The Tests of a Leader

What to Ask the Person in the Mirror?

“There comes a point in your career when the best way to figure out how you’re doing is to step back and ask yourself a few questions. Having all the answers is less important than knowing what to ask.” The preceding statement concisely captures the very essence of this article written by the Balanced Scorecard Approach progenitor Robert Kaplan published in the January 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Based on his experience as a management practitioner, consultant and academic, Kaplan realized that a key trait of highly successful leaders is not that they figure out how to always stay on course. Rather, it is their ability to recognize a deteriorating situation and get back on track as quickly as possible. These leaders, he found out, constantly ponder on strategic questions to help them improve their performance and preempt serious organizational issues.

Questions

VISION AND PRIORITIES
In the press of day-to-day activities, leaders often fail to adequately communicate their vision to the organization, and in particular, they don’t communicate it in a way that helps their subordinates determine where to focus their own efforts.

· How often do I communicate a vision for my business?
· Have I identified and communicated three to five key priorities to achieve that vision?
· If asked, would my employees be able to articulate the vision and priorities?

MANAGING TIME
Leaders need to know how they’re spending their time. They also need to ensure that their time allocation (and that of their subordinates) matches their key priorities.

· How am I spending my time? Does it match my key priorities?
· How are my subordinates spending their time? Does that match the key priorities for the business?

FEEDBACK
Leaders often fail to coach employees in a direct and timely fashion and, instead, wait until the year-end review. This approach may lead to unpleasant surprises and can undermine effective professional development. Just as important, leaders need to cultivate subordinates who can give them advice and feedback during the year.

· Do I give people timely and direct feedback that they can act on?
· Do I have fix or six junior subordinates who will tell me things I may not want to hear but need to hear?

SUCCESSION PLANNING
When leaders fail to actively plan for succession, they do not delegate sufficiently and may become decision-making bottlenecks. Key employees may leave if they are not actively groomed and challenged.

· Have I, at least in my own mind, picked one or more potential successors?
· Am I coaching them and giving them challenging assignments?
· Am I delegating sufficiently? Have I become a decision-making bottleneck?

EVALUATION AND ALIGNMENT
The world is constantly changing, and leaders need to be able to adapt their businesses accordingly.

· Is the design of my company still aligned with the key success factors for the business?
· If I had to design my business with a clean sheet of paper, how would I design it? How would it differ from the current design?
· Should I create a task force of subordinates to answer these questions and make recommendations to me?

LEADING UNDER PRESSURE
A leader’s actions in times of stress are watched closely by subordinates and have a profound impact on the culture of the firm and employees’ behavior. Successful leaders need to be aware of their own stress triggers and consciously modulate their behavior during these periods to make sure they are acting in ways that are consistent with their beliefs and core values.

· What types of events create pressure for me?
· How do I behave under pressure?
· What signals am I sending my subordinates? Are these signals helpful, or are they undermining the success of my business?
· Are subordinates adequately informed about the pressures faced by the organization?

STAYING TRUE TO YOURSELF
Successful executives develop leadership styles that fit the needs of their business but also fit their own beliefs and personality.

· Is my leadership style comfortable? Does it reflect who I truly am?
· Do I assert myself sufficiently, or have I become tentative?
· Am I too politically correct?
· Does worry about my next promotion or bonus cause me to pull punches or hesitate to express my views?

New Seven Wonders of the World

The Great Wall of China
This 4,160-mile wall was built to protect China from invading Huns, Mongols, and other tribes, and to unite fortifications into one defense system. Begun in the 7th century B.C., the barricade took hundreds of years to build, and ranks as the world's longest man-made structure-and is apparently the only one visible from space.

Petra, Jordan
This ancient capital city was built around 9 B.C. during the reign of King Aretas IV and continued to flourish during the Roman Empire. It is now visible in its pink stone ruins and carved façade.

