TRUST

A telephone operator told me that one day she received a phone call.

She answered, "Public Utilities Board." There was silence.

She repeated, "PUB." There was still no answer.

When she was going to cut off the line, she heard a lady's voice, "Oh, so this is PUB. Sorry, I got the number from my Husband's pocket but I do not know whose number it is." Without mutual trust, just imagine what will happen to the couple if the telephone operator answered with just "hello" instead of "PUB".

TRUST is a very important factor for all relationships. When trust is broken, it is the end of the relationship. Lack of trust leads to suspicion, suspicion generates anger, anger causes enmity and enmity may result in separation.

Something to share ...

In plantation management, the manager is entrusted to spend in millions Ringgit Malaysia or miliars Rupiah Indonesia once the annual budget has been finalized and approved. Thus, the trust in him to spend wisely and honestly is the main concern of the boss. He will put “eyes and ears” all over the places to cross-check and monitor just to make sure that the manager he engaged is a trusted person of honesty and integrity. Any bosses, for that matter, do not want his managers to cheat, to take bribe from contractors and to accept commission from suppliers.

However, some bosses are very light-eared. They will believe whatever information they received. It’s a pity that in some cases, the TRUST has been destroyed by gossips, rumors, hearsays, carry tales, lies, and cock-and-bull stories about the managers. There is a Chinese saying, “用人不疑, 疑人不用 When engage people do not suspect him. If there is suspicion do not engage him.”

A person of honesty knows that when integrity is lost, all is lost! He is aware of doing right and fears no man but fears God. In other words, a person who fears God will have to do right and do no wrongs according to God’s will, thus he needs not fear his boss as long as he is honest with integrity. After all, integrity and respect come to those who can do good jobs!

MONKEY IN THE PLANE

Once in Brazil a plane crashed, only a monkey who was travelling in the plane left alive. Fortunately the monkey was intelligent enough to understand our language and reply in actions.

The officials went to see the monkey in the hospital and had a talk with the monkey.

Officer: "When the plane took off what were the travelers doing?"
Monkey: "Tying their belts."
Officer: "What were the air hostesses doing?"

Monkey: "Saying Hello! Good morning!"

Officer: "What were the pilots doing?"

Monkey: "Checking the system."

Officer: "What were you doing?"

Monkey: "Looking for my people."

Office:"After 10 minutes what were the travellers doing?"
Monkey: "Having beverages and snacks."

Officer: "What were the air hostesses doing?"

Monkey: "Serving the travellers."

Officer: "What were the Pilots doing?"

Monkey: "Handling the steering."

Officer: "What were you doing?"

Monkey: "Eating & throwing."

Officer: "After 30 minutes what were the travellers doing?

Monkey: "Some were sleeping and some were reading."

Officer: "What were the air hostesses doing?"

Monkey: "Make up."

Officer: "What were the pilots doing?"

Monkey: "Handling the steering."

Officer: "What were you doing?"

Monkey: "Nothing."

Officer: "Just before plane crash what were the travellers doing?"

Monkey: "All were sleeping."

Officer: "What were the pilots doing?"

Monkey: "Handling the air hostess."

Officer: "What were you doing?"

Monkey: "Handling the steering!"

Something to share…..

From the management aspect, the problem usually starts when you are not in control and divert your attention to other issues (Not doing the things you are supposed to do but doing things that you are not supposed to do). You are asking for big trouble when you let go your job function to someone who plays “monkey” and has no knowledge of doing your job. A “plane crash” means you are finished, i.e. loosing your job since you are solely responsible and accountable.

A Plantation Manager is entrusted to manage the whole plantation, thus he must be disciplined, determined and dedicated to his job responsibility as he is overall in-charge of all operations, as well as the management, administration and accounting of the plantation. Delegation must be followed up and at times followed through. Do not delegate to the wrong hands! Do not expect a Trainee Assistant who is still on the job training or a Junior Assistant who is still lack of experience to in-charge of a division and able to deliver. They are still in need of much guidance and coaching. Normally the Senior Assistant is the 2nd man whom the Manager relies on to organize and carry out most operations in the plantation. However, if he just let go without follow up and closely monitoring, he may end up in big trouble.

When come to decision making, the manager must insist that he is to be consulted for making the final decision.

