Malaysia Post GE14_Tessie's Take

Fact is stranger than fiction they say. Prime Minister Dr Mahathir's cabinet is made up of prisoners and jail birds!

Show me another govt like ours. The most senior ministers have served time. The others know what it feels like to go last, be treated less than, and to have things stripped off them. Persona non grata were not given column space nor air time.

That's how opposition leaders were treated when the then ruling party Barisan Nasional was in power. Opposition leaders were persecuted for defending the rule of law and for standing up for their principles. Free speech. Free press was mere lip service. 

It was all a farce. Najib was the Prime Minister of farce. He didn't understand that his leadership was turning Malaysia into a circus. It all went terribly wrong very early in the day. Things were so distorted from the (magic) mirrors we didn't know what we were doing anymore. We needed Bersih to adjust our screens. As a people we lived in fear. We were sold down (de nile) Many are still stuck there!

Now the opposition is in power! Hah. The tables are turned. Be afraid. Be very afraid? I could carry on using more cliches. Yet it was a series of unexpected blessings. Oxymoron or what?

How nice to read truth once again! How nice to toss off the fake news spawned by those in power (previously). My eyes were already being treated as they were fatigued from all the eyerolls and glazing over... oh and the crap that was being bandied about caused them to sting.

What's worse than being lied to? Knowing we were not worth the truth. Being treated as if we were morons. Drunk on Kool-Aid? From "vote for me" to "I was dumb."

Enough with what we already know. Let's talk about what's new. What's refreshing ~ is to see Malaysians celebrate! We are out at restaurants eating and drinking and laughing again. How great it is to hear people speak of hope and togetherness and unity again! "We are Malaysian." Wow, that's bigly huuuuugggge as Trump would say.

How did we manage to speak of truth, authenticity, integrity... to our children all those years? BN forced "farce parenting."

How did we govern our organisations; how did we call people out and hold them accountable? How did we track responsibility and performance? BN forced "farce leadership."

How did we work to build culture, beliefs, and values... when the "bigger picture" was training us exactly opposite? How did we speak of empowering when everything was dis-empowering? Everything was about farce / false value? You are the sum total of your handbags. You are the sum total of your yacht, condo, or car. No lux no love. Vote for me and I will give you $2000. Plus I'll throw in the taxes ~ Pass go. Do not pay $200.

Kudos to the Malaysian people for putting up and surviving. For protecting our peace and unity. For our patriotism. The real kind. No farce this time.

Farce ~ meaning: a comic dramatic work using buffoonery. Typically using crude characterisation and ludicrously improbable situations.

Personal Power. You know how much you really have in the worst of times.

My work is to build PERSONAL POWER. To inspire courage, confidence, and freedom so we live our best life.

I work through my writing, speaking, team coachings, and trainings. I work with special focus groups, executives in corporations, and personal development centres.

Personal Power – How do we know if we have it?

We know how much we have and how well it functions in the worst of times, when we are challenged, when we face unchartered territory, when all solutions seem not to work. This is when we measure most accurately our personal power. How we perform—THINK, FEEL, SPEAK, DO and appear—that energy that propels us from each hurdle, challenge, or breakdown... to achievement and breakthrough is our personal power.

Simply ask yourself, "Can I do it?" (your desired outcome). And notice the emphasis on "I," meaning self-attained. No dependence on other factors. Pacing the issue outwards, we could ask, "What makes me happy?" "How would I define success?" And if your answer suggests the need for outside factors, then you'd be off the mark. Self-reliance is key. Self-initiated Self-defined results is what Personal Power is about. It's all about what comes out of you---- from you for a purpose.

Yes, it would be YOUR skill to have inspired others to come and support you. Yes it would be YOUR sincerity and vulnerability that inspired others to trust you. Yes, that counts. 

Different from our standing in society (hierarchy of where we are placed), personal power doesn’t come from authority, titles, experience or competence. Confidence, capability… may be derivatives of power, but doesn’t define it.

Personal power goes beyond any kind of power that is bestowed on us by outside forces. Personal power is self-made (I get it from myself), it’s acquired from within ~ our resourcefulness (beliefs and attitudes), our resilience (energy management), and our integrity (living within our principles). 