Christ Redeemer Statue, Brazil
Standing 125 feet tall atop the Corcovado Mountain high above Rio, this statue took five years to build. Constructed in France by sculptor Paul Landowski, it was shipped to Brazil in pieces, and then carried up the mountain by train, where it was reassembled.

Machu Picchu, Peru
This "city in the clouds" was built 8,000 feet above sea level in the 15th century by Incan emperor Pachacutec. Abandoned by the Incas, the city remained unknown until it was rediscovered by an explorer in 1911.

Pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico
The center of Mayan civilization in its day, Chichen Itza is still visible in several structures, including the pyramid of Kukulkan.

Roman Colosseum, Italy
This giant, 50,000 seat amphitheater in the center of Rome was built over 2,000 years ago, and still influences the design of sports stadiums worldwide.

Taj Mahal, India
Built in 1630 by a grieving emperor, Shah Jahan, in honor of his dead wife, this white marble structure combines Indian, Persian, and Islamic style of architecture.

Most Expensive Cars

1. Bugatti Veyron 16.4 $1,192,057
2. Pagani Zonda Roadster F C12S 7.3 667,321
3. SSC Ultimate Aero 654,500
4. LeBlanc Mirabeau 645,084
5. Saleen S7 Twin Turbo 637,723
6. Koenigsegg CCR 545,568
7. Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 452,750
8. Maybach 62 448,153
9. Porsche Carrera GT 440,000
10. Maybach 57S 430,355

NOTE: All base prices are for 2006 models. Includes only vehicles currently sold in the U.S.

The World's Most Repressive Societies

Repressive societies are defined as exerting pervasive state control over daily life, banning free speech, independent organizations and political opposition, and practicing severe human rights violations. Source: Freedom in the World, 2007, published by Freedom House. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=15. Below are the top 20 most repressive countries.

1. Belarus
2. Chechnya (under Russian jurisdiction)
3. China
4. Cuba
5. Cote d'Ivoire
6. Equatorial Guinea
7. Eritrea
8. Laos
9. Libya
10.Myanmar (Burma)
11.North Korea
12.Saudi Arabia
13.Somalia
14.Sudan
15.Syria
16.Tibet (under Chinese jurisdiction)
17.Turkmenistan
18.Uzbekistan
19.Western Sahara (under Moroccan jurisdiction)
20.Zimbabwe

Turncoat

As the dominions of the duke of Saxony were bounded in part by France, one of the early dukes hit upon the device of a coat blue one side, and white the other. When he wished to be thought in the French interest he wore the white outside; otherwise the outside colour was blue. Whence a Saxon was nicknamed Emmanuel Turncoat. (Scots' Magazine, October, 1747.)

A Leader's Way: Working Smart

This is an interesting article by John Maxwell I picked up from The Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Working Smart
John Maxwell

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing to overlook.”-William James

Being successful is not about how hard you work—it’s about how smart you work. Michael LeBoef said, “Devoting a little of yourself to everything means committing a great deal of yourself to nothing.” In a leader’s life, there’s a big difference between activity and accomplishment. Activity is being busy. But as Henry David Thoreau once said, “It’s not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are [you] busy about?”

Generally speaking, there are five ways that people spend their working hours. Read through the following list and determine which one best describes how you spend your time:

1. Urgent—Loud things first

You’ve no doubt heard the saying: The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Well, that shouldn’t always be the case in leadership. As a leader, you will probably encounter a lot of “squeaky wheels” in the form of complaints or requests or suggestions from the people in your organization. Some of them will be valid and merit spending your time on them. But often, oiling the squeaky wheels in your organization isn’t the best use of your time.
Writer Shelby Friedman once said, “[The] person with an hour to kill usually spends it with someone who can’t spare a minute.” Though it’s tempting—especially if you’re a people pleaser—you have to learn to discern what wheels really need grease, what ones can be greased by others and what ones will squeak no matter how much oil they have on them.

