Archive for the 'Success Stories' Category

Awhile back, I was invited to the book launch of Awang Goneng’s second book A Map of Trengganu which follows up from his bestselling first book Growing Up in Trengganu. Awang Goneng is the pen name for writer Huleimi Wan who developed his books from his blog about his memories of his home state of Trengganu on the East Coast of Malaysia. The launch was in Tukdin, a great Malaysian restaurant near Paddington Station - a suitable venue as we all know how we Malaysians love food!

The books are collections of recollections about his memories of childhood growing up in a small village in rural East Malaysia and also his musings on the changes over the last decades as the nation has become more prosperous and modern. They are written from the heart and play an important part as a personal view of a landscape that is transforming fast.

I was touched by what Wan told us about how they’ve been received in Malaysia, and especially in Trengganu, a relatively rural state compared to the more urbanised West Coast where the metropolis of Kuala Lumpur sits. His blog is largely in Malay but the books are written in English. Many who came to his book signings were of the older generation of Malays who could not read English but they bought the books anyway. They wanted their children to read the books because they felt it was important for the next generation to know what it was like, growing up in “old Malaysia”. They felt that his books preserved a part of Malaysia’s history, as a legacy for the future, holding on in words to a world that will soon be gone.

The books have also been bestsellers in Malaysia for the reason that there are few books that speak to Malaysians about being Malaysian in a reflective, contemplative style. What I draw from his books is that we all want to read stories about Us.

We learn about who we are and how to live through books and stories and it is so important that we can find images of ourselves and lives in art and narrative. When we find our own personal experiences reflected in books, it is as if we have been seen and our lives witnessed.

As a writer myself, I was approached by many readers at book signings in Malaysia, telling me how much my novel The Flame Tree felt true to their own lives. It meant a lot to me to hear them their stories of which parts of their lives were reflected in my book. Now years later, as a coach, I have the privilege of reflecting back to my clients face to face in real time the amazing human beings that they are - and I know that it is a powerful experience for them to be witnessed in this way. I can see it my clients’s faces - the strength and power this acknowledgement gives them and how it can allow them to see themselves fully.

So I hope that Wan keeps publishing more books so that he can keep reflecting back to his readers the stories of who they are and where they have come from.

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Photos: my collection

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In life and business, change is inevitable. How you respond to it is up to you. Does change unnerve or scare you? Or do you see it as an opportunity for new possibilities? In this current climate of uncertainty, developing flexibility and adaptability around change is a must.

Evolution of Language and Text

I visited the British Museum’s exhibition on Evolving English over the weekend. It tells the story of how the English language developed out of Old Norse and Frisian when the Vikings and Angles came over to these islands over a thousand years ago. In those days, the oral storytellers were the ones who passed on the history and legends of the tribes, conveying their stories from mouth to mouth. And written text was sparse, reserved for holy talismans and magic runes and carved or etched into stones or bones or gold.

But after a time technology evolved and parchment, pen and ink came to Britain and the greatest English heroic poem was written down. The only surviving manuscript of Beowulf was on display at the exhibition. It brought tingles to my spine to see the fire damaged paper, in the handwriting of an unknown scribe from more than a thousand years ago, setting down a legend that was even more ancient.

Writing continued to evolve into the gorgeous illuminated manuscripts of the high medieval period.

And then Caxton came along with his printing press.

What was intriguing was to see a copy of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in beautiful handwritten Gothic script - and then later, a copy of it again in printed form, one of the first books published by Caxton.

There were many other treasures on display, including a note in the own hand of Henry V as well as Jane Austen’s original manuscripts. There’s also a section on digital media like Twitter and how that is changing our use of language. If you love books. language and history - and how that all relates to our lives today, this is the perfect exhibition to visit!