Our ability to respond to life comes from our PERSONAL POWER. How much are we “at the effect of” life? Do we see ourselves as victims of circumstance? How good is our choice-making? Can we influence? Can we collaborate? We measure personal power from here.

Funnily not all leaders have personal power. Some may have been "put there" for certain reasons. They may not have earned their place upstairs at all!

I don't like identifying with the hard times in my life; my years of professional training, my divorce, starting my own business, being robbed at knifepoint, dealing with my mother's death, caring for an autistic relative, dealing with financial losses, etc. Yet those events shaped me. Now I use those times as checkpoints of how well I've grown, evolved, and resurrected to a higher being. Yes, I've had to make peace with my past. And I have a pretty solid idea of how much personal power I have.

#Resilience                 #Fitness

#Acceptance              #Flexibility

#Self-Trust                  #Integrity

#Self-Value                 #Sensitivity

#Focus                         #Passion

#SenseOfPurpose    #Love

#Courage                    #Intelligence

#Spirituality                #Openness to Learning

#Determination        #Drive for more

#Commitment           #Protecting the Greater Good

#Influence                  #Persistence

Tessie Lim's - Peak Performance Peak Prosperity Workshop

Transformation through Coaching

“Our conference is a few days away!” 

I am calling coaches, inviting them to participate by helping the organizing committee promote the event and also to come and show support for our Chapter.

“Why be part of this?” I ask.  “What could possibly enhance your capability as a coach and leader?”  “You have experience.  You know people.  Where’s one space where if you improved, would simply open up a world of opportunities in terms of progress for you?” 

As President of the International Coaching Federation Malaysia Chapter (ICFM) I also work hard to engage businesses in Malaysia.  You can imagine, not everybody buys into a new approach for communicating that enables possibility and potential. 

“What?  Ask my staff for feedback?  Allow people to share their opinion and get involved in making decisions?  Are you out of your mind?” one executive commented. 

Other bosses are happy just to listen, observe, and stay safely within their comfort zones.  After all, leadership development involves risk.  What if things change?  Oh dear, what if people actually become powerful?

People say I’m a different type of leader than others.  Okaaayyyy… I think I’m different because I don’t settle, and because I consistently choose to speak to people’s highest and best.  That means I can see past the excuses, bad habits, and the story telling.

I believe I play a role in getting people clear and reconnected to their purpose.  Once this happens confusion and self – doubt naturally fades away.  And when I help people get what they want; they reciprocate by contributing more.  Being a coach enables me to lead this way.  I don’t know any other type of professional who is specifically trained to do this.

What other approach empowers, encourages, and enables us to feel heard and important?  What type of relationship allows us to reflect and adjust for the best way to go forward?  Unlike therapy that deals with how to heal someone, coaching is solution – oriented and designed for positive change.  Most importantly, coaching holds people accountable to… going from good to great!

Today coaching is not a perk anymore, but a necessity.  I say this because developing human potential is the defining factor for any sustainable economy.  You and I know that for success, attitude is everything. 

The more we experience the gap between gender and generation, the wider the divide between understandings, expectations, values, and objectives, coaching as a means to engage, connect, and reconcile is the most effective way to communicate for desired outcomes.

Want me to elaborate?  Think Gen – X and Gen – Y.  Try dictating terms.  Younger leaders thrive on freedom, self – expression, innovation, and free enterprise.  They are global citizens connected through technology to business in real – time.

HR is focused on training.  We have the HRDF fund for this.  While training is about imparting mind knowledge, coaching is about taking that knowledge from mind… to muscle.  Coaching is about going from knowing… to doing… and being.

Tell me if you know the difference between someone who’s BEING a leader and another merely doing leadership stuff.  The answer lies in the type of result we can expect!  When we have a successful event, we may think, “good leadership.”  When we have a significant experience, we have GRRRREAT leadership!

A leader speaks to your heart and mind.  A leader walks their talk.  A leader is about making success available to all.  When someone is being a leader, we can speak of our experience with them in tangible, well – defined ways because all parts come together as one whole.  Coaching enables leaders to BE leaders.