2. Unpleasant—Hard things first

Many of us are taught this concept when we’re young. It’s the “dinner before desert” mentality, and there can be some value in it. But just because something is hard doesn’t mean it should be at the top of your to-do list.

Henry Kissenger once joked, “Next week there can’t be any crisis. My schedule is already full.” As a leader, you have to constantly check your motives. If you have a strong work ethic, you may naturally want to get the harder things done first. But don’t just start in on the hard stuff before determining the value of your actions. If doing something easier is a better use of your time, then do that before you tackle the difficult tasks.

3. Unfinished—Last things first

If you’re like most leaders, you work on a day-to-day schedule. And many times your to-do list is left a little undone at the end of the day. If you have only completed eight of the 10 items on your list, the tendency is to automatically place the remaining two items at the top of your list for the following day. But that’s not always the best use of your time.

As Johann Wolfgang Goethe once said, “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”

Chances are, if the two items you didn’t finish a day earlier were on bottom of your list, they weren’t top priorities in the first place, and probably won’t be top priorities the next day either.

Before you spend time completing an unfinished task from the day before, take time to evaluate it in comparison to the other things you need to accomplish. If finishing the task is still not a top priority, place it at the bottom of your list again, and work on it after you finish the more important items.

4. Unfulfilling—Dull things first

Of the five styles, this one is probably the most common. If you subscribe to this notion, your tendency is to want to get boring things out of the way so you can refocus on what’s really important.

As a result, you spend time doing the dull, mindless things, like copying or faxing or reading e-mails first. But even though those things must be done, they are rarely the top priority.

Robert McKain said, “The reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.” Don’t waste time “getting things out of the way.”
Instead, get a jump start on completing your most important task first.

5. Ultimate—First things first

Do you naturally spend time on the most important things first? Whether you do them first or second or last, they eventually have to get done for you to succeed. Commit to give your best time—right now and in the future—to your most important tasks.

Although it’s admirable to be ambitious and hard working, it’s more desirable to be smart working. You see, the key to becoming a more efficient leader isn’t checking off all the items on your to-do list each day.

It’s in forming the habit of prioritizing your time so that you are accomplishing your most important goals in an efficient manner. When you’re able to do that, it won’t be long before you exceed your own expectations as a leader.

My New Book!!!

At last, my second book is out!

It's entitled "The Journey Towards Sustainability," and features stories of NGOs from the Philippines whom we have provided technical support to diversify their revenue base, enhance their management systems, improve governance process and increase impact.

Below is the blurb written at the back cover of the book:

One of the toughest issues facing NGOs in the 21st century is sustainability. With the demise of even financially stable NGOs in many parts of the world, the traditional view of sustainability being equated with having adequate financial resources is increasingly challenged. While it is indeed crucial to NGOs’ survival, financial resources alone could not make an NGO sustainable. This book argues for a broader view of sustainability to include the following dimensions:

Organizational Viability: The ability of an organization to fulfill its mission and vision and maintain its organizational strength by taking into consideration the effectiveness of the organizational systems, strategies, governance, leadership, management, and relationships with the external environment.

Financial Security: Pertains to the ability to continuously generate stable and diversified revenues through proper resource management to meet organizational goals and objectives as effectively and efficiently possible.

Program Effectiveness: The ability to provide quality services to target clients, expand scope of services and client base, increase or maintain demand for services and ensure that program objectives are met.

Enduring Impact: Relates to the process of empowering target clients and engaging them in organizational processes by institutionalizing changes in behavior, developing community capacities, creating a sense of ownership and social capital.

Narrated in this book are stories of nine NGOs from the Philippines who struggled and experimented on a variety of ways to become sustainable. What strategies did they utilize? What results were generated? What difficulties did they encounter? What lessons can be drawn from their experiences? These questions are answered through each NGO’s story about their journey towards sustainability.

