Jesus displays servant leadership by washing his disciple’s feet (courtesy of Turn Back To God)
A carpenter’s son born in a humble manger, Jesus of Nazareth could hardly be considered a superstar CEO by today’s yardstick.
However, few others have inspired or influenced as many lives as He has.
If you haven’t already heard Rebecca Black’s “Friday” (more than 100 million views on Youtube and rising), you must have been hiding under a rock. The huge Internet sensation has been making waves while racking up an incredible number of 2 million dislikes on Youtube.
Association dinners and trips can be good bonding events (ASA Exco 2005)
Through the kind invitation of MCI, a global association management company, I had the privilege of diving more deeply into the world of associations at a recent conference at Suntec City Convention Centre. As the Sec-Gen of the Association of Singapore Attractions, I am always interested to learn about the best practices of running and managing an association.
According to a white paper published by the firm, there are 8 key strategies for associations (whether professional or trade) anywhere in the world to remain relevant in a fast changing future. Key findings from these paper hail from a survey of European associations conducted by MCI, but many of them are relevant to associations here in Singapore. They are:
Courtesy of Computer Technology Review
One of the most fundamental lessons in any professional, personal or social endeavour is to close the loop. Don’t leave things hanging in mid-air or wait until they’re forgotten (and forgiven). Chances are that they might come back again to haunt you if you don’t hit that nail on the head until its well and truly level.
Now closing the loop doesn’t mean that you should try to go for quick and easy wins all the time. Occasionally, one needs to consider if closing a small loop may result in tearing open a larger issue in the long-run. However, the key principle is that you should not leave issues or projects in limbo as far as you can help it.
How does one leverage on the power of social communities? What does it mean to build a “Social Nation”?
I found out the answers to these and more after reading Barry Libert’s breezy volume Social Nation. The CEO of Mzinga, Libert declares in his book that organisational success lies with tapping on the collective power of employees, stakeholders, partners, and customers – both online and offline. To do so, one needs to develop social skills to complement one’s other strengths (physical, informational, and emotional).
Slightly more than three years (or 40 months) ago, my wife Tina and I gave our son Ethan a Christmas gift of a Marang tree as part of NParks’ Plant a Tree Programme. Over the months, we’ve always made it a point to revisit our tree every now and then, just to see how healthy it has grown. Occasionally, I will also jog to the trail area where the tree grows just to see how well the sapling is doing.
On a recent trip to the Marang Trail at the foot of Mount Faber, we’re glad to see that our tree is still doing well and growing both tall and lush. To me, this tree is especially meaningful when I make the connection between how my son Ethan grows and how the tree increases in size and girth. Let’s hope that it will continue to spring forth and grow, just as my son Ethan continues to mature and grow as a young boy every day of his life.
Ethan gazing at the map of Mount Faber park at the foot of the hill.
Occupying a disused power station in the heart of London beside the River Thames, Tate Modern is one of the world’s leading modern art museum. With an impressive display of art from 1900 to the present, Tate Modern attracts some five million visitors annually, and is one of a family of four Tate galleries in the UK (which includes Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives).
Collectively, the Tates cover the national collection of British art from the year 1500 to the present day, and of international modern art. All their collections are accessible online, and the Tate Group embraces an extensive social media engagement strategy encompassing Facebook, Twitter, Youtube videos, photos on Flickr, a Video Channel, and a Blog.
Courtesy of About Health
“Begin with the End in Mind”
That’s one of the immortal “7 Habits” created by the late motivational guru Stephen Covey as one of his cardinal 7 Habits of Successful People.
However, what happens if you keep imagining all the possible things that can go wrong in your minds? What sort of end would you have?
Courtesy of Geek and Poke
In the field of strategy and planning, there are two age-old dilemmas which one commonly encounters in the process of doing one’s work, namely:
1) How much research should we conduct?
Well planned holidays are restful and not stressful (breakfast at Lake Tekapo, New Zealand)
We love going on overseas vacations. There is a certain buzz in the air when one is planning and arranging for a trip abroad, regardless of the duration, distance or destination.
In the age of omnipresent online options, choreographing your own holidays is entirely possible. However, one may still want to weigh the pros and cons of DIY versus having a travel agent or travel planner do it for you.