True Leadership

Simon Sinek's Leaders Eat Last

One of the best quotes on Leadership

"The goal of a leader is to give no orders (...). Leaders are there to provide direction and intent and allow others to figure out what to do and how to get there. And this is the challenge most organizations face. We train people to comply, not to think. (...) If people only comply, we can't expect people to take responsibility for their actions. The chain of command is for orders, not information. Responsibility is not doing as we are told, that's obedience. Responsibility is doing what is RIGHT."

On proposing a "Personal Development" strategy

Why companies are so reluctant to offer non-job related trainings or presentations?

I was reading an article this morning regarding Candy Crush Saga developer, King, and at some point the article pointed out that employees are having training in the fields of nutrition, health, African countries, volunteering, etc…

I admit I was intrigued, I have never heard until now any of my employers having the courage to bring such benefits to the employees.

When thinking about employee motivation the bonus structure, the incentives, KPI’s and KPO’s are so well embedded, that it is hard to see, that money is just a small part of abundance. Is somebody with a huge bonus really abundant and wealthy? Or is wealth and abundance a relative feeling which comes from an intrinsic motivation or reason? I can’t help remembering Marsha Sinetar saying “Do what you love the money will follow”, or Tony Robbins suggesting to help your employer see what you and your colleagues really want. Actually as I appreciate the inspiration people like Robbins or Branson give, and I am not afraid of stating my opinion even though sometimes weird or not ordinary as encouraged by Seth Godin…I have myself tried last year to propose a new training structure to the giant I am working for. I have presented to the HR department and two of my managers how we can change the attitude of the employees (having quite high attrition), how we should show them more that we as company care, by helping them developing communication and leadership skills, not just “on the job trainings”.

My proposition was to create a team of excellence, in which to have actually our own employees who are passionate about reading and development, who are great in presenting and bringing ideas alive, who are interested in discussions which are not limited to macros, standardization,…or who went out with who in the office… Working in a 400 plus employees “financial hub” finding about 10 people to create this team is more than reasonable and also doesn’t require additional financial funds. Working in an Asian environment where most people are afraid to stand up, to look around, to share their opinion, breaking down some big cultural barriers and bringing a more open communication I would see a reasonable and beneficial thing to do. The hub which was more like a modern factory thanked me for the idea, and even though I proposed a list of topics, they were very reluctant. In the end the only effect of all this was to have a 6 hour long training held by British Council on “How to write an email?”…specially addressed to Asians’ over-polite attitude.

Are giants ready to move out of their comfort zone, or how long we still have to wait until we see a surprising, out of ordinary improvement? Or do we have to wait or take the leap and pick ourselves to be excellent where this is not hindered by out aged rules?

Do companies want monkeys, servants, mediocre or computer like people who get the job done…or do they want a bit of that sparkle? Anybody can punch in some numbers, process some journals and produce similar reports from one month to another as typical to most of our outsourcing companies “standard deliverables”…but who is actually courageous enough to analyze the trends and give frank feedback without being in a management position, look behind the reasons, have the curiosity to connect the operations with the numbers… Working in finance should not be limited to following instructions and producing reports: it should give us that great curiosity to see WHY these numbers are representing our activity. Numbers tell the story, and they connect people and materials, how can we see the true value if we are afraid to look deep enough or to look ahead enough? We are not just minions calculating standard percentages, we are individuals who have the brainpower to give interpretation, to analyze, to connect, to see the business but to visualize outside the business, to have the attitude of not working for a company but rather creating the value together with other colleagues. We are all dispensable and replaceable…but we can all bring something unique, we can all feel a connection to our workplace which makes us want to develop it, and feel like we are part of it, and as it is our own.

And if this feeling of loyalty and belonging for me, and probably some other employees comes from some topics which are discussed together, but not related to the strict list of tasks we are doing: what would be really the loss of the company to get engaged in doing a “Personal Training School” compared to the massive benefits it could discover by actually seeing those hundreds or thousands of employees as individuals and not a number on the payroll?

Seth Godin aka have the GUTS

What would I do with 1 million USD?

Money should flow and circulate

A common point of many rich people is that they are giving back part of their fortune to the society by charities, by sponsoring events, schools, libraries, universities...

I was inspired by Andrew Carnegie's view ("The Gospel of wealth") saying we have 3 options to get rid of our money, as obviously we cannot take it with us ... this would be to leave it to the family, leave it to a public purpose upon death or distribute during our lifetime. He sees little value in giving all your money to the family (who might tend to be mediocre and not continue hard work), or to charity and poor (mostly because many who have nothing would fritter it away on indulgences), but rather using your imagination, diligence and creativity to distribute it actively to create maximum social benefit and maximum value.

Well I don't exactly know how rich people handle their finances, never being a millionaire myself, but in any case at a point in my life I might as well be very rich, so why not have a little thinking about what would I do.

I agree with Carnegie in investing your money back to the society and creating value. I would definitely focus on young people: high-school and university students, because from Eastern Europe point of view they have little to no guidance and help on how to be prosperous, how to advance, how to choose the right career, how to have the guts to change if something is not fulfilling and  not settle for mediocrity.

I would give students a 1 year guidance class, where once a week the students would be presented what universities/ masters/ business schools there are (in and outside the country), what student loans and grants are available, what exams are necessary to qualify later as an international hire, what career paths they can follow: and this one would go into presenting them what an engineer does and how different this is depending on the industry, what an architect does, how an accountant works, what is the beauty of sales, what type of jobs you can do with a law degree, what is an eye doctor and what is a day of a nutritionist, how to be an entrepreneur or have your own (online) business, etc.... I think there is so much to talk about and so much to present, and such a huge knowledge GAP when it comes to choices after finishing school.

As a second step I would involve companies to offer free internships to students (especially because in Eastern Europe companies refuse interns due to lack of finances), and also present the benefits to the students of working about a 1 year unpaid part-time internship, but this giving the necessary minimum experience to enter the job market, and not to be forced to start with invoice processing or call center agent next to the other 1.000 students doing the same repetitive tasks, and waiting to see if in a year or two something better would come around, or some teamlead would actually see that you are so much smarter than punching in information in a slow CRM or ERP...what nowadays you could teach to a monkey.

Few years ago after finishing high-school most of us chose university with little to no knowledge, and many of us just went on what is fashionable, what is the trend. We were unaware and we lost time and energy....some of us just a little and managed to get good positions and develop, others went along with good opportunities, most settled for safe but not challenging jobs...and there are the hundreds of lost great brains who are still jumping from one "short-term" to another, still figuring out, still feeling lost...And soon me and my colleagues, friends and fellow students will all reach our thirties...and are we happy with what we have achieved? Are we having the guts to create actual art and bring a difference and great value...or are we just making another new years resolution?

Well when I will be a rich person, I will put my energy in helping as many future students as possible to answer all these questions...because I believe in greatness, and I believe each one of us can bring a new value to this crazy chaotic market which we call business environment.