BL Newsletter #5
The August Inspiration
I have spent a considerable amount of time reading books on management. Whether you are running a startup or a business unit in a corporation, the most important resource you have is people. Through different phases of my life, I have put together a simple principle to how I want to manage people. My approach is to make sure that my team can grow, not just in competency and capability but in time, be able to do what I do. To a lot of us, it is hard because there are fears that some of them might supersede you. I think differently in that aspect and if you help to build other people's career, even if they leave you and go to a better place, you create a virtuous cycle. The only issue that matters to me is the ethics. If someone pulls off something unethical, that will be the end of the road in that relationship.
Instead of focusing on the how-to books on managing people, I started to look in the direction in how people would like to be treated. The five languages of appreciation in the workplace, pioneered by Gary Chapman and Paul White, remain to be an interesting approach to how we can empower organisations by encouraging people. It is interesting to note that most managers consistently have the view that the process of hiring and training new employees is one of their most disliked tasks. It's not surprising, and if I have said otherwise, I would be lying. Over the years, I have made considerable efforts to change it from a task which I loathe to one which I enjoy doing. Why should you like it? First of all, you get to know new people. I have made an effort that even if I don't hire the person in the end, I keep in touch and see how that person evolve. Sometimes, it's a management of expectations and the correct conditions for hiring may not surface until later. Second, you have the opportunity to make changes. Yes, there are pains in the transition costs of people leaving you. Probably, when you have the experience in operating within a startup environment, you tend to cope with that type of events better. Third, you have the opportunity to shape another's person career. What I realize that I really enjoy over the years, is seeing people grow. Most of my interns and past students who have worked with me, have flourished with great careers, including one who become a professor in Cambridge, taking the chair of the previous guy who I admire. I stayed in touch and often just feel happy for how far they have come.
Of course, we want to keep the people who we worked with. If a business owner want to achieve that, he or she would desire:
- employees to have a high degree of satisfaction in their current roles and responsibilities.
- employees would not begin to harbour thoughts of leaving the company.
- employees would not actually to leave and work for someone else.
Hence job satisfaction and appreciation comes into play. Gary Chapman and Paul White recommended the five languages of appreciation:
- Words of affirmation is the language that uses words to communicate a positive language from one person to another. One simple way is to verbally praise the person which focuses on an achievement or accomplishment. Another method is affirmation of someone's character which align with a principled stand and it sees beyond performance and focus on the inner nature of the person.
- Quality time means that you have give the person your undivided attention. When you are in a meeting to work on a project with that person, you have to be present. It is hard for most managers who tend to multi-task a lot, but sometimes, figuring out is important and important tips include maintaining eye contact with the person, don't do other things while you are listening (and I am guilty of that, with a recent adjustment to turn off my computer in my team meetings), listening for feelings as well as thoughts and affirm their feelings even if you disagree with their conclusions.
- Acts of service are another mode to show appreciation and it is a powerful expression. You basically help the person when they need your help and advice the most. A few things you have to bear in mind. First, you have to make sure your own responsibilities are covered before volunteering to help others. Next, it is to serve voluntarily and of course, make sure that you check your attitude, as it is something that you should not expect to get anything back. If you are going to help, you have to follow how the other person is doing it. Lastly if you are going to do that, make sure that you finish what you have started.
- Tangible gifts: Giving tangible gifts (and not necessarily money) is another form of appreciation. There are only two key components for tangible rewards. First you need to give to those who appreciate them and second, you must give a gift that a person values.
- Physical touch: This is the invisible one from studies done in the languages of appreciation. In fact, if you have done the survey, you would not see it. The reason is simple: no one admits that they like touch as a language of appreciation and of course, there are certain gestures which might be totally mis-construed as something else. The only instinctive touch which I have seen use is a "high five" or a hug. Of course, it usually manifests when a team completes a major milestone or project.
Learning how to appreciate people is now a part and parcel of my personal and work life. Finding that balance remains a challenge for me.
