Article
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012
By Pratap Nambiar
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has made a pledge to create an inclusive society in Singapore, where “no one is left behind”. Singapore politics, he said, is evolving in response to new economic and social realities. Information Communication and the Arts Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean have promised to find more ways to connect with citizens to ensure that their concerns and aspirations are heard, understood, and considered in the process of policy formulation.
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
Two seemingly unrelated events towards the end of last year has helped me crystallize a concept that I have been mulling over for some time now.
The first was the Singapore Institute of Directors conference 2010 aptly titled “Getting it right, the challenges and opportunities ahead.” There were several speakers and one of the key questions raised by Baronness Sarah Hogg Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council UK, related to the sustainability of corporate performance without sacrificing good corporate governance. Her message was clearly that one should not transfer shareholder’s rights to regulators. The regulators job is to protect the rights of the shareholders and not to usurp them.
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Friday, December 16th, 2011
One of the most satisfying elements of our work is being able to watch at very close quarters how different leaders work with their teams. And, we have been fortunate to see many remarkable leaders and their different styles in handling their teams. At the same time, in the course of our interaction with various teams, we do come across leaders who are perhaps still growing into their roles.
From our experience in handling several diverse teams, I would like to point out a few things that you as a leader must watch out for. Avoiding these common leadership mistakes will certainly go to great lengths in firmly establishing yourself as a leader.
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Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
Many CEOs adopt an attitude that makes them wait till their performance has peaked, before they begin to think about renewing the competencies of their leadership team.
It is very difficult for a CEO to start thinking about the future competencies of senior leadership when revenues are galloping with healthy profits and the Board is expressing satisfaction and rewarding management for a job well done. Such behaviour is counter-intuitive. But that is precisely when a change in leadership or leadership competencies may make the most sense.
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Saturday, June 19th, 2010
Tony Hayward the CEO of BP, got chastised for his remark “There is no one who wants this thing over more than me. I want my life back”. He apologized of course, but might still lose his job.
Clearly the oil spill caused by the explosion of BP’s rig in the Gulf of Mexico and the subsequent struggles of the technical team that could not cap the leak, was not Tony’s doing. But his comment which came as a result of his frustration and sincere desire to end the suffering for all (including his own) was seen as a poor example of leadership.
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Saturday, June 19th, 2010
The ability to handle difficult conversations well is an essential leadership competence
A leader’s ability to successfully conduct difficult conversations with subordinates, peers or superiors can make the difference between success and failure – both for the leader and the organization.
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Monday, June 7th, 2010
England’s football Manager Fabio Capello has made it clear to John Terry that his extra-marital affair with the former fiancée of Wayne Bridge his England teammate made him unfit to be a leader.
In taking away the captaincy he said “I always ask the captain to be a role model for the children and the fans. But I will keep him in the team because I don’t think the team has lost respect for him”.
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Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
A leader’s ability to successfully conduct difficult conversations in the work place can make the difference between success and failure – both for the leader and the organization. Not being fully equipped to deal with difficult situations related to your subordinates, peers, or superiors can be seriously career limiting.
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Thursday, October 1st, 2009
As human beings the most fundamental work that we need to focus on is the development of self. The complex, competitive, and fast changing world of today, has ensured that we live a life of accident rather than intent. It is when our way of being is accidental that we face the danger of calamities that befall us. In fact the constant threat of a calamity waiting to happen is more taxing than the calamity itself. Often we find that when the calamity occurs we do respond, dig deep, and manage to face the worst and even overcome it. But the unknowns are what lead to stress- the more success you have the more stressed you get. That is the price you pay for success. We talk about stress management as if that is given, as if it is an integral part of our lives. In reality you need to manage your internal systems, your thoughts, the basis of your joys, sorrows, ecstasies.
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Monday, August 10th, 2009
A commitment to make things happen, along with the willingness to learn can help leaders overcome today’s complex challenges
As a performance coach I spend a lot of time with CEOs and senior executives who are profit center heads. Their decisions have a large impact on the success or failures of their organizations. In my role as the Executive in Residence at the NUS Business School I facilitate the building of bridges between academia and industry – I speak to a lot of Business Leaders, HR practitioners, and heads of Learning & Development looking at their evolving needs particularly in this economic downturn.
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Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Many leaders have forgotten that leadership is a process, not a position. Coaching them at the right time will help re-establish their sense of balance.
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Saturday, February 7th, 2009
CEOs & entrepreneurs have little recession-related experience and this clearly shows up the difference between leaders and managers.
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Friday, February 6th, 2009
Coaching more than training can help deliver a much higher ROI that leaders can rely on to master the art of achieving deep, serious, long lasting change
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Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
Have you ever just known that something was right but couldn’t explain why? Have you ever had a gut feeling that wouldn’t go away? In these instances you are tapping your intuition.
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Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Every social interaction involves choice. One of the parties chooses to continue to strengthen the interaction thereby starting the journey towards a relationship, or chooses to limit the intensity of the interaction so there will be no chance of a relationship. More often that not, it is a subconscious choice.
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Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Powerful tools in coaching for results
Overview
Power tools by their very description enable coaches to achieve significant breakthroughs in their journey to help clients achieve positive results. The concepts of risks and rewards are effectively two sides of the same coin – viz the motivation for action. They do represent positive and negative connotations – but both are critical levers of the coaching process. By themselves they are neither right nor wrong, but their astute application given the context of a client situation can make the difference between success and failure.
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