamline individual and organisational processes

Individual performance is

Rebecca Morgan will be speaking at the Leadership

In The Age Of Disruption Conference on May 8,

2018. To hear her speak, email [email protected] for more information

and to book your seat. Tickets for this event is

HRDF claimable. She will also be speaking

at the Do Good Leadership Conference on May 6, 2018. Register for this

event at dogoodvolunteer.com.

Morgan specialises in creating innovative

solutions for people-productivity challenges.

She has appeared on 60 Minutes, Oprah, the Wall

Street Journal and USA Today. If you liked this

article, share your thoughts with us on editor@

leaderonomics.com.

A more effective workforce is created by continual personal and organisational

improvement. This comes from having individuals constantly looking for ways to work smarter – both individually and organisationally.

These improvement efforts are often spawned from professional development activities that not only force them to examine their own processes but provide tools and skills for implementation.

Long-lasting professional development does not come cheaply or without thoughtful effort. But the alternatives – none or poorly conceived and executed activities – can cost many times more.

For you to get the highest return of investment (ROI), many elements need to be considered – from determining clear, achievable objectives, to a plan for reinforcement.

Based on more than 25 years of experience in the professional development field, I’ve seen some programmes that worked, and many that didn’t.

I don’t want you to waste your resources, so I developed an 8-step process to ensure success.

1. Clarify your desired outcomes Determine what you’re trying to

accomplish: Leadership succession? A more customer-focused staff? A more cohesive team? Better functioning managers? Fewer customer complaints?

More revenue per person or customer? Where do you want your people performing in three, six, 12 and 24 months?

What restrictions must be considered? Is the culture one of resistance to change? Does the

often hamstrung by ineffective organisational processes.

First, look at how the organisation’s practices get in the way of optimal individual performance.

Are there organisational roadblocks that prevent your people from accomplishing more? Are there processes that haven’t been challenged in years – or decades? Are your people incentivised to come up with new ways of working smarter?

How do you know if your organisational processes are helping or hindering productivity?

Ask questions and challenge the status quo. Identify barriers and work through solutions with other departments or suppliers.

Reduce the roadblocks for success. Then focus on enhancing your talents’ skill sets and making their personal processes most effective.

4. Enhance target group’s skills Determine how the target group’s

skills are best enhanced – find out if group or individual learning processes are better.

If group sessions are optimal, offer optional self-study resources for those needing or wanting more

development outside the group sessions.

Create appropriate delivery mechanisms based on the needs of the target group (e.g. in-person group seminars, manager-led structured discussion guides for team training, teleseminars for remote groups, group video-learning coupled with discussion, individual study with manager, e-learning, or tests for ability to apply their key learnings).

5. Increase individual’s productivity

Adults learn through application and repetition.

One-time hits of a learning experience are not nearly as valuable as a longer-term approach, with checking for understanding and application, then reinforcement.

For longer-lasting results and higher ROI, development must take place over time.

Some ways to increase individual learning – and therefore productivity – include short learning experiences every other week, 30-minute manager-led discussions at staff meeting, one-hour teleseminars every other week, one-hour group video-learning lunch sessions, or one-on-one coaching.

This allows participants to apply key concepts regularly, rather than one long, 1- to 5-day programme with minimal application and impact.

Follow-up or reinforcement is critical to long-lasting development. With the target audiences’ manager(s), outline a plan for internal coaching and feedback sessions.

This could include biweekly individual coaching of participants, monthly teleseminars with all participants, quarterly in-person refreshers, or six-month 360-degree feedback to determine if behaviours have changed.

6. Measure results Measurement is key. Create

benchmarks to let you know if what you are doing is working and with whom. Plan to make adjustments along the way.

7. Boost profits Profits should increase as a result of increased effectiveness. Ensure that is one of the measurements that gets integrated into the metrics.

8. Celebrate success Hard work deserves celebration.

No effort is perfect, so celebrate successes along the way.