Adapting to Change
But the theme that emerged most strongly for me was the evolution of the technology of communication, and how the changes presented opportunities for some artisans and craftspeople while destroying the livelihoods of others:

• While early writing eventually brought an end to the role of the oral storyteller gathering his audience together in tribal feast halls, it opened up the whole industry of scribes. It’s fascinating to wonder: did the oral storytellers adapt and learn the new technology or did they fade away? Did they reinvent themselves as wandering minstrels and other performers?

• Those who took advantage of the new technology became this new profession of scribes. This skill and the ability to transmit complex information to many in an enduring format helped societies grow and businesses to develop. The technology reached its highest form as art and communication in the illuminated manuscripts that gave purpose, meaning and livelihood to thousands of monks.

• The printing press meant that information could reach even more people even faster. How did the scribes respond to this change? By trying to smash the presses or to become part of the new revolution? Were they able to speed up their manual writing skills and become secretaries and transcribers? Or did they become obsolete?

• A new profession of printers, publishers, edtiors and writers evolved out of the printing press. A new market of book readers emerged, requiring warehousing, distributors, booksellers and more. The great universities of the world grew out of small scholastic establishments and the whole world was transformed.

• What now for the publishing industry, academia, the way we communicate and even the fates of nations, with the rise of digital media - not just electronic books, but instant publishing tools like blogs, Twitter, and much in the news this week, wikis like Wikileaks? While publishing houses wring their hands over copyright issues and a declining book buying public, digital professions are emerging: search engine optimisation consultants, social media advisors, companies offering self-publishing packages to new authors, professional bloggers… and more.

You and Change

Whatever your business, career or industry, where are you and your business on the continuum of change? Are you fearful that changes in your sector or in technology or in your age-old market is going to make you obsolete? Would you rather not think about it? Do you take the approach that: things are fine now so I don’t need to worry about it?

Or are you on the look out to see how you can adapt what you are doing - the services you are offering, the skills you have - to take advantage of change? How can you add to your skills or services? Where can you diversify your market?

The thing to remember is: it’s not just the change you face today - but the change that is always with us, that you need to factor into your business or career strategy. So it’s not about treating change as if you’re taking a crash diet course - you know, those lose 20 lbs in 6 days courses (ie solve your change problems in a week and be done with it) - but rather to accept managing change as a regular habit.

• What are you doing as a regular habit to monitor change and evolution in your business, career or sector?
• What adaptations/ innovations you can bring in at each step along the way to address or even anticipate those changes?

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Photos:
Beowulf manuscript, thanks to Washington & Jefferson College
Change, thanks to AndYaDontStop from flickr.com (CCL)

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The contents of this blog, including this post, comments and links, are subject to this Disclaimer - please read it by clicking here

I wonder if we all celebrate enough? Do we save joy just for those special occasions once a year - birthdays, New Year, Christmas? Or for the rare big event like the end of exams or closing a big deal or getting a new job?

Celebration - especially in the company of friends, colleagues and family - can give us joy, a sense of community and purpose: all strong foundations for a happy life.

For writers

As National Novel Writing Month (#NaNoWriMo) draws to a close, all you tenacious and brave writers who have been taking part in this writing marathon are in my mind. How will you mark the end of this epic month and what you have achieved during this time?

When 01 December dawns, look back at where you were on 01 November and see how far you have come. How many are the words you have written. How you juggled your time and commitments to keep this commitment with yourself and your creative process. What stories from the trenches of novel writing under pressure can you share with your friends and family - the great moments and the tough ones?

There may be a strict voice inside you who may not allow you to celebrate if you have not met the target you set yourself. I say: ignore that wet blanket voice! Wherever you have reached in your novel writing, that is the place that is right. If that highly critical saboteur voice won’t go away, rather than beat yourself up, jot down some thoughts about how you might have done things differently in order to have met your goal to the fullest. Then put them away as learning points for next time.

And go on and celebrate what you HAVE achieved!

In your business and career

Do you only ever celebrate at the annual Christmas party? Or when your company wins a big contract? Or when you get a pay rise or a new job?

