Do it for yourself

I realise that people who are on the verge of being rejected; be it in work, in relationships often claim that they do a lot of things for the other party. Eg, gal A will tell boy B that she did this and that for boy B in the hope of savaging the relationship and hopefully B will not dump her.

I think this can be pretty wrong. Why?

Because these people who did a lot of things for the other party, are actually doing it for themselves. They want to seek approval and acceptance, so that they will not lose something, which they perceive to be reasonable valuable.

Hence, I believe there is no such thing as doing something for other people. You can only do something for yourself.

I saw a nice post in "forum" section in the ST newspapers today by Ms Isis Bernadette Koh Wan Jing. Extracted the poem, which is so meaningful to me.

People are often unreasonable,
Illogical and self-centred;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,
People may accuse you of
selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,
You will win some false friends
and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
People may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,
Someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
They may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good that you do today,
People will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
And it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
It is between you and God;
It is never between you and them anyway.

Why consultants find it hard to learn

I remembered Chris Argyris wrote this wonderful article: Teaching smart people how to learn

In it, he explained that success in the marketplace increasingly depends on learning;yet most people do not know how to learn. What's more, those members of the organisation that are best at learning are in fact, not very good at it. And these people are well-educated, high-powered, high-commitment professionals who occupy key leadership positions in the modern corporations. (hmm, makes me think of all the scholars..heehee)

Here is an extract from his wonderful article. You can purchase the article from HBR.

Every company faces a learning dilemma: the smartest people find it the hardest to learn.

Most companies not only have tremendous difficulty addressing this learning dilemma, they aren't even aware that it exists. The reason: they misunderstand what learning is and how to bring it about. As a result, they tend to make two mistakes in their efforts to become a learning organization.

First, more people define learning too narrowly as mere "problem solving," so they focus on identifying and correcting errors in the external environment. Solving problems is important. But if learning is to persist, managers and employees must also look inward. They need to reflect critically on their own behavior, identify the ways they often inadvertently contribute to the organization's problems, and then change how they act. In particular, they must learn how the very way they go about defining and solving problems can be a source of problems in its own right.

I have coined the terms "single loop" and "double loop" learning to capture this critical distinction. To give a simple analogy: a thermostat that automatically turns on the heat whenever the temperature in a room drops below 68 degrees is a good example of single-loop learning. A thermostat that could ask, "Why am I at 68 degrees?" and then explore whether or not some other temperature might more economically achieve the goal of heating the room would be engaging in double-loop learning.

Highly skilled professionals are frequently very good at single-loop learning. After all, they have spent much of their lives acquiring academic credentials, mastering one or a number of intellectual disciplines, and applying those disciplines to solve real-world problems. But ironically, this very fact helps explain why professional are often so bad at double-loop learning.

Put simply, because many professionals are almost always successful at what they do, they rarely experience failure. And because they have rarely failed, they have never learned how to learn from failure. So whenever their single-loop learning strategies go wrong, they become defensive, screen out criticism, and put the "blame" on anyone and everyone but themselves. In short, their ability to learn shuts down precisely at the moment they need it most.

Read this article in full at www.hbsp.harvard.edu.

This is interesting because once, the CEO of one of my clients replied me with "The reason why we succeed is because we have a probia of failure" when I tried explaining to a group of leaders that failures are necessary for innovation to take place. He further explained that when there is a high profiled failure, its very obvious to all the colleagues that this person had disappointed and failed to achieve a result and that person would have difficulty climbing up the corporate ladder and therefore, people are less inclined to take risks and therefore, risk failures. When I think of all the corporate high-flyers, yeah, that makes some sense. These people are academically outstanding, rarely risk their necks and above all, excel in single loop learning and weak in double-loop learning.

Interesting trend

Recently, an increasing no of blogs were set up by CEOs or very senior management people.

I was thinking to myself about this and my understanding about them seems to indicate to this:

CEO are scrutinized by everyone and have no one to talk to.

Blogs are keeping CEOs sane.

