Leader's Digest #26 (April 2019)

LEADERS ISSUE 26

APRIL 2019

DIGEST

WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS AS A LEADER

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PUBLICATION TEAM EDITORIAL

Editor-in-Chief Segaren Assistant Editor Yvonne Lee Graphic Designer Awang Ismail bin Awang Hambali Abdul Rani Haji Adenan

CONTENTS

ISSUE 26 I APRIL 2019

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THREE WORDS TO A SIGNIFICANTLY RICHER LIFE

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MOTHER TERESA: PETITE IN SIZE, BUT BIG IN HEART AND DEEP IN IMPACT

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THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE ‘WHY’

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IS EMPATHY A BAD DECISION-MAKING GUIDE FOR LEADERS?

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IS FORGIVENESS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS IN LEADERS?

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DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND? FRIENDSHIP AT WORK INCREASES YOUR PRODUCTIVITY & OUTPUT!

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FORGIVENESS: THE SECRET TO INNOVATION

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THE ARROGANCE OF GROWTH

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THE POWER OF PROPINQUITY

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LEADERSHIP AND THE CIRCLE OF SAFETY

26

6 MISTAKES THAT MAKE YOUR SURVEY USELESS

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Content Partners:

Leader’s Digest is a monthly publication by the Leadership Institute of Sarawak Civil Service, dedicated to advancing civil service leadership and to inspire our Sarawak Civil Service (SCS) leaders with contemporary leadership principles. It features a range of content contributed by our strategic partners and panel of advisors from renowned global institutions as well as established corporations that we are affiliated with. Occasionally, we have guest contributions from our pool of subject matter experts as well as from our own employees.

The views expressed in the articles published are not necessarily those of Leadership Institute of Sarawak Civil Service Sdn. Bhd. (292980-T). No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the publisher’s permission in writing.

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Leadership is having a compelling vision, a comprehensive plan, relentless implementation, and talented people working together.

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- Alan Mulally

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Three Words to a Significantly

Richer Life

BY RAJEEV PESHAWARIA

Throughout school and college, Joshua’s academic performance was consistently at the top even while playing three varsity level sports and captaining the school debate team. After graduating summa cum laude with a double major in Computer Science and Philosophy from Stanford, he joined a two-year rotational induction program at a top Silicon Valley firm. He worked on his first full job assignment for a year after the program before joining Columbia Business School for an MBA. After Columbia, he went back to the Valley and did well for himself for a number of years. Like most other people, he wanted to be successful, and worked hard for it. Early in his life, his immigrant parents had taught him about the importance of hard work and being financially well off. At one stage, he wanted to be a song writer, but his parents had guided him away from that profession towards something more “sensible, secure, and solid as computer science.” Agreeing with their logic, he had given up the idea and had done everything by the book. As soon as he was able, he bought himself a nice house, a fancy car and other 4

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entrapments of a successful lifestyle. Everything was going according to plan until he faced the first major recession of his career, and was laid off as part of a massive downsizing exercise at his firm.

Not having faced much failure or rejection in life until this point, losing his job was hard on him. He could not understand what he could have done differently, and worried about fulfilling his financial commitments without a steady income. Why he was without a job today, he could not understand. Not only was he confused, he was also angry because he felt he was better and more deserving of retention than some of the others at the firm. Why had his bosses not protected him? Why did they play favorites?

A year went by with no luck on the job front, and he slipped into deep depression. His condition was on the verge of becoming very serious when he finally managed to get a good job at another company. Luckily, he managed to get himself together again, and immersed himself into his personal success recipe of working hard and creating results. He even met someone at work and after a year of

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dating, got married. Together, his spouse and he earned a very decent packet, moved into a very affluent part of town, and made a glamorous couple in social circles. Life was back on track, or so he thought. Bad luck stuck again in four years, this time in terms of major differences with his wife. The marriage ended with a messy divorce. He had given everything he could to the relationship, and could not understand why his estranged wife had been so unfair.

His personal problems took their toll on his work, and his performance started slipping behind some of the colleagues who he thought were not as good as him. Again, he was heart-broken, confused, and depressed. Why were such horrible things happening to him; why is everyone so terrible to him, he wondered. Given his growing cynicism about everything, his career and life would have derailed permanently had it not been for his boss, John. John knew that Joshua had great potential but needed help, and approved an executive coach to work with Joshua for six months.

Teresa, the coach, had been a senior Silicon Valley executive for many years and had just retired. She began by asking Joshua about his dreams, aspirations and values. He replied easily enough with, “I believe in working hard and creating as much wealth as possible so that I never have to face the financial insecurity my family had to face when I was a child. The problem is, the whole world is unfair….” Through many conversations that followed, Joshua finally realized how much negative energy his cynicism was generating.

“But what would you want your children to remember you for? What would you want your industry to remember you for? Are you fully passionate about what you do? Do you have what it takes to overcome your current and future crises?” Teresa asked. For the first time in his life, Joshua was at a loss of words. Teresa explained that she did not expect immediate answers, and told him to think about the questions for a couple of weeks until they met again.

Without calling it such, she wanted him to think about his larger purpose in life.

Two weeks went by quickly, and when he drove to work on the day he was to meet Teresa again, Joshua was not sure he had all the answers to Teresa’s difficult questions.

Through a series of meetings following reflection times over the next few months, Teresa helped Joshua realize that he needed to utilize his many gifts to do more than just creating wealth. “The only goal in life cannot be to work hard in order to make lots of money. It must be to do or create something that makes a difference. And if you can make loads of money doing something that can leave a meaningful legacy, that would be like hitting the bull’s eye,” she explained.

With Teresa’s help, Joshua eventually decided that he wanted to create a for-profit crowdfunding platform. The platform would help young entrepreneurs raise capital for ventures with financially viable disruptive ideas that could make life better for ordinary people.

With John’s help, Joshua was able to develop this business as an incubator within the company he was working for. As he assembled a team and started work on the new project, he found himself working long hours and loving every minute of it. The ride was not easy, but he found himself facing crises much more positively than ever before. Each time it got really hard, Joshua would visualize how the project would look and feel when it was fully successful.

The vivid visualization would energize him again. As one of his colleagues commented, “the word ‘cannot’ does not feature in his vocabulary anymore.” His transformation was complete!

Joshua left the company after a few years of building out his pet project, and is now a successful venture capitalist and entrepreneur. He is happily married and has a daughter he adores. He also coaches young start-up entrepreneurs in growing their businesses, and writes poetry in his spare time. Along the way, he has learned to appreciate what he has rather than what he doesn’t. Most importantly, he doesn’t hold grudges any more, and has long forgiven his ex-wife. He often wonders what would have happened to him had he not found his second job just when he was on the brink of collapse, and is thankful to the recruiters who helped place him. He fully acknowledges that had his boss and coach not helped him when he was most vulnerable, the outcome would have been disastrous.

When asked what the secret of his success and happiness is, he sums it up in three words: purpose, gratitude and forgiveness. “Once I realized the power of these three words and made them a part of my identity, my life became rich and beautiful. I now try to enrich others’ lives by introducing these three sources of ‘wealth’ to them,” he says.