If you truly want to be world-class, you may want to look at these four areas in your organisation. Are they constraining you and your employees from potentially being the best in the world? Check out this thought-provoking piece on Leaderonomics.com: bit.ly/LDR4constraints

Morgan, a certified professional speaker, management consultant, trainer and author, reminds us the “what” and “when” to say things in our daily conversation with people around us, according to a continuum in communication. Check out this short Leadership Nuggets video: bit.ly/LFcommRB

Sustainable Future Workforce

By REBECCA [email protected]

Hard work deserves celebration. No

effort is perfect, so celebrate successes

along the way.

Here’s an 8-step process to ensure its success


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It didn’t happen overnight Remember that you don’t just get

out of bed one day to find that your life is chaotic and overwhelming, where you feel like your world is collapsing.

These problems have built up over time. Many factors in your life will have played a part.

In particular, the people around you have a huge impact on your state of mind and emotional well-being. The big question is: “Have you got the right people in your life?”

IF you want to make small changes in your life, a few adjustments might just do the trick.

But if you feel that your life is totally out of balance and control, little nudges probably won’t work.

To make big changes in your life, you will need to start doing things very differently and it might just require taking drastic actions.

Expand your circle How do you know if you have the

wrong kind of people in your life? If they have been around for years,

they will feel really comfortable, like a well-worn pair of jeans – even if deep down you know that you don’t look as good in them as you did 10 years ago.

The best way to find out if you have the right people in your life is to make the effort to go out and meet others and do a comparison.

Break out of the old, safe routines and patterns that have got you to this difficult point and start to expand your horizons. You have to get out of your comfort zone and meet new people.

Of course, when you feel like your life is out of control, the last thing

you will want to do is spend time expanding your circle of friends, associates and business contacts.

You will probably find a million reasons not to break out of your comfort zone, but now is the best time to make the effort to broaden your horizons.

Gain some interesting new perspectives – something that generally comes with meeting new people.

Reap the benefits When I’m working with business

owners, I always suggest that they spend time mixing in new circles.

I want them to be challenged, to have fresh energy in their life, to be able to benchmark themselves and their businesses to show that it’s not all doom and gloom.

There really are only positive upsides: financially, and in your health and happiness, in mixing with a new circle of people, even if it simply makes you realise that the people around you are actually great.

In conclusionSo, depending on which aspect

of your life you want to improve, muscle up, make the effort to get out, meet new people and you will be astonished by the effect a fresh perspective will have on your life.

Stuck In A Rut?

By ANDREW [email protected]

Editor Roshan Thiran Managing Editor Lydia Gomez

Content Leader Lim Lay Hsuan

Digital Content Leader (Bahasa Melayu) Yeoh Lin Lin

Content Marketing Leader Sarah Lim

Assistant Editors Christie ChuaLouisa DevadasonPrethiba Esvary

Michelle Harris

LAYOUT, ART & DESIGN Stephanie Yap

WRITERS & CONTRIBUTORSManfred Kets De Vries, Jesper LowgrenEmma Bannister, Lauren KeysDr Kaihan Krippendorff, Gretchen RubinSandy Clarke, Dan Rockwell, Rebecca Morgan, Andrew GriffithsJeff Haden

EDITORIAL

The best way to find out if you have the

right people in your life is to make the

effort to go out and meet others and do

a comparison.

If you are experiencing burnout, no amount of external motivation can alleviate your thoughts and emotions. One way out is to adopt self-care strategies that will help you adopt new perspectives. Check out these tips on Leaderonomics.com: bit.ly/SSburnout

Muscle up, get out and meet new people!

Andrew Griffiths is a Cairns, Australia-based serial entrepreneur and the author of 12 books on starting, managing, and growing small companies. He is a founding mentor in a global entrepreneurial programme and presents around the world on small business, consumer trends, entrepreneurship, and publishing. This article first appeared on inc-asean.com. To engage with him, email us at [email protected].

Are you creating new, cool things because of the joy it brings you? Or are you building it for fame and fortune? Leaderonomics’ CEO Roshan Thiran shares five lessons we can learn from Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple. Read it here: bit.ly/learnfromwozniak

Leaderonomics’ Digital Engagement Partner, Pravin Nair draws similarities between football coaching and leading an organisation. To find out which factors from successful football coaching apply to organisational excellence as well, head to: bit.ly/RYGorgexcellence

This Leadership Guide Is Powered By

Untuk kandungan pembangunan kepimpinan dalam Bahasa Malaysia, kunjungilah portal BMkami di www.leaderonomics.com/bm atau halaman Facebook kami @LeaderonomicsBM.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.