Innovation and relationships: Of journey, project, milestones and deliverables

I was wondering about the lead and lag indicators of relationships recently.

If the lag indicator of innovation is that a successful prototype must reach the market in X weeks and be commercially successful, then the lag indicator of a boy gal relationship must be a successful marriage in X years leading to offsprings.

Big S, the elder of the twin celebrity sisters in Taiwan once said: "If you do not intend to get married, then what for go dating?"

I think both "innovation" and "relationships" have the same expectations; that with all good intentions, the end result should be satisfying. Hence, we all harbour good hopes.

However, at the same time, "innovation" and "relationships" cannot guarantee that all the efforts and pains will lead to a successful outcome. Often, its a judgement call and if one makes a bad judgement call, one still has to live with it.

Hence, while that "innovation" or "relationship" lasts, one should maximize the enjoyment from the journey, the learnings from this experience, so that one can be wiser for the next.

This brings to another questions- in "innovation" we treat it as a project, we have milestones. Should we treat "relationships" as milestones? Eg, marry each other after 3 years of dating etc?

I personally feel that marriage is a matter of "feel", which should not be set a deadline. Its a flexible milestone; if both parties are ready, then they are ready (this of course, cannot apply to "innovations" as the innovation sponsor will definately scream his lungs out at the project members).

If the above reasoning sounds fine, then what really is the lead indicator of relationships then?

Suppose the guy in a relationship is the 'investor' in a 'innovation' and the gal in a relationship is a 'project manager' in that 'innovation'.

For guys: the amount of time and $$ invested on the gal from the war chest? =) (innovation has the corporate venture fund to fund innovation and a lead indicator is the amount of projects funded)
For gals: the no of Ah bengs you can go out with before mum ask for marriage to a 'nice' guy so that she can recoup her losses for rearing her daughter till this day? (the no of failed trials you can afford before the innovation sponsor gives you the ultimatum before the sacking!)

If innovation and relationships are indeed linked, the common understanding would be: a lot of efforts does not necessary guarantee that you will see any returns, but if you do not try, you will definately never see any returns. (you miss all the shots you never try)

Need to harness the strengths of your teammates? I recommend Team Management Profile

In today's world, we often need to work in teams to complete projects. A team can be defined as a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and who are working independently to achieve specific performance goals using an approach for which they hold themselves accountable

Therefore, to fully reap the talents and strengths of your teammates, you would need to first identify and understand their strengths.

With this in mind, I attended the Team Management Profile Accreditation course last year to find out more. This is what I found out:

Hehe, I am a creator/innovator with minor roles of reporter/advisor and explorer/promoter. This makes me well-suited for my job as a consultant on innovation! Well, thank God I am able to make my passion my profession!

If you want to know more about TMP, here's more info:

The Team Management Profile, -Wheel and -Index (™) from Dr Charles J. Margerison and Dr Dick J. McCann constitute a method particularly useful for assessing work preferences in team context, and can also be used for assessing individual and organizational preferences.

Why work preferences in team context? Because people practice what they prefer so they become proficient in it and then, they take pleasure from it. Unlike MBTI, Team Management Profile (TMP) does not only provide information about an individual, about also in a team context.

Work preferences are measured in four main ways. First, preferences for extroverted and introverted work. Second, the balance between practical and creative work. Next, the influence of analysis and beliefs in decisions. Fourth, the extent to which you want to work in a structured or flexible way. These factors combined have a powerful influence on job choice, job satisfaction, motivation, teamwork, learning and development, and career moves.