What do these three words mean to you? Do you have them in your life?

Rajeev Peshawaria

CEO of the Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre, author of the Wall Street Journal and Amazon best seller Open Source Leadership (McGraw Hill 2017), Too Many Bosses, Too Few Leaders (Simon & Schuster 2011), coauthor of Be the Change (McGraw Hill 2014) and a regular writer for Forbes, Rajeev is an out-of-the-box thought leader on leadership, management and corporate governance. He has extensive global experience in leadership and organizational consulting, with a particular focus on uncovering personal and organizational “leadership energy.”

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The Importance of Getting People to Understand the

‘Why’

BY ROSHAN THIRAN

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In his 1948 book, The Wisdom of the Sands, Antoine de SaintExupéry offers insight into how we might inspire people to invest in a common goal and come together to make it happen.

In one part of the book, he writes about someone’s desire to build a boat. Instead of simply giving out instructions to be followed, the group of craftsmen is motivated through a sense of purpose:

“One will weave the canvas; another will fell a tree by the light of his ax. Yet another will forge nails, and there will be others who observe the stars to learn how to navigate. And yet all will be as one. Building a boat isn’t about weaving canvas, forging nails, or reading the sky.

It’s about giving a shared taste for the sea, by the light of which you will see nothing contradictory but rather a community of love.”

How many leaders have missed the vital step of imparting the ‘why’ of a vision, rushing instead to the ‘what’ and the ‘how’?

How much disengagement is rooted in the neglect to communicate clearly the idea that tasks being carried out aren’t merely ends in themselves, but add value to the bigger picture?

How many employees within organisations feel not just that they are valued, but understand why their contributions are valuable?

The importance of ‘why’

Let’s imagine that we’re employees of a company and we know as soon as we step through the door, why we’re about to carry out the day’s schedule and that what we’re about to do adds a positive value to the organisation and its customers.

Should employees be thankful for having a job in the first place?

Absolutely. But leaders should be even more grateful for having the kinds of employees that allow their organisation to thrive, and they should be sure to express that gratitude on a regular basis.

As leaders, we’ve all seen the research, we know how it goes: employees who feel valued, who know what’s expected of them, and who feel like they’re making a positive contribution are much more likely to feel engaged and empowered in what they do. This leads to an increase in commitment and investment in their organisation on their part.

As a result, the ‘company’s vision’ becomes ‘our mission’, and the organisation benefits from greater cohesion and a clearer direction thanks to clear and open communication across the board that’s geared towards motivating people at every level.

Final thoughts

The renowned author and speaker Simon Sinek has said that, “If you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business.”

In what I’ve observed over the years, there aren’t many leaders who don’t understand their people – but there are leaders who sometimes lose sight of that understanding, and are in need of a reminder as to what makes their employees tick.

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When you have a dream or a vision, what’s the best way to motivate others to help you bring it about?

As the saying goes, a company’s greatest asset is its people. It’s the job of leaders to make sure that their employees are as inspired on a Monday morning as they are excited on a Friday afternoon.

This begins by knowing how to motivate people in a way that speaks to their desires, values and beliefs, and aligning that with the organisation’s goals, objectives and vision.

This is a company that invests in its people, ensures that what they do plays to their individual strengths, and – most importantly – recognises their contributions.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like if I were an employee in such a company, I’d be just as happy and excited to be there on a Monday as I would be on a Friday.

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However, for too many employees, there’s an uncertainty surrounding the role that they perform. What’s more, there’s not much by way of recognition or appreciation coming their way for doing a great job.

Roshan Thiran Roshan is CEO of the Leaderonomics Group. He believes that everyone can be a leader and make a dent in the universe, in their own special ways.

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painful past remains in your head, rent-free, taking up a large space where positive emotions could be working to inspire and motivate.

IS FORGIVENESS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS IN LEADERS?

When it comes to leadership - where examples are set and behaviours scrutinised - forgiveness should be on par with giving and generosity if there’s to be hope of cultivating a culture built on support, trust, and mutual respect.

Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries - distinguished clinical professor of leadership development and organisational change at INSEAD (Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires) - views forgiveness as a key trait that separates the best from the rest among leaders.

Why elements of forgiveness are vital for effective leadership

BY SANDY CLARKE

There is something sticky about forgiveness. It’s a great quality to talk about but often, adhering to a New Year’s resolution of dieting and exercise can seem more palatable than forgiving someone.

Whenever we’re wronged - slightly or otherwise - our minds tap immediately into restoring order to our universe, which usually means seeking some kind of revenge or recompense.

Forgiveness is something to be left to the saints and mystics; it’s a virtue that is always impressive and one that’s advised more often than heeded.

Sometimes, forgiveness is seen as a weakness, chosen by those who lack the stomach for confrontation and so give up an opportunity for justice. But, in truth, forgiveness is a strength, which is why so many struggle to fully embrace it.

The weakness lies in our ego, in our need to be appeased and acknowledged as someone who has been wronged, in a way that suggests that we believe life should never run against our expectations.

Holding onto grudges and past ills that can’t be changed is a waste of energy that could be better put to use moving ourselves and our ambitions forward. Forgiveness, therefore, is more than a strength - it’s the smart move to make. Otherwise, the

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“Forgiveness is one of the factors that differentiates exceptional from mediocre or ineffective leadership. When leaders forgive, they dissipate built-up anger, bitterness and the animosity that can colour individual team and organisational functioning,” he explains in an INSEAD working paper, The Art of Forgiveness: Differentiating Transformational Leaders.

He goes on, “Forgiveness offers people the chance to take risks, to be creative, to learn, and to grow their own leadership capabilities...Individuals, teams, organisations, institutions, and societies can only move forward when people aren’t preoccupied by past hurts. . . “... Forgiving means accepting the fallibility of the human condition. It demonstrates courage, vulnerability, integrity and trust, all constructive ways to build collaboration and connections.”

As Kets de Vries points out, forgiveness fosters progress when people aren’t preoccupied by past pains. This echoes the sentiment offered by spiritual teachers throughout the ages that forgiveness isn’t a noble virtue reserved for the few - it’s a necessary quality we can and should all work to cultivate, given the benefits of well-being for all concerned.

On the other hand, holding on to grudges, fixating on revenge and harbouring bitterness serves only to drain the energy of the

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individual holding the grudge, and prolongs a difficult situation for much longer than necessary.

In any case, tough situations are never improved by clinging to negative feelings; in fact, it can often cause new problems to arise, which then have to be dealt with on top of existing difficulties.

There are many rousing examples of the kind of strength that comes with forgiving horrific acts of betrayal and wrongdoing and each of them shows the kind of progress that can be made when we choose to extend an open hand rather than a closed fist.

In a 2013 interview with The Guardian newspaper, Malala said of her attacker, “He was young, in his 20s … he was quite young, we may call him a boy. And it’s hard to have a gun and kill people.

Maybe that’s why his hand was shaking. Maybe he didn’t know if he could do it. But people are brainwashed. That’s why they do things like suicide attacks and killing people. I can’t imagine it - that boy who shot me, I can’t imagine hurting him even with a needle. I believe in peace. I believe in mercy.”

