Companies progress with talent searching, retention and grooming

It is important that an organisation hire the right staff and identify the talented ones to retain and not let those hi-potential leave the company after working for years and decided to bid farewell either due to salary, welfare, unfair treatment, dissatisfaction, etc.....

Retention of talent: There is a greater focus on managing attrition and retaining talent. With the employment market improving, retaining and nurturing existing talent will be a top priority for organisations, especially those in industries with a talent shortfall (engineering and finance for example, especially so for our kind of offshore engineering design now ) or in highly competitive industries such as the telecommunications sector. Retaining high performers and growing talent internally is also the focus for many of the companies, especially in this highly competitive market.

Flexibility in resourcing capability: Although there are signs that the global economic crisis is abating, organisations that are cautious, look at flexible hiring solutions that allow for a more structured approach to strengthening a workforce, RPO itself has never been as important or as relevant as it has been in this regard. More and more MNCs in Asia Pacific are starting to seek RPO solutions to meet their short and long-term expansion plans.

Globalisation: We are no longer a series of local or national economies with relative independence, and resourcing/talent strategies will go the same way. Increased mobility on a global basis is being driven by cultural and technical shifts. Many are looking for a holistic global resourcing solution that incorporates local and sector expertise to allow for flexibility for local implementation.

Recruitment Outsourcing for SMEs: We've seen the significant development in SME businesses who seized the opportunity to outsource their recruitment in the last year, and the benefit of allowing staff to do what they do best, removing the myriad of specialist areas that can take up vast amounts of time will be a business necessity as the economy picks up.

Brand Competition: Renewed employee confidence and mobility will result in increased investment in employer branding, as companies look to edge out competition for talent and rebuild reputations in the financial sector for example. Companies have started to recognise the importance of building a good, attractive employer brand which helps them to attract good quality talent in the short term as well as long term.

Measurement and analysis: Companies are looking to evaluate and benchmark the return on their human capital investment through the development of sophisticated and comprehensive recruitment metrics and business intelligence capabilities. These will help organisations evaluate the performance of the resourcing function by performance of employees and their contribution to the business as well as using the more common recruitment metrics such as 'cost per hire' and 'time to hire'.

Contingent workforce management: In those economies where the use of contingent labour or 'contractors' is a common part of a resourcing strategy, the management of that workforce becomes increasingly sophisticated; being managed and measured with the same robustness applied to permanent staffing solutions. In other markets where contingent labour is less common, we have seen greater adoption of a contingent workforce as a solution for flexibility purposes. We expect to see this trend continue.

Social media: Social media is becoming increasingly important as a recruitment communications channel. The growth of LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, for example cannot be ignored. This is changing the dynamic in employer branding; for example companies can control less of the way they are perceived and referenced in the market as the 'employer brand' becomes more of an 'employee brand'. Living up to the employer brand 'promise' is therefore critical.

Resumes and interviews form the bedrock of a successful hire, but many companies supplement the standard question-and-answer format with creative techniques that allow potential star employees to shine. Here's how some major conglomerates have reinvented the interview process as well as getting their workers to think further or out-of-the-box and maybe our Keppel should start to re-think its current process and modify to fit the new trend in identifying those "hidden" talents with reinforcement its present human resource  pool and enhancing the management's thinking in the overall business environment to better compete with the global offshore players.

Google: 
At its offices all over the world, Google holds events designed to help the company connect with local talent. One, targeted at math and computer specialists, is called a Code Jam. They invite a bunch of people to participate in a three- to four-hour coding competition. They sit in a big room together, so you can see how people approach questions. The top 100 finishers are invited back to apply for a job. In India, Google sponsored an essay contest that attracted applicants from around the country. In addition to connections with creative thinkers, the gesture generated plenty of positive publicity. They try to come up with interesting environments where people can be their best, not the old outdated job fair where it seems to be wearing off with ideas.

Starbucks Coffee: 
At Starbucks Coffee's headquarters in Seattle, candidates don't have to worry about being sufficiently caffeinated, but it helps to have a coffee palate. They often conduct brief coffee tastings for global strategic sourcing. It allows candidates to experience a bit of Starbucks culture, emphasizes our core product, and provides a break for candidates between interviews.  Of course not every company sells coffee, but the point is to put the candidate in direct contact with the brand or product to gauge their levels of familiarity and comfort.


Southwest Airlines: 

If you're flying Southwest Airlines to interview at the company's Dallas headquarters, be sure to turn on the charm as soon as you enter the airport. Although it's not official company policy, flight attendants and other Southwest employees often submit comments about job candidates to those in charge of making the hire. A unique mix of southern hospitality and northern wisecracking is the hallmark of Southwest's corporate culture, particularly among those who serve the public. If you don't have it, other Southwest workers are likely notice.  If one of their employees is impressed, or not so impressed, after talking with a candidate on a flight, they let their management know, they give feedback proactively and it is management's job to ensure these feedback are taking in seriously.

Microsoft: 
Microsoft sometimes invites candidates to ponder the future as a way to look for people who understand the strategic challenges the company faces.  One of their online media businesses asked candidates what they thought the future of online music looked like, and how teens would be using the Net ten years from now. Other questions include asking candidates to name companies that they consider best at customer experience, and what Microsoft could learn from them. This kind of initiatives are important in getting its staff to think further and start to look at what next to do. Status-quo is not in their dictionary and improving the thinking process is the day-to-day event. Every company or organization should get their staff to do that just like IQC process.

What some of chiefs say in running today's business with human talent and foresight in enhancing human resources as part of important agenda in the company day-to-day operation :

Michael Zink,
Country Head & Citi Country Officer,
Singapore

Globalisation, accelerated growth and rising aspirations have changed the face of the business world, and along with it, increased the reliance and focus on talent as a key resource. Furthermore, with unprecedented challenges such as the recent financial crisis, managing and developing human capital and in particular, leadership development, have become even more critical as companies continuously seek talented individuals capable of leading organisations in increasingly complex, borderless and fast-paced digital world.
The ability to attract, retain and develop top talent today will determine the future growth and progress of any organisation. As the world recovers from the economic downturn, there is a crucial need for an organisation to not only have nimble, highly adaptable talent, but also the right leadership development and talent management programmes to continuously engage them.

At Citi, our people are our most important resource and our key competitive advantage. We believe that hiring the right talent goes beyond looking at current capabilities, experiences and skills sets; it is even more important to have the right attitudes, aptitudes and passion. We focus on the potential of a person, bringing out the best in them by providing a stimulating and empowering environment that encourages the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, and challenges them to reach even higher goals. Our philosophy of nurturing leaders from within our talent pools is complemented by our mandate of helping our people build a career of a lifetime with Citi.


Seah Kian Peng
CEO Singapore
NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd
The evolution of the digital age will continue to shape consumer behaviour and communication. Leaders have no choice - they must embrace these new technology and open their minds to stay ahead. The ability to innovate and seize opportunities in new technology will be key to driving productivity, especially in the retail sector. Success is never achieved by oneself so leaders need to harness and maximise the potential of their talents at all levels. For long term sustainability, companies will also need to evolve with their stakeholders while ensuring ethics remain at the core in their business decisions.

