The Least?

Still from our last (third) Badminton Tournament this year, based on skill level, as a group, all other teams considered us the least. We are a group with 3 pairs. Men’s double, mixed double and women’s double. We are mostly expats so we have to make the tournament a bit short to prevent conflict with holidays.<>

Our team captain is good and has a lot of experience in this game; I just helped him in coaching and motivating our other team mates. And the other four are mostly new players but the main thing is that they listen. What I did was to focus on their strengths. We gave chance for the beginners to be a part of the fun and because they listen, they managed to win games even if their opponent is better.

The team captain, Mang Jun usually tells them what to do with their racket and I focus on their mind setting. My team mates would usually say at first that they will lose because their opponents are better than them, and that is my cue for motivating them.

The team captain scouts the next opponents and gives instructions to our team mates. I do the analysis of the points we have earned and needed to get to the finals. As I see it, because of the efforts we have given while not playing, it makes it easier to handle things on the court. The champion team just had a lot more experience and talent than our team but we made it to the finals and nobody expected us to make it as the runner up.

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MIP

In our first badminton tourney this year, our team was not that successful. On the second one, our team won the title but I was not a major part of it. On the third one, after much research and practice, I have managed to play in the Men’s double where the better players are and also participate in coaching. Though I am ranked lowest in that division, at least I managed to step up my game and filled in a slot where the better ones play.<>

I have always been keen on improvement on many aspects of my life. In our badminton club, from the last mini-tourney we have, I was named the most improved player. Many have improved but I probably showed more interest in it, looking at video tutorials and listening from the people who plays a lot better than I am.

I am just fortunate that there is such an award but I would make improvements even if there are none to be given. All I want is to move out of my comfort zone and check my capability. Many things still to improve at but at least I have made my first moves.

Another thing where I have moved out of my boundary is using my skill/talent in motivating. It is part of my job and it was not easy at first to as my team mates are also managers of other companies. Sometimes is tough to make people do what is right and would want to do it their way. It should be just for fun, but having a passion of being a coach/teacher, I just used this opportunity to use what I have learned.

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Transition

When new things are added to my task or when I am making self-improvements, I have this feeling of uneasiness and my heart also beats differently. I usually go out of office and go to other KKK sites/factory to make myself busy with other things. It takes time before I get a hold of the new situation I am in or new load that is given to me.<> During that period, the main thing I do is keep thinking that I can do it and everything will be OK. I look at it positively as I know I am moving out of my boundary. The criticality of what has to be done depends how long I have to bear the said feeling. Sometimes there are waiting time and I just make sure I focus on other jobs that needs to be finished.

When it is done, things will be at normal again. I may feel uneasy and sometimes gets nervous, but I like that feeling as I know, when it is over, I moved out of my comfort zone. I know that I will have new things coming simply because I look for them and always think about expanding knowledge and gaining more experience on different areas of either work or personal matters.

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Defense-less

In GlaxoSmithKline as a Plant Mechanic for some years, I have faced a lot of problems and had a lot of critics. Some gave constructive criticisms and of course there are more people who always give comments that are very offensive - some true and some are based on their opinions. I also got into arguments/debates because of it exerting all efforts to prove myself right.<> I have to admit I made a lot of mistakes then but hearing cruel words is really not helpful and ruins my day. I had enough of it that I looked for ways not be annoyed by such but found none.

When I had experienced my biggest problem in that company (I was blamed - big time), there was nothing I can do then but to shut my mouth up. While recovering from that misfortune, I continued to stay quiet. Many more problems came and lots more criticism, I then realized that nothing happens when I ignored them. Time passed by and I saw the mistake I had having to protect myself from those type of people.

From then, I promised myself not to be affected by such. I said to myself that if they say something that is not really happening, I’ll ignore it and not argue. If what they say is right, even in an offensive way, I’ll just accept it. Some gave negative comments but I just looked at it as something to improve at or to correct - if what I did is really wrong. Later, as I ignore them they also halted from criticizing my acts.

I have not been very reactive for long time now, and from an email subscription is this quote from Pathways to Perfect Living which I would like to share:

"You need not defend yourself against anything. Whatever is true in you does not need defense, and whatever is false must have no defense. Do not wear yourself out in useless defense, instead, wisely permit the defeat of falseness. What remains will be right."

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Opinions/Suggestions

I have a subordinate who is an idealist. We had lots of discussions/debates already and if it isn’t technical, we usually end up with me saying “I will just take it as an opinion of yours.” He doesn’t like the idea that he wants to continue arguing until I say those magic words. What it really means is that I have been there and most likely I know what the outcome will be.<> One of those days where we had a good chat, he opened it up and asked me why I don’t want to have debate and honestly tell him the reason. I gave him example of the things that transpired from what ever thought he had and was enlightened when he realized that what I said would happen is closer to the ideal idea he has.

This guy also asked me how people can follow him when he is sure of the idea he has and proven effective. He even gave an example as he gave an advice to a friend of ours where he had almost the same experience where he did the right thing. I took me a lunch time; I knew I have an answer from what he said. Finally, when lunch is over, we have to drive to work and asked him, “what if I tell you that the effective way of making people do what you want is study psychology and reading a lot of leadership books, would you read and study?.” His answer is that he may or may not. And that is exactly my point I said. We all have a choice and sometimes most people think differently from us and would have choice different from what we think is the best one. I continued that all we can do is make suggestions and let the individuals decide for themselves. For that specific issue, he pulled out other things that are more realistic than ideal until we got to the factory.

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Solving Problems

I have been telling stories about the progress of my relationship with my superintendent. I came to the factory 14 years after he started so it was not easy for me to slip into their system. We have been doing fine working together. It has gone better now that he already put me into picture of what is happening around the plant and his jobs and in full detail.<>

I never forced him to follow me, instead I showed him that though I am more than 10 years younger than him, I have the capability to make things happen, get root cause faster for machines and solve problems even on personal matters. I am also the mediator when they cannot tell if the main problem is electrical or his division – mechanical.

Now that he is more open to my ideas, I also make sure he grows in terms of management. It is not that easy for him as he was a hands-on person but with the aid of my stories and experiences, he is little by little moving out of it and moving a step higher. We had a lot of chat made especially on how to handle things around the plant, not only problems but also the people around us. We also have chats on what improvements he wants. He also wanted to learn AutoCAD and I helped him with it also.

Every time there are thing(s) that bothers him or problem that he needs answer, he would approach me. I like the way he starts our conversation, that is, he would tell me that he has a problem and he is sure I can solve it in 1, 2 or just 5 minutes.

“The quickest way to gain leadership: problem solving”
- John Maxwell
Developing the leader within you.

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Mind Reading

Some of my friends say I read minds because usually, I would know what their next steps would be or what they think about a certain topic. I told them that I really do not possess any magic but it is just learning how their minds are programmed. Also, I think that it is a product of the wide range of books that I have read.<>

I have been programming (just a hobby) for quite sometime now. Seeing and making just the program, I can easily picture out the end result. My “mind reading” is just the same as reading a program of the mind. Whenever I know the content of the program of the mind and its settings, it is easy to know their judgment will be or what next moves they will make. Though not very accurate, it's a big factor.

One thing to know how they think and how they would react on certain things is being keen on the things that they treasure most and how they are raised. I would usually be keen on listening on things, events, people and stuff that are most significant to them. Reading books, especially on the topic of psychology, also helped me a lot as they provide good guides on how to know people. With it, I can tell what decisions they will make or just what on their minds are.

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