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

Hey Readers,

What makes you see red? What are the things that really get up your nose and make you lose control? Well I had one of my 'red' moments over the weekend. I had been away for two weeks and I had left my car parked in my private parking space. Let me emphasise 'private', the parking spot is part of the land belonging to my property.

On Friday night I get a taxi in from London City Airport and when I get home I find a car blocking access onto the street for my car. I decide I will stay calm and hopefully the car will be moved. Following morning the car is still there, so I stick a notice on the offenders car windscreen stating "move the car or it will be towed". By 12 noon the car was still there and I really needed to get out and run some errands. I called my brother to see if I could move my car out through a gap between the offending car and another parked car. As my brother arrived in his car I walked over to my parked car and the offending vehicle owner was there. The first thing he said to me was "Did you put this note on my car?" I said yes and explained to him why. He retorted that I should be nice when I speak to him.

I immediately saw red. Firstly, this guy had blocked my parking space on several occassions before and plus he was committing the violation yet asks me to be nice. I continued to explain to him that my space was my property and that the space was marked in white lettering as 'PRIVATE'.

Eventually he moved his car and I drove off.

Upon reflection when I calmed down I realised that I should have stayed calm and made my point more objectively. Even though my incident did not become ugly, how often does it become so?

I then thought how often do we 'lose our rag' in business and professional circumstances where it costs money, hurts people and does long term damage. Upon further reflection I realised that I should be more of a 'peacemaker' and a 'builder of bridges' and relationships. Success comes from who you know, because potentially you can be providing a service or a product to anyone and everyone.

People can open doors or slam them shut, people can make or break your product, people can talk ill of you or praise you.

So when you see red next, what are you going to do? I know what I am going to try and do.

Shah Alam

You know how the saying goes 'out with the old and in with the new'. Well it is a dilemma that is being faced by many organizations as the Baby Boomer generation ages and the Gen X and Gen Y'ers and the Facebook generation enter the workforce. Many a Baby Boomer is uncomfortable with the fast paced, technology driven younger generation snapping at their heels. I see many a clash where the old are being usurped and surpassed by the younger contemporaries.

Should the elders move aside and make way for the energized yeunglings? Well it is and always be a case of debate. Over the last few years I have come across clients whose common phrase has been speed. Speed with quality in all they do and deliver. With instanteous market news and exposure speed is something sought by consumer and supplier alike.

Recently I came across an article where a typical Middle Eastern consulting client wants a project to be delivered in half the usual time taken. I hear constantly here about speed of implementation and integration.

This is an area where there are major clashes between the generations. The wisdom of age and having been through it is denounced in favor of rapid change. The older generation feel that the new generation can do nothing but make mistakes, lose time and re-invent the wheel.

There is great value to be had from people with experience and years under their belt, as mentors, coaches and knowledge bases. yet we must not deny the energy and drive coming from the young stars fo tomorrow.

Shah Alam

Hello Readers,

Do you know when it is time to hang up your hat? Does anyone know when they should walk away and look at a new purpose in life?

I am seeing more and more that the answer is a resounding "no". Over the last few years I have come across numerous individuals both within teams that I have partaken in and client people who just don't know when to quit.

These individuals believe that they still know what they are talking about and have a dogged tenacity in their abilities to deliver. Yet, in reality they fail to give any value either in quality or quantity.

I believe it comes down to the fact that people do not have other interests or are so narrowly focussed that they do not see in what other way they can serve humanity. That service of humanity could be anything, anything that makes use of one's unique talents, skills and passions.

Take Michael Schumacher returning to F1, in my opinion "big mistake". Now he is critisized as a former champ who keeps crashing into other racers trying to jeopardize their efforts. So when he does eventually stop, that is what he will be known for rather than his previous championship status.

My message is evaluate yourself regularly as you reach the top of your game and if it is time to go, do it gracefully and find another purpose.

That's all for today

Shah Alam

Good morning again from London. My good friend and colleague Ramsi talked about numbers recently and how important they are in business, they are the lifeblood. Look at the world financial crisis today, it is all about numbers.

