Years ago I learnt a method to improve my achievements. It is called success book. It tells you to write down every success during a day, big or small. That way you are much aware of your success. You can also create a love book or happiness book.
I know a woman who is very bright. She tells every small or big positive aspect of her life to everyone she likes, when she bought new shoes, new clothes, new jewelry, when she started to learn a new language or new music instrument, when she visited a new bar or restaurant, when she tried a new spa or ate a delicious cake.
On the other side when something negative happened to her, for example a car accident, she tried to remember the good side of it, e.g. the guy was nice or fortunately the cost of the repair was all covered by the insurance.
From above two examples I realize that maybe initially what happened did not really change. But if you emphasize the positive side of the reality, the positive side will have more weight to you. You select the things to remember you like. By any time of your life, it is not what you really have experienced, but what you can remember, will make up your (subjective) reality.
At the second stage however, when you get used to focus on the bright side of your life, your mood will be better, you will have higher energy level and you will have better judgment and make better decisions which will change your quality of live, improve your efficiency and increase your level of happiness.
Showing posts with label High Performance Company. Show all posts
Showing posts with label High Performance Company. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Motivation Factor Number ONE: Sense of Purpose
On the way to the office this morning, I observed 2 elderly people, maybe aged at 70, standing next to the traffic light, directing the flow of the walkers crossing the street. The temperature was 31 °C. Both of them wore a sign: Volunteer.
Then I observed some young, nice dressed ladies in the air-conditioned office building with the best views to the Huangpu River, got bored for what they have to do, waiting for the clock to reach 5:30pm, so they can enjoy the night life in Shanghai.
So I start to question myself what really motivate people to work, not just to do an ordinary work, but a job with passion, independently on how much one gets paid for. I reflected to my own 23 years working experiences with all the emotional ups and downs and came to the conclusion that people need strong sense of purpose to work with passion.
For me the purposes are
1) When the work has a component of personal development, either for me or for other people.
2) When the work really creates values, either for the company, other people or for myself.
If none of the above exists, I tent to switch off my light and fire. I will still do a job well. But I may not go the extra miles.
I am pretty sure that every one has his own sense of purpose. The manager’s task is to find it out and to design the job for the subordinates such that it makes sense (of purpose) to them.
Then I observed some young, nice dressed ladies in the air-conditioned office building with the best views to the Huangpu River, got bored for what they have to do, waiting for the clock to reach 5:30pm, so they can enjoy the night life in Shanghai.
So I start to question myself what really motivate people to work, not just to do an ordinary work, but a job with passion, independently on how much one gets paid for. I reflected to my own 23 years working experiences with all the emotional ups and downs and came to the conclusion that people need strong sense of purpose to work with passion.
For me the purposes are
1) When the work has a component of personal development, either for me or for other people.
2) When the work really creates values, either for the company, other people or for myself.
If none of the above exists, I tent to switch off my light and fire. I will still do a job well. But I may not go the extra miles.
I am pretty sure that every one has his own sense of purpose. The manager’s task is to find it out and to design the job for the subordinates such that it makes sense (of purpose) to them.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Worst and Best Case Strategy for Any Change
There is a strategy you can apply as a manager for any change in your professional and private life. I called this Worst and Best Case Strategy. It starts like this:
1) Ask yourself, what would be the worst case in this situation. Then find a person whom you know as the most negative, pessimistic one. Ask his/her view. Also a negative person has a great value here.
2) Accept that the worst case can really happen. When it happened, in which way can you accept it and re-organize your professional/private life in peace with it? How can you get out the most from this case?
3) Then use all your imaginations to define the best case. Talk with a most positive, creative, dreaming friend you know. Ask his/her view. Ask what all you can do to achieve the best case.
4) Your job is to do everything to improve the worst case and do everything to get as close as possible to the best case.
5) What finally comes out by your efforts might be some where between the worst and the best case. So you can be happy that the worst case did not happen and you are motivated to continue your efforts, because you have still room for improvements.
6) The best thing here is that you always focus on the actions and do not worry about uncertainties and possibilities.
A smart strategy, isn’t it?
1) Ask yourself, what would be the worst case in this situation. Then find a person whom you know as the most negative, pessimistic one. Ask his/her view. Also a negative person has a great value here.
2) Accept that the worst case can really happen. When it happened, in which way can you accept it and re-organize your professional/private life in peace with it? How can you get out the most from this case?
3) Then use all your imaginations to define the best case. Talk with a most positive, creative, dreaming friend you know. Ask his/her view. Ask what all you can do to achieve the best case.
4) Your job is to do everything to improve the worst case and do everything to get as close as possible to the best case.
5) What finally comes out by your efforts might be some where between the worst and the best case. So you can be happy that the worst case did not happen and you are motivated to continue your efforts, because you have still room for improvements.