The principle is basic and simple.

The Manager must be in TOTAL CONTROL.

LOVE YOUR JOB

Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor Session:

I know people who work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, or more. Some people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary. Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I do not know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the workplace.

Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization.There are things managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit. Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors.

My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue. Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday.

Another problem is that people who are in the office long hours are not pleasant company.They often complain about other people (who are not working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other people avoid them. Such behaviour poses problems, where work goes much better when people work together instead of avoiding one another.

As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office. First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work with a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a time-stamp of 2am, Sunday.

Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:

1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play with your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.

This is called recreating.
Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2.
Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts.
They are hard for some of us because that requires ‘personal change’.
They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them.

In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son. When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not fall asleep no matter how long the visit was, and no matter what time of day it was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left. It was as if he was afraid that he would miss some thing. Once our visitors' left, he would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out.

Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they do not want to miss anything when they leave the office. The trouble with this is that events will never stop happening. That is life! Things happen 24 hours a day. Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap. Things will happen while you are asleep, but you will have the energy to catch up when you wake.

Hence,

"LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU" - Narayana Murthy

Something to share….

As employees, I am sure we all love our jobs. Question is should we work like a workaholic and expecting our subordinates and staff to be the same?

There is a time to work. There is also time for proper rest and relax to release stress; to play and do regular exercise after work so as to stay healthy.

Working hard is different from working long hours as if can’t stop working. The principle of success is “work hard and work smart”. It is not how much a person works, but it is how he or she works that makes the difference.

Well, we are always reminded of “sense of belonging” when working for any company. Irrespective of our title and position, obviously being employees to any company we are accountable and responsible to our jobs. We have to give in our best efforts to work skillfully, enthusiastically and efficiently to achieve company’s goals and objectives. All in all, we want to contribute and be valued as assets to our companies. We do not wish to become liabilities to our companies!

To me, it’s not a question of falling in love with the company, but rather any employee will feel much secure if being recognized as a team player in the organization. Surely an employee wants to be appreciated, honored and respected by his or her employer and enjoys the rewards in term of salary increment and annual bonus. When there is such a strong bond between employer-employees relationships, then the employees have something to look forward and happy to stay on.

When things turn out otherwise, may be Mr. N Murthy is absolutely right; the company has stopped loving you. You are no more treated as a member of the family, so to speak. That’s the time you better decide to leave the company and call it a day. Go and find another company where you can work and find happiness in your job.

In Colossians 3:23-24, we are taught that we should do our job with all our heart, meaning love our job, as if we are serving our Lord, Jesus Christ.

“Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”

To Err Is Human (My Stupid Mistakes)

Life doesn't always go in a straight line. Making mistakes is part of the game. Some are inevitable and we just have to accept them and make the best of them. But some could have been prevented, which only proves that we didn't learn from our earlier mistakes.

A friend told me about a very special list, a personal accounting of every mistake he made."To make mistakes is normal," he said, "but to make the same mistake twice is inexcusable."

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.- George Santayana

Mistakes are painful when they happen, but years later a collection of mistakes is what is called experience.- Denis Whitley

I liked the idea and immediately adapted his system. That was many years ago and my list has grown to a respectable size! It contains documents and jottings about all the mistakes, the misjudgments, and the stupid decisions I have made.

Being reminded of past mistakes is unpleasant, but I do go through the folder periodically in order to prevent myself from repeating them. It’s a difficult but very effective way to learn. Have you ever thought of making a list of your mistakes? Try it!

Something to share …..

What’s a great idea! Keep a list of our mistakes as days go by for periodical review as we move on in life. To me, “a collection of mistakes” should be known as bitter experiences.

We have been taught, “To err is human.” It’s normal to make mistakes. Otherwise, we will never learn. But it’s just stupid of us to repeat the same mistakes. That’s what team members always being reminded by their team leader.

Inexcusable. Why not?

Well, there is still a tendency of making the same mistakes again if we do not keep a list of our mistakes reminding us not to repeat them. Question is whether we are able to excuse ourselves for such stupidity?

Don’t blame others. Don’t blame your superior. Blame your ownself if you have never learned but appear stupid of committing the same mistakes over and over gain.

