Empathy is what we need (CE3)

          " Man must evolve for all human conflict a method that rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation.
            The foundation of such method is love."- Martin Luther King, Jr                     

Conflict can appear to be prominent or concealed in every company and is undeniably prevalent.
Therefore, it is a matter on how to overcome the conflict and manage in the most efficient manner as possible.




In my workplace, managing conflict is practiced individually however the most frequent practice would be avoidance as it seems to be the most convenient and hassle-free for most individuals as the job scopes of every team member is generally specialized and seldom require any integration of duties. However, if there is any need for the team member to communicate due to work -related issues, they will go through a mediator to negotiate on certain issues and the mediator happened to be me.

I have advised different methods of negotiation with both concerning parties however one is always not in a state of condone due to his egoistic personality. His ego is customarily due to his longer period of working in the company in comparison to the other party who has relinquish the matter since he come to know of it.

This illustrates that an attitude problem is the cause of the conflict when personal matter should not be brought together into work as it will only make matters more complex.

The source of of conflict is mainly the tension between both of them and thus cliques were formed and curtailed communication and cooperation especially during meetings as they will constantly have feelings that negate towards each other.

This also caused poor decision making at times when there is a change of standard of procedures or on certain protocols that require both party to communicate and discuss the optimum manner of executing certain changes of procedures.

This will lead to a breakdown of communication and require a mediator to negotiate and come to consensus to a decision having the same objective at hand. Although this seems challenging and sometimes arduous to the mediator, it seems to be most effective manner in dealing the conflict that is concurrent in my department. Therefore, I agree to Martin Luther King, Jr that empathy and understanding is the key to resolving any conflict.

Colours of the World (CE 2)

Diversity can be defined as varied mixture or melange or an assortment.
This diversity is referring to the people around us. There is a diversity of nationalities, languages, personalities, age, culture, belief , interpersonal styles, learning manner, interests, race, religion, educational advantage in terms of merit. 

Diversity is inevitable, especially in Singapore where majority of the productivity of the nation is accomplished by foreign talent. We all know that Singapore is an open economy and everything is based on globalization for the nation to move forward and Singapore's only resources is human labour. 





Therefore, it is up to the citizens to cope with the diversity that is materializing as seconds ticked by. Diversity even occurs in our own home as different people have different ways of learning, communicating, understanding, and different types of friends that are of different race and culture that they associate themselves with.

At my workplace, the diversity that I am exposed to is the different races I had to communicate with which resulted in a language barrier, the different culture, different interpersonal styles, different experience and working style.

The way this matter is handled is by having a common language that we can communicate with which is basic English. The information that our team leaders would be disseminating is always in English which overrides the language barrier between different races.

Another subsequent barrier would be how the information is relayed to other team members. The appropriate communication channel which would minimize any perceptual barriers and is most effective if were to be practiced are carried out through meetings where the message conveyed is direct and with conviction from the superiors as well as subordinates. 

Moreover, two-way communication can take place in order for the receiver to comprehend the message that is delivered through feedback by asking the communicator of any doubts that may arise after the message is delivered thus practicing effective communication. These practices are frequently carried out in my company as well as other companies in general as this significantly reduces any miscommunication that may emerge.
Therefore I will end in a quote that is shown below.

Networking is essential (CE 1)

The primary learning objective of the lesson is the communication and interaction facilitated through different means. One example that I learnt is the different expressions of networking. Networking can be defined as the exchange of the information which takes place daily in my department. 

 I am in the legal and compliance department where communication is executed daily between team members, merchants, banks and buyers via email. Generally, communication takes place through the provided company messenger software between team members to expedite certain processes and procedures that is required to perform during our daily routine monitoring.

The facilitation of exchange of information is frequent and rapid in an e-commerce company as every communication takes place online.
However, issue may arise if the individual were to interpret the message with a different tone and this will then develop into a perceptual barrier that may deteriorate the content of the given message that is to be conveyed.



In order to overcome those barriers is basically to eliminate one's perception through ensuring the matter again with the team member and encourage feedbacks to embellish effective communication and expedite the procedures. Fortunately, this is being practiced in our department and has greatly assist in my progress as well as others as our communication even takes place face-to-face with the manager directly if there are any outstanding issues.

Currently, I was required to mentor and supervise the part-timers in relieving my workload that I am entrusted to. There are different ways of communication that can take place. However, I decided to adopt an on-the-job-training instead of just informing the standard of procedures and showing them the rope. I demonstrated to them the operation and explain to them the reason we need to do such procedures then I instructed them to carry out the procedures without my guidance but under my supervision until they managed to learn how to perform the job tasks by themselves.

I understand that different types of networking can take place like documenting the steps and the guidelines then emailing them to follow them strictly. I have tried and this specific type of networking failed as not only did the part-timer was not motivated to work, their perspective of the guidelines that are illustrated differs which lead to miscommunication and problems at work.

Therefore, I concluded into adopting an on-the job training instead where communication can be shaped into actions which can be executed accurately.

Beginning of a new chapter

I will begin this post with the outstanding topic that was discussed in class that is Simon Sinek's most powerful but simple technique where the most inspirational leaders follow that is to begin with the golden circle.For example, Steve Jobs begin from the inner of the golden circle which is to start with the 'Why?'. Then gradually develop the 'How' and 'What'. The concept of 'Why' is the motivation prior to any objective and goal that one may set. The concept of 'How' is the process and the concept of 'What' is the product that one or an entity is selling. First and foremost,'Why' is a question that one needs to ask on the sole purpose of creating a new innovation on the good that it will bring to humanity whether it will benefit mankind and make their life a lot 


simpler which gives the drive for one to make their innovation a reality. 'How' is generally the process and the methodology on making the product functional and executing actions to make the product a reality.

