First Impressions From Our First Mentoring Session

I recently volunteered as a mentor with the Halogen Foundation and was paired with these two amazing young people: Joel and Steven. 

We had our first session together and enjoyed a really great time over dinner. On my way home, I found myself being rather contemplative and as I reflected on what we discussed, several themes emerged. I’m jotting them down here for posterity:  

Young people are amazing

I’ve always loved this exhortation: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young but be an example…” It’s always been a good reminder to me that there is a lot more to young people than what we give them credit for (every generation is guilty of this). I wished I was as thoughtful and tenacious as these two when I was their age! Already, they are mindful enough to pursue great internships and part time jobs while having the self-awareness and grit to pick themselves up from the tough times they found themselves in. Their stories were truly invigorating and inspiring! 

There is victory in loss

We shared stories of losses and struggles; especially how we were trying to pick ourselves back up from difficult situations. Counterintuitively, these stories actually resolved our grit and determination; encouraging us and making us excited to witness what awaits on the other side as we press on through our current hardships. It took me back to one my favorite speeches on screen: 

Or, if you prefer, the text that inspired the words of the screenplay (emphasis mine):  

“And we shouldn’t be here at all, if we’d known more about it before we started. But I suppose it’s often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that’s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually – their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn’t. And if they had, we shouldn’t know, because they’d have been forgotten.”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

Risk transparency

Our conversations readily leaned into transparency but at one point, I volunteered a particularly personal perspective that we had not discussed before. It immediately became an important pivotal moment that opened up an entirely new area of conversation and redefined how we understood one another. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to share that view, but I risked it. I am now glad I did and that they both responded well to it!  

Be comfortable with questions as answers

For me, mentoring and coaching is less about providing The Answer™ but more about providing a safe space for mentees to explore their way into their own answers. So, as I reflect on the conversation flow over dinner, I want to remind myself to keep asking more thoughtful, probing questions as my responses to them; instead of just jumping in straight with my view, opinion, or experience. 

Serendipity plays a greater role than we realize

It’s a sober reminder to realize how much of life is beyond our direct ability to control it, despite everything we can do (and need to do) to influence outcomes or to prepare as much as possible. I was reminded about this when I recounted my journey-to-date: how serendipitous my career path has often been, for example. Many of my achievements have been thanks to the support of loved ones and friends around me; mentors and hiring managers who took chances on me; and sometimes just being at the right place and at the right time. So whether that’s thanks to coincidence, luck, privilege, the universe or an act of God, humility and gratefulness seem to be the best responses to life as we know it. 

One more quick point about serendipity: As our trio marveled at how well our life stories and outlooks clicked together (especially with that particularly personal perspective I alluded to earlier), we wondered whether the Halogen folks had matched our profiles so expertly, or… as life would have it, the three of us lucked out to have this mentoring journey together! However it happened, I am glad the three of us found each other in this group. 

I’m grateful for this opportunity and look forward to the inspiring mentoring journey ahead!

McKinsey: Four kinds of behavior account for 89 percent of leadership effectiveness

I thought this was interesting: according this McKinsey analysis, 89% of leadership effectiveness rests ultimately on four kinds of behaviour:

1) Effective problem solving.

This is about decision making – but about being able to effectively gather, analyze and consider information before making that decision. According to the study authors, “This is deceptively difficult to get right, yet it is a key input into decision making for major issues (such as M&A) as well as daily ones (such as how to handle a team dispute).”

2) Operating with a strong results orientation.

Execution is as important as strategy! As the study authors say, “Leadership is about not only developing and communicating a vision and setting objectives but also following through to achieve results. Leaders with a strong results orientation tend to emphasize the importance of efficiency and productivity and to prioritize the highest-value work.”

3) Seeking different perspectives.

I like how the Netflix culture memo spells this out as “farming for dissent.” According to McKinsey, “This trait is conspicuous in managers who monitor trends affecting organizations, grasp changes in the environment, encourage employees to contribute ideas that could improve performance, accurately differentiate between important and unimportant issues, and give the appropriate weight to stakeholder concerns. Leaders who do well on this dimension typically base their decisions on sound analysis and avoid the many biases to which decisions are prone.”