John Ng
CEO
PowerSeraya

I believe that 'learning' leaders can facilitate an organisation's growth path. With the right mindset of being open to embracing change and learning new things, a 'learning' leader will not only set himself as a good role model, but will also be better equipped to further coach his staff and motivate higher performance standards to build a culture of excellence in the organisation.

The ability of a leader to engage people's minds and touch their hearts in work that is excellent, socially responsible and meaningful also builds a common identity and pride that can aid in the company's wider business objectives. Hence, I trust that investing in people is critical and which is why at PowerSeraya, we provide staff with opportunities to enhance their leadership and personal competencies. It is only by having people who have the capacity to continuously learn will the company do well, be it in good or challenging times.


Simon Newman
CEO,
Aviva Ltd
With the last economic downturn, consumers have become increasingly cautious when it comes to financial planning. The financial services sector needs leaders who are nimble and able to steer the organisation to respond quickly to the changing needs of the market place. There is also a need to continue building credibility to deliver the brand promise and regain trust so customers keep coming back, as well as demonstrate investment foresight to ensure financial soundness of the organisation. Internally, leaders need to ensure crystal clear direction and continue to nurture and develop the talent in their business.


Jonathan Asherson
Regional Director
Rolls-Royce Singapore

As an organisation with over a 100 years of history, Rolls-Royce has successfully navigated through many economic cycles to emerge today as a global power systems company with a strong order book, robust performance, and a resilient portfolio is expected to double our revenues in the next decade. All this has been made possible, despite the uneven economic recovery, through a global team of people who have the strategic agility to manage the cycle and anticipate trends, and who are energised by challenges.

In today's economic landscape, change is the only constant and it is therefore critical that businesses have talent that is comfortable with uncertainty, is versatile and adaptable and armed with a keen sense of judgement to undertake quick, sound decisions with a competent calibration of risk. In the face of economic uncertainties, companies will also need leaders with the foresight to envision and create competitive breakthrough strategies and plans, and communicate a compelling and inspiring vision to both internal and external stakeholders.


Tham Sai Choy,
Managing Partner designate,
KPMG in Singapore
Getting ready for the recovery starts during the downturn. You are a natural leader if you understand the fears that people have about the future. People see your decisions as the one thing that makes the difference between their hopes being kept safe and their plans being dashed. A good leader points the way to a brighter future, lifts the mood and gets everyone preparing for the recovery.
Having open communications, building and reinforcing trust, and making enlightened decisions are all important. This is how the strongest teams are built, with people who are ready to ride together through thick and thin. It is no different from the marriage vow, to stay through thick and thin. The sacrifices that staff make, and the trust that they place in their leaders, must of course be repaid when better times come round.



Deborah Ho
Chief Executive Officer
DBS Asset Management Ltd

Leading a business in the current Asian recovery provides an opportunity to put into practice 'lessons learned' from previous cycles:

1. Do the right thing always no matter how lucrative 'shades of grey' may be. Professionalism, or a code of conduct must be ingrained at all levels.
2. Collaboration is key. Alliances and partnerships enable capabilities and access to new markets quickly. Singapore, a global marketplace attracts some of the world's best minds. Actively seek talent.
3. Be responsive to change. Risks and opportunities can come from anywhere.

The right strategy is only part of the equation. Timely execution is critical.


Jeffrey Seah
CEO, Southeast Asia, Chairperson Asia Digital Leadership Team
Starcom MediaVest Group

In this Facebook economy, one way or another, leaders have to be a 'Jack of all trades, Master of 10'. We have to continuously regenerate ourselves to be future-proof, by building on our current strengths and tapping on new and existing opportunities in both dimensions of work and personal lives. Critically, this includes constantly updating held assumptions and beliefs that may have worked for us in the past but may not do so for us now and in the future. We can achieve this by being sensitive and respectful to others' views and cultures, and impart this mindset to the people and organisations we lead.


Annie Koh
Associate Professor of Finance
Dean, Office of Executive & Professional Education
Academic Director, International Trading Institute@SMU

SMU has been the strategic partner to the SHCS the last two years and continues to be a partner for 2010 with the formation of the HCLI ( Human capital and leadership institute) at SMU.
Every business, whether B to C or B to B, is a people business - so having the right people strategies are critical for any business, in challenging or in good times.
As we ride the wave of recovery or growth - the most important characteristic for any leader is to have the courage to make important strategic decisions and the creativity to reinvent an outmoded model, business or service.
This recovery is going to be accompanied by huge swings in uncertainty and visibility. The leader will be presented with different opportunities and cannot do it all. It becomes even more important to make the "right people decisions" and to know how to find the right people to implement the strategy and vision for sustainable growth.
Knowing how to empower and entrust the people you have picked is a critical skill in this climate and the diversity in human capital is required to drive depth in certain areas and breadth in others. This recovery is going to be sporadic and patchy and so you need entrepreneurial talent as you as a leader pace and run with the team in this journey of growing the business in interesting times.

I can't see a better time and urgency than now for Singapore Human Capital Summit to discuss some great people strategies to grow managerial talent and leadership bench strength.



Tan Mui Huat
Regional Managing Director for Asia and President for China
International SOS

International SOS firmly believes that growth is closely tied to globalisation and creating a caring, borderless and values-driven work environment would help fuel growth and productivity.

Leadership qualities that will herald the new wave of growth is 'thinking out of the box' - which is not just about a solid idea but about the passion to go the extra mile to make things happen. It's about the drive to give the vision a shape - through innovative ideas, putting-together a like-minded, values-driven team that is prepared to communicate and engage across borders and embrace new ideas and practices
Further, leaders should seek to protect their most valuable assets - their employees. They cannot afford to take the personal safety of their employees and the integrity of their business operations for granted. Thus, not only should there be incentives for growth and training, but organisations should also look out for their human capital and focus on their duty of care for their employees too, i.e., the health, safety, and security, as an ever increasing number of employees face potential risks as they travel for either international assignments or business travel.


David Ross
Regional Vice President
FedEd Express South Pacific

Great companies take advantage of difficult times to improve their performance and come out stronger on the other side. At FedEx, we improved our performance and strengthened our foundation through a combination of cost savings, innovation and a continued focus on customer satisfaction. We could not have achieved this without the commitment and dedication of our 280,000 employees and contractors in Singapore and globally. Thus, we strongly believe that a focus on human capital will be crucial to ride this next wave of growth. Companies can do this by instilling a culture of integrity and inspiration. Integrity comes from leaders consistently 'walking the talk' in real, tangible ways to assure employees that the company is a team in every sense. Inspiration is the ability to deliver results by empowering others and in doing so unleashing their potential. That is where the real value of teamwork lies, and it is FedEx's single most powerful asset as a company.



Wendy Koh
Vice President for ASEAN
Juniper Networks.
The ability to influence to lead others successfully is a skill and is developed, not discovered. People don't want to be managed, they want to be led. A successful leader requires a considerable degree of self-knowledge and self acceptance. The greater our awareness, the greater our possibilities for choice and freedom.