This provides 8 team role preferences that people can perform in the Team Management Wheel (fig):

1. Reporter / Adviser. Supporter, helper, tolerant; a collector of information; he dislikes being rushed; knowledgeable; flexible.
2. Creator / Innovator. Imaginative; future-oriented; enjoys complexity; creative; likes research work.
3. Explorer / Promoter. Persuades, "seller"; likes varied, exciting, stimulating work; easily bored; influential and outgoing.
4. Assessor / Developer. Analytical and objective; developer of ideas; enjoys prototype or project work; experimenter.
5. Thruster / Organizer. Organizes and implements; quick to decide; results-oriented; sets up systems; analytical.
6. Concluder / Producer. Practical; production-oriented; likes schedules and plans; pride in reproducing goods and services; values effectiveness and efficiency.
7. Controller / Inspector. Strong on control; detail-oriented; low need for people contact; an inspector of standards and procedures.
8. Upholder / Maintainer. Conservative, loyal, supportive; personal values important; strong sense of right and wrong; work motivation based on purpose.

The Linking Role is shared by all team members. Work preferences reflect the psychology of the emotions and desires that you and others bring to the job. Where there exists a low alignment, or mismatch, then people tend to either adapt the job to their preference, or move to another job.

Usage of the Team Management Profile. Applications

Has been used by over 1000 organizations in more than 100 countries for:

• Teamwork improvement.
• Project staffing and management. Work allocation.
• Basis for continuing professional / individual development.
• Basis for leadership and talent management. Counseling.
• Cross functional teamwork communication.
• Recruitment and selection, career development and promotion.

Strengths of the Team Management Profile. Benefits

• Particularly useful for putting together and managing project teams.
• Strengths of people are leveraged in teams.
• While individuals should be encouraged to work in areas that match their preference, it is the responsibility of the team as a whole to make sure all types of work are covered.
• Understanding work preferences, both your own and other people's, are vital to successfully managing colleague and client relationship, and improving personal performance.
• What we prefer we tend to practice, and what we practice is where we tend to perform well.
• Focus is on personality in work, less on personality / life in general.

Assumptions of the Team Management Profile. Conditions

• Work preferences are important to people.
• People tend to practice what they prefer.
• People perform better in those areas that match their work preference.
• People do their best to ensure that these are satisfied in their jobs (or they will move on elsewhere).

Back on the notion of learning from mistakes...

I like this poem...very very much:

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost....I am hopeless.
It isnt my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out....

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I did not see it.
I fall in again.
I cannot believe I am in the same place.
But it isnt my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out....

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in....it's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately....

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it....

I walk down another street....

Partia Nelson.

Learnt something from the verses?

The one thing I am not so comfortable is the last verse...though it may be the most meaningful. Of course, having learnt my mistakes, I could walk down another street. But I do not like this spirit. Its like having failed and hurt repeatedly in relationships, one should evade relationships and become a gay/lesbian/never marry/avoid intimacy at all costs. (hehe, this example comes to mind because I just counselled an evader)

If its me, my last verse would be....

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I cover it up with plenty of cement.
I walk carefully over the covered hole.
Others walk safely over my covered hole.....

Why admitting mistakes is very important, yet difficult for consultants

After a couple of heated discussions with my manager, I realise its tough for consultants to properly learn.

Why consultants dun learn?

1) They have big fat egos. They are usually the top students in their class or business schools. They received high and good education. Some of them are headhunted or talent spotting.

2) They believe they are intelligent. Some of them are mensa members. They read a lot of books and claim more theories. Of course, they also claim they can analyse better.

3) They master the art of blame-storming. Every mistake can be attributed to some factor other than themselves. This art is important. It can be a life and death skill to get a consultant out of an embarresing situation when caught with a mistake during live presentation or engagement.

Hence, its hard for consultants to learn properly, except from someone who is a more senior guru.

I wonders if I will make this mistake when I grow older.

Hence, its better to remind myself to admit to my mistakes every now and then.

My learning and humbling process:

Admit my mistakes
Analyse my mistakes (hey, I am still a consultant okie? I need to analyse!!)
Learn from my mistakes
Do not repeat my mistakes
Share my mistakes with others so that they can learn from my mistakes (that will get rid of my fat ego, I suppose)

What do you think o f my process?

How to be credible in front of CEOs and gain their immediate respect

Being a young organisational development consultant, I faced this problem when I first started: How to be credible in front of CEOs and gain their immediate respect? Well, for the matter, if they do not believe me, they probably will not believe in my programmes (unless its top down instructed), and probably that will be end of any engagement with that organisation.

