The Seed of Life

“Discover where your intellectual arrogance is causing disabling arrogance & overcome it.” In managing oneself, Peter Drucker succinctly stated what causes our blind spot. We think sometimes that leadership is only about managing others, when in reality it’s more on managing ourselves. How can we transform the organizations or teams when we don’t even acknowledge that we also need to change? We must not ignore where we’re most vulnerable. Let’s identify areas where we need  to change & take incremental actions, if needed ask support. When an executive told me where I needed to change, I decided to act on an area where I didn’t notice I was failing, it totally changed the trajectory of my career. Don’t allow that attitude, bad habits or lack of knowledge to hold us back in fulfilling our purpose.  When LOU GERSTNER became the CEO & Chairman of IBM, he masterminded one of the greatest turnarounds in corporate history. he said the turnaround was difficul...

Establishing a business is quite challenging, all the more sustaining it to thrive during uncertain times.  Learning the "secret weapons" of successful entrepreneurs can help us reevaluate whether we also have those attributes to begin with in order to survive any given business ecosystem. Discussion with Mr. Iftikhar Yacoub aka Dr. Yess. # seedoflife   # entrepreneurlife   # entrepreneurmindset   # business

“If you want people to respect you, you have to be tough!” I still recall these lines from my past jobs. There are leaders who’ll advise you to hide your real emotion because it’s perceived that it'll weaken your ability to lead. If we advocate authenticity, showing our emotions shouldn’t be frowned upon. As humans, we are an emotional being, we just need the right balance to show that we’re also vulnerable. The “macho” culture or the image of "infallibility" are leadership from the old school. EQ is more important than IQ in inspiring people. I learned this the hard way & still learning from others. We need to be empathic, flexible & a good listener. We can show to our team that it’s ok at times to commit mistakes, cry, be sad, & get frustrated; It’s ok to be human. Leading a successful team requires a lot of interpersonal interaction that would require emotional intelligence. Campbell CEO, Douglas Conant engages with his team by wearing a pe...

Great leaders are aware of their strengths and weaknesses.  They spend time cultivating values to eventually address their blind spot. It’s common that we normally can’t see the speck in our own eyes but we can’t simply ignore that. The beauty in life is that we all have second chance, third, fourth… as long as we’re breathing we can still rectify our errors. Leadership is a journey, an ongoing process.  We can still work on our temper, arrogance, emotions, being critical, insecure or lack of self-confidence, etc.  We can redesign our lives, change complacency to productivity and mediocrity to greatness.   JACKIE MINCHILLO grew tired of her corporate life, frustrated with organizational bureaucracy and wasn’t fairly compensated, she left the rat race and with her husband started Pineapple Development (eCommerce web development), Joy of Cleaning Florida (residential/commercial cleaning) and she is also the co-owner in a...

Real champions  have hurdled brokenness and the sting of betrayal. Have you lost a business opportunity in a bid by an entity well-connected through unfair pract ice, have you suddenly been surprised of a termination letter instead of a thank-you-letter for your loyal service, have you been passed over for promotion by someone less qualified, or have you lost the chance to be shortlisted for another well-acquainted candidate? We all experience those circumstances in one way or another in our entire career life. So how do we respond? That's the defining line between a champion and a loser. We don't need to write a negative rant in social media to let everybody know how we feel, it's not easy but we have to remember the lesson behind that experience and move on. Count all the wonderful blessings you had before that turning point. Forgive those who have offended or wronged you. Eventually, they will reap what they sow. Use the pain, the misery, and the loss to tou...