Authenticity and fearlessness of making bold decisions are also qualities of a successful leader. A successful leader is someone who is confident, passionate and committed towards growth strategies; deliberately communicating growth strategies to employees; influencing and inspiring employees throughout the organisation to focus on business goals and together, delivering positive results.

Leadership also demands that we are motivated by a genuine interest in ourselves and others. Such a perception entails a belief that reason can triumph over fear, and that people are resourceful, competent, capable of self-direction and able to live fulfilling and productive lives. A leader who is motivated and inspired by these beliefs can guide and support individuals to develop their capabilities and stimulate, constructive, lasting change.



Lee Hong-Meng,
Managing Director,
Reliance Globalcom Singapore
As organisations around the world regain their balance after the recent downturn, a new challenge is emerging in finding the ability to successfully sustain an upward momentum both internally and externally. To help drive this, organisations should capitalise on appropriately implemented collaborative technologies which can help create a business where geographical and cultural borders can be removed, thus improving business efficiency. Company leaders and management should embrace and actively endorse these initiatives, whether it is to support greater virtual project team cooperation, social media customer service interaction or increased flexibility for individuals to manage a work life balance. It is important that processes which can produce positive results are established first, followed by identification of the technology to enable it, rather than the other way around.



Eva Au
Managing Director
IDC Asia/Pacific

1. The ability to take risks: we face the future with cautious optimism. the business climate today is very different from the recessionary period and is also different from the pre recessionary period. to succeed, one cannot wait too long to see how the dust will settle; instead one must decide how to adapt the business models and be prepared to make tough decisions.

2. Be a "people person": the business environment is changing, but not everyone is adapting at the same pace or in the same direction. if one wants to lead the organisation to the new future, one must know how to read the minds of the stakeholders, proactively address their fears and objections and give them courage to move to the uncertain path. Showing charts and graphs can only go so far. As more of the Gen Y populate the organisation, the more one has to engage with its people.



David Hope
GM & Regional Managing Director
Lawson Software, Asia Pacific & Japan
In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, Asia has become central to the growth of the global economy. This has led to both opportunities and challenges, i.e., opportunity in terms of us being in the middle of the global growth engine and challenges in terms of the emerging and oft changing leadership requirements in the Asian landscape. Within Lawson, our focus over the last two years has moved towards identifying, developing and nurturing future leaders within the organisation. We are placing higher emphasis on leadership achievements of the individuals, recognising their individual talents and we strive to push for a higher differentiation of talent within our organisation. This means we are able to identify the potential leadership talent early and nurture them for the future. One of the key learnings for all of us has been that, as people managers we all need to be great leaders of leadership talent if we are to face the future with success.


Roy Magee
Regional Vice-President
AchieveGlobal
To ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of the recent past, leaders need to devote sufficient time to reflect on how they contribute to the decisions that are made within their organisations. AchieveGlobal's most recent research has pin-pointed six 'zones' in which global leaders can develop their performance: Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business. While each of these six zones contains practices critical to our success, many of our current problems stem from an excessive (though understandable) recent focus on the Business zone, perhaps to the detriment of the other zones. The reality is that effective leaders can only succeed in the Business zone over the longer term by giving due attention to the other five zones. Perhaps most critical of these is Reflection, where leaders honestly assess their motives, beliefs, attitudes, and actions - to ask themselves 'How can I make sure my limitations don't lead me to make poor decisions?'. Reflection allows us to treat failure as a chance to learn and grow.

Effectiveness of Brainstorming Meetings

We all know the scenario: lots of people gather in a room to brainstorm a problem, resolving idea, discuss on schedule, or mission plan. Veterans approach with scepticism, newly employed think it will be interesting, and after an hour — or two or three — has passed, they all emerge drained, depressed, and demotivated. Why is this such a recurrent story?

Some academics try to understand what goes wrong in brainstorming. Sometimes there are too many ideas and we can’t keep them all in our heads. Then there’s the phenomenon psychologists call ‘social loafing,’ which we probably all recognize: the people who sit at the back of the room either does not contributing or reluctant to speak up at all. Only slightly less lazy is ‘social matching,’ which means that we are very likely to contribute lots of ideas so similar to each other as to be indistinguishable; it feels like we’re making a contribution, but the range and variety of suggestions remains small. Conformity plays a big part here; our desire to belong ( just to keep in line with what the boss says ! ! ) restricts the breadth of ideas we might think of but and do not wish to speak up and offer. Sometimes you speak up and the boss think otherwise, and your idea gets gunned down, though you really felt that yours is more appropriate solution.

Working from examples only makes things worse. All of our ‘new’ ideas cluster around that, and we fail to be as broad-ranging and wild in our creativity as we need to be. So if we are trying to improve on a procedure that has some flaws, we create more flaws than if we had started from scratch. Moreover, creativity declines with time. In experiments, students from a university were asked to come up with ideas for improving their school. After twenty minutes, their ideas were coded (for variety, novelty, quantity and range of categories), and what was striking was how fast the group ran out of steam: the first five minutes were the most productive !

Most intriguing of all was that brainstorming "alone" proved to be more effective than brainstorming collectively. In those first five minutes, participants who sat at a computer and generated ideas came up with 44 percent more ideas than those in a group. This challenges received wisdom that says groups of people will come up with a wider range of ideas than similar minded people or those working alone. But what it takes into account is that when we come together, like it or not,we all start to become a little homogenized. What this finding implies is that the way to get the creative value of diversity — and every company I know finds this a challenge — is to encourage people to develop ideas alone, and only then bring them together.

Ask CEOs or GMs what they spend most time doing and the answer is always the same: attending brainstorm meetings. Then ask how much time they devote to improving their meeting skills and you’ll get blank looks. We spend most of our time on an activity we were never trained for.

What happens in most brainstorm meetings? The most senior person — who usually called the brainstorm meeting — sits at the head of a table. Others drift in. If you’re lucky, you start only 5 or 10 minutes late. The issue, problem or question is identified, and then the brainstorming ritual begins. Just like some people at school always sat in the front row, some in meetings always speak first — and there will always be the laggards who wait to see how the wind is blowing. And then there are what we call the ‘social loafers’ — the individuals who always turn up and contribute nothing. For half an hour or more, a vast amount of second-guessing occurs, as everyone gropes for the answer that will receive the boss's or General Manager's blessing.

What is wrong with group brainstorming meetings? One of the mistakes leaders or bosses make most often is to underestimate the power of one’s own presence. This has nothing to do with charisma. If you’re the most senior person in the room, people will defer to you, and that usually means they’ll think less because when they say something differently, they are worried the boss disagrees to the contributions and everyone tends to swing with the wind and play along to get close to the boss's "preferred" idea or solution. 

That BIG promotion may land you in "deepwater" …………

You spend years, maybe decades, climbing the corporate ladder. Then one day, it happens. You have been promoted and appointed the “CEO”. At this moment, a lifetime of your dreams, slogging of hard work with many achievements finally come to fruition.