On the other hand, we should have learned from our past mistakes and bitter experiences as we move on our career path. We become much wiser in making good judgments and right decisions. The end results are always sweet out of job satisfaction.

Don’t you think so?

Root Cause of Problem

A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family Doctor to discuss the problem. The Doctor told him there was a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the Doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.

Here's what you do," said the Doctor, "stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response."

That evening, the wife was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the den. He said to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens." Then in a normal tone he asked, 'Honey, what's for dinner?"

No response.

So the husband moved to closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeated, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Still no response.

Next he moved into the dining room where he was about 20 feet from his wife and asked, Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again he got no response so;

He walked up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again there was no response.

So he walked right up behind her. "Honey, what's for dinner?”

;

;

;

;

;

;


"James, for the FIFTH time I've said, CHICKEN!"

Moral of the story:

The problem may not be with the other one as we always think, could be very much within us..!

Something to share…….

Talking about problem solving, very often we are confused of the real root cause of problem. We tend to point finger to others, forgetting that there are three fingers pointing back to us. By the way, this coincides with Confucius’ saying, “Think thrice to act!”

The Plantation Manager always thinks that the unsolved problem lies on his Field Assistant, but the main problem could be that he just knows how to delegate but fails to follow up and follow through to see that along the way he not only needs to monitor the whole situation and progress, but also needs to make further decision for remedial action to be taken in order to turn the situation around so as to get the problem solved.

How true it is that the root cause of problem could be the Superior who just knows how to talk and tell others what to do without him being totally involved in the operation to solve the problem!

Heavan & Hell

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like."

The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell.'

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The holy man said, 'I don't understand.' It is simple' said the Lord, 'it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.'

Something to share……

I remember my friend, Pak Chuah, once told me this story when we first met and he had shared with me his thought from the management aspect. "As a leader, we must share our past experiences with team members unselfishly so that they are well guided while going through hands on training from A to Z. We can’t build up a team if every one of them is only thinking of oneself without love, concern and care for others in the group."


How true it is. By just putting a group of people together does not necessary can form a team without the true spirit of working together and learn how to cooperate with each other. Nevertheless, when they are able to work together, each team member will surely become more initiative, innovative, creative and productive.

As a team member, you are a part of the team you are in. By having the spirit of sharing and care, then you learn to contribute while helping other team members to grow. Moreover, whenever you learn to share with others in your team, you will also receive more in return. Then every team member will eventually become contributors in playing his/her part to build a super and solid team.

A wise man once said, “Coming together is just the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is SUCCESS!”

The spirit of TEAMWORK has been well documented in the Bible. In Ecclesiastes 4:9, God put it very clearly, “Two are better than one. Because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls. For he has no one to help him up.”

In other words, two persons can make up a TEAM and can accomplish more than one person, with much better results in work performance. If one person falls and fails, then the other person will give him encouragement and motivation to lift up his spirit to keep on trying until he succeeds. However, if a person is alone and when he fails, he will fall into deep trouble and will never rise up again for there is no one to care and help him up.

Decision Making

The story given here is quite interesting and really gives us an insight into DECISION MAKING

Which one will you choose?
A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.

The train came, and you were just beside the track interchange. It was not possible to stop the train but you could make the train change its course to the disused track and saved most of the kids.

However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Alternatively, would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make...

Analyse the situation………….

Think and reflect…

Decided your answer!

Now … go ahead

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. To save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally.

However, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. In addition, in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.

To make the proper decision is not try to change the course of the train because the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens.

If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe.

If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake! In addition, in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one. "Remember that what's right isn't always popular... and what's popular isn't always right."

Something to share….

Making an impulsive or a hasty decision is not the real decision to be made. An impulsive decision such as diverting the train can turn into a disaster in not only killing one child but also putting all train passengers at great risk of being killed and wounded too.

At times, we used to make ad hoc decision just to find a way out at the critical moment of time or during crisis management. However, such an impromptu decision may not be applicable to all circumstances. Nevertheless, we need to keep making decisions according to different issues and circumstances. A decision made is still better than no decision made!

Whereas some people just can’t make decisions. They will wait and see what is going to happen. Indecisiveness is, in fact, their real problem!

A right decision may not be a popular decision. So what? How could one make a popular decision but not a right one?