'What' is the evidence on the creation of the new innovation. It simply means the end-product and the results of 'Why' and 'How'.


The explanation given here for Simon Sinek's concept is very brief, summarised and is just the overview of it. 

If you would like to learn more of it you can buy his book called 'Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action'.

I have learnt that there are roles that a leader should acquire which will be indicated simply in point forms:

• Innovative
• Charismatic
• Desire to inspire
• Commited
• Emotional Quotient (EQ)
• Visionary
• Foresight
• Understanding
• Flexible
• Cooperative
• Balance
• Impartial

 

The most significant role that a leader should acquire is emotional quotient which is the capability of understanding emotions of others effectively and this will allow the leader to manage the people under him more emphatically.

The role of team members are similar to the roles of a leader. Hence I will briefly discuss the strategic planning which will be indicated briefly in point forms:

• Gamechanger
• PESTLE
• Communication
• Address gaps that are not available in the market
• Open to feedbacks

The most significant strategic planning would be gamechanger that every company should possess as change is inevitable in our daily lives. In order to step up the game is to always accept change and be prone to changes to create new products based on the change that occur to any individual for them to always be ahead of the game.

I would like to end this post with a video of 10 most inspirational quotes from Steve Jobs.

Thank you for all interesting experience shared in class as it has been one of the most memorable modules that i have experienced.

 

Thriving onwards

Attributes to lead

"If you make listening and observation your occupation, you will gain much more than you can by talk." -Robert Baden-Powell

As mentioned in the above quote, by listening you will be able learn what the other has to share in their experiences.

Above that by listening to others it makes the speaker feel much appreciated and respected as it foster positive and effective communication.

There are certain practices that can be developed to become a great listener.

Firstly, the listener should show attentiveness to the speaker by facing the speaker and leaning forward to show interest in the topic of conversation. Hence, body language plays a significant role in active listening.

Secondly is maintaining eye contact throughout the whole conversation and minimizing external distractions by putting your phone away for example.

Thirdly is the response to affirm one's understanding of the subject that the speaker is communicating about through body language as well as verbally. The listener can even inquire with the speaker to engage in an active conversation to create a two-way communication instead of it being lopsided.

Body language can be expressed through nodding of the head to show their understanding of the matter whereas verbally can be expressed by questions like, "What did you do afterwards?".

Two-way communication can achieved effectively by engaging yourself with the subject of conversation and relation to other matters that can be communicated with the speaker. An active listener should ask for clarification to mitigate the subject of interest and share their experiences that relate to the subject of conversation. They may also paraphrase the structure of the question to illustrate their understanding.

Finally is to have an open mind that can be achieved by waiting until the speaker has completed their conversation before making any quick decision or assumptions to agree or disagree with the speaker.

I only cover one crucial aspect of attributes of being an effective leader. However, I will give a brief summary of the qualities that a leader should possess in order to become successful in point forms that has been discussed in class.

Qualities:

• having job relevant knowledge

• passionate 

• enthusiastic

• team-spirited

• honest

• open minded

• humble

• understanding

• innovative

• generous

                        Amazing things can happen when one senses that the other is listening

                               as all of us wants to be heard and listened to.

Dawn of a Leader

Grounds to lead

I have learnt to be an effective leader. Being a leader does not only require the desire to lead and having the intelligence or the relevant job knowledge, but it also requires the drive to demonstrate high level of effort and desire for achievement and being honest and the integrity of building trusting relationships.

I was in charge of a group to prepare a farewell party for one of my ex colleague. I volunteered myself to  lead a team of eight to organize the event.  I divided the team into pairs and assigned them different tasks. A week prior to the event, I called for an urgent meeting because one of the pair did not managed to get a caterer that was within the budget.

I demonstrated the willingness to take responsibility of the issue that arises and generated solutions though brainstorming. The convergence of alternative solutions led to a final decision to accommodate to the  everyone's interest. (Vegetarians and Muslims)

The only challenge faced during the planning of the event is the difficulty to come to consensus as a team with plentiful ideas generated by different members of the team.

Being an efficient leader is practicing competency in all tasks that one is obligated to carry out, however being an effective leader is competent and capable of influencing the mass subordinates through his exceptional attitude and character that the leader possesses.

The fundamentals of being an effective leader is by grounding three critical principles prior to any activities that one executes. The initial principle before  beginning any enduring journey is adopting a mission which divulge the purpose of the company to serve as a benchmark to weigh the benefits and costs.

Mission:

Establishing a centralized port for individuals to acquire their needs and explore their desire.

The following principle will be adopting a vision to articulate the company's goals and objectives to stay on the right direction.

Vision:

The top robust online shopping destination internationally

The final attribute will be the values and culture that the company practice and emphasize to their employees. Practicing a positive culture will ameliorate the working environment and the morale of the employees and create an enhancing experience for the customers as well.

Values:

Leadership: Shaping a better future
Integrity: Realistic and ideal
Accountability: Handle every matter to your own hands
Passion: Commitment to its fullest with utmost sincerity
Quality: World class

Let me end this post by enlighten you with a quote by an American author and speaker, John Maxwell.

"A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position."