Being a skilled professional, you act calm and as everyone contacts you shower you with congratulatory note and sentiment your feelings overflow and this is the moment you’ve always been looking for. It is your lifetime crowning achievement.

And as the days go by and all the fervor calms down, you start to settle and fit into the role. It feels good it feels right and just like you’ve died and gone to corporate heaven.

Until, one day, it all falls apart. All too soon, you’re yanked off that lofty pedestal and falling further than you ever imagined an ego can fall. And you find yourself desperately wishing you’d never ever heard of those three letters : C - E - O.

May sound overly dramatic but not. And it’s not just about CEOs; it can happen with any big promotion. Just ask chief of BP. He is probably a good man and a good CEO who found himself in the “mother of all no win situations”. It is hard to find anyone in that position could have done better than him and the failure of the system depended on many factors and not him alone to have caused or started the saga. It can start from the drilling equipment supplier, the rig operation, the drilling crew mistakes, the electrical or electronic software controls that should have functioned during the emergency “well kill” when needed, and many other failures which could not be the drag by the CEO. We would love to see all the critics take a stab at it.

And now that BP is dumping its lightening-rod to save its brand and appease the American public, the media will have a field day with Tony’s reported $18 million exit package, 90 percent of which is his 28-year pension, mostly as a senior executive, which accounts for all the figures. He deserves every dollar and cents. And, he’ll be giving up a reported 500,000 share options and up to 2 million shares under a long-term incentive plan that today is worth about $13 million going up in smoke.

Should we feel sorry for CEOs?? They’re adults who are capable of living with their own decisions and actions. That’s how it is and how it should be. That could happen to any CEO who have been in the hot seat for either a while or long enough to get “hotter”. It can be a staff level job or even a promotion to AGM or GM. So, when you get that big promotion, some advice that can save a lot of pain, anguish or disappointment end of the day when failure come in front of your face:

Do not take yourself too seriously and set too high achievement for you may not be able to survive that fall. Self-importance isn’t real. On the contrary, it’s completely subjective, by definition. Never forget that you’re just a male or female, no more, no less and in any organization, you are part of the labour force contributing to the productivity or bottom line except that you sits higher level than others. You bleed and cry, just like everyone else. And what goes up, all too often, comes down in a hurry and you feel the pain much more as it falls from height. The higher the pedestal you set yourself up on, the bigger the fall.

Leading a company is tough and not easy, but it’s also risky business. Most fail either due to poor management foresight ( that is meaning due to your mistake probably ). A few don’t. Either way, there can be huge ups and down, and everything’s magnified if you choose to look at it that way. But that’s entirely up to you whether you want to take the TOP challenge and face with the consequence what may be. If you ask me, and I’m sure Tony would agree, you’ll likely be better off if you just keep your feet planted firmly on the ground and be contended with what you have achieved and take life at ease at some point in time and enjoy what you gain thus far….


BP’s timing seems a little bit of shrewd. The leaking well has been capped in July2010. Had the board brought in a new face too early, it might have attracted mud. Instead, Mr Dudley is well-placed to lead BP out of its hole. On July 27th the firm announced a record loss of $17 billion, the consequence of a one-off charge of $32 billion to clean up the oil spill, compensate its victims and settle fines. The firm will have to sell more than a tenth of its assets to cover this, but it will survive.

Mr Tony H will receive severance pay of a year’s salary (about £1m, or $1.6m) and the right to start drawing from a pension pot conservatively valued at £11m. (He may also become a non-executive director of BP-TNK, which is perhaps the closest BP could get to sending him to Siberia.) This “payment for failure” has prompted outrage: “£12m payoff for Captain Clueless,” fumed a typical headline. This is unfair. Mr Tony has worked at BP for 28 years, most of them successful. At least half of his pension pot was earned before he became chief executive. And the plunge in BP’s share price has wiped out the equity-related part of his pay package as CEO—a significant punishment.

Nonetheless, the story has intensified a necessary debate about how to avoid rewarding bad leadership. The financial crisis revealed that top bankers were fabulously remunerated for doing what turned out to be a lousy job. Some pocketed immense bonuses when they falsely appeared to be doing well, and then kept much of the loot when their firms collapsed. Other industries sometimes pay handsomely for failure, too (see table below ). It is not only business-bashing politicians who find this upsetting. “If I was running things,” growled Warren Buffett, an investor, in January, “if a bank had to go to the government for help, the CEO and his wife would forfeit all their net worth.”

Failed bosses in the west look seldom fired. Instead, they are usually allowed to resign or retire with dignity, and usually with the tons of money thrown at them. This culture of sympathy will be hard to break, not least since most board members are current or former bosses and may feel that “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

More importantly, ruining bad bosses is a bad idea. Who would want to take a job that came with a serious risk of financial destruction? Whoever did take it would surely manage in a way that minimised the risk of catastrophic failure. That sounds peachy until you remember that capitalism depends on risk-taking. Penalise failure too harshly and you risk creating bureaucrats.
Abolishing all golden parachutes would be foolish. Far better to design them intelligently. They should be generous enough to make a dud boss leave without a fuss or a lawsuit, but no more. BP’s parting gift to Mr Tony H looks about right. Had he been the boss of an American firm, he would surely have walked away with far more. Ken Lewis made Bank of America swallow the toxic Merrill Lynch but still pocketed $125m when he left last year. Bob Nardelli banked $210m in 2007 after a six-year value-destroying reign at Home Depot.

Work life crisis and the ups' and downs'

1. Got blasted out- The boss, the one whom you respected, dressed you down in one of project meeting and to make matters worse, he was not in the picture of the issue and wrongly point the finger at you. When he realized and found it a few days later, he apologized in front of the same group. That was the right thing for the boss to do and it taught us that humility is a good thing and important to upkeep oneself.

The recent issue in Leading Afghanistan: Lessons from a US Four-Star Resignation

From General McChrystal: the importance of accepting responsibility for our actions.

From President Obama: when a handpicked, high-profile, high-potential subordinate acts out of accordance with established rules of conduct, it's important to take the same actions we would with a more junior employee.

From these men, we can learn the value of humility. All modeled real humility in their responses — and that's a quality we can never see too much of in our leaders

2. Mediocre appraisal- When you received your yearly mediocre appraisal and inquired why, you were told that what you were working on wasn’t that impressive so nobody got excited when your name brought up. That’s when you have to learned to take chance and risk on high-visibility designated post and the major tasks you have assigned or task to. That will changed the entire trajectory of your future career and if you are NOT noticed at the top.

3. You are illiterate?  -- After reading your first ever attempt at writing a product specification or venture proposal, the manager-in-charge called you illiterate and asked how you ever graduated university. Sounds hurting and was he right? Nevermind whether right or wrong, as that’s when you learned the importance of writing be it in technical, service or in business field ? We all need to be able to write fluently and spell correctly and professionally. No "singlish" and better spell check before you press the "go" button if you are fond of writing long emails, trying to impress the readers. I find it amusing and shocking when a senior level manager has been expressing his email message with improper mixed of poor grammars, wrong choice of words, out-of-context and irrelevance subject content. End of the email, you got confuse and try to understand what is he trying say. Probably hear him out verbally will be easier.