As I have spoken about inspiration for this month, I will talk about a new project which I have in mind. I built a media portal in the past and it was acquired for almost a year. The joy of creating and distributing quality content is always a part of me. Of course, very few people know that I have a theatre background and have produced two plays as the lead producer during my PhD days in Cambridge. One of my biggest regrets was to reject the opportunity (and it's by invitation only) to be the lead producer on one of the six Shakespearean plays in Cambridge Shakespeare festival. In ensuring that my interest stays alive, I have focused my time on media as a hobby. Since 2005, I have resisted starting a personal blog but instead build up two well-known group blogs, one on social and political issues and the other on entrepreneurs and venture capital.
Sometime in 2010, I have built my personal blog focusing on my various interests with fine dining included and in the past two months, I ponder on the direction on where I want to take it. It dawned on me that I am not going to compete in the way how other media portals work. Instead, I have decided to build it into a personal brand, which now have my twitter account, facebook page, a monthly newsletter (and you are reading it now) and one more thing, audio & in future, video content. I have been thinking of podcasting again for a while. Although I do have an existing one called "This Week in Asia", the effort to coordinate four people in a chat room is just taking much more effort.
It is during a recent conversation with my wife. She suggested the same idea which I have been thinking about for a while. With her encouragement, I have decided to start a new media project but this time parked under my own personal brand. You will be hearing about it very soon. The title of the new podcast is "Analyse Asia" (with my name on it and the site is barely up, and you will see changes within the next 2 weeks) and it focus on having a one to one chat with people all around Asia, focusing on three things: technology, media and entrepreneurship. I have decided to spend one hour in a week doing a one on one interview and possibly another hour to edit and distribute it. The focus is different from the earlier podcast. Instead of discussing the week's most earth shattering news, I like to take a step back and focus on analysing technology and business trends in Asian markets as a whole. I don't see it as a business but merely a networking hour and a fun media project for me to speak to someone from another market, gathering intelligence to learn and understand other Asian markets.
I often believe that the best days of my life are ahead of me and not behind. Hope that the August inspiration will transform it to something fruitful in the future.
Interesting Reads from the Web:
- The Devices & Services Myth in Tech-Thoughts: What I like about this article is that they articulate why Apple should not be building a cheap iPhone for emerging markets but directly focus towards building a brand. The problem with Android is that there are too many OEMs building with the mobile operating system but none of them really have true competitive advantage. A citizen from the emerging market such as China and India might purchase an Android device based on cost considerations but once they move up the economic ladder, they will still aspire for a Apple device, similar to how people from emerging markets went for buying fake products at first then to real Louis Vuitton or Hermes bags. I have articulated this view that Apple should be a Louis Vuitton & not Zara. On another note, Benedict Evans has also weighed in on the debate of cheap phones and whether Apple should build one.
- Mobile OS Paradigm by Steven Sinofsky: This article articulates how the landscape of mobile operating system is changing and the author puts it with the historical context similar to the desktop operating systems in the 1980/1990s. Of course, the shift to a tablet and smartphone as a productivity device also change the way how we work productively and the new tools which we are using for work as well.
- Beleaguered by Horace DIdeu: For those want to get some perspective over Amazon's recent dispute with publishers such as Hachette and Disney, this article offers an interesting perspective on how the degree of market power that is closer to monospony rather than to monopoly is influencing the markets today. The most interesting insight is that the best companies cannot be under threat all the time, and this leads to business practices and strategic priorities that are tainted by hubris. My favourite quote from the article from Horace Dideu: "Running a business and managing people who are asked to create things leads to this insight. Peering at spreadsheets doesn’t."
Follow of the Week: @sameer_singh17
Sameer Singh is probably one of the few Asian based smart and credible analysts who I follow closely to. As far as I know, he is currently based in India. In truth, I have never met him in real life, but we corresponded on a few occasions on twitter over mobile matters. He wrote an interesting blog called Tech-Thoughts, where he analysed interesting trends on mobile OS in Asia. He has written about Xiaomi and low end disruption in consumer markets in Asia.
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