The Will to Win

It's a luxury to attend courses and seminars or talks that are FOC, and I think I should make the effort to listen hard and take home some pointers.

Had the honour to attend one of my company's Thought Leadership programmes on 13th Oct. Titled "The Will to Win", the distinguished presented was Mr. Lim Siong Guan, current Group President of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.

The bespectacled man looks 70 but his presentation exudes so much energy, belief and confidence. After the 90 min session, the knowledge and intelligence that he demonstrated won my respect for the amount of pressure and responsibilities that I could only imagine, which he bears as the head of such a big corporation.

Mr. Lim defines leadership aptly, "Leadership is about making (good) things happen; which on their own would not happen." HOW WELL SAID, RIGHT?! It resonates in my own thinking that things can only happen if one takes action and strives hard to make things happen. Mr. Lim further explains his preferred style of leadership:

G - Guide

E - Empathise

E - Energize

S - Synergize

E - Embolden

How does one win? 

• Look out for OPPORTUNITIES, not competition
• Anticipate the future (and plan for it). The most stable period shouldn't be the time for a company to rest on its laurels; it is in fact the best time to start planning for the future
• Earn trust

I also picked up a tip from Mr. Lim's presentation on how to make one's speech interesting - I observed that he didn't speak exactly with much accentuations or exaggerated body language. In fact, he substantiated his pointers with real-life and interesting examples such as that experiential learning is most important (banks educating staff on how to identify counterfeit money) and how one can build the strongest team by mandatorily getting rid of the bottom performers (Israeli fighter pilots whom are re-deployed if found amongst the 10th percentile).

During Mr. Lim's presentation, he showed us a video of one of the most influential and opportunistic leaders in Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba. I only recently learnt about him and watching his interview totally wowed me. The success of Alibaba is vividly evident in the sincerity, determination and shrewdness displayed in his eyes.

Watch it here.

I should really learn to be more articulate!

----

On a side note, I was shifting some stuff over from my parents' place when I chanced upon one of the forms I filled up 5 years ago for an application of a job:

5 years on - albeit at a different company - do a stock-take - have I under-achieved/exceeded my expectations?