Azim Khamisa

Forgiveness is a remedy, an antidote for the stresses and strains that accompany bitterness and grudges. In leadership, it allows us to forge a new course towards lasting success and creating a positive legacy. In life, it’s what sets us free and allows us to shake ourselves from the past, enabling us to fully embrace the time we have now to build towards greater things to come.

3 Inspiring stories of forgiveness in leadership Malala Yousfazai

Azim Khamisa. Photo taken from KPBS Public Broadcasting, and is originally from Azim Khamisa.

When Azim’s 20-year-old son Tariq was gunned to death in San Diego by a 14-year-old gang member in 1995, he said his initial grief felt like “a nuclear bomb going off inside my heart.”

Tariq’s killer, Tony Hicks, received a 25-year prison sentence for his crime.

Tariq’s father spent weeks praying, in search of the strength to deal with his tragic loss. At the conclusion of this prayer period, he found forgiveness within his heart, realising that there were “victims at both ends of the gun.”

Malala Yousafzai. Photo taken from Southbank Centre and is copyright material under the Creative Commons license.

It was a heartbreaking tale that sparked global outrage. On Oct 9, 2012, the then 15-year-old activist for female education boarded her school bus, and was subsequently shot three times by a Taliban gunman for her efforts in raising awareness of oppression and inequality in Pakistan.

Malala’s miraculous survival inspired a wave of international support, and the recognition of her brave, tireless campaigning led her to become the youngest ever Nobel Prize laureate.

Former United Kingdom Prime Minister, and United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown launched a UN petition in Malala’s name, demanding that every child throughout the world should have access to education. This led to the ratification of Pakistan’s first Right to Education Bill.

He joined with Hicks’ grandfather, Ples Felix, to establish the Tariq Khamisa Foundation—an organisation committed to “stop children from killing children,” which included both men giving talks to schoolchildren at all levels on gang life, revenge and violence, and empowering young people to make positive life choices in order to break free from the cycle of violence.

Azim revealed in an interview, “Five years after the tragedy I met Tony. It was a very healing time. I found him very likeablewell-mannered and remorseful. You do forgiveness for yourself, because it moves you on.

“The fact that it can also heal the perpetrator is the icing on the cake. Tony is studying in prison now, and I know we will save him. In return, Tony will go on to save thousands of other children. I have written a letter to our Governor to commute Tony’s sentence.”

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Corrie Ten Boom Corrie ten Boom was a watchmaker in her family’s business when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands during the Second World War. The family soon became part of the resistance movement and sheltered Jews behind a false wall in their home.

Corrie ten Boom. Source: www.newtestamentpattern.net

In 1944, the family were arrested by the Gestapo following a tip-off. Her father died a few days later, while Corrie and her sister were deported in September to the Ravensbrück concentration camp.

Corrie’s sister, Betsy, died in December, and in the same month Corrie escaped death due to a clerical error and was released from the camp just days before women her age were scheduled to be killed.

Later, during a church service in Munich, she came face-toface with a former Ravensbrück guard. He didn’t recognise the woman in front of him, but asked for her forgiveness following a message she’d just delivered on God’s forgiveness.

Initially, Corrie felt unable to forgive the former guard for his atrocities, but she was soon moved to find it in her heart to forgive him and accepted the man’s extended hand.

4 Core principles of forgiving 1. Express how you’re feeling Forgiveness is not about denying that you feel wronged or hurt. On the contrary, it’s about denying what you truly feel that makes forgiveness seem impossible. Whether alone or in the company of friends, find a suitable environment where you can discuss, write, vent, cry or scream-whatever feels authentic in the moments of acknowledgement.

It’s better to express how you feel than to suppress problematic emotions and leaving them to fester.

2. Acknowledge the reality There are always two sides to a story. Having said that, in difficult times, it can feel like there’s only one, and so we choose to focus solely on our own sadness and pain.

Instead, try to look honestly at the situation: how the other person(s) played their part, how you played yours, and how you reacted. Reflection nurtures the seeds of forgiveness, and yet is so often neglected as part of the process.

3. Consider the lesson How has the experience made you stronger? What can you learn from the difficulties you’ve faced? Who has the power to choose how you move on?

Although it seems doubtful at the time, challenging situations always offer at least one lesson to be learnt.

How can you grow from, and as a result, appreciate hardships you face?

4. Know the other person(s) In a world of seven billion people, no one is perfect. Just as many will find us wonderful, loving, talented and kind, others will find us irritating, difficult, and aloof-and we will get things wrong and upset others.

With that in mind, consider the other person’s position, how, like you, they’re not perfect and are likely experiencing hardships and difficulties of their own.

It doesn’t excuse their actions, but it opens up the opportunity for compassion and forgiveness if you can see that they’re just as human as you are.

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“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”

- Martin Luther King Jr. “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”

- Nelson Mandela “True forgiveness is when you can say, ‘Thank you for that experience.’ ” - Oprah Winfrey “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

- Mark Twain “To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it.”

- Confucius

Sandy Clarke Sandy is a freelance writer based in Malaysia, and previously enjoyed 10 years as a journalist and broadcaster in the UK. He has been fortunate to gain valuable insights into what makes us tick, which has deepened his interests in leadership, emotions, mindfulness, and human behaviour.

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Forgiveness: The Secret to Innovation

BY RAJEEV PESHAWARIA

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You would think, with almost $80 billion dollars spent each year on improving business leadership, that we would be overloaded with amazing leaders. That they would be easily found in every sector of every economy, that each and every company worldwide would have dozens of strong, effective people taking the reins and guiding businesses to powerful and predictable successes.

But that doesn’t really seem to be the case, does it?

Do you ever wonder why? Is it just that true leaders are truly unique people, and only a miniscule subset of the population is born with the innate qualities of a leader?

Or is it that something vital is missing in our leadership creation processes?

These aren’t easy questions to answer.

And I want to further complicate the answer by suggesting that, perhaps, it isn’t a question of talent at birth, or our chosen processes of training that creates a lack of quality leaders. It’s that we don’t really understand what a great leader is.

In my view, I think we often fail to see the full dimensionality of leaders. We tend to pick a few qualities, in a few situations, valorize those, while ignoring the other essential characteristics that also have to present in order for a leader to be great.

Which brings me to the idea of “forgiveness.” Forgiveness isn’t usually associated with the image of the strong business leader. In fact, it’s far more likely that the business leader is valorized for an almost assassin-like cold-heartedness.

We seem to believe in the toughness of leaders, in their ability to make hard decisions even when some people will suffer because of that decision.

Where does forgiveness fit into that idea of a great leader?

I believe forgiveness fits quite well for a modern leader in our current culture. And not only because forgiveness is a generally laudable human quality, but it is also vital for truly dimensional leadership.

Our evolution as a world culture has brought us to a place where our

businesses must be nimble, adaptable, and constantly innovative. And one thing you have to give to people striving to innovate is permission to fail.