What about marking the milestones along the way? What small successes can you think of that make you smile or feel up inside?

Why celebrate these small successes?

The positive glow from expressing and sharing the joy of even a small achievement can stimulate positive energy for the next actions along the journey to the one big success - and may even make that journey easier, swifter and more energizing.

The milestone celebrations don’t need to be big, expensive or flashy - a shared box of chocolates, some doughnuts, a glass of wine at the end of the week: something that brings your team together in recognition of work well done, and continuing to be well done.

In your life

Do you raise a glass every evening to the good moments of the day you’ve just had? Even in the lousiest day, there is something to be grateful for! It’s a small way to end the day with a smile, no matter how small, rather than a darkness in your heart.

What else could you celebrate along the way? Brainstorm a list with your family and friends - and in a way, the sillier and quirkier the better! The list itself can bring you some fun and laughter as you tap into your creativity.

Share the ways you celebrate

I’d love to hear about the ways you celebrate - the big stuff for the significant occasions and also the little stuff along the way. Please add a comment and let me know!

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Photo: thanks to bfick from flickr.com (CCL)

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The contents of this blog, including this post, comments and links, are subject to this Disclaimer - please read it by clicking here

Being originally from Malaysia, I was chuffed to see a recent survey that shows Malaysians have the most friends online on social networking sites - with an average of 233 friends. I’m not surprised as most of us Malaysians are friendly, affable and make connections very easily. If you’ve ever known a Malaysian, whether abroad or in their home country, you’ll find that we’re usually welcoming and pleased to get to know you - and if you’re a visitor to Malaysia, we’re always ready to show you around and in particular, to take you out to eat!

Malaysians are also pretty good and helping you out with recommendations and referrals. If you need a new mobile phone, one of us is bound to know someone who can give you a great deal on the latest models. If you’re about to visit a place where we know someone, we’ll offer to put you in touch with our friend. If you need a travel agent, we’ve got our go-to guy or gal that we’d be happy to share with you. And if we meet you at a party and we have a good time together, we’ll be asking you to be our friend on Facebook before the evening is over.

Reading the news reports about this finding, I was reminded of two things. First was a party of an English friend of mine where I met and got on with one of her flat mates. I suggested to the flat mate that we keep in touch and meet up for coffee as we both had a common interest in books and writing. When our host learnt of this, she confronted me a few weeks later and told me how she didn’t like me poaching her friends and seeing them behind her back. I was quite stunned as I hadn’t meant to offend or upset my host friend. I explained that if the reverse had happened, I would have been delighted that she had made a new friend at my party. We were able to smooth things over, fortunately, and we are all three of us friends still.

It’s not that this example of my proprietorial English friend reflects on all English people’s attitudes to their friends in general (in the same way that not all Malaysians are friendly nor are the friendly ones friendly all the time). It’s just that my host friend had a different value around friendship compared to my value for the people around me. For her, she values close, intimate, private circles of relationships and she was prepared to take issue with anyone who seemed to disrespect that, whereas I also value wider networks and opportunities to help people around me widen their circles of friendship.

The second thought that came to mind was about how having lots of friends can bring you luck. Psychologist Richard Wiseman writes in his book The Luck Factor, that lucky people who are “lucky” in life, love, work and just about anything else actually make their own luck. Luck doesn’t just happen. One of the factors that help lucky people be lucky is a wide network of friends, acquaintances, colleagues, associates and, well, people they know. So the person who knows 100 people is ten times more likely to know someone who can help them out in a crisis, whether it’s dog sitting while they are on holiday or finding a new job, than the person who only knows 10 people.

Applying this principle, I can trace back many of my “lucky” breaks to people I’ve known - eg friends who first encouraged / inspired me to follow an interest, acquaintances who put me in touch with someone because they thought we’d get on, associates who invited me to join new activities or gave me new opportunities. I’m sure you can think of lucky breaks in your own life that have come because of people in your life who have helped you out in one way or another.