How to create a “coaching culture” in your organization?  Modeling this culture requires a recipe and a unique skill that enables us to take a pattern that works and teach it to many without losing any quality in translation. 

They say, what we cannot measure, we cannot manage.  For this purpose, we need a benchmark.  We need a set of standards.  We need tried – and – tested training and mentoring that has an established track record; one that delivers and will continue to deliver the desired outcome – peak performance and sustainable development.

The ICF has this.

Why come to the conference?  Come and experience possibility conversations! 

Come and experience the shift from performance to meaning that will turn change into transformation.  High – income, high value is all about this.

Register online www.malaysiacoachingconference.com 

BE the change you want to see in this world. 

PEACE is PROSPERITY

www.tessieworld.com

Certain parties may question the irregularities and violations in the electoral process but it seems the market response to the outcome of GE13 is extremely positive gauged by the demand for Malaysian assets.  On Monday May 6, the KLCI Index surged more than 7.5% while the Ringgit climbed more than 2.3% against the US dollar.

On April 7, the day Parliament was dissolved, international banks were already singing praises of the Malaysian Ringgit provided the right party comes to power.  On May 7 the Ringgit climbed to a 19 – month high, the highest since 2010.  Against the Singapore dollar, the Ringgit strengthened more than 2%.

Is this indicative of what investors want?  Aren’t people concerned about integrity, justice, and the greater good?

The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a group accredited by the Election Commission to observe the vote said it was “only partially free and, not fair.”  While the campaign period proceeded “without any major glitches,” wider issues such as media bias and unequal constituency sizes gave an advantage to PM Najib’s coalition, it said.

What will protect our sustainable growth?  Does our future depend on who wins the quarrel over indelible ink?  Our future depends on global market forces and rating agencies, those that see our country and its assets with desirability and respect.

We should be thankful and proud that international players are willing to pay top dollar for Malaysian assets including Islamic bonds.  In 2012 Malaysia’s Islamic Banking assets rose to RM 494.6 billion while Islamic Insurance Assets (Takaful) grew 12.4% to RM 19 billion.  According to Ernst & Young, there will be US $950 billion of worldwide demand for Islamic bonds by 2017.

This week global market institutions have turned bullish on the Malaysian stock market and have recommended the banking, property, infrastructure, and energy sectors as the top plays.

May 7 – Moody’s said that Malaysia’s fiscal reform is still unclear after the outcome of the elections.  It added that money spent on the election campaign will add to the government’s financial burden and that the poll results may render it politically difficult for the government to implement the goods and services tax to boost revenue. 

However on the positive side Moody’s said that BN’s election win ensured continuation of pro – growth policies and was a positive for the rating of sovereign and government – linked entities.

Does Malaysia have a 2 – tier economy just like Australia’s mining and resource sectors v regular business?  In broad strokes one might describe our “2 – tier” environment like this: [1] Rural v Urban [2] Government – linked corporations v Proprietary businesses and SMEs [3] Chinese v Malaysian “tsunami.”

May 5 – Dato Seri Najib said in a press conference that his coalition had lost in Selangor because of a “Chinese tsunami.”  The PM called for “national reconciliation” while blaming the opposition for making race an issue, and said he’d implement moderate policies.

“The Chinese tsunami is all nonsense -- it’s an urban middle-class tsunami,” said Edmund Terence Gomez, a professor at the University of Malaya who has been writing about Malaysian politics and business for more than two decades.

“So long as he wants to polarize and racialize this phenomenon, then they themselves are guilty of a racist outlook and they are incapable of any national reconciliation,” Lim Kit Siang, who founded the Democratic Action Party, told reporters on May 6, referring to Najib. “It’s not a Chinese tsunami; it’s a Malaysian tsunami.”

Is it fair to assume that balance will allay tension?  When people think, “Unfair!” there is likely to be contempt, anger, and hatred.  When this is demonstrated with maturity it takes the form of organized protests and peaceful public rallies.  When negative emotion is suppressed or improperly managed, it erupts and explodes into what we know as street fighting and crime.

May 8 – Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in his message to the opposition, “Malaysians deserve stability and certainty that can only come with finality and closure from this election.  Let us move on in the interest of all Malaysians.”