6) The best thing here is that you always focus on the actions and do not worry about uncertainties and possibilities.
A smart strategy, isn’t it?
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
What Are Your Employees Really Looking For Most?
I meet weekly a manager for lunch to discuss management issues we face. And here is the conversation once we had:
I: “What do you think is the most important thing all employees are looking for?”
He: “hmmm...”
I: “They are all desperately looking for recognition.”
He: “How do you come to that conclusion?”
I: “Why do you think they work hard until late night? Why do you think they come to ask for promotion or salary increase? Why do you think they are sometimes lack of motivation?”
He: “They want to earn recognition, claim for recognition and strike for recognition.”
I: “But why do we pay so little attention to giving recognition?”
He: “Because we do not get enough recognition ourselves, so why should we give to others? We are more often beaten up than recognized.”
I: “Yes. This is the turning point. Even we do not get enough recognition, there are no logical reasons why we should not give it freely and generously to others. It is for free in most cases and there is immediate return. The more you give recognitions to others, the more you will receive from others. It is similar like love.”
He: “This is really a great conversation. Thanks.” :-)
I: “You are a quick learner.” :-)
I: “What do you think is the most important thing all employees are looking for?”
He: “hmmm...”
I: “They are all desperately looking for recognition.”
He: “How do you come to that conclusion?”
I: “Why do you think they work hard until late night? Why do you think they come to ask for promotion or salary increase? Why do you think they are sometimes lack of motivation?”
He: “They want to earn recognition, claim for recognition and strike for recognition.”
I: “But why do we pay so little attention to giving recognition?”
He: “Because we do not get enough recognition ourselves, so why should we give to others? We are more often beaten up than recognized.”
I: “Yes. This is the turning point. Even we do not get enough recognition, there are no logical reasons why we should not give it freely and generously to others. It is for free in most cases and there is immediate return. The more you give recognitions to others, the more you will receive from others. It is similar like love.”
He: “This is really a great conversation. Thanks.” :-)
I: “You are a quick learner.” :-)
Monday, April 13, 2009
Effective Working Time
Last Saturday I had lunch with some friends and their families, most of them had studied at RWTH Aachen during the same time I studied there. Few of them were very successful and became the heads of China operations of large/medium German or other foreign companies.
I had an interest to understand how hard they work and threw a question on the round table: “How many effective hours do you guys work per day in average?”
One friend asked back: “How do you define effectiveness?”
“Adding value to your company.” I answered.
He smiled and responded: “I am happy, if my work does not destroy values.”
And another friend said: “Maximum three to four hours.”
That is exactly the phenomena I observed by discussions with other professionals. The higher you climb to the corporate latter, the un-clearer is it to determine the value of your work and therefore your effectiveness. Most people, yes, most people are focusing to protect their current positions. The best way to do it is to orientate to what the bosses require. And it is important too.
But is that all a leader like you should do? Obviously not.
You have an obligation to continuously increase the assets of your team, organization or your company, e.g. hire the best people, let the low performers to find other opportunities, develop your people as a team and as individuals, improve the working process, make sure that your team to stop doing things that either destroy value or do not create values.
If you have done all these perfectly, then the next step is for you to extend the responsibility of the team or create new business scope. As a leader you have always to move a step ahead for others to follow.
I had an interest to understand how hard they work and threw a question on the round table: “How many effective hours do you guys work per day in average?”
One friend asked back: “How do you define effectiveness?”
“Adding value to your company.” I answered.
He smiled and responded: “I am happy, if my work does not destroy values.”
And another friend said: “Maximum three to four hours.”
That is exactly the phenomena I observed by discussions with other professionals. The higher you climb to the corporate latter, the un-clearer is it to determine the value of your work and therefore your effectiveness. Most people, yes, most people are focusing to protect their current positions. The best way to do it is to orientate to what the bosses require. And it is important too.
But is that all a leader like you should do? Obviously not.
You have an obligation to continuously increase the assets of your team, organization or your company, e.g. hire the best people, let the low performers to find other opportunities, develop your people as a team and as individuals, improve the working process, make sure that your team to stop doing things that either destroy value or do not create values.
If you have done all these perfectly, then the next step is for you to extend the responsibility of the team or create new business scope. As a leader you have always to move a step ahead for others to follow.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Dress Code: FREE
Generally people tend to see the draw backs in the company they work for and overlook the nice aspects. Today I would like to present one advantage of the company I work for, just for a change, with the full awareness that this is not the only advantage. I am talking about the dress code.
A colleague and friend comes to the office always with suit and tie with perfect color combination and cuff links. When I asked him why he dresses always that formal, he answered: “Because I respect you, my friend, and because I respect myself.” Bone.
Another colleague and friend, a woman, does not wear formal, but constantly fashionable, sexy, some times with jeans, sometimes miniskirt. She likes to dress that way and it looks wonderful.