However today I am going to discuss one of the softer sides of business, namely coaching. Coaching in business and in the general populace has seen a huge explosion over the last decade. With the likes of Tony Robbins and other motivational coaches bringing the subject into the mainstream. Having worked and travelled in the US it seems that people of that nation tend to embrace personal development far more openly than other corners of the globe.

Coaching uses a lot of sporting analogy, whether it be American Football, Basketball, Tennis or some of the marathon running superstars of this world. One of the great examples is Lance Armstrong who has overcome great personal hardship to win the Tour De France again and again. Take Andre Agassi in his heyday, when he walked onto Centre Court at Wimbledon he had a certain air about him that said he was going to win the match.

Now in business everyday life may not be the one chance to shine and win the gold medal or first prize, but it is the accumulation of all those little successes that make good achievers into great achievers and great achievers into superstar achievers.

Alas, many great people are overlooked or are not given the opportunity because of many reasons. It could be company culture, it could be there are no opportunities in the department, maybe the management isn't right. Whatever it is there could be a whole host of reason why a talented indvidual is missed.

Now! It is upto organizations and the senior management wirthin them to foster a culture of coaching for success, to bring out the best, to enable creativity and create people who will make a company succeed exponentially. Coaching does not have to be a formal sit-down session with someone and it does not have to be a subordinate being coached by their superior, in a matrix environment anyone can coach anyone.

I would go so far as to say an individual can coach themselves. To look at yourself and then review the issue, concern or goal at hand and then think and I mean think to come up with solutions. Sometimes there may not be a solution, but it's this ability to take a step back and see the wood for the trees that really does help.

What we must not also forget is once someone clocks out of the office and goes home, realistically how much time do you think they will spend on personal development and growth? There will be some people who do look at themselves and question how to become better both personally and professionally. When a person returns back to the office the next day we as companies and management do not know what happened at home? did that person have a good weekend or bad weekend? what frame of mind are they coming to work with? are they feeling positive saying as Jim Carey does '..somebody stop me...' in The Mask or something else.

It is incumbent on organizations, management, HR and colleagues alike to work together to get the best out of each other.

I have listed below a set of tasks that individuals and teams can perform to achieve a greater level of awareness and success whether it be personally or in our chosen vocation.

1. Think Positive - always expect the best as one thought leads to another, ensure those thoughts that run through your head are the ones that you want
2. Clear Goals - have clear goals of what you want, whether it's to run 5 marathons in 2 years or to become the CEO of your company in 15 years
3. Be Curious - ask questions, there never is a stupid question, you can only learn and grow by being inquisitive
4. Stimulate Your Mind - even if this mean playing those brain training games on the Nintendo DS or playing Sudoku
5. Creative Visualization - try to see the solution in your minds eye. See what a future scenario might look like to get some ideas on solutions
6. Laugh - In India they have laughter clubs that help people de-stress, as the old saying goes laughter is the best medicine. So book that Saturday night comedy show
7. Physically Active - this is one of my favorites,  for me nothing beats a good 10 mile run or a 30 minute workout on a punchbag
8. Intense Concentraion - here don't just concentrate on a something you are doing or trying to find a solution to, concentrate so hard that you may only fall short of Einstein's genius. In this day and age of speed no one likes to sit and think. Try it you will be amazed
9. 100% Responsibility - you are wholly responsible for your life, your career, your success, your failures and everything else in between, so be careful how you go about your day-to-day activities
10. Burning Desire - This will be a tough one for many people. You must have a burning desire to succeed in anything. Another term I use is Monomaniac, to not stop unless success is achieved. You look at some of the great achievements made by the likes of Edison, Bannister, Einstein, Alexander the Great all of these individuals and others did not stop until they achieved their dreams, even if it meant loved ones got hurt. So ask yourself how badly do you want that goal?

One that note I will bid farewell and I look forward to sharing a few more anecdotes in the coming week

Shah Alam