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Swiss economist Marc Faber is a world-renowned investor, known as “Dr Doom” in reference to his consistent – yet often accurate – negative outlook on equities. In his appearance on The Leaderonomics Show back in 2011, Faber gave us fascinating insights into his decades-long career, sharing his expertise collected over the years through his sharp analysis of trends and shifts in the markets over time. Check this out: bit.ly/TLSMarcFaber

What is dialogue? According to Professor George Kohlrieser, it’s about thinking together. In this video, the Professor of Leadership Behaviour and Organisational Behaviour at IMD Switzerland and veteran FBI hostage negotiator shares his thoughts on how you can dialogue better in the workplace. Check out this short video on Leaderonomics Media YouTube channel: bit.ly/LNYTdialogue

Jeff Haden is a speaker, ghostwriter,

and author of The Motivation Myth: How

Highly Successful People Really Set

Themselves Up to Win. What do you

think about this article? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

A negotiation isn’t a dispute or a confrontation. Great negotiators don’t fight.

When the bully on the boat in Enter the Dragon asks Bruce Lee to describe his kung fu style, Lee says, “You can call it ‘the art of fighting without fighting.’”

That’s a great way to think of a negotiation. Negotiating isn’t really about competing well – negotiating is about communicating well. (That’s especially true if, for example, you’re asking for a raise.)

Want to be a better negotiator? Here are some simple tips.

Use timing to your advantage. Often the best time to buy a car is

at the end of the month; salespeople need to hit their quotas, dealerships

want to ‘make’ their month, etc. The same is true with real estate;

house sales (and property leases) are generally weaker in the winter months in the United States, which means owners are more likely to negotiate.

And you can also use back-end timing to your advantage.

Say you want to lease a property starting in March. If you sign a 12-month lease, the owner will have to find another tenant next March.

But if you ask for a 15-month lease, the property will be open at the start of prime rental season, which means he/she should be happier to accept a lower rent amount.

Find the right way to frame the negotiation.

In Negotiating the Impossible, Harvard Business School professor

and author Deepak Malhotra shows how properly framing a negotiation means finding the best perspective from which to view the negotiation.

Maybe the frame is money. Or time, delivery schedule, or quality.

In my house-buying example, price was a frame – but so was time, and so was the seller’s risk if I couldn’t come up with the down payment.

Frame a negotiation correctly and you can make it easier to negotiate on the points that matter to you.

For example, you need a certain service performed.

If you’re willing to wait for that service to be performed – or to be performed more slowly than normal – the provider may be able to accept a lower price, since your job can be fit into the margins of the provider’s schedule.

(Think of it this way: If a customer asks you to perform a rush job, you’ll probably need to raise the price to accommodate the additional work as well as the impact on your schedules and your other customers. The same applies in reverse: Giving additional time should allow the provider to make concessions on other terms.)

Be willing to walk. Granted, sometimes that’s not

possible. If your delivery truck has broken

down and you need to make deliveries today, walking away from the truck rental counter isn’t really an option.

But that’s a practical need, not an emotional need.

In most cases, your need is emotional: You want this building; you want this car; you want this

A Winning NegotiationHere’s how you can get more without conflict or confrontation

house. Even though there are other

options, you want this one.When you’re negotiating, never

‘want this one’ – at least not unless the price, terms, etc., are also what you want.

How will you know? Decide those things ahead of time.

Know your numbers. Know the terms you’re willing to

accept. Know the value of what you’re

getting – and of what you will provide.

Concluding thoughts The best way to be a great

negotiator is to take emotion out of the equation.

When it’s objective – when it doesn’t feel personal – you won’t get hung up on winning or losing.

You’ll just calmly work toward getting the best deal you can.

And this means, you’re much more likely to “win”.

By JEFF [email protected]

21 2018 1 · famous line in Rocky Balboa goes, “You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life....

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