4. Micromanager boss- You tried talking to him; that didn’t help. You tried talking to your management; that didn’t help. So you thought of leaving the company. You learned that the boss is always more important to the company than you are. It was also that important kick at the back that you needed to get out and try something new and hopefully for the better of your future.

5. Customer disaster-- You were relatively new to technical details when a manufacturing delay caused your biggest customer’s production line to be shut down. They weren’t pleased, to say the least. That’s when you realized this was the best opportunity to prove your value to the customer. You fought for them and did it with transparency. When your company delivered, you would have had a customer for life.

6. Getting laid off -- Yes, it might happened to anyone, you or me. Your first instinct might be to feel rejected and a pressing desire to lash out in anger. But all of us need to face such and fight it down and acted about as poised as we all could. It may turned out to be the right move and a blessing in disguise. That’s when you learned that everything happens for a reason and, when one door closes, another opens.

7. High-visibility crisis --  As head of a department for a company, you may experienced your first high-visibility product crisis - say a bug in one of your computer programme and that had already being used in tens of thousands of computers. That was the first of many experiences that would have taught you crisis management.

8. Abusive CEO--  Your boss and CEO ripped you apart a few times. But you were not alone and you may loved the company and your job, so you hung in there. Lo and behold, the board eventually fired him (him is the boss, for performance reasons, of course). For you, that proved an old Japanese proverb: “If you wait by the river long enough, you’ll see the body of your enemy float by.”

9. CEO called you out--- After a meeting where you blew a gasket, your CEO took you aside and explained that you had shot yourself in the foot and how it hurt your credibility. You were probably so impressed with his willingness to confront you that it got you thinking about your bullying ways and the merits of being straightforward with your own direct staff.

10. Branding disaster--- You have to put your neck on the line to deliver a complete rebranding of a company by a specific announcement date. But when one of the consultants let you down bigtime, you may have to dig in, 24×7, and make it happen. The lesson was stay on top of your vendors or competitors. Regardless of the relationship, they may not have the same skin in the game that you do.

BP oil spill mistake every CEO should learn...

Leaders and their public relations gurus are quick to provide public apologies. They expect those apologies to move people out of their anger, but often they lead to even more criticism and outrage. When you're the leader or chief excecutive of an organization that has made a terrible mistake in some way, people will automatically assume you're sorry, but they'll quickly conclude that you're sorry mainly for yourself, for having been caught in the situation.

Many leaders make matters worse by actually describing, as they apologize, how they themselves have been affected, as if that should somehow connect them with those suffering and create a bond. Instead it usually comes across as self-indulgent, self-serving and lacking in honesty about having been the cause of the situation.

BP chief apologized for having been oblivious to the safety risks of his organization's underwater drilling operations, but his apology was ineffective--not because it wasn't heartfelt but because he was oblivious to what people truly need from a leader, especially in times of crisis.

Why was the nation repeatedly outraged when BP chief went before cameras and then before Congress to utter his famous flat apologies? He and his media experts seemed surprised that his appearances backfired. Yet it was utterly predictable that the approach was doomed from the start. It clearly failed to do what was necessary to repair the relationship between the people and BP.

What do people truly need from their leaders in times of crisis? They need them to step up and answer some relevant simple questions. They must answer them consistently, repeatedly and in multiple ways to truly repair the situation. They must answer with words, actions, plans and follow-through, that follow-through coming from all the leaders of the organization. What people demand from a leader are basically :

1. Do you care about me? No, really. Do you see how this has affected me, my family and my community? Can you put it into words, into specific examples? Have you taken the time to personally witness it from my perspective? As a leader, even if you can't fix it, can you give words to it and be willing to listen while others vent, without explaining, justifying or making false promises? People want to feel heard. They want to be recognized for their suffering. They want to know that you, the leader, see them as individuals and real people. You will end in disaster if you make up story or try to cover up the real fact and that will definitely lead you to your grave.....

2. Can I trust you? Sugarcoating the current reality or painting an idyllic path to a better future does not build trust. People want to know that you are telling them the truth or factual. Will you honestly outline what you know and what you don't know? Speak from a place of pure accountability, and sort out the blame behind closed doors at a later time. A leader needs to fully account for where the situation is at present, how it got there and what the possibilities are for the future. Do not just give the most optimistic options; outline the complete range of potential developments and the plans you have to create results. Be up front about the risks involved, their likelihood and full potential effects and the contingency plans you have in case the worst does happen, as well as in case it doesn't.

3. Are you committed to excellence? Do you have the same standards of excellence as the people you are leading or attempting to serve? People will start questioning whether you are still capable in future to run the company with your handling of crisis or stress maangement. Will you be there for as long as it takes? What does success look like to you? Do you insist on excellence in your business practices? Do you use the best technology and top experts? And are you transparent, allowing access to the media, documenting both your progress and your setbacks? Excellence is not about perfection, it's about commitment to the best possible processes.

It will be hard to repair the cracks in your status should you try to have any cover up or avoid reporting the true fact of the situation. And important to get the correct datas from your team about the facts and figures as everyone will be putting their scope to check and see if the published figures are correctly reported. There are pros' and cons' to whether you should do what it takes and better consult your team of experts within the top management should you run out of options. Likely scenario is someone will be there to replace you when the situation is getting nowhere and the authorities and public are ponding and reporting on your company's credibility and everyday the newspaper is flashing reports of the site situation, hopefully the worst is over for you sooner than later.

25 July 2010 LONDON: British media are reporting that BP chief executive Tony Hayward is negotiating the terms of his departure ahead of the oil company's results announcement this week.

Citing unidentified sources, the BBC and Sunday Telegraph reported that detailed talks regarding Mr Hayward's future had taken place over the weekend. The BBC said a formal announcement on his exit is expected in the next 24 hours.

Asked about the reports, BP spokesman Toby Odone said yesterday that 'Tony Hayward remains BP's chief executive, and he has the confidence of the board and senior management'.

BP's board is scheduled to meet today in London ahead of the company's half-year results announcement tomorrow.

The BBC added that there was a 'strong likelihood' that Mr Hayward would be replaced by Mr Bob Dudley, who took over management of BP's response to the oil spill from Mr Hayward last month.

Mr Hayward has been under heavy criticism over his leadership during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The Sunday Telegraph said there could be wrangling over Mr Hayward's severance package, under which he is likely to be paid a minimum figure of just over £1 million (S$2.1 million).


With events and errors ticked off day by day, hour by hour and then minute by minute as the implacable oil rises from below, the investigation report by BP released on September ( full report could be downloaded from BP website) makes eerie reading. Its tragedy unfolds in four acts, each containing a number of errors: the initial penetration of hydrocarbons into the well through cement seals and physical barriers meant to be impermeable; the subsequent failure to spot that the seals had not worked and that oil and gas were building up in the well as rig workers turned, unaware, to other tasks; the subsequent rig-wrecking explosions; and, at the sea floor, the failure of the blowout preventer to cut off the flow of oil as the rig toppled and its connection to the well below broke open, releasing oil into the Gulf for the next three months. All these findings could be shifting more of the blame to others and looks like BP could be washing it's hands away from some of the "oily" mess.