A nimble organization requires an environment where suggesting something new –even if it is not fully tested, even if it is just an idea — is not only “somewhat allowed,” but is actively praised and rewarded. You need a workforce that is empowered to bring forward their innovative urges, to explore what can be achieved in new approaches to old problems.

Let me give you a reverse example, of a famous business leader who, perhaps, would have been even more successful with a dose of forgiveness in his style.

Steve Jobs. Famous for his iron-fistedness on creativity and quality control, so much so that there are scenes in popular movies showing him dismissing people in front of entire departments for not meeting his standards.

And, yes, perhaps he was pruning those who were underperforming, or unwilling to go along with his vision. But it’s also just as likely that he lacked a welldeveloped ability to forgive. And without that ability, he often took the path of least forgiveness.

Which, in the full dimensionality view of a leader, may have cost him far more than it needed to. Every act of non-forgiveness has the clear potential to create fear in your remaining employees. Does this “motivate” them to do better, work harder, make sure they’re on their game?

Or does it create a climate of fear, of only doing what you know will be approved, and never, ever sticking your neck out to suggest different ideas?

It does both. Which means that the non-forgiving boss is always partially creating an environment that suppresses innovation. While the boss who can accurately and wisely know when to forgive avoids the problem of scaring off innovative employees.

Modern organizations cannot survive without people who yearn to take risks.

Knowing that your leader understands the shakiness of new ideas, and will forgive unsuccessful but earnest attempts at innovation, means you become riskconfident instead of risk-averse. Not that your employees now have an open door to sloppy work and poorly considered ideas, but that they know there is a strong and reliable policy in place that will protect them as they seek to innovate and improve.

In this way, forgiveness moves beyond being thought of as a “soft” human emotion — thus a detriment to strong leadership — and becomes a powerful tool that the 21st century leader can use to attract and guide innovative employees in the worldwide gig economy.

Rajeev Peshawaria

CEO of the Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre, author of the Wall Street Journal and Amazon best seller Open Source Leadership (McGraw Hill 2017), Too Many Bosses, Too Few Leaders (Simon & Schuster 2011), coauthor of Be the Change (McGraw Hill 2014) and a regular writer for Forbes, Rajeev is an out-of-the-box thought leader on leadership, management and corporate governance. He has extensive global experience in leadership and organizational consulting, with a particular focus on uncovering personal and organizational “leadership energy.”

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The Power of

Propinquity

BY THUN THAMRONGNAWASAWAT

If you love something; set it free If it comes back, then it’s yours forever If it doesn’t, then it was never yours in the first place Do you agree with the above saying? Is true love a function of proximity? Whether or not this is true for you, brain science may suggest otherwise!

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Let me explain

If you’re in my generation, you probably remember when we used to buy ‘cassette tapes’ for music. There were the A and the B sides that required physical flipping of the unit to access either one. Bringing back memories?

Back then, you had to buy the whole album of 10-12 songs even though you only cared for the few ‘hit’ songs on Side A. While we did have the option of rewinding or fast-forwarding (Gen Y-ers are probably wondering what those actions are), most people usually let the tape roll through the rest of the songs before flipping sides.

Then before we realised, those mundane songs got catchy and we caught ourselves humming their tunes while driving.

This is the power of propinquity.

In the book titled Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change by Joseph Grenny and Kerry Patterson, the term ‘Propinquity’ was used to describe these phenomena. The term itself means ‘the state of being close to someone or something’.

In this context, propinquity represents that fact that our brain changes proportionally to distance: The closer the distance of an influencer the more the brain is likely to change, and vice versa.

In this regard, propinquity says that if you are close to someone then you are likely to love that person. Conversely, if you ‘set it free’ then you have a diminishing chance that it will ever come back to you. And brain-based leaders can learn to use this to our benefit.

For those who want to lose weight, one propinquity technique is to ‘change the size of the plate’. In 2006, Dr. Brian Wansink from Cornell University conducted an experiment where consumers were served using a special bowl. The custom-built container allowed soup to be refilled through its bottom without the person knowing: “I want to know whether people would stop eating when they’ve had enough, or when the bowl is empty”, said the researcher. Can you guess what the result was?

It turned out that the people who ate from these special bowls consumed 73% more than the group served with the regular ones.

The patrons did not even realise they were eating that much; “It didn’t get any lesser no matter how much I ate, so I kept eating.”

The study concluded that our feeling of being ‘full’ is measured by the amount of food we see before us rather than the volume of our stomach. We eat less when the food is in a small container, and we eat more in a large one.

Leadership Insights: 1. Use propinquity to your advantage. Try using the strategy of closeness on your people. Continue to observe the unfavourable behaviours and see if you have already exhausted all options to help the brain with proximity. I’ve worked with many organisations that desire ‘effective meetings’ in their culture but I couldn’t find a clock in any of their meeting rooms. How could the brain be punctual when it had no access to any visual cue of time?

2. Build a culture of closeness. As a leader, you should ask yourself whether you are leading with ‘true love’ or with ‘closeness’. 1) Leading with true love means you look after the subordinates— albeit with love and care – from afar. You believe that everyone is a good person who puts full effort into the job even if they don’t see your face around. Or, 2) leading with closeness means you are always there taking care of things.

Yours is the face the team sees whenever there’s a problem, or an opportunity. When they have an idea to pitch, you are there ready to listen while it’s still fresh. You check on even problems that they might be having at home. You gave no distant remarks like “As long as it doesn’t affect your work”.

I once worked for a leader who I could always drop by for a chat.

Even when I talked about things unrelated to the organisation, he was happy to listen and gave attentive advice. Whatever he promised to do, he did. Then, change happened and I had to work with a boss that operated on the ‘trust’ system. This meant that we only talked occasionally as he trusted I could handle the job. The empowerment sounded nice but somehow I found the distance negatively impacted our relationship. To my heart, it just wasn’t the same.

3. Create propinquity with a shared vision. Some executives may say, with good reasons, that “I couldn’t possibly have the time to get close to all the people in my organization,” or “That’s not my style”. In such case, another way to utilize propinquity is to build closeness via having a shared vision. Have you noticed how sports can mystically turn two complete strangers into friends? “Which team do you root for, coach?” is a question I often get when the topic of football comes up during lunch breaks. I found that when the tablemates all cheer for the same club, our intimacy skyrocketed and we bonded in the blink of an eye.

That’s what a ‘mutual vision’ can do for leaders and their team.

Hence for the brain and its propinquity effect, the saying becomes.

If you love something; set it near If it never leaves, then it’s yours forever

Another example of propinquity; one restaurant faced a problem of staff ‘under-packing’ food, making it necessary to allocate extra resources to fix the mistakes. The manager simply drew a small line inside the container with words ‘add to this point’. And just like that, the problem disappeared. Simple, yet effective.

If it threatens to leave, do whatever you can to get close

At work, propinquity implies that if you want your team to do something, you should present the desired behaviour in the simplest, closest, and clearest manner possible. For example, instead of describing our corporate culture as virtue or teamwork – most people don’t understand what these generic terms mean – Iclif puts on its wall ‘Assume Positive Intent’. Simple, yet effective.

