Good afternoon all,

When was the last time you took a really good look at yourself? When was the last time you asked yourself what value do I add to what I do? Am I the best that I can be? Am I the person who people look up to or do they avoid me like the plague?

You may be asking why should you ask these questions of yourself and what is the purpose? Well, my point is that I do not believe many of us receive feedback on a regular basis from our colleagues, peers and managers. Feedback that would allow us to grow and become excellent at what we do and who we are when we interact with people. I believe in the continual growth and without feedback and self-reflection growth is stunted.

Many people believe that they are the "dogs bollocks", and English expression exemplifying brilliance at whatever the subject matter at hand. This type of egotistical thinking can and does lead to lethargy, arrogance and the ultimately failure. Many people are scared to provide feedback even in a constructive way for fear of seen to be critical and hurting someone's feelings. Most of us do not even ask for feedback and in the event that we do get it we become defensive and start arguing with the person providing the feedback. What this does is that the provider of feedback will not be so willing to do so in the future.

Self reflection is another methodology that can be utilized to see where were are compared to where we think we are. To continually grow we must change and to change we must step out of the excessively used cliche of a box and look from without to what is happening within. So when we stand there looking within it may be also beneficial to ask a trusted colleague to look in with you and give you some critical feedback. Questions like, what could I have done differently? What could I have done better? Did I get the result I wanted? If not what could I do differently next time?

Whilst you ask these questions your companion could also interject with thoughts of their own that could add a different perspective. It takes a very big person to be able to do this on a continuous basis, and the bigger a person becomes the more self reflection they need to step up to the next level. Don't get me wrong most people are not up for this challenge, even though they lack no resources to become the best at what they do.

In my opinion everyone has the capacity to draw from within strength, resources, creativity to excel at their vocation and become a true leader, but many fail to do so, and most of them fail because they do not recognize where they go wrong and take corrective action. Corrective action usually comes to late in the form of getting fired or not being hired, losing friends, colleagues and supporters in the process.

Shah Alam

Good afternoon everyone, today I want to talk a bit about change and what it entails.

The implementation of any change program within a business is a serious matter. Many experts will spout soundbites to impress their audiences with "change or you will go the way of the dinosaurs" or "change is the only constant" amongst others, without clarifying what they mean.

One of the aspects of change many do not realize is that it is difficult in the best of circumstances let alone when the parties concerned are happy and willing. The level of difficulty increases exponentially when people are involved and where people have been in the same situation doing the same thing for decades.

Change and the following improvement do not come easy. The basic premise of change is that to improve, we must continuously change.

In physics however, for every action (change) there is an equal and opposite reaction. People by nature resist change, i.e. they will look for excuses, wait and see etc. The reason they do this is that change takes them out of their comfort zones.

Therefore, the more change there is the greater the resistance, the greater the resistance the more difficult it is to improve (change).

This is a vicious circle and can have serious consequences for any business or individual or even a country.

People tend to hide behind excuses such as past practices, politics, procedures etc. rather than change. Within any organization there are also a host of barriers that prevent improvement, such as inconsistent direction, poor management, skepticism, lack of trust and not invented here excuse.

I am going to do my own spouting now;

"there is nothing permanent except change and if you do what you always did, you will get what you always got"

So what can make people change?

• Pain - emotional, financial, tragedy
• Despair - over a long period of time
• Discovery - constructive change is possible

Breakthrough comes when theories, concepts and philosophies are passed on as knowledge, then understanding and finally skills lead to breaking down of barriers.

Paradigms are "rules" we apply to certain situations to let us predict how things will be, that is rules of success. The key message is don't let YOUR paradigm become THE paradigm, because paradigms can CHANGE.

When a paradigm changes everyone goes back to zero. Past success is no guarantee. What is impossible today may be the norm tomorrow.

Change must be driven throughout the whole organization, that is: people, process, product

Managing complex change requires

Vision > Skills > Incentives > Resources > Action Plan > Change

However, many corporate leaders today want change to have happened yesterday. Well, it's a little bit late but not too late. I like the story of the ant and grasshopper, the grasshopper fiddled away the summer months and when winter came starved. Whereas the industrious ant worked throughout the summer and was able to store enough supplies to survive the winter.

We are still in a global recession and many more companies will continue to fall by the wayside, and those that are surviving are implementing cost cutting initiatives, change programs, six sigma etc to counter the effects of the recession. However, just like the grasshopper when good times were had they did nothing to prepare or protect themselves when the economy were to head south.

Now that companies are taking the lead to make a change, they want it to take effect instantaneously. Well, effective long-term sustainable change does not happen overnight. It requires thought, it requires planning, it requires expertise, it requires the inclusion of all within the company and last of all it takes time. Most large scale financial benefits of any improvement may not be realized for six to nine months after the action has been taken.

So my question to businesses is, do you have the patient to ensure long term successful change to take place within you organizations?

A Band-Aid ain't gonna work in todays business environment

Till the next time, I say adieu.

Shah Alam