Some of these CEOs are scholars, President Scholars, Overseas Merit Scholars, Local Merit Scholars who received their education in top universities. Most of them had post-graduation education. All of them had at least 15 years of experience in the organisation. Which brings to the question:

Who am I to tell them what to do?

My answer: 3P

Pragmatic, Passionate, Personal...(nah, never political, though its helpful, I acknowledge)

Pragmatic:
This is the no1 rule and the most important rule. Every thing that comes out of a young consultant's mouth should be based on real data, facts, figures, info, in others words, being totally, absolutely, brutally pragmatic. Look up the organisation's website. Read through its coverage in magazines, journals. Conduct survey if you can. Prepare your success stories. To be convincing, you need to have real hard data staring into the face of the CEO or else you will just be firing blanks..No amount of cover-up can compensate if the CEO catches you with an errorous data and you will only end up embaressing yourself.

Passionate:
Being passionate certainly helps in being credible. Passion can be infectious and in a field like organisational development, can arouse the interest of the CEO. The CEO will be very interested in the reasons why a young consultant knew and wish to know so much about his organisation and importantly, to aid the organisation. The conviction will spur the CEO into action. Even if the CEO wasnt totally convinced, at least he will not pour cold water over a hot head- if you are truely passionate.

Personal:
Consulting is a very service-oriented human industry. Customer service is important. The willingness to listen and accomodate is important. Being personal, eg, sending emails directly to the CEO on key issues to tackle, reply fast to emails and ensuring the engagement continues to be lively and interesting is paramount to a successful consulting engagement. I have personally received many testimonials from CEOs because of my speed and boldness in taking actions to help them solve their problems. A personal touch can lend wonders to managing expectations. If you did okay, you may receive a good testimonial because of the strong bond. If, due to unfortunate reasons, you did not particularly succeed in achieving one or more objectives of the engagement, at least being personal will make the CEO forgive you more readily and put you in a position to offer a service recovery.

Consulting, coaching, facilitating, mentoring, training, speaking...

For the past one year, I attended several facilitation workshops and was involved as a mentor to a young team in a business plan competition. I also did some training and consulting to clients.

So what is the difference between the various roles? Here is what I think...

Facilitator

Purpose:

A facilitator is a professional who is skilled with group dynamics and whose job it is to bring forth the opinions, data, and wisdom that exists within a group. A facilitator’s role is to encourage all participants, inviting introverts as well as extroverts to express their views and to manage the energy so that the most vocal do not dominate the discussion. Facilitators provide value to multifunctional teams who need to develop common language and to brainstorming or strategy sessions that require generation of free-flowing ideas. Pure facilitation is content neutral, the goal being to create a safe environment for participants to share thoughts, feelings, and beliefs so that the team can develop its own culture and norms. A facilitator can also operate within an agenda or with a given goal to guide the team to useful outcomes.

Any meeting can benefit from a facilitator, although meeting facilitators tend to be part facilitator, part masters of ceremonies, and part management experts responsible for agenda completion. Department managers or executives have difficulties in facilitating meetings in their own organizations. Their authority hampers their ability to be neutral, and the managers’ subordinates tend to defer to their opinions.

Solid facilitation skills are desirable for consultants, coaches and trainers.

Benefits:

The highest use of talent and ensuring that the best ideas of each participant are integrated into the most important decisions. A skilled facilitator can assist the group to synthesize the best input from all the participants into a more sophisticated whole than any one member could have created alone.

Success story:

Prabu has content expertise in organizational development and is skilled with group dynamics. He facilitates meetings of many cross-functional product teams and is good at balancing multiple interests without inserting his opinion into the discussion. He helps quieter voices get heard and takes care to paraphrase and summarize what has been said, helping the group find synergy in the discussion. Teams become more productive with Prabu’s assistance, reaching common ground more rapidly in spite of team members’ different backgrounds and point of view.