In the first act, the report claims that Halliburton supplied a cement slurry of its own devising which it should have recognised was not fit for the purpose. Subsequent testing showed that the cement produced by a similar slurry (Halliburton’s own was apparently not made available) would have been likely to break down. BP’s well team, the report goes on, failed to appreciate the challenges of the cementing, to assess the risks and to make sure it knew what was going on. Analysis by Halliburton suggested that extra “centralisers”, which keep the pipe that transports the oil in the right position, were needed. BP procured them but did not use them, its well team suspecting, wrongly, that they were the wrong sort. The report concludes that this error is unlikely to have been key to the cement failure, but it is a pretty striking mistake and others will likely differ on its significance. The team then failed to run a test, or log, to show that the cement seal was OK, a failure that has already been criticised by others.

In the second and third acts, after the hydrocarbons had got through valves at the bottom of the well, the focus shifts to Transocean, and at times to decisions made by people who died in the disaster. When the heavy drilling mud that provides the pressure needed to keep things from coming up the well was removed, first as a test, then as part of procedure for closing down the well and moving the rig, telltale signs that something was wrong were missed. When the oil and gas reached the rig, they were diverted not overboard, as might have been wiser, but to a system called the mud-gas separator which was overwhelmed and spewed gas back on to parts of the rig that did not have safeguards on their electronics to minimise the chance of ignition, as the systems on the drilling floor did.

Then there was the blowout preventer, a huge stack of valves on the sea floor. When one of its valves was activated, after people realised something was wrong and just before the explosion, it did not stop the flow. Nor did it shut off the flow when its connections to the rig were lost, as it should have. Nor when a remotely operated vehicle activated it later. Studies of the blowout preventer’s control pods suggest that a flattish battery and a dodgy valve meant that neither was in a fit state to close off the well automatically when they should have, which BP takes as evidence of poor maintenance by Transocean. This does not explain why the great valves failed even when they were activated by other means. More answers may be forthcoming now the blowout preventer has been raised from the sea floor; currently in the custody of the Department of Justice, it may be a forensic treasure.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Transocean rejects the report as self-serving, and points to issues with the well’s design, as well as to the cement log, as deserving much more scrutiny. Other oil companies have also pointed to BP’s decision to run a single “long string” of production pipe from the top of the well to the bottom as a problem, claiming that an alternative approach which puts a physical barrier around the production pipe at an intermediate depth offers greater safety. The issue is clearly an important one, but it is not clear that in itself it made a crucial difference. If oil got into the production pipe from the bottom, then barriers that would have impeded its flow up the cavity around that pipe would have made little difference.


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Business Times Sept2010
Keppel built the 'right' rig in Gulf of Mexico


(SINGAPORE) Keppel Corporation did not build the oil rig that exploded, sank and caused a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that damaged marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries.

On the contrary, the Singapore yard provided the rig from which efforts to plug the spill were mounted.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was told of this by a Keppel executive in Houston recently - and he used the story last night in his National Day Rally speech to make a point: companies must find promising opportunities, develop expertise, create value and grow a competitive and profitable business.

It's one key role that they can play in Singapore's push for higher productivity growth.

Singapore rigbuilders have clearly carved a niche in the global business. Mr Lee pointed out that Keppel, along with Sembcorp Marine, another Singapore company, produces 70 per cent of the world's oil rigs.

And it's clear that Keppel is good at what it does.
Mr Lee employed diagrams to show how massive the operation is to plug the well from where the oil is spilt into the Gulf of Mexico.

'Keppel built the Q4000 platform, from which engineers carried out the 'top kill' operation,' he said.

SembMarine also played a role in the rescue. Mr Lee noted that there are two other platforms, one built by SembMarine and the other by Keppel, to drill relief wells to seal the well with concrete and achieve a 'bottom kill'.

'Not bad for a country with no oil, but we're there,' he said.

And it explains why Keppel and SembMarine have been paying good bonuses to workers - nine months' last year - and 'several hundred million dollars' in taxes to the government yearly.

'That's productivity,' Mr Lee said

How managers make good decisions...

What is termed a “good” decision?

Some of these elements go into a good decision:

Make sure you’re solving the right problem in the first place. It is important we understand the problem and not make any premature assumption. Jumping into conclusion will lead to failure in making what is right or wrong. Be clear about what you are looking at. For example, are you trying to maximize profit margin or just trying to stay alive and minimize loss? Gathering the right information, including information about uncertainty, which is essential if you want to choose the best option.  Reasoning out the right choice and includes what you know and what you don’t.  A commitment to make it happen, since a decision is no stronger than its weakest link.

Where do leaders fall down when making decisions?

They fall down on all these elements. In some organizations, managers don’t get the information they need to make a decision, so they end up having to make decisions based on experience and intuition or wrong feedback from subordinates. Sometimes distorted information were passed on to the management level thus leading to wrong decision made.

Does personality type determine decision making?

Yes, people become aware of their natural biases and habits, it becomes easier to avoid them. People may tend to procrastinate or focus on the big picture and the creative part. Your habits will get you in trouble if you don’t watch out and most people drag a problem into their comfort zone instead of solving it.

How do you evaluate the success of your framework?

Here’s how we figure out if it made a difference: We take a decision and try to document what people would have done otherwise, which is called the momentum strategy. Then we compare the best choice they make with us to the momentum strategy they would have used. We can now say pretty clearly that our approach avoids lots of downside errors. It avoids value destruction and creates a lot of value. Most people leave a lot of value on the table when they make intuitive decisions.

Managers basically make these types of decisions:

Strategic decisions- Managers have weeks or months to make these decisions, which have life-shaping effects on a organizational or management level. Strategic decisions are very important, involve significant uncertainty and complexity, and are hard to think through. Such decisions are costly and it may require various levels of brainstorming before the final "say" is made.

Typical decisions- These decisions often come from team meetings that last a few hours. They can have a big impact, but they are frequently tactical in nature and arrived at through a collaborative process. Usually these are made day-to-day so that the project or work process are not held up by delay in decision making.

In-the-moment decisions- For decisions made on the fly, managers use a different part of the brain that emphasizes rapid pattern recognition. Beginning with limited or incomplete information, they habitually look for similarities to experiences they’ve had in the past.

Soccer lessons for office manager

Although I am not a big fan or having any keen interest in FIFA World Cup or any international soccer match ( maybe I should start myself with golf instead ), senior office management might think that the Cup fever will be best spent telling employees to shut down the TV links and concentrate back on their office work.

However, there is more to learn from the cup tournament and about organising teamwork and motivating individuals to excel in their challenging tasks given to them and to meet tight time schedule like in the soccer match, to score as many goals against their opponents within the play time.

Raising morale and engaging employees are priorities in the current economy and if football offers one lesson, is the importance of good managers for motivating individuals and delivering team performance.