Dr. Thun Thamrongnawasawat Dr Thun is one of the foremost experts on dissecting complex management and business models and cascading them for easy implementation by companies across different industries. His innovative B.A.S.E. model has inspired numerous organizations to transform.

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If you’ve watched the wildly famous TED talk by leadership expert Simon Sinek, you’ll immediately understand that leadership is not exactly rocket science. It is fundamentally simple, as illustrated by Sinek’s concept of the Golden Circle.

In his latest book, Leaders Eat Last, Sinek puts forward the idea that real leaders put themselves last and are willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others.

They create an environment where people feel safe – what he calls the “Circle of Safety”.

The principle was inspired by leadership dynamics in the Marine Corps, where Sinek observes that higher ranked officers eat last. This is in stark contrast to what is usually seen in corporate leadership.

While Sinek acknowledges that what he is offering in the book is not something new, he has certainly put in a fresh perspective what has been around for decades.

Here are three key takeaways from Simon Sinek’s Leaders Eat Last: 1. Exceptional organisations have cultures in which the leaders provide cover from above and the people on the ground look out for each other During one of his trips with the Marines Corps, Sinek recalls a particularly harrowing situation in Afghanistan. Trapped in a dangerous spot, he experienced the true meaning of leadership and service.

A pilot provided cover for troops under fire, exposing himself to life threatening (his plane was underequipped with outdated tech). He acted bravely, giving to others with no expectation of anything in return.

Leadership And The

Circle Of Safety REAL LEADERS PUT THEMSELVES LAST

BY IMRAN HASHIM

Why would anyone do such a thing? When asked the question, the pilot answered, “because they would’ve done it for me”.

Real leaders minimise or take away distractions so that the team can perform well, Sinek offers.

This approach is also evident in other fields – world class football coach Jose Mourinho is one such example.

No matter where he goes, the “Special One” can always outperform his predecessors. Sure, he is not one without controversy.

Yet, he absorbs all the heat with his unorthodox yet tactful manner in dealing with the media circus, all in the best interests of his team so that they can focus on what they do best; playing top level football.

In return, the team produces outstanding results on the field. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Teams perform best when in a Circle of Safety and interestingly,

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the incredible act of selflessness is inherent in all human beings.

According to Sinek, we all have the capacity to do things for others. In the book, he looks into fundamental biology and explains how our body systems, specifically hormones, actually help us to do this.

3. Leaders of organisations who rise through the ranks not because they want it, but because the tribe keeps offering higher status out of gratitude for their willingness to sacrifice, are the true leaders worthy of our trust and loyalty

Endorphins, for example, mask physical pain. They allow us to endure, critical in ensuring survival of humanity. It has worked for millions of years over many civilisations.

Leadership is not a race. It is not competition with winners or losers. To lead is to serve, emphasises Sinek.

Dopamine, a goal setting mechanism propels us to achieve a target. Since human beings are visual animals, it gives us a sense of achievement when a vision can be framed and become reality.

Serotonin is the leadership chemical. It triggers the sense of pride and belonging, and pushes us to be a part of something and have a purpose.

The best chemical of all according to Sinek? Oxytocin – the hormone responsible for love, trust, and everything nice.

This is why individuals experience warmth when they have leaders who care, who spend time with employees, and who freely give time and energy out of genuine generosity.

2. Leaders of great organisations do not see people as a commodity to be managed to help grow the money Sinek points out that the mentality of maximising shareholders value, a movement that began in the late 1970s to overcome geopolitical issues (Arab oil embargo, Vietnam war, stock market crash) has been at the expense of general wellbeing.

It explains the widening gap in wealth and equality in modern day corporates.

It was an era where corporate chief executive officers were paid outlandish amounts of money for generating huge shareholder returns from company stock price. Small wonder why there are so many people who gun for elite status.

However, the problem with focusing on profit before people is that profit can only last so long. Leaders need to truly embrace the value of people and not merely see them as a commodity.

In Sinek’s words, a leader’s legacy is measured by the strength of the foundation they leave behind for others to continue to advance the organisation.

If a leader leaves and takes away the expertise and genius with them, it is a sign that they failed to build a real Circle of Safety during their time.

So what does that make Jack Welch of General Electric then? Or Steve Ballmer of Microsoft? What about Steve Jobs? The legacy of real leaders stands against time.

He cites the US Congress as an example of an entity that has moved in the wrong direction. Congress has moved from a system of cooperation, bipartisan of some sort in the 1990s, to complete power hoarding among congressmen today. It has become a battle of wills, always locking horns instead of acting in the interest of their constituents.

Even more shocking is they have a “model schedule”, a recommendation for working hours in the Capitol.

There is now too much time allocated for fund-raising instead of building meaningful relationships and working for progress. No wonder there is a deep mistrust in political officials.

In contrast, Sinek explains that the Marines adopt what they call “eyeball leadership”, spending time with the people they serve.

As social animals we are most productive when we trust and cooperate. We look out for each other and we trust the leader to take care of the tribe. When leaders create a Circle of Safety, the entire group is running at full potential. The power of cooperation cannot be underestimated, especially in business.

Granted, everything that Sinek writes in his book is not entirely new or groundbreaking. His astute observation of human beings however, is mostly honest and spot on.

The root of many problems we observe in organisations can be traced back to basic biology. The hormones that make us strive, if unbalanced, can cause addiction to performance and alphastatus, and can come at a significant cost.

Recognising this is only the first step. The critical part for leaders to actually commit to helping others and “eat last”. In doing so, they create a Circle of Safety, which is an environment of trust, respect and cooperation where their team can thrive.

Imran Hashim Imran is a talent acceleration manager with Leaderonomics. He believes that in order to cope with high demands of modern life, a strong collaborative approach is always best. He hopes that everyone will look after one another and be good to each other, just the way our default biology is wired. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek is distributed by Penguin Books and is available at all leading bookstores.

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Mother Teresa: Petite In Size, But Big In Heart And Deep In Impact

BY ROSHAN THIRAN

In conjunction with the United Nation-designated International Day of Charity (September 5), I wanted to share some of my thoughts on an inspiring woman leader who made a difference to many throughout the world, as well as share some leadership insights I gained from researching her life and work.

While few will recognise the name Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, almost everybody will know the name she became known by: Mother Teresa. Teresa – named after St. Therese of Lisieux – was devout in the service to others from an early age, later travelling to Ireland to begin her life as a nun.

It was from here that she was sent to India, where she first became known as Mother Teresa.

The calling and commitment In September 1946, during a train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa was said to have received her calling from God to be of service to those unable to take care of themselves.

She expressed that this calling compelled her towards “labouring at the salvation and sanctification of the poorest of the poor”.

In October 1950, Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity was finally established, and so began the institution that would 18

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become known across the world for its commitment to alleviating the suffering of society’s excluded needy and poor.

“ Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. “ – Mother Teresa

Over the next three decades, Mother Teresa’s foundations were established in a number of countries throughout the world.

By the time she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, there were 158 Missionaries of Charity foundations.

Throughout 1980s and 1990s, Mother Teresa continued to travel the world, bringing her work to those who were in desperate need of love and care.