Wrong choice:

Anthony, the division manager, attempted to facilitate his own strategy meeting. He believed there was no need for a facilitator because he understood the issues as well as anyone and wanted to avoid the expense. Anthony shared his own expertise first, in the process shutting down contributions from his subordinates. Participants nodded their heads in a show of support for Anthony’s authority, but in reality they did not feel heard and did not buy into his plans. Months later, Anthony is stymied by continued resistance to his initiative and the slow pace of its implementation.

Consultant

Purpose:

A consultant is typically an external resource who assists in achieving a complex corporate or organizational goal with which internal resources have been struggling. The consultant brings objectivity, a new perspective, and often specialized industry or functional expertise. He or she has the ability to assess the situation quickly, determine the real issues, and propose alternative course of action.

Management and OD consultants have the skills that must overlap with coaches, trainers and facilitators. They improve organizational performance and often address organizational dynamics, change management, and leadership issues. Strong management and OD consultants may have facilitation, personality instrumentation, team-building techniques and coaching process skills in addition to analytical skills in their tool bag.

When consultants are internal, they typically won’t have direct line control. They are more likely to be consulted for their special content or process expertise, and their recommendations are seen as inputs to the final executive or managerial decision. External consultants also provide specialized expertise but rarely make final decisions.

Benefits:

Consultants apply their analytical and process methodologies and tools to the problem or issue, with improved effectiveness, efficiency, and profitability being key outcomes. The client’s returns are expected to be many folds over the costs of engaging the management consultant.

Success story:

Anna’s client hired her to support the executive team in developing its product strategy for the next three years. Jackie, the VP of Marketing, asked Anna to research industry trends and competitors prior to facilitating the strategy discussion with the executive team. She was an optimal fit for this particular assignment, because she had the research skills and industry knowledge to keep the team grounded in the market realities and the facilitation skills to engage the entire team in this complex decision making process. Anna was so successful in this consulting assignment that VP Jackie asked her to help the divisions with their research and implementation plans as well.

Wrong use:

Executive coach Cheryl gained the confidence of CEO James. He asked her to facilitate the company’s strategic planning session, which would drive strategic initiatives for the next two years. Cheryl has excellent coaching and facilitation skills but was not financially savvy enough to ask the questions need to focus the conversation on critical success factors. As a result, the strategic plan was not rooted in the financial or market reality of the competitive industry situation and would not generate results soon enough for stockholders. Cheryl could have avoided the outcome with a referral to a strategy-savvy consultant colleague.

Trainer

Purpose:

Trainers provide large blocks of content to participants who must use the new knowledge or skill to achieve job success. Usually trainers are selected to keep employees (or members of a profession) up to date on the latest business practices and technologies and to address a specific skill or knowledge gap in the organization. Employees seek training to add to their value in the marketplace.

Trainers are often confused with speakers. Many similarities exist – such as the transfer of information, expertise, and the need to engage the audience – but professional speakers tend to experience less face time with the audience, speaking from a few minutes to a few hours. In contrast, trainers spend half a day to a few weeks with their audience. Professional speakers are also expected to be more topical and highly entertaining, and must tailor the talk to the audience’s needs. A trainer knows course development, typically transfers a higher density of information per hour than a speaker and is expected to transfer detailed content for attendees to retain and use in their jobs.

Lecturers and tutors are types of trainers with certain characteristics. A lecturer is likely to have an audience of 30 or more participants, and had obtained a reasonable high level of academic qualifications. The audience is likely to be seated facing the same direction, towards content shown on a presentation screen. On the other hand, a tutor is likely to have an audience of 30 or less participants, with the main outcome in helping the participants in mastering the content by practicum or revision. The audience could be sitting in groups or in computer workstations, with the attention distributed between the tutor and the practicum or revision materials.

Benefits:

Knowledge is disseminated in a rapid, consistent and cost-efficient manner to large or small groups of people.