4) Supporting others.

This is something I truly feel strongly about and feel blessed to have had great leaders who supported me. I find this especially necessary in creating what Simon Sinek calls “the circle of safety.” As the McKinsey study shows: “Leaders who are supportive understand and sense how other people feel. By showing authenticity and a sincere interest in those around them, they build trust and inspire and help colleagues to overcome challenges. They intervene in group work to promote organizational efficiency, allaying unwarranted fears about external threats and preventing the energy of employees from dissipating into internal conflict.”

Jack Welch On The Role Of Leaders

Jack Welch, in this short video from 2015, expounds on what is the role of a leader.

This was the advice given by the legendary Jack Welch to 4,300 aspiring startup founders and CEO’s last week at TiECON, the largest entrepreneurship conference in Silicon Valley. Welch was speaking with his co-author and wife, Suzy Welch, to promote their new book, “The Real Life MBA,” the proceeds of which will go towards inner city scholarships.

While Welch is best known as former CEO of General Electric GE -0.99%, one of the largest and most innovative companies in the world, his advice about leadership resonated with the startup crowd. Welch himself never went down the startup path, but he was a great intrapreneur, having built GE’s Plastics and Chemical Divisions into $1 billion units. He is a cultivator of talent like no other in American history. According to Vivek Paul, a former CEO of Wipro and protégé of Welch, there are 50 CEO’s of large American companies who worked directly for Jack Welch at some point.

• Chief Meaning Officer – “To let everyone in the place know: where you are going, why you are going there, and – most importantly – what’s in it for them to get there with you?”
• Chief Declutterer – Get rid of the hurdles or bottlenecks so that your people can act and get what needs to be done, done.
• Chief Celebrator Of Others – “You’ve got to have a generosity gene. It’s got to be in your body… You’ve got to enjoy people’s success.  You got to love people’s success. You’ve got to get in their skin and really be excited as hell for them! You’ve got a love to give raises, you’ve got to be turned on giving bonuses… it’s got to make you feel great!”
• Chief Fun Officer – “Find all kinds of ways to win. There are small victories all the time and celebrate every one of them… find a way to make little victories big
  victories. And if you get a lot of little victories, you’ll get a big victory when you add them all together. But think of the job that way: work is fun, and your job is to make it fun, if you’re a leader. Don’t be some grinding horse’s ass!”

I especially like what he said at the end of the video – which, to me, sums up the privilege, honour and responsibility of what it means to be a leader:

So, in my view you’ve got a huge responsibility. Most of you – God gave you a job where you are responsible for people’s lives. It’s a big deal! You got families you’re responsible for. Make it a big success for them! You’ve got one of the luxuries of life: to impact people’s lives. Grab it, squeeze it, and take advantage of it.

 

 

 

You’re A Bad Leader If People Can’t Follow You

Sometimes, when I’m driving in the lead of a convoy, I get chided for being a bad leader.

It’s neither because I don’t know the route nor that I’m driving I’m driving dangerously.

it’s because I am not mindful about the people following behind me.

Sometimes, I cross traffic lights right on amber; leaving everybody else stuck at the red light behind me. Other times, I drive a little too fast that the last few cars struggle to keep up.

You get the picture.

It’s the same with leadership.

We’re bad leaders when we are not mindful of the people following us; when we don’t bring them along.

It’s not that we lack the vision (we know where we’re going).

It’s not that we lack the skill (we can drive ahead and possess the right experience to navigate the journey ahead).

It’s not even because people don’t want to follow us (after all, people have allowed us to be “in the front” and are willingly lined up to follow).

We are bad leaders when we go ahead without ensuring that people are able to follow us.

We leave them confused, lost, and frustrated.

Good leaders help ensure that people can follow where they are leading.

Thriving Amidst Disruption – What I’ve Learned Since Joining The Oil & Gas Industry

When I joined Shell, it was amidst some of the most disruptive times in the industry.