By 1997, her sisters totalled around 4,000 members, and were established in almost 600 foundations across more than 100 countries.

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Let your works do the talking What has always struck me about Mother Teresa is how this diminutive lady with a big heart and powerful spirit was able to effect so much positive change around the world.

She truly epitomised the saying that “you’re never too small to think big”, and it was through her example that I realised there is nothing that can’t be achieved if you have the right focus, passion and determination to make it happen.

One of the other striking qualities about Mother Teresa was that she never talked much about what she was going to do – she simply went ahead and carried out what she felt was necessary.

What a powerful quality to have in leadership!

We can talk, debate, discuss, think, plan and speculate – and these are important steps to take in the process of working towards a goal. But how many great ideas remained ideas precisely because of too much talk, or too much caution?

“ At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in. “ Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997 at the age of 87, and her funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life and religious beliefs.

Also in attendance were prime ministers, presidents, royalty and dignitaries from all over the world, paying their last respects to the little nun with the big heart who had done so much to bring the world together.

A living legacy “ God doesn’t require us to succeed, He only requires that you try. “

Keep calm and carry on Mother Teresa wasn’t lacking in her critics, but carried on anyway to lay the foundations for the work she considered important as a servant leader, for both God and others.

Often, we can get so downtrodden when people criticise us, and while we should think about valid criticisms and how we can improve ourselves, we shouldn’t allow our critics to take the reins and steer our motivations in their preferred direction.

One key insight that has served me well is that, from Buddha to Jesus to Prophet Muhammad to Mother Teresa to the Dalai Lama and everyone else, we all have our critics – it’s an inescapable part of life.

Since then, there has been much written about the life and legacy of Mother Teresa, but I think her example offers up one powerful, yet simple message to anyone who truly seeks to make an impact on the world: You can do it!

You can create the change you want to see in the world, and it begins with the decision to go ahead and get it done.

You don’t need anyone’s permission to reach inside yourself and bring forth the greatness that’s within you to do amazing things.

All that is required is for you to get out there and just do it.

And, did you know that in recognition of her role of charity in alleviating human suffering and humanitarian crises among nations (and many other unsung heroes, of course), the UN specifically picked the anniversary death of Mother Teresa as the International Day of Charity? That’s how deep her impact is.

“ We are also critics of others, so we really shouldn’t expect a free ride ourselves. “

With this realisation, I could see there was a choice: we can either yield under the pressure of criticism, or we can rise above it and succeed in spite of it. Mother Teresa chose the latter.

Thanks to her choice, she ensured a powerful and positive legacy that is sure to live on for generations and inspire many people to push towards their unique greatness, and to share their gifts with the world.

Roshan Thiran Roshan is CEO of the Leaderonomics Group. He believes that everyone can be a leader and make a dent in the universe, in their own special ways.

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IS EMPATHY A BAD DECISION-MAKING GUIDE FOR LEADERS? Choose rational compassion over emotional empathy instead

BY SANDY CLARKE

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Imagine you were presented with a case of a child who had a terminal illness and was on a waiting list to receive treatment to alleviate her symptoms.

Sheri Summers sits on the list filled with terminally-ill children who also await the treatment. While it won’t cure her of the illness, it will ease her suffering. Given the chance, would you move the girl to the top of the list?

Presented with just the facts, it’s likely that, although you might sympathise with the girl, you would reject the notion of moving her to the top of the list. After all, it’s unfair that one child should receive preferential treatment at the expense of others who would move down the list.

In another person’s shoes Now imagine you were confronted with the same case, but with a twist. This time, you are encouraged to “put yourself in the girl’s shoes”.

You are invited to feel the fear, the anguish and the pain that Summers feels, and no doubt your mind will also think about how distressed her poor parents must be in watching their precious little girl suffer.

In this scenario, you will journey beyond the realm of sympathy and come to empathise with the young girl. Having been asked to put yourself in her shoes, you are much more likely to move her to the top of the list.

Emotional empathy vs rational compassion You have made an emotional connection with the case, rather than a rational choice. You’ve also just moved a number of other terminally-ill kids down the list, because they remain anonymous to you.

Such an experiment and its results are cited in the latest book from Yale psychologist Paul Bloom. Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion closely examines the limitations and dangers of empathy when it comes to making moral choices.

regard to performing good acts but there are better ways to go about this, such as rational compassion.

One of the problems with empathy is that it’s innumerate: empathy compels us to care for the one rather than 100 due to its narrow spotlight focus. On an intellectual level, most of us are likely to agree that 100 lives are more valuable than one.

However, when one life is relatable to us and the lives of 100 are not, the powerful emotion of empathy transforms what we’d ordinarily see as an immoral action into something of a sensible and rational choice.

Our biased empathy A counter argument to this might be, “Surely some biases are OK? Of course I’m going to care more about people closer to me than those who are distant and anonymous. Isn’t that the kind of survival instinct that allowed us to get this far in the first place?”

To this, Bloom replies, “Some bias is OK. I’ll care a lot more about my children than I care about you, and I don’t think there’s a moral mistake there – I think it’s actually a good thing. You might argue that it’s sensible to care more about your neighbour than a faraway stranger, with all else being equal.

“But some of empathy’s biases are just moronic. For example, we might feel that a person in the street doesn’t matter as much if they’re ugly, compared to if they’re attractive.

“Or if a person’s black, they might not feel as important to us as a white person. Most people would say that’s stupid.

“I address this early in my book by saying that I’m going to assume that people agree that skin colour is morally irrelevant, that 100 lives is worth more than one. If you disagree with me on that, I don’t really have much to say to you. If you tell me you think one life is worth more than 100, I’ll tell you I think you’re an idiot.

“While I don’t get universal agreement on empathy, nobody pushes back when I say skin colour or a person’s level of attractiveness shouldn’t matter.

Referencing numerous studies, experiments and anecdotes, the book suggests there are better ways that can increase our chances of making the right decision rather than choosing a course of action because it tugs at our heartstrings.

“Those kinds of biases, produced by empathy, are recognised by people as poor biases. They might argue that we can override them or that they’re a necessary evil; but I haven’t met anybody who accepts the biases produced by empathy.”

Empathy can deceive our decision-making Bloom’s compelling case against empathy has provoked strong reaction from people who have criticised his stance. In various ways, they offer the argument that, without empathy, we are bound to become inconsiderate, cold and unfeeling towards others – particularly when they’re in need of help.

The good and bad of empathy In Against Empathy, the Yale professor is keen to stress that empathy isn’t always a terrible tool to use when making decisions.

For the Yale professor, many of us start from this point of view due to “a lack of moral imagination”.

If someone needs help, empathy can encourage us to offer the assistance we can give; however, the research suggests that empathy isn’t a great guide when it comes to making moral decisions. We can see why this is across a number of dilemmas in leadership.

There are, he says, many motivations that drive us to act: religious belief, our personal philosophy, love, sympathy, anger, guilt and shame. We might feel that empathy is the be-all and end-all with

For example, imagine the teacher who is approached by a student who has failed an assignment by just a few marks. The student shares a story of woe that explains why they haven’t performed Issue 26 I April 2019 21

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to their usual standard, and pleads for the marks to be bumped up… just this once.