I enjoy getting to know all kinds of different people because they make life interesting. Often, making a positive human connection, whether deep and meaningful or just enjoyable at a brief superficial level, makes me feel good about life and myself. It’s not about appearing to make friends with people just in order to get something out of them - that’s using people and it’s icky. I value mutual, genuine friendliness and if good fortune or luck comes out of it: great! - and if not: luck not ever being the priority anyway, I just enjoy having great friends. I guess you don’t have to be Malaysian to appreciate the joy of that!

Which style of friendship do you practice - a close, intimate one like my host friend or a more diffuse Malaysian-style one? How have your friends helped you be “lucky”? And how have you helped them make their “luck”?

And here’s something for you to think about. What one thing can you do this week to help someone be more “lucky” and widen their circle of friends?

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ZenGuide is evolving - I now offer business and career development coaching, of which social media consulting forms a small part.

More information:

Business Development
What is Coaching?

Photo: thanks to adrian_lms on flickr.com (CCL)

The contents of this blog, including this post, comments and links, are subject to this Disclaimer - please read it by clicking here

To the untutored eye, the beach we were standing on in Dorset is just shingle and the make up of shingle is just stones. Those cliffs with a few landslips here and there scatter more rubble across the beach. Who would spend hours slowly, painstakingly, sifting through these tons of dead dull rocks?

But that was what all these people were doing on the beach at Charmouth, their eyes meditatively downcast as they stroledl along, scouring the shingle - the miles upon miles of pebbles and rocks. They were not dull, awkward, nerdy types. There were young couples, families, young women on their own, older people on an outing, business people on holiday. If you did not know what they were really doing, it would be a bizarre sight indeed.

Charmouth is on the Jurrassic Coast, designated a World Heritage Site for its treasure of ancient fossils, going back hundreds of millions of years. The Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre right on the beach. It is a museum and information centre but it is tiny by world class museum standards, barely two large rooms with some display cases, information panels and a variety of different rock samples. It’s staffed by a couple of retired folks on a volunteer basis and a geology/ fossil specialist and that’s about it. But what they do there is amazingly powerful.

This tiny centre opens up our eyes to what lies on this seemingly unremarkable beach. Through the artefacts in the few display cabinets and the storyboards on the wall, the past of the Triassic (250-200 million years ago), Jurassic (200-140 million years ago) and Cretaceous (140-65 million years ago) periods become real and alive again - and part of an unbroken timeline from prehistory to our present moment. The volunteers take time with the visitors to show us what to look for in the rocks and tell us in stories how the different shapes and textures are formed. Here is a piece of wood on the ocean floor as little sea creatures are washed up against it by the waves. Here is some dinosaur vomit (I kid you not) and some dinosaur poo (yup, fossilised and hard as stone!). Their enthusiasm is infectious and when they say, as you head out to the beach, “If you find anything, come back and show us!”, you’re buoyed up and excited and ready to pick your way through those rocks and stones with a fine tooth comb!

Once on the beach, it’s not their enthusiasm that propels you on your meditative journey along the bay - you realise that it is in fact your own previously untapped curiosity that makes your eyes search these seemingly inert rocks. Here you are walking where dinosaurs walked. You see the arid desert that was here millions of years ago, swarming with flying reptiles. You’re walking where a prehistoric sea swelled and ebbed, depositing ammonites and other now-extinct creatures all along the shore.

I don’t think we were all necessarily walking here with these thoughts consciously in our minds. But I could sense an undercurrent of purpose and a curiosity in all those people on the beach. Even if this was for most of us a bit of fun and a way to enjoy being down by the sea on a lovely sunny day, the act of fossil hunting connected us to something grander than ourselves - a sense of deep time and our own humble place in the vastness of eternity. And when one of us held in our hands a fossilised ammonite or a trace of prehistoric worm burrowings in hard stone, we beamed and showed our friends excitedly the treasure we had found. And, yes, treasure is the right word - for these fossils are more than just a bit of dull rock, they are artefacts that connect the past of deep time to us here and now, and allow us to be touched by a sense of infinity.