Global oil prices were in free-fall: on my first day of work, I learned that the price of oil had tumbled by 50% – from US$110 per barrel to about US$55 per barrel. Today, as I write this, it is hovering at about $30 per barrel – a dip of over 70%.

Imagine having your bank account shrink by more than two-thirds, without having any ability to mitigate or effect change. And now, “the experts” are talking about prices remaining “lower for longer”, with this potentially being the new normal. For the industry, this has been a seismic shift.

And yet, there has been no better time to be in the industry. Amidst every crisis, there’s an opportunity.

Throughout my career, I’ve been blessed to have front-row seats for transformation.

When I was in banking and finance – I led branding and communications amidst one of the longest-drawn, contentious mergers in corporate Malaysia’s history. When I was at Microsoft, the company was going through a transformation from its previous business model of selling enterprise licenses to selling devices and cloud services. Now at Shell, here I am again, finding a way forward to thrive amidst disruption yet again.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

1) Be agile

This means being able to learn quickly, pivot strategically, and execute effectively amidst a constantly changing environment. It means being able to quickly identify and understand the industry, the forces of change, what’s happening, what makes your business viable, and more. Then taking all of that, to formulate a strategy that may involve dramatically and creatively pivoting from familiar terrain into a completely new scenario that becomes “the new normal”. Finally, mustering forward by executing against your strategy effectively (execution is everything, IMHO).

At Shell, this took the form of exploring new forms of energy beyond the traditional “oil and gas” model, which included exploring new frontiers in deepwater and integrated gas. It meant pursuing new and creative engineering solutions to extract more value more efficiently. It has even meant taking what some perceive to be gamble in order to preserve our place in the future of energy.

2) Prioritize ruthlessly

When things are being disrupted, you often don’t have the luxury of time or options – massive change is happening to you, whether you like it or not. Consequently, you need to prioritize ruthlessly – figure out what’s really important to propel things forward. This may mean taking a sober look and making hard choices regarding your budget, people, and even strategic priorities. It might even mean sacrificing your sacred cows.

At the same time, prioritizing ruthlessly means not getting distracted by the noise of everything that is happening. Think about it this way: during an earthquake, even if your valuables or sentimental possessions are crashing down around you, your priority is to ensure you and your loved ones remain safe.

For Shell, this has meant revisiting initial investment opportunities and even enacting divestments. I’ve even been challenged to consider, “What if we did nothing?” – which, admittedly, is an intriguing challenge for someone whose job function requires him to be proactive in “doing something”. And yet, that is the hallmark of prioritising ruthlessly: being laser-focused on what must be done and foregoing anything else that could distract and detract you from your objectives.

3) Stay Positive

When the world as you know it is tumbling down all around you, it can be difficult to remain positive. I hesitate to refer to pop psychology tropes, but I really do think that “tough times never last, but tough people do.” Having a positive outlook – call it hope or even being “cautiously optimistic” (as is the corporate-speak) – is strategically essential for survival.

Having a positive attitude can be underrated or overlooked, amidst all the other more business-like strategies. However, your “invisible” internal resources (whether it’s your own energy and state of mind or whether it’s the company’s morale) is often what fuels your “visible” external achievements.

If you’re going to navigate your way (your business, your organisation, your team, etc.) through disruptive times, you need to see be able to see the world that exists once you’ve been through the disruption and emerged successful at the other end of this journey. In doing so, you keep up the morale and energy to execute effectively.

This was where I was truly grateful for the leaders at Shell. Folks like my immediate supervisor, the Country Chairman, as well as other leaders throughout the organisation (locally, regionally and even globally) were great examples of how to remain positive during tough times. For some of them, they were the final decision maker when it came to making tough calls for the business – which included impacting thousands of jobs. It was tough and sobering, and I was humbled to see that they were indeed affected by the choices they had to make. Even so, they could still see the end-game and kept us all inspired for a world when all of this had passed and we emerged as a stronger organisation that was fit for the future.