Compelling though their story might be, to empathise with the student and agree to their request demeans the hard work of the other students who also failed by just a few marks.

It also ignores the possibility that some of them might have similarly upsetting explanations for their poor performance – they simply haven’t come forward. By bumping up the marks for one student, empathy induces bias at the expense of fairness: the teacher has acted on emotion rather than reason.

How empathy clouds our judgment Let’s take a look at ways in which empathy can cloud the otherwise better judgment of those in leadership positions: 1. Empathy takes its toll The leader who carries the weight of 10 sorry tales from employees is one that risks being emotionally burnt out.

Excessive empathy leads to cognitive impairment, affecting decisions and a leader’s ability to function properly.

Leaders who always look to place the needs of others above their own stand to see increased levels of stress and anxiety, as well as other psychological consequences.

2. It can diminish connection with others The more empathy you have for one person, the less you have for others. In one study, researchers pointed to excessive empathy in the workplace leading to a decrease in the ability to connect with friends and family at home which, over time, can negatively affect relationships.

3. It disorientates our moral compass When a leader promotes a person based on shared qualities and interests, rather than because the person is the ideal candidate for the job, empathy is the driver behind such a questionable decision.

Similarly, the teacher who bumps up the mark after hearing a student’s sorrowful story is also being influenced by empathy, which might appear on the surface to be a kind act. However, it not only does the student a disservice in the long run, it also diregards the efforts of other students.

Is empathy bad for us?

It’s important to keep in mind that, just because empathy isn’t great at helping us to make moral choices (such as voting for dubious political leaders, for example), it doesn’t mean that empathy is inherently a bad quality.

However, empathy doesn’t make us good people, either – rather, it simply amplifies the qualities we have within us.

In his book, Bloom writes, “It’s not that empathy itself automatically leads to kindness. Rather, empathy has to connect 22

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to kindness that already exists. Empathy makes good people better, then, because kind people don’t like suffering, and empathy makes this suffering salient.

“If you made a sadist more empathic, it would just lead to a happier sadist, and if I were indifferent to the baby’s suffering, her crying would be nothing more than an annoyance.”

Be rational, be compassionate With the limitations of empathy, why is rational compassion such a great substitute?

In his book Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon’s Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table, renowned heart surgeon Professor Stephen Westaby writes: “Some would suggest that empathy is the key to being a good doctor, the ‘key to compassionate care,’ whatever that means. But if we really considered the enormity and sadness of every tragedy played out in this unit we’d all drown.”

We need our doctors to understand our pain, insists Bloom, rather than feel our pain. Compassion allows them to get a sense of what a person might be going through and also allows the distance needed to help their patients effectively without getting caught up in their suffering.

A misconception of empathy is that a lack of it will lead us to carrying immoral and unethical actions if we fail to step into the shoes of another person.

As Bloom argues in Against Empathy, we should place empathy under the same scrutiny as any other motivation, particularly as it can compel us towards taking the kinds of actions from which we blindly believe empathy steers us.

In leadership, too much empathy can lead to all kinds of poor decisions. Finance managers don’t set budgets based on how they feel they should be set.

Instead, they make careful considerations when it comes to allocating money and resources. While empathy can certainly be used to inform decisions within appropriate contexts, leaders benefit most by taking a considerate and thoughtful approach to their decision-making.

In conclusion As Bloom advises, “You should be rational, you should be compassionate, and you should care about other people.

“We should make judgments more with our heads and less with our hearts. Of course, you need some kind of motivation to take action, but for that, compassion is better than empathy.”

Sandy Clarke Sandy is a freelance writer based in Malaysia, and previously enjoyed 10 years as a journalist and broadcaster in the UK. He has been fortunate to gain valuable insights into what makes us tick, which has deepened his interests in leadership, emotions, mindfulness, and human behaviour.

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Do You Have a Friend?

Friendship at work increases your Productivity & Output!

BY SEGAREN

Most of us may have watched the movie “Avengers”, featuring superheroes such as Iron Man Tony Stark, The Incredible Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America who were brought together to save the world. What are lessons that can be learned from the movie?

If you observed in the movie, you will notice that the turning point of their success came when they stopped focusing on themselves and actually become friends. As their friendships deepened, they realised how important each individual were and utilised each other’s strengths to succeed.

Friendship is what made the Avengers tick Friendship creates teamwork. A great teamwork is what makes great businesses. Sony started by the strong friendship between Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka. Intel’s roots stem from the friendship of Andy Groove, Gordon Moore and Bob Noyce.

A research conducted by Gallup Oganisation revealed that personal friendship at work can increase work satisfaction by as much as 50%. The study titled Vital Friends highlighted that people with 3 friends at work were 46% more likely to be extremely satisfied with their jobs and 88% more likely to be satisfied with their lives.

In fact, the survey also highlighted that having a best friend at work linked to higher organisational productivity, profit, employee retention, increases motivation and customer satisfaction.

Trust !!

The best businesses have teams with strong bonds of friendship, with each member willing to “die for the cause” and the team. A key reason why most business teams fail is due to low levels of trust. Trust deepens as you become friends with your colleagues at work. So how does friendship and trust work?

Great teams thrive because each person plays their roles well, while occasionally helping to cover the gaps created when one of the team members fail. However, if we are not friends with each other in our team, we are unlikely to “catch” another when they fall. Worst still if there is hatred amongst colleagues in the organisation, people would be “happy” to see another colleague fall as this may clear the way for their personal success.

Friendship Retreat, Anyone?

Friends are the ones who know you as you are, understand where you have been, accept who you have become, and still encourage you to grow. Isn’t this the spirit of employee engagement and leadership? Being accepted and encouraged and pushing each other to grow and fulfill our potential is the dream of most business leaders. So, why not create means to enhance friendships at work?

Here are top 10 ways to increase friendship at workplace: • Reach out first and take the first step to initiate friendship.

Don’t wait for others to connect with you.

• Don’t judge. Friends can come in any form. Don’t let appearances or reputation influence you. You may lose the opportunity to develop a great friendship when you judge.

• Schedule time for friendship at work. Set up some time to “get to know” people at work and nurture your friendships.

• Ensure focused attention when with friends at work. Learn to listen and truly listen.

• Learn to love people. Genuine friendship begin with love and caring.

• Learn to love yourself. When you dislike yourself, people will “smell” it and likewise react to you as you do to yourself.

• Be the friend you will like to have you get as much as you put in to your friendships.

• Be honest with your friends. Without honesty there is no friendship.

• Stay in touch whenever possible if you travel constantly; lack of presence could jeopardize friendships. Find ways to stay in touch.

• Gestures of kindness. Occasionally shower your friends with small gift, notes of encouragement and small gestures of thoughtfulness. Your friends will love you.

The workplace is where we spend most of our waking hours.

Making the value of friendships in the workplace is paramount importance. So, let’s strive to build deep friendships with our colleagues and employees. It could mean the difference between success and issues in our organisations.