Malaysia has a unique history.  We are a multi – faceted community; our diversity is our strength.  Calling for “national reconciliation” suggests a rift, a breakdown.  For our breakthrough… my common sense says we must find common ground.

More than just promising hope… we must stand for peace and progress; we must share the vision that ours is a story with a happy ending.  Peace is prosperity.  Unity… is everything.  Is this something we are prepared to declare and fulfill?

The Best is Yet to Come

If I had to coach-mentor a leader of men what would I say? If leadership is about realizing a vision and making dreams actual, how would I live? Self-actualization is about living your fullest potential. So how then could I be a self-actualizing leader?
My job would be enabling and empowering all around me to be their highest and best while achieving their dream!

An observer commented about one of his peers. He said, "Your style of leadership is directional. You tell. You leave no space for creativity and personal potential. And if people should disagree, then what?"

I was taken aback. If that wasn't judgmental, what was? It seemed to me the accuser was guilty of the same!

That encounter made me think. What exactly is my leadership style - am I also directional?
Am I consultative? Or would others see me as weak --- wishy - washy. Directionless!
Worse still and heaven forbid, selfish. Was I all about ME???

So I read a "Crash Course" on LEADERSHIP by Walk The Talk, a favorite website of mine.
I learned:

The 10 most important words:
“What can I do to help you be more successful?”

The 9 most important words:
“I need you to do this, and here’s why…”

The 8 most important words:
“That’s my mistake and I will fix it.”

The 7 most important words:
“My door is always open to you.”

The 6 most important words:
“Let’s focus on solving the problem.”

The 5 most important words:
“You did a great job!”

The 4 most important words:
“What do YOU think?”

The 3 most important words:
“Follow my lead.”

The 2 most important words:
“Thank You.”

The MOST important word:
“YOU”

And so as I step back from myself and know that if my intention is all about being my best and living my highest potential, there's a dance I must do. Before I become an expert dancer, there are steps and stages, attitudes and beliefs I need to change, levels of fitness I must groom within my mind-body-emotion, that will allow me to be all that I want to be:
Flexible / Graceful / Strong / before I get to live from that Inspired platform.

Hey! I wanted to talk about leadership and I've ended up talking about myself. Odd? Not really.
For no one can really inspire leadership if one cannot lead themselves.
For who would follow anyone un-inspiring? Who would give up time for anything weaker than themselves?

Some guys have all the luck

Ever felt passed over? Like God looked and disapproved, everything about life is going so badly? Try as hard as you might, but nothing seems to be going according to plan.

At first, you're cool. It's fine. Things'll get better, you think. The Universe has a plan. Two months down the track and you're still struggling with the same stuff, only now you're worn down and your head feels like it's about to burst. You're wearing your heart around your knees at the minute and think, "heck, what the hell's wrong with me?" Only there's nothing wrong with you, it's the rest of the world.

Define "going so badly?" Well, stuff happening that doesn't fit with my self-image. I'm not Mother Teresa you know. Church says, love thy neighbor. Forgive thine enemy. Heck, that's difficult stuff. After all, I'm spirit trapped in this body so that I can experience thought as feeling and for that I've been given the physical form. Not easy Papa. (I'm looking heavenward) Can barely understand, let alone do.

Where is the guilt coming from? Who's doing the actual punishing? I'm looking around and going, How come the guys that don't have conscience are getting away with murder? Sociopaths all. They're having fun. So unfair. Steal from me. Lie to me. Bad-mouth me. Use me. And get off scott free.

If I were operating from a higher consciousness, what would I be doing/thinking? I'm thinking --- how can I be less affected by all this shit? People will be people. Crooks will do what crooks do. Is it my job to change them? Couldn't if I tried.

What then? Organize myself so I don't stress with nonsense. Allow. Let people be. Let them be who they are; express themselves in the way they best know how - even if its not like me. Go back to the place where I know all things are just. Go back to Source where all things are one.
Cease the separation of good v bad, the duality of right and wrong, light and dark, pure and corrupt.

For what is not of God is an illusion. What is not of God is unreal. So I will adjust my thoughts so that I can experience the right kind of emotion --- The definition of emotion is: thought attached to a feeling. Yes, that's what I'll do. That's what I'll work on from now on.