Business Planning for Indonesian Nonprofits

During the last week of August 2007, I had the opportunity to facilitate a session on business planning involving the staff members of NGOs coming from Jakarta, Bogor and Jogjakarta. During the three-day workshop, my colleague and I simulated the business planning process from market analysis and business model designing to staff management programming. It was a challenge converting the process in modular form to ensure that it could be understood by a lay person. Participants said they learned a lot, but the test of how much they have absorbed will be judged by the quality of their outputs which will be ready in early 2008.

From Good to Great

Jim Collins, author of the famed Good to Great book has also came up with a monograph Good to Great and the Social Sectors released in 2006. In the monograph, he explores what makes non profit organizations great. Like Peter Senge, he emphasizes the importance of discipline: “[I]f some do well, and others do not in the same circumstance, the answer cannot be circumstance. Greatness is not a function of circumstance. It is a function first and foremost of conscious choice and discipline. We are not imprisoned by our circumstances. We are freed by our choices and discipline.” He brushes aside the divide between social and business missions saying "The critical distinction is not between business and social. The critical difference is between great and good. A culture of discipline that engages in disciplined thought and disciplined action in relentless pursuit of success is a greatness concept. You'll find that culture of discipline wherever you find sustained great results: an orchestra playing a Mahler symphony so perfectly you cannot sleep, in elementary schools where 100% will read. You will find it in Lance Armstrong. You will find it in great companies, in great nonprofits. Not in the mediocre...Disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and disciplined action is what I want you to take away. Our work is too important not to be disciplined."

In his recent speech at the anniversary of an NGO in the US, he asked: “How many of you have a 'to do' list? I'd like to suggest that the presence of a 'to do' list without a corresponding 'stop doing' list is unproductive. If you have three 'to do's' and no 'stop-doings,' you're undisciplined. You can be Bill Gates and you still get 24 hours in a day. It's not what you do; it's what you have the discipline to NOT do.”

Ad libitum (add-li-bee-tum)

To desire.

In accordance with desire. In English we might say, "As you desire," though we often use a shortened form of this Latin phrase in common speech: Any skilled actor will tell you that when you forget your lines during a performance there's only one things to do - ad lib, and quickly.

Wiseacre (wīz’ā’ker)

Although the word “acre” in “wiseacre” makes it appear that the term refers to a unit of measurement, "wiseacre" is actually used contemptuously to mean a wise guy or a smart aleck. The term comes from the Dutch “wijssegger” which means soothsayer. Since soothsayers were considered learned, it was logical to call them “wise,” which is what “wij” means. The word “acre” is a mispronunciation of the Durch “segger,” sayer. There is a famous story in which the word was used in its present sense. In response to the bragging landowner, English playwright Ben Jonson is said to have replied, “What care we for your dirt and clods? Where you have an acre of land, I have ten acres of wit.” The chastened landowner is reported to have muttered: “He’s a Mr. Wiseacre.”

Ad nauseam (add-naw-zee-am)

To nausea.
To a sickening or excessive degree.

There’s nothing more uninspiring than a minister who drones on ad nauseam about hellfire and brimstone.

Longest English Word

At 45 letters, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which refers to a lung disease, is often considered the longest word in English.

Nepenthe (ni pen’thē)

According to Greek legend, when Paris kidnapped Helen and took her to Troy, he wanted her to forget her previous life. In Homer’s version of the tale, Paris gave Helen a drug thought to cause loss of memory. The drug was called “nepenthes.” The word has come down to us with its meaning intact: anything inducing a pleasurable sensation of forgetfulness.

Ad hominem (add-ham-in-em)

To the man.
When an opponent attacks you personally instead of attacking your ideas.

The following joke that circulated during the 1996 Presidential campaign was an ad hominem attack:

If Bill Clinton's building a bridge to the next century, let's hope Ted Kennedy's not driving across it.

Why Sandwich?

In 1700’s, a hungry Earl of Sandwich was gambling in a London club when he asked that roasted beef be placed between two slices of bread. Why? He didn’t want to get his hands – and cards – greasy. Thus the sandwich was born.