Segaren is the Chief Operating Officer at Leadership Institute of Sarawak Civil Service Issue 26 I April 2019 23

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The Arrogance of Growth

LEAD WITH HUMBLE CONFIDENCE; BE MODEST & RESPECT OTHERS

BY SEGAREN

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As America scaled greater and greater heights of economic prosperity through most 20th century, the rest of the world complained bitterly about American arrogance. The common perception about the US in Asia was that Americans do not try to understand other perspectives and want to rule the world with their own “my way or the high way” mentality. However, whether we realise or not, the growth in Asian arrogance has outstripped growth in Asian economies and surpassed the arrogance of the Americans. We have become overly-focused on what foreigners should learn from our success. We are falling into a trap of what we called, the Arrogance of Growth.

In this article, we would like to share the experiences of Rajeev Peshavaria, the CEO of ICLIF about this arrogance of growth in Asia.

A recent interaction by Rajeev with a “C-level” executive at one of the largest Indian companies will illustrate this Arrogance of Growth. “The gentleman spent over an hour telling me how knowledgeable and influential he personally was. He went on to tell me how there was hardly any other company that was better than his in its field, and proudly said that he usually attend conferences only if he was invited as the speaker, not otherwise.

Except for a couple of questions he asked to size me up, he took no advantage whatsoever of my visit to ask my opinion or to benchmark any best practices from around the world. While I came away learning a lot from his company, I wondered what he learned after investing 90 minutes of his time with me.”

RAJEEV PESHAWARIA CEO OF ICLIF

In another recent trip to Singapore, he also encountered the Arrogance of Growth in full bloom. The head of HR and head of one of the divisions of a large government controlled organization had invited Rajeev to give a talk about global best practices in creating a winning corporate culture.

request of the two people who had invited me, he had agreed to the 15 minutes.”

The group Chairman is reported to have said, “When people come to our company from all over the world to study our culture, why have you invited someone to tell us about other cultures?”

Leading with Humble Confidence

To achieve its potential, one must lead with humble confidence.

While we must have great confidence and ability to grow higher, to remain modest and respectful of others should also be main priority as we cannot grow in isolation. Growth arrogance is not limited to Asia – it can happen to anyone anywhere. Such arrogance prevents us from achieving out true potential because subordinates do not give their 100% to such a boss. In today’s complex business environment, there is no doubt about the fact that unless your team gives you their full energy and motivation, you as a leader will under achieve.

So how can you ensure you are not acting under the influence of the Arrogance of Growth? Try implementing 3 simple rules in your social interaction style: 1. Try to help as many people as you can even if they seem of no use to you. You may never know when they might be of help.

At the very least, you can only benefit from their best wishes and gratitude.

2. When you walk into a meeting, ask 3 questions before giving your opinion. Even if you’re totally convinced about the topic at hand, asking 3 questions might give you some new information, and prevent you from digging yourself into hole.

3. Seek more to learn, and less to preach. By all means share your expertise and vast knowledge, but also try and learn something from everyone you meet.

“As I was waiting to be called in for my presentation, the HR head came out and told me that there was a problem that I would need to cut my talk to 15 minutes. Later I learned that the group Chairman was not interested in learning about corporate culture best practices and wanted to cancel the entire session, but at the

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mistakes that make your survey useless

BY SEGAREN

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Surveys are one of the most popular methods for collecting data about people’s attitudes and beliefs, such as customer perception of value, corporate image and employee satisfaction.

And probably because of this popularity, many surveys lack the validity they require to provide useful and usable information. A survey is not a questionnaire plus an envelope plus a stamp.

We may be conducting many surveys, but are those surveys useful? If you are making any of these mistakes with your surveys, you might as well throw away the data and start all over.

Mistake 1: No Purpose & Objectives

Not knowing your actual purpose and objectives of conducting the survey is a total fatal. Some surveys are conducted just for the sake of ‘gathering information’ or continuing what has been practiced before. Surveys without clearly stated objectives is a waste of time and money, and will produce irrelevant and uninformative results.

Clear objectives will limit the survey to those questions that would provide useful data only. You should check if the questions you want on the questionnaire are actually going to collect the right data to meet those objectives. DO NOT use brainstorming to generate your list of questions, or copy the questions from another survey!

Mistake 2: Vague Target Population

Isn’t it easier just to survey everyone in whatever list you already conveniently have? Or just those that are the most obvious? Or those that you “choose” to survey? It sure is. However, leaving your target population undefined and vaguely described would definitely make your survey useless.

A good survey should have a specific criteria or characteristics that define its target population. You should put effort into working out which people to survey and which to not survey, to produce quality results in achieving the objectives.

Mistake 3: Poor Questionnaire Design

If you design your questionnaire with the aim to fit as much information on each page as possible, you would render your data next to useless. Not allowing enough space for respondents to provide answers to the questions will destroy the readability of the collected data. This is how many questionnaires magically fit onto a single page.

A good questionnaire should have a logical sequence of questions, and enough space for respondents to write their feedback. Also, all questions should be arranged in a logical order, as a smooth flow of questions will result in more objective answers.

The actual cost of conducting the survey should consider the value of the relative data collected. The following methods are best ways suggested to conduct a survey: • Respondents are invited to a workshop, where they are facilitated through filling out the questionnaire. Response rates are improved.

• Respondents are interviewed by telephone, which is more costly per respondent but improved response rates can mean that smaller samples are sufficient.

• Respondents are interviewed face to face, which has the highest cost per respondent, and can offer higher data integrity.

Mistake 5: No Implementation Plan

The way a survey is conducted has a significant impact on the integrity of data you end up with. If you fail to have the implementation plan and just let it happen “naturally”, you’re flushing this integrity down the toilet.

In conducting a survey, you should specify how the following activities are to be performed: 1. Making resources to conduct the survey available 2. The ideal timing of the survey events 3. Contacting respondents and convincing them to participate 4. Facilitating the respondents without any bias 5. Safety, security and comfort of interviewers & other survey staff 6. Collating completed survey questionnaires

Mistake 6: No Pilot Test

Conducting survey without any pilot testing done would save your time, but only do this if you don’t care about the usefulness of your survey data. This is because if you were to pilot test your survey, you might have to go back and change things if it didn’t run as you wanted or deliver the kind of data you needed.

Conclusion

Designing and conducting surveys aren’t rocket science; it’s the field of statistics. Doing surveys well means adopting a few simple principles: • Have a clear and concise purpose and objectives • Design the survey questions to produce the data that will answer your objectives • Select your sample randomly • Define the steps in the survey implementation process • Pilot test the survey and questionnaire You’ll be glad if you follow these principles because your resulting survey results will be defensible, cost effective, and actually answer your objectives.

Mistake 4: Mailing the Questionnaire

Emailing out surveys to respondents are very inexpensive (at least it looks that way when you measure cost by dollars per respondent). However, the survey data might be useless because of the low response rates typical of volunteer surveys (particularly when no incentive is offered). Mail-out surveys result in large bias in the data, if those that respond are in some way different to those that don’t respond.

Segaren is the Chief Operating Officer at Leadership Institute of Sarawak Civil Service

Issue 26 I April 2019 27

Building Leaders of Excellence

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