That may seem obvious, but it is a lesson business has yet to fully absorb. Why else would companies continue to promote excellent functional performers to higher management positions, regardless of their suitability for the particular senior role?

Why companies continue to reward managers for their own individual performance, rather than that of their team?

Some lessons from the soccer pitch:

Management, a full-time job-

There is no relationship whatsoever between functional expertise and managerial ability. Jose Mourinho tried playing football as a young man, but soon realised his shortcomings. Now at Real Madrid, he has achieved outstanding success as a coach. If he’d been similarly inadequate as a graduate salesman or marketer, his employment would have been hastily terminated and his company denied the commercial impact of his very considerable managerial ability.

Talent is contextual-

Coaching a team at the World Cup is akin to leading a short-term, say a rig construction project, staffed by disparate and often unacquainted individuals from various nationals, in first place, and from different project or production departments. The coach has little time to work out how to extract the maximum potential from their charges. That means aligning people with roles, and possibly location. At the World Cup, you may see appalling performances from players who consistently excel for their club teams when fulfilling very different duties. Talent is meaningless unless it’s deployed in its most fitting context.

Managers adapt their style to individuals-

Coaches need to quickly gauge the people they’re working with. Man-management is about adjusting your style to suit the player. Interviews with those who played under Brian Clough, arguably the greatest ever English manager, reveal conflicting narratives. Some say Clough was avuncular and caring, others that he was an intimidating tyrant. Neither was true — he had just simply worked out how to press the buttons of very different characters and getting things work out against the competing team.

Managers promote self-belief-

If we look at our own careers as employees, most of us will say that the most productive and enjoyable period has been when we worked for a manager who had the confidence to push us to our limit. Arsene Wenger, Arsenal’s manager, summarised the galvanising effect this relationship has: “All great successes, all great lives, have involved the coincidence of aptitude, talent, but also the luck of meeting people who have believed in you. At some point in your life, you need someone who will tap you on your shoulder and say, ‘I believe in you’.”

Company leaders might tone down the language a bit, but if they want to promote loyalty and genuinely see their teams succeed, they’ll take a leaf from the soccer rulebook and maybe we have lesser of a hard time with our rig building team at our best yard we now have.

Avoid Office Politics if need to ....

No matter how well your friendships with your colleagues have been, we may need put up some walls. As it may seem, if you do not establish professional boundaries, you may not have the objectivity to supervise effectively.

Many companies fall short when it comes to training new managers. Some companies do not even bother to train their managers at all and thinking that everything goes well as long no complaints from the production floor. Your bosses won’t expect you to know how to tackle every aspect of your new job from the outset, but they will assume that you will ask for the help you need. Without training, it’s easy for a new manager to overlook the implications of what one wrong thing said or done could end up. If you can’t get the level of help you need internally, sign up for one of the educational programs and improve your own skills.

If you’re new to a company, understand that no matter how similar the culture seems to others you’ve experienced, it is going to have its own unique and sometimes bizarre behaviour. Listen carefully when colleagues volunteer tips on, say, the best time of day to approach the General manager or CEO, and pay attention when they tell stories about the office.

Be careful about seemingly getting too close with any one of your seniors — even your direct boss. The best job-protection insurance, especially as a newbie, is to remain as neutral as possible on controversial issues. If your boss asks for a point of view, run through the pros and cons of a decision rather than answer directly.

Should your manager ask for your support at a meeting, offer it, but remain as neutral as possible when you’re at the meeting room table. If the boss asked you later why you didn’t speak up more, you can say something diplomatic, like “Maybe I wasn’t paying attention that point in time”. Remember that your boss could be gone anytime or tomorrow someone else got promoted and take over his place — and you could be working for the person whose point of view he totally opposed. I see this too often everywhere and my coming to 30 years of working life.

Showing your bosses that you’re ready to take on new projects isn’t just a matter of stellar performance or demonstrating initiative — though these things certainly help. You also need to prove to the top brass that they can trust you in many ways. However in big organizations, you may not be able to get close to top brass of the management and your chances of getting "up there" would be very slim. To establish more trust with your supervisor, err on the side of keeping your conversations quiet and, when in doubt, ask if the content is for general consumption.

Even with solid backing from the top, you won’t be able to get anything done if your section fellows are not behind you. This often means building support among longtime or more senior workers — including some who wanted your job and didn’t get it. You won’t win any allegiance by reminding them that you have an MBA that your last gig was at an even bigger company.  Meet with each member of your team individually to learn about his background and ask for advice on upcoming work load. Let them know you’ll be relying on their expertise. You don’t have to act on the advice they give you, but listening carefully will go a long way toward building the good relationships you will need to succeed.

From the outset, tell everyone on your team how you will evaluate performance. If anyone in the group slacks off or breaks the rules, it will be easier to raise the issue in an objective way. If it is very clear what you are measuring, you can say, ‘This job requires x, y, and z. I’m not seeing z”.

Confront poor performance head on. If someone — friend or not — is failing, act decisively. Give formal warnings, recommend how to remedy the problem, and keep a written record of your conversations. If the situation reaches a point where you have to let your poor performer go, you don’t want him or her to be surprised. Alternatively, get the HR to do the counseling.

If a manager lays out the " pros and cons of a decision rather than answer directly." they might be seen as either dodging the technical issue or maybe that you don't have the experience to give a proper answer or worst of all does not know how to manage; because  you are being evaluated through a more critical lens at that time (did the management make the right decision to promote you or was the promotion too early, etc).

The quesiton becomes, if you are really able to provide input that will be valued... and actually taken into consideration. Stating your opinion and mentioning that a) it's ultimately not your decision and b) you are seeing it through YOUR lens, and you'd like to hear also what others thoughts are, make it a better choice than walking the non-committal line. It lets everyone know that you've got an opinion and technical acumen that they will be working with and that you are interested in seeing the bigger or broader perspective, because these days, there are too many factors involving or contributing to an issue, eg. inexperience worker, many newcomers undergoing a stage of basic training,etc. It also lets them know that you are committed and interested in the well-being of the organization business, not involving or getting tangle in the office politics.

You can befriend your colleagues whoever you naturally can click with as long as you don't play favorites at work and you have an clear signal that adult-to-adult understanding of your differing roles. Work is work. Friendship is friendship. Sometimes work requires that you make difficult decisions and tackle tough issues but not necessary to offend or stab someone in the back or say bad things of others in front of bosses. This will reflect later your wellbeing when the bosses started to realise you may be "getting personal" with some of your peers or colleagues. Working life in an office environment with many different kind of human being is never simple or easy. To forgo a real friendship in this day and age when true friends are hard to come by seems more like risk avoidance. If both parties understand the roles, the friendship can work, even if it takes some hands to clap. That's been the experience, both from having been in the role of the subordinate and from having been the senior manager.

"Green" youngsters arrogant with dis-respect nowadays in your workplace?

Arrogance in many ways exhibit unacceptable behaviour like offensive display of superiority, self-importance, overbearing pride, haughtiness, behaving in a superior manner as if he is the BOSS.