Your Handphone's Provenance

Would like to know your whether you handphone is original or not? Follow these steps:
1. Type * # 6 0 #

2. After you have entered the code, you will see an IMEI code containing 15 digits such as 43 4 5 6 6 1 0 6 7 8 9 4 3 5

- IF digits seven and eight are 02 and 20 respectively, that means, it was assembled in the Emirates which is a very Bad quality :(

- IF digits seven and eight are 08 and 80 respectively, that means it was manufactured in Germany which is not bad

- IF digits seven and eight are 01 and 10 respectively, that means it was manufactured in Finland which is Good

- IF the digits seven and eight are 0 and 0, that means, it was manufactured in the original factory which is best

- IF digits seven and eight are 1 and 3 respectively, that means it was assembled in Azerbaijan which is the worst you could get and very dangerous to health.

In Genting Highlands with Gene and Gav

A photo taken at Malaysia's version of Disneyland and Las Vegas rolled into one - Genting Highlands.

It has also a Statue of Liberty on one side and a replica of Venice on the other. Suspended above and hovering like annoying mosquitoes are sledges of different sizes and colors carrying what appear to be images of reindeers and Santa Claus. I'm not sure where they were manufactured but just to be on the safe side, we stayed away from them as much as we could. Mattel's tentacles have long reaches and who knows, these products might contain lead.

Lead Them To The Cross

A reflection from "Our Daily Bread" which is a tribute to 9/11 victims and their families.

READ: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. —Galatians 6:14

Many heart-touching stories were circulated after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. None seems more spiritually significant than that of ironworker Frank Silecchia. As he was helping to recover bodies, Frank noticed two steel beams in the shape of a cross standing upright in the middle of all the debris.

Appointing himself as the curator of that striking symbol of God’s love, he often took heartbroken visitors to see it. Many of them were comforted by the silent testimony to the divine Presence in the worst of tragedies. One day when journalist Barbara Walters came with tearful friends who had lost a son in the catastrophe, Frank simply led them to the cross.
The answer to the world’s terrible pain and evil is not a philosophical argument or a theological treatise. The all-sufficient answer is Calvary’s cross, where in fathomless grace Jesus, the incarnate God, took upon Himself the burden of our sins and bore them “in His own body on the tree, that we . . . might live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).

If you have not been led to Calvary’s cross, let me take you there. He died for you and then rose again. Believe in Him and you will be saved (1 Cor. 1:21). —Vernon C Grounds—Vernon C Grounds

They are nailed to the cross, they are nailed to the cross!O how much He was willing to bear.With what anguish and loss, Jesus went to the cross,But He carried my sins with Him there. —Breck

The pathway to heaven begins at the foot of the cross.

Shibboleth (shib'e lith)

In the 12th chapter of Judges, Jephthah and his men were victorious over the warriors of Ephraim. After the battle, Jephthah gave his guards the password "shibboleth" to distinguish friends from foes; he picked the word because the Epharaimites could not pronounce "sh" sound. The strategy was shrewd and many of his enemies were captured and killed. Thus, the term has come to mean a peculiarity of pronunciation, usage or behavior that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons. It can also mean slogan; a catchword.

A Confederacy of Dunces

I'm currently reading this extremely funny book by John Kennedy Toole, who posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The novel was published in 1980, 11 years after the author's suicide. The book was published through the efforts of the writer Walker Percy and Toole's mother, who relentlessly convinced Walker to read the manuscript her son left behind in their home.

The title derives from the book's epigraph by Jonathan Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." (Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting). The story is set in the city of New Orleans in the early 1960s. The central character is Ignatius J. (Jacques) Reilly, an intelligent but slothful man still living with his mother at age 30 in Uptown New Orleans, who, because of family circumstances, must set out to get a job. In his quest for employment he has various adventures with colorful French Quarter characters.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

An old book I've read while I was in college and re-read again recently. Can't get enough of it. It's Gabriel Garcia Marquez at his best!!!