Success story:

Sam wanted to learn to use Microsoft Frontpage in order to build and maintain his organization’s website. He signed up for a class available through a local training organization. The instructor, Terry, was an expert on the use of Frontpage and skills in engaging his students and in creating course material. The course was easy to follow, challenged his students, and enabled follow-up after its completion. Terry was able to field questions from Sam and the other students, and Sam was able to use Frontpage to right away build the site.

Wrong Choice:

David was hired to do a keynote talk at an association conference. The conference organizers wanted a speaker to provide pearls of wisdom in an entertaining manner. David know the content but did not have the platform skills to carry off a keynote talk in front of 3000 conference participants. His talk was too detailed and stiff and had little entertainment value. Moreover, the audience had difficulty determining his key points. Many became bored and left before the end of the talk, and conference organizers were disappointed.

Professional Speaker

Purpose:

Professional speakers are experts in their chosen field who are paid to motivate, impart their knowledge and connect with their audience to provide a memorable experience. They master sophisticated platform skills to achieve these aims. Training is not the same as professional speaking, even though both convey information to an audience. Nor is professional speaking the same as public speaking, who occurs when anyone presents to a group of individuals.

Benefits:

Attendees are educated, entertained, motivated and inspired.

Success story:

Joanna is an expert in effective communication and the misuse of email, phone mail and snail mail. She has written a book and articles and is well known in the field. Technical companies and conference hire Joanna to help employees and attendees become more effective in gaining control over information overload and to do this in an entertaining way. She has been speaking for several years, and audiences respond to her authentic presence and dry humor.

Wrong choice:

Any time an expert with poor platform skills is asked to give a keynote talk before a large audience at a conference, disappointment and wasted time will be the result for the audience

Coach

Purpose:

Coaches often are brought in to help a star player navigate a new role or advance faster inside a company so that these players can reach their goals and aspirations easier and faster. A coach can also be retained to help a valuable executive overcome performance gaps. Coaches fulfill needs for continued education in operational mastery (technical skills such as strategic planning) or personal mastery (such as interpersonal communication or client sensitivity). The use of coaches has grown in the past decade as management scope has widened and middle management layers have thinned. Examples of coaching needs include:

• Understanding strengths and developmental needs and how teams, clients and peers perceive the executive
• Dealing with conflict or improving conflict resolution skills
• Mastering and practicing new skills and styles through role play (such as leadership and public speaking)
• Changing specific behaviors (such as influence, decision making, defensiveness, or assertiveness)
• Increasing leadership competencies (thinking more strategically or communicating more effectively)
• Creating and managing a development plan

Eg, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay helping Sir Edmund Hillary, a New Zealander, conquers Mount Everest. Sir Edmund knew much about mountain climbing. Mr Norgay, a Nepalese Sherpa, knew much about the weather conditions and terrain surrounding Mount Everest.

In a way, the Sherpa was more than a companion and guide. He was critical to Sir Edmund’s success in scaling the highest peak in the world. By virtue of being a native of Nepal and living at the foot of Mount Everest, he was a coach for those aspiring to climb the mountain.

Career coaches play a similar role in the workplace. They offer suggestions, explore ideas, and share experiences of others who face similar challenges. They “probe, push and pull” their charges to get them to identify and take advantage of opportunities.

What is the difference between coaching and consulting? Coaching is typically a one-to one process, whereas consultants tend to work as a team, department or corporate level. Consultants typically bring content and analytical expertise or highly specialized processes into the organization to address specific issues. Coaches use process expertise and tools to support clients in developing their own answers through expanded ways of seeing themselves and their situations.

What is the difference between coaching and mentoring? Both work one-to-one, but mentors tend to offer specific content as well as contacts, while coaches focus on processes to support clients in doing their own learning.