We all in life probably have encounter or experienced arrogance by others at some time in our working life. An arrogant person may affect you in many ways, and depending on your position you may or may not be able to control or educate such people. For example, an arrogant supervisor, engineer, shopfloor worker, boss or reputed personality can make life hell for his subordinates or those indirectly reporting to him in project execution or at the site where you need to follow his instruction and he or she continues to behave with brazen superiority with everyone.

If you are not able to do anything because such people has been assigned to lead your core necessities like making upto exams, promotions, performance appraisal, direct report to the senior management, etc.

But in some cases you can hit back with all your power at arrogant people. Nevertheless arrogant people in all walks of life will be shortlived as they either cannot last or burn themselves out with their own setback. Behind the back gossip like, "He or she has become arrogant now, but wasn’t like that before" is quite common in most workplaces, amongst friends, colleagues, etc. However it does not mean arrogant people will be boorish with everyone, but they will definitely not miss an opportunity to demonstrate it on someone they can afford to be rude with.

Often the person being branded arrogant may not truly realize they have indeed become arrogant. For example, we rarely think of ourselves as being arrogant as we usually believe it is always someone else who can be arrogant, but not us. But arrogance does exist in various degrees in everyone, including you and me. Now suppose you discover that people who matter to you are calling you arrogant behind your back? Or worse, someone tells you flat on your face that you are indeed arrogant. What will be your reaction? It can rudely jolt you from the grand benevolent image you hold of yourself.

Nobody would like to be branded as arrogant. You could get furious, outraged and vehemently disagree with their opinion. Or, if you can control your senses, you can stop and think of it as a wake up call to mend your ways. Arrogance is like a special body odour that you can’t detect it yourself because you have already feel the "highs" in yourself and everyone else cannot hold up to you.

So what are those likely indicators that can make some youngsters arrogant and feel high and mighty?

It could be his experience and knowledge have built up day by day. He may have gotten all the answers for everything through his subordinates or peers and gaining all the credit, or you believe it so ( see my other blog about gaining credit, it is Ok let others take your credit, do not feel bad !! ). Soon he begin to think and feel he is the so-call “expert” in everything and all others are dependant on him. And these young horns gradually become dismissive of suggestions and recommendations by the older colleagues, except his own, of course. Let’s face it, in big organization, you depend a lot from those seniors and more experience workers to lead the success story of the organization and green horns still have a lot to pick and learn.

Next indicator is probably he has now a new job title that can create an aura of awe. Titles having groovy words like deputy manager, consultant, advisor, deputy project manager, etc., can corrupt the green horn’s ego faster than a person who has gone through years of hardship but with a mediocre title like departmental manager, though both could be doing identical job description.

He also may develop connections with reputed people, top brass, senior management level, etc., and hover around important staff like the director or general manager of the department. He probably has got the blessings of a “godfather” who is quite senior in the office and has laid the ground for the young punk to step on. So the punky now feels like a VIP with the power to crush ordinary mortals or his juniors reporting under or indirectly to him.

Frequent completion of achievements can be a powerful arrogance booster. For example, he or she had a series of tasks completed and the boss has promised of future quick advancement or promotion in the coming annual appraisal review. Everything turns out in his favour and probably he has been very smart and quick in burying his/her failures before anyone notices them. Or somebody is doing the work and producing the results, while he/she are getting the rewards and credits in front of the bosses. During temporary lucky periods in life a feeling of Midas touch can get into people’s head. This is often the reason why many well known film personalities, business owners, etc., become haughty and pushy.

The arrogants now don't provide solutions to questions anymore. Instead they now answer every question with another question. They develop the skill to invent tough and tricky questions on the fly ( because probably they do not have answers at all ) that can make others squirm, chew their head off or make them flee from the scene.

In addition to the above factors, an individual’s personal qualities, or Mother Nature’s temporary gifts to humans like young age, physical strength, beauty, good health, IQ, etc., can also make one arrogant.

Finally the challenge for each one of us is to frequently pause and observe ourselves to see if any of the above factors are making us with high self esteem.

Failures are meant to destroy arrogance and induce humility in a person. One's overbearing pride in himself is manifested in his manners especially towards his inferiors. It is said that if you want to judge a person see how he behaves towards his inferiors. In my 30 years of service, I have seen arrogants but by the time they progress with more pressure the failures subdue them. If you come across any arrogant young punk, then take it that he has not learnt from his failures yet.

Arrogance is a like a deadly disease , Pride is it's ally. Power, wealth, fame brings arrogance into the human being, but final destiny is a great leveller, no one can fight the destiny , The destiny shows one to become humble to correct his ways to reform by various incidences to check his selfness and arrogance,it provides him a chance to reflect but most remain arrogant and return to normal ways once everything is normal , only a transient phase they eat a “humble pie” and when back to normal then it is again power arrogance.

Because humble pies were primarily served to the most humble of servants, a connection developed between the consumption of a dubious but filling dish and a true sense of humility. The word "humble" in the metaphorical "humble pie" comes from the Latin humilis, meaning "from the earth,"

Eating humble pie is meant to be a metaphorical punishment for excessive arrogance or boasting. Few people would ever eat such a dish voluntarily, but others may wish that particularly self-important public figures or abusive employers would take a bite or two, especially when they are proven wrong in a very public way. Eating humble pie should take the offender down a few pegs on a social or professional ladder, at least long enough to feel humbled or properly chastised for their overbearing behavior.

As our Chinese saying, older folks eat “more salt” than the young punk eating rice or drink milk and whether old or young, green or yellow, we all need to eat lots of humble pies and not behave high and almighty as come one day, all of us are going to perish and make sure humility rules our head and not trying to grow with big ego, self-esteem and cut out to be bossy….. unless you own the conglomerate company then no one would stop you from all kinds of unacceptable arrogant behavior but watch your step, as one day you will fall through the gap in no time.

Quotable quotes :

Words That Encourage Darkness and The Adversary: Angry, Antagonistic, Appetites, Arrogant, Confused, Contention, Covetous, Critical, Depressed, Domineering, Doubt, Easily Offended, Evasive, Fear, Frustrated, Harshness, Impatience, Ineffective, Irritable, Jealousy…..

Some people don't give up easily. When they're successful, this is called "perseverance." Before they succeed, or if they fail, it's called "stubborn," "bullheaded," "arrogant," or "foolish."

Nobody can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.

What is wrong with us human beings, and has been wrong since time immemorial, is that without ever stating it in so many words, we believe that we have entered the realm of immortality. We behave as if we are never going to die - an infantile arrogance. But even more injurious than this sense of immortality is what comes with it : the sense that we can engulf this inconcievable universe with our minds.

Early in life, we had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. We chose honest arrogance and have seen no occasion to change.

P/s:  This writing has no intent to pin point on any individual or youngster now out there with arrogant or almighty working style but if there is similarity in the writing that describes about any individual of whom then there is need of "self-reflection" and correcting himself or herself to be a betterself....... think this would have done them more good in bringing the message as there is a long way for these people to move in their working life....... :)