Our CEO wears business casual, no ties, unless there are customer meetings. His direct reports certainly adapted his style, no ties, even before they wore ties. Our leadership is at least flexible in styling.
I am much more flexible, sometimes I come with jeans and sweater, sometimes with suit, including tie and cuff links. A colleague was confused with the inconsistency and asked me: “Why do you dress that formal today?”
I smiled and told him: “Between you and me, here is my secret. When I stand up early in the morning, I took shower and wear nicely, because I like to give good impression. But when I stand up late, I just grasp the nearest clothes and hurry up to the office.”
Fortunately, my company allows it. People are absolutely divers in dress code, namely FREE.
A colleague and friend comes to the office always with suit and tie with perfect color combination and cuff links. When I asked him why he dresses always that formal, he answered: “Because I respect you, my friend, and because I respect myself.” Bone.
Another colleague and friend, a woman, does not wear formal, but constantly fashionable, sexy, some times with jeans, sometimes miniskirt. She likes to dress that way and it looks wonderful.
Our CEO wears business casual, no ties, unless there are customer meetings. His direct reports certainly adapted his style, no ties, even before they wore ties. Our leadership is at least flexible in styling.
I am much more flexible, sometimes I come with jeans and sweater, sometimes with suit, including tie and cuff links. A colleague was confused with the inconsistency and asked me: “Why do you dress that formal today?”
I smiled and told him: “Between you and me, here is my secret. When I stand up early in the morning, I took shower and wear nicely, because I like to give good impression. But when I stand up late, I just grasp the nearest clothes and hurry up to the office.”
Fortunately, my company allows it. People are absolutely divers in dress code, namely FREE.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Happiness at the Work
The essential purpose of work in the business is to make other people happy.
If you are a waiter, your clients should enjoy the dinner. If you are writer, your reader should like your text. If you are factory worker, your products, such as iPhone, laptop, shoes, pen, watches, chairs will finally reach the end customers who need or want them.
If you are manager, your job is to make your boss happy, as well as your subordinate, so that they can work on things making the end customers happy.
If the essential purpose of work in the business is to make other people happy, you can not really do a good work without being happy yourself, because your happiness or unhappiness will be eventually transferred to the end customers. The obvious example comes from service sector, when your smile makes immediate difference.
However, most people work without a sense of happiness. They just want to earn money, as much as possible, to make a living. I believe this is the largest source of unhappiness in this world.
Therefore most people really missed the point of purpose of work. Help yourself to do something about it, either by changing the job or creating a working environment that will make yourself and the people around you happy. Amen.
If you are a waiter, your clients should enjoy the dinner. If you are writer, your reader should like your text. If you are factory worker, your products, such as iPhone, laptop, shoes, pen, watches, chairs will finally reach the end customers who need or want them.
If you are manager, your job is to make your boss happy, as well as your subordinate, so that they can work on things making the end customers happy.
If the essential purpose of work in the business is to make other people happy, you can not really do a good work without being happy yourself, because your happiness or unhappiness will be eventually transferred to the end customers. The obvious example comes from service sector, when your smile makes immediate difference.
However, most people work without a sense of happiness. They just want to earn money, as much as possible, to make a living. I believe this is the largest source of unhappiness in this world.
Therefore most people really missed the point of purpose of work. Help yourself to do something about it, either by changing the job or creating a working environment that will make yourself and the people around you happy. Amen.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Berger Executive Resources: A High Performance Company
Since years I am looking for real life case studies of high performance companies. Today I happened to have the chance meeting a business woman who owns such one. Her name is Chen Wei, head of Berger Executive Resources focusing on HR consulting, mainly head hunting.What did she do differently than other average head hunters? By the way there are thousands alone in Shanghai. She runs the firm successfully without overtime and she does not request employees to do overtime as well. Why is that possible in Asia, in China, in Shanghai? Because she does not waste any time and trained her employee to have the same discipline. The results: Berger Executive Resources belongs to top 10 according to on-line polls.
Some other head hunters including some big ones try to follow any cases they can get, with 10% to 30% hit rate. So 90% to 70% time are actually wasted. Chen Wei’s style is just the opposite, she ONLY follow the cases which 100% winning chances and sign exclusive contracts with down payments.
What are the benefits? For the company there are effectively no wasted resources including time and money. The clients get 100% care and focus and absolute quality job. The candidates have better chance to land positions which best fit to their talents. The employee always works on projects for which they will get bonuses. And who would like to leave such company to other average ones? Employee royalty leads to client royalty. Client loyalty leads again to high performance of Berger Executive Resources. A truly win-win-win situation.
I wonder why do not all the companies in the whole world follow the same concept?
Contacts:
http://www.bergerexecutive.com/
wei_chen@bergerexecutive.com
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