I found the perfect imprint of of two tiny ammonites on a slab of slate, and on its reverse a larger, more distinct shape, almost perfectly centred on the plate-sized sheet. I couldn’t believe how it had just been lying on the shingle, overlooked by many people who had already passed by. It seemed so amazing to hold in my hands the work of preservation of hundreds of millions of years that had waited there for me to pick it up. I donated the slab to the heritage centre and it now sits among the other fossils found by tourists and experts alike, ready to educate future visitors to that beach.

So, what does all this have to do with business and career development coaching, which is the theme of this blog?

Well, what is the equivalant of scouring the shingle for fossils in your life or work - something seemingly dull and could surely only be enjoyed by a nerdy type (if at all!)? As individuals and also business people, what could inspire us and give us a sense of wonder and purpose so that even that seemingly dull task becomes imbued with inner meaning?

And what about our clients and customers? How could we offer them, through the services and products we may deliver, a connection to such a sense of curiosity and wonder for their own lives and business? How can we help them touch infinity?

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ZenGuide is evolving - I now offer business and career development coaching, of which social media consulting forms a small part.

The contents of this blog, including this post, comments and links, are subject to this Disclaimer - please read it by clicking here

Not being a hip hop fan, I had never heard of Chamillionaire. But something he said really stuck in my mind.

I heard him giving a talk at Stanford University as part of their Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series. The series is recorded in a set of podcasts which is available to the public via iTunes and focuses on technology leaders and strategies for starting up and running technology driven companies.

He was an early adopter of social media and internet technology, creating a following for his music outside of the record industry by engaging with fans online and making his songs available for download online long before other musicians caught on. This gave him the fan base to then move into the big time.

What stuck in my mind though was not so much his story of how he used social media - it’s not so unusual for outsiders to build a name for themselves using blogging, Twitter and MySpace etc which then enables them to break into the mainstream, as I’ve blogged and written about elsewhere.

What stuck in my mind was this:

He always knew he would be successful. When people asked him how he could be so sure, he said that it didn’t matter what he did, he was going keep on doing whatever it took until he found the thing that he was a success at. He started out trying to make it in basketball but found that he was not getting as far as he wanted to as a basketball star so he tried something else. Eventually, he came to hip hop and made a huge success of that.

What interests me about this is that he was not attached to the specific outcome eg becoming a superstar basketball player but rather a general outcome of being successful at what he did. He might have thought of himself as a failed basketball player but that did not even seem to enter the equation. For him, it was just something that was not the right fit for his talents - so he moved on and in so doing, found something that was a perfect fit for making him successful.

So, what might be the take away from Chamillionaire for the rest of us?

There is a time for specifics of course but a looser approach can sometimes allow us to explore possibilities and options that we would never otherwise consider.

Looking at the success that you want in your life or business, what would it look like if you were less specific in your definition and envisioned a more general picture of success? (For example, thinking less in terms of “I want to be a lawyer” or “I want to expand my business to that specific locality or district” and more in terms of “I want a job where I am respected as an expert and rewarded well for my skills” or “I want my business to reach those clients who would most benefit from my services”.) What does that open up for you or your business?

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By the way, the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcast series, available free from iTunes, are a terrific series of lectures and interviews with many of the world leaders in technology and business. Even if you’re not a techno-geek, the insights are relevant for anyone considering starting up a business or who is interested in what it takes to drive a company forward, including personal stories and also, fascinating perspectives on how to pick yourself up from business failure.

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ZenGuide is evolving - I now offer business and career development coaching, of which social media consulting forms a small part.

Photo: from Stanford’s ecorner website, with thanks

The contents of this blog, including this post, comments and links, are subject to this Disclaimer - please read it by clicking here