Here's the synopsis of the book taken from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_years_of_solitude):

Almost all of the events of One Hundred Years of Solitude take place in the fictional village of Macondo but relate to historical events. The town is founded by José Arcadio Buendía, a strong-willed and impulsive leader who becomes deeply interested in the mysteries of the universe when a band of Gypsies visits Macondo, led by the recurring Melquíades. As the town grows, the fledgling government of the country takes an interest in Macondo's affairs, but they are held back by José Arcadio Buendía.

Civil war (the Thousand Days War) breaks out in the land, and Macondo soon takes a role in the war, sending a militia led by Colonel Aureliano Buendía, José Arcadio Buendía's son, to fight against the conservative regime. While the colonel is gone, Arcadio, his nephew, takes leadership of the town but soon becomes a brutal dictator. The Conservatives capture the town, and Arcadio is executed by a firing squad.

The wars continue, with Colonel Aureliano narrowly avoiding death multiple times, until, weary of the meaningless fighting, he arranges a peace treaty that will last until the end of the novel. After the treaty is signed, Aureliano shoots himself in the chest, but survives. The town develops into a sprawling center of activity as foreigners arrive by the thousands. The foreigners begin a banana plantation near Macondo. The town prospers until a strike arises at the banana plantation. The national army is called in, and the protesting workers are gunned down and thrown into the ocean. At this time, Úrsula, the impossibly ancient widow of José Arcadio Buendía, remarks that "it was as if time was going in a circle".
After the banana worker massacre, the town is saturated by heavy rains that last for almost five years. Úrsula says that she is waiting for the rains to stop so that she can die at last. The last member of the Buendía line, named Aureliano Babilonia (originally referred to as Aureliano Buendía, before he discovers through Melquíades' parchments that Babilonia is his paternal surname), is born at this time. When the rains stop, Úrsula dies at last, and Macondo is left desolated.

Aureliano Babilonia is finally left in solitude at the crumbling Buendía house, where he studies the parchments of Melquíades, who has appeared as a ghost to him. He gives up on this task to have a love affair with his aunt, though he is unsure whether they are related. When she dies in childbirth and his son (who is born with a pig's tail) is eaten by ants, Aureliano is finally able to decipher the parchments. The house, and the town, disintegrate into a whirlwind as he translates the parchments, on which is contained the entire history of the Buendía family, as predicted by Melquíades. As he finishes translating, the entire town is obliterated from the world.

Billingsgate (bil’ingz gāt’)

In the 1500s, Belin’s Gate, a walled town within London, was primarily a fish market. The name was soon distorted to “billingsgate” and since many fishwives and seamen were known for their salty tongues, the word billingsgate came to mean “coarse or vulgar abusive language."

Countries with Greatest Oil Reserves

According to the US Energy Information Administration (2006), these are the countries with the greatest oil reserves – oil that can be taken from the ground with current technology.

1. Saudi Arabia
2. Canada
3. Iran
4. Iraq
5. Kuwait

World's Dirtiest Cities

The Time Almanac for Kids 2007 which I bought for my nephew but ended up reading it myself, says that according to the World Health Organization, the following are the dirtiest cities in the world:

1. Mexico City, Mexico
2. Sao Paulo, Brazil
3. Cairo, Egypt
4. New Delhi, India
5. Shanghai, China

Lacerda Elevator

This is the famous Lacerda Elevator in Salvador da Bahia which dates back to the 19th century. It provides easy access between the lower and upper commercial enclaves of Salvador.

Pelourinho, Brazil

At a square in Pelourinho - a UN Heritage site - in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, July 2007.

Tour Eiffel

A Day in Paris

I was in Paris for an 11-hour layover on my way back from Brazil to Malaysia. Instead of killing time at the Charles de Gaulle Airport, I took a train and explored this post-card romantic city.