Benefits:

Faster integration of leaders into new roles and cultures, higher executive effectiveness, improved communication and morale, and improved job satisfaction and retention. A study by Manchester Inc in 2000 found coaching produced an ROI of almost six times its cost. A DBM study in 2000 stated,” Changes in skills and performance of executives who received coaching are still evident two years later”

Success story:

A growing, entrepreneurial company recruited 46 year old Chng from a senior position at its primary competitor, where he had spent 25 years rising through the ranks. In this new job, Chng continued to use his top-down management style and expected the automatic compliance he had received before from long-time subordinates who trusted him. Not surprisingly, his new entrepreneurial colleagues were unhappy about this. Coaching increased Chng’s awareness of his unsuitable style and provided the insights he needed to change. (note: for coaching to be effective, the coachee must have respect for the coach)

Wrong choice:

Shoba needed some sage advice on how to optimize an interview for a senior position. She went to her mentor, who helped her many times with her questions on technical subjects. Shoba’s mentor did not have any connections to the position she was interviewing for and was not knowledgeable in the area of peak performance interviewing, but he tried his best to give her some pointers. A personal coach in the area of job search and interviewing or a career coach would have been a better choice, as someone who knows the latest techniques an interview questions being used in the industry.

Mentor

Purpose: Mentoring is a formal arrangement for a defined time period between a person experienced in a particular area (mentor) and another less experienced person (mentee) who is seeking help and guidance in order to succeed in that area. The most sought after mentors are often successful executives. The quality of the results obtained through mentoring depends on the follow-through, commitment and initiative of the mentee.

The mentor and mentee, by mutual agreement, determine the duration and frequency of meetings. By definition, mentors are internal to the organization or community and generally volunteered their services. Formal mentor-mentee relationships usually last three, six, twelve months with weekly or biweekly meetings.

Mentoring is often confused with personal or executive coaching. A mentor, generally a volunteer, uses his or her knowledge, connections and skills to help another reach desired goals. A personal coach, usually for a fee, helps an individual uncover his or her own answers or direction. However, mentor-coaches will interject their knowledge into their dialogues with the client.

Benefits:

Rapid improvement of the effectiveness of the mentee.

Success story:

Kai wanted to increase his effectiveness in handling his multi-project assignments. As part of a formal mentoring program, he was paired for six months with Su Yie, a senior project manager who was skilled in time and project management. Kai and Su Yie agreed on the logistics (when, where, length) and goals of their meetings. Su Yie tutored Kai in project management basics and arranged introductions for him with others in project management positions who could provide inputs, suggest a course of action, or point him to additional resources. Kai’s effectiveness in managing his project improved greatly, and his stress level decreased as a result.

Wrong Choice:

Work in progress

Disclaimer: All names are fictionous, any resemblances purely coincidental

Venture Capitalist Case Competition 2006

I have just volunteered my services to help ASES organise the Venture Capitalist Case Competition during GlobalEntrepolis.

Feels like I am back in business, setting up social entreprises, organising competitions after a year long hiatus from such activities due to my burned weekends taking the Graduate Certificate in Intellectual Property Laws.

The Venture Capital Case Competition is the first of its kind in Singapore and very much unlike business plan competitions. The challenge, therefore, is to do lotsa of research and exploration. We need sponsors, we need real life venture capitalists, we need more student volunteers, we need entrepreneurs! Hehe, we need you.

For more info: http://www.ases.org.sg/conference_vc3.htm

The Venture Capitalist Case Competition not only allow students who are interested in the venture capital industry an opportunity to challenge their business acumen in identifying potential investment products/markets, it also let aspiring entrepreneurs insights into the cerebral of the Venture Capitalists.

Students will mimic the role of a venture capitalist and present a high quality investment case tackling the issue – Where does the investment opportunity lie?

So what is 'My Consulting Life" all about?

Welcome to My Consulting Life.

Have you always wondered what it is like to be a management consultant but never really known for sure? Have you always wanted to get advise into the ears of the CEO and gain immediate respect? Have you always wondered why consultants like frameworks and how they derived their frameworks?

Well i thought it would be fun to share the ups and downs of being a management consultant. How can I do this? I am the innovation consultant of an organisation with over 60,000 employees. Within this organisation, there are over 400 SBU covering services, operations, HR, finance, logistics, training institutes, medical and dental institutes, plans and policy making units, technology development, etc. I thought it would be fun to share some of these with you.