Reflections on 2020

 Hello all!

I skimmed through a short article on, 'How to reflect on 2020' by Susy Jackson, Editor at LinkedIn News and I found one statement I really like which reads:

"Instead of considering it a lost year, Whitney Johnson says to look for the “gems” of 2020 that might guide you in 2021."

May I share my gems of 2020 ka:

1. New knowledge and skills: 

- Create and carry out  (with some good help kaa) a podcast 'Learn Plern Plern' and tomorrow will be its 30th episode kaaa!

- Follow quite a number of podcast and youtube programs on business and tech issues

- Use Zoom for meetings, family get togethers, and teaching a class

2.  Tightened relationships

- Continue to see family and friends in person or virtually whenever possible and get connected/reconnected with friends from near and far!

3. Better 'lintegration'

- Try to link and integrate essence from business to internationalization (IZN), internationalization at Home (IaH), and EdPEx to come up with more thoughts, systems, and diagrams to share.

Yours la ka?

As 2020 has been so stressful to the max, I'm sure we'll see a much better year in 2021. Let's be very hopeful with full positive energy, physically and mentally to move on with great strengths for many beautiful learnings and successes ka. 

Happy 2021 na ka.

How to Lead

Dear all, amid rising festive moods, COVID-19 seems to want to stick around us na ka. In any case, life goes on and I have some little thing to share ka.

I just got a book entitled, 'How to Lead' by David Rubenstein, who I follow watching his interviews on youtube ka. 

The book is an easy read and though many chapters are what I've watched already, I  enjoy digesting them again ka. 

David Rubenstein has come up with a few attributes he repeatedly hear from the people he interviewed, which are,"Luck, Desire to Succeed, Pursuit of Something New and Unique, Hard Work/Long Hours, Focus, Failure, Persistence, Persuasiveness, Humble Demeanor, Credit-Sharing, The Ability to Keep Learning, Integrity, and Responding to Crises."

In addition, I like the quotes David Rubenstein has selected so let me re-select a few I love most na ka.

Bill Gates: "I don't think it's important for me to be remembered specifically. I do hope that infectious disease is largely eliminated as a problem, so that nobody's having to talk about it and people can focus on other issues. That would be a huge, great thing."

Warren Buffett: "Look for the job that turns you on. Find a passion." 

I also like it when Jeff Bezos said about Warren Buffett who talked about himself that 'he's good if he makes 3 good decisions a year.'

Oprah Winfrey: "Your legacy is every life that you've touched.......it's how you use your life to be a light to somebody else's"

Indra Nooyi: "If you're willing to make all the trade-offs that you need to make, you can have it all." 

General Colin Powell: ".....give them (subordinates) every opportunity to be successful. Leadership is all about-- inspiring followers."

Condolezza Rice: ...what her father said to her, "If somebody doesn't want to sit next to you because you're black, that's fine, as long as they move." Don't be disabled by people who may have prejudice.

Antony Fauci: ''You don't dictate to people. But if you let them know what your vision is, hire the best people, and then don't get in their way, those are the qualities of a good leader."

Ginne Rometty (IBM): ".....one of the biggest traits I look for is curiosity."

Any of the statements you like most mai ka?

Have a very Merry Christmas ka.

What is Leadership?

 Happy Monday kaaa! After a long weekend, some could feel fresh to start working again. Even as a semi retiree, I was feeling the holiday was kind of long na ka:))!

This week, I'd like to share what I captured from 7 episodes on leadership where I got ideas, comments and tips from leaders, potential leaders of different gens to share in my podcast programs na ka. I tallied to see what common keywords could be seen ka.

I got 5 top keywords....turned out to be 6 and the last 2 tied ka. 

The most frequently mentioned in priority order are employee engagement, execution, direction, deep listening, and big picture and relationship building ka. 

More are on soft skills with a focus on people dee loei na ka.

Let me also share some sources I've been using when producing this Leadership series, which consist of both Thai and foreign ka:

- Harvard Business Review - Management Tip of the Day (programmed on Alexa to listen daily ka!)

- Recent summaries of books from Summary.com I subscribe ka....still enjoy listening more than reading them and love quite a few ka.

- The Standard - Secret Sauce Podcast from Ken Nakarin

- Mission to the Moon - both daily Facebook live and podcast episodes

- Eight and a half by Tong Kaweewut

- Podcast 'How Leaders Lead with David Novak'

- Others ccasionally like Fast Company, Medium, Financial Times, etc.

See how you like these sources na ka.

My leadership from others' perspective

 Hello all! Feeling like having more festive moods already mai ka?

Next Tuesday, my podcast episode follows a request from my honorary podcast technician ka. She said she'd love to hear what others thought about my leadership. Without much thinking, I agreed to do it as the final episode before the overall conclusion ka. 

It was sort of challenging but knowing that nothing would do anyone any harm was really great ka. So I chose 3 people, a team member from my Ministry of University Affairs days when I first started working in a leadership position as director of international cooperation, the second from Fulbright Thailand, and the third was a Fulbright's Board member ka.

My selection was based on how one chooses the person(s) to write recommendations ka....those who know me quite well and straightforward.....yet, know how to talk about our weaknesses in the subtle เนียน ๆ way ka 5555!

I didn't expect much at all and it was so fun listening to their reflections ka. 

On the whole, my former team members thought of me about creativity and opportunities given. One said my weakness was that I wasn't fit for a government service career (it showed that clearly na ka nia! I didn't realize it much at all until I joined Fulbright kaaa!) and that being so much focused on international cooperation details, I didn't touch on the planning side at the macro level sufficiently.

My Board Member talked too nicely about me....really kind of him ka. I learned what the expectations of the Board were ka......he expected the COO to listen to the Board's suggestions and wanted the person to prepare well to be able to readily offer the most related info for the Board's decision making. He highlighted the need to seek friends and allies on the Board to make it easier to work efficiently and effectively ka. 

Would you want to have this similar exercise if you've already retired or well before your retirement about your leadership mai ka? Yes or no and why ka? Sanuk dee ka.

Happy long weekend ka.