Flying Geese

Lesson 1:
Sharing the same direction and working as a team, get us to the destination quicker and easier. By helping ourselves, the accomplishments are greater!

Lesson 2:
By staying in tune and united besides those who are going in the same direction, the effort will be less. It will be easier and pleasing to reach the goal. Everyone will be inclined to accept and give help.

Lesson 3:
To share the leadership, there must be mutual respect between us all the time…. Sharing the hardest problems and tasks…. Gathering our abilities and combining our faculties, talents and resources….

Lesson 4:
When there is courage and encouragement, the progress is greater…. A timely word of encouragement, always motivates, helps and strengthens…. It produces the best of benefits….

Lesson 5:
Let’s stay beside each other no matter what the differences. Specially in times of difficulty and great challenges….

If we are bond together and support each other…. If we make true the spirit of teamwork.... Regardless of our differences, we can rise to meet our challenge.

If we understand the real value of friendship…. If we are aware of the feeling of sharing…. LIFE WILL BE EASIER AND THE PASSING OF YEARS MORE FULFILLING….

7 Principles Of Eagle

Something to share…
An ecologist was astonished to see an eagle in a poultry farm but its behaviour was no difference from other chickens. The farm owner told him that he found an angle egg and put it together with other chicken eggs for the hen to hatch. It’s no more an eagle as it grew up with the chicks.

The ecologist believed that once an angle was born, it should remain as an eagle. He asked for permission to pick up that eagle and threw it up into the sky, anticipating that it would stretch out its wings and started to fly. However, the eagle dropped to the ground and mingled with the chicks and followed them eating the chicken feed.

Asking for a 2nd chance, the ecologist took the eagle and climbed up the water tower. He hoped that this time it was high enough for the eagle to stretch its wings to fly. The eagle could still see its chicken friends down below. It dropped back to the ground and joined them happily eating the chicken feed.

Without giving up, the ecologist asked for the last chance to prove that an eagle was an eagle. He brought the eagle up to the hill top far away from the poultry farm. “Eagle, this is where you are belonged,” the ecologist threw the eagle into the sky. This time the eagle could not see its chicken friends, naturally it stretched out its wings and soared away into the sky.

Morale of the story…
Don’t be a chicken if you were born to be an eagle!

Are you just like the eagle bred and grown up in a chicken farm? Acquired the same behaviours of chicken in scratching the soil on the ground to look for worms and insects to feed on? So well adapted to the living environment of the chicken farm that simply refused to stretch out its wings and soared like a real eagle? Believing that you are just one of them but knowing that your odd appearance is so much difference from them?

Surely you will agree with me that we cannot become what were born to be if we choose to remain where we are and what we are. Just like an eagle grown up in the chicken farm not knowing how to fly would have died as a chicken if not being discovered by the ecologist. God wants us to discover our wings (potential) to experience the thrill of flying. He will lift us up and throw us into the sky to find our wings and stretch them fully out in order to soar into high sky. He wants us to maximize our potential and move on into our purpose in life that He has given us. Remember, if we were born to be eagles, God wants us to be born winners, not “born losers”.

10 Important Words In Life

Something to share….

No great work was ever accomplished by just one person alone. There is always a supporting team behind him. So start putting “I” in “Team”.

No one person can claim credit on a job well done. The credit must goes to the people on the ground. How nice to say,” We did it together”. That’s teamwork!

Seorang pemberani adalah dia yang mampu mengalahkan egonya dan bukan musuhnya, karena kemenangan sejati adalah kemenangan atas diri sendiri. (A bold person is able to defeat his own ego and not his enemies because the real victory is a victory over oneself)

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is nit self-seeking, it is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves. Love never fails.” – 1 Corinthians 12:6,7 & 8a

When you smile at someone, you can even make friends with strangers. So keep on smiling, you will make many friends.

Rumour is just a make up story. There is no truth in it. Don’t listen to rumour and don’t spread rumour.

Someone said, ”Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success!”

Do not waste time on jealousy. Be busy stirring up God’s gift (talent) that there is no time for jealousy on other people’s achievement, success and wealth.

Knowledge is the foundation for success. That’s why “wise men store up knowledge” – Proverbs 10:14a

“Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded” –Hebrews 10:35