Leadership lessons

 With WFH moods, does anyone still have strong Monday blue mai ka?

I decided to go on sharing what I listened to from 'How to lead with David Novac' podcast as I always find something to highlight ka.

Have stories and thoughts of Starbucks CEO, Kevin Johnson to share today ka;

For him, it was leading with joy (love what he's been doing!) because he was working with tech companies, Microsoft included, for decades and came down with cancer so he decided to quit and didn't think of going back to a full time job. Yet, Kevin's wife and Howard Schultz, Starbucks founder, led him to accept the job ka.

One little story I like is how Howard Schultz passed on his CEO-ship to Kevin Johnson. The two along with 12 key senior leaders went to the oldest Starbucks store, which had to be closed earlier that day at 6 pm. Howard told the team about the place, its history where hundreds of million people have visited. All sat on the hard wooden floor to share their own Starbucks experience. After that, Howard stood up and pulled out a key to say it was 'my personal key to this Pike Place store.' He carried with him all the time and handed it to Kevin as the symbol of transition of leadership. Now Kevin Johnson carries it with him every day ka. 

The combination of the place, its history, and the simplicity was really touching to me loei ka. What do you think ka?

Another nice story is from his tech background ka. This CEO has introduced AI to help his partners (how they term it to call their workforce) with inventories and other tasks, big and small. He reasoned that this would allow his partners to have more time to serve and interact with customers. He said something like this ka....Technology is for human beings to be more humans. 

I also love it that he values 'shared experiences' as they create collective emotional connections and trust the whole team stands for ka.

Any leadership lesson(s) you like most mai ka?

Learning from CVS CEO

 Hello all! Hope you're enjoying your Tuesday ka.

As you may know, I've been following a podcast program called, 'How Leaders Lead with David Novak'......like most of the episodes and been talking to myself that some must be written to share with you ka......been doing so without actions ka. Today, I'm taking it seriously ka.

Today, I'd like to share thoughts from Larry Merlo, CEO of CVS Health: 

1. CVS Health's mission statement is, 'to help people on their path to better health.'

This CEO said he thanked one of his staff at a CVS store he visited when he spotted that the staff was being helpful to a customer. His staff answered that he was doing so because 'it's my way to help customers on their path to health'.

The mission statement works when it's put into practice with understanding and appreciation ka.

2. Better health means tobacco should not be sold in CVS stores. Mr. Merlo took a big bold step, deciding to lose 1.5 billion dollars in sales.

He was very nervous and sleepless the night before the Board meeting but it turned out that the Board agreed that it was the right thing to do and the discussion was brief.

I was very happy to hear how the Board cared for people's health over profits ka.

The CEO took some time to consult with health professionals, check the inventory and allow 6 more months to sell it before stopping it completely. He then rebranded the corporate to be more of a pharmacy with a convenience store not the other way around. No wonder they have stepped on to have mini clinics for patients with chronic diseases to visit too ka.

3. Failure is allowed when it means 'fail fast, fail cheaply, and fail on something new'.

Sanuk learning dee na ka!

COVID-driven creativity

 Happy Wednesday to all na ka. 

My sharing this week is more on the personal side about the hindrance caused by COVID-19, making it too challenging to attend a funeral in one of the 'red' provinces ka.

Our dear ครุ friend's eldest sister passed away late last week. We were really sad and wanted to go to the funeral in person as we've known her sister and almost all in the family for decades....the term 'know' is a bit too shallow to use here even ka. Simply put, this family has a special place in our hearts.

We quietly discussed how to go about it not only how to express our condolences in time of her need for moral support, but also how to join in to tamboon since we couldn't go in person. The latter was simpler as all agreed to pool the donation with half going to the Monks hospital and the other to tamboon in our friend's hometown when the pandemic dies down for us to travel.

The former saw our creativity work at its best for each of the 16 (original with 18 but one just passed so we're left with 17) to help compose one poem in memory of the deceased. With a few who're wonderful composers in our group, it wouldn't be tough. What we had to handle quite delicately was how best for each to contribute and to help improve the draft without any hard feelings and how those who aren't keen to compose could have a share.

We managed successfully through LINE and occasionally through private room chats. A few composed the poem while those who didn't, sent in their inputs to be as keywords to describe our friend's eldest sister ka. All were done in good time for the cremation yesterday ka.

Our opening paragraphs and poem were read out to the guests before the actual cremation started. Though we all realize that nothing could have described our deep deep appreciation and love to 'our group's eldest sister', this piece of work has at least expressed how we felt ka.

COVID has driven our 'heart-to-heart' attempt to happen creatively ka!

I don't know how!?!

Happy 2021 ka....just realized that this is my first message of this new year na ka! Haven't felt the difference loei ka.

I have a little story to share today ka.

The other day, I had lunch with my youngest brother's family and was chatting with my youngest nephew who's studying in a high school ka.

Since I had surgery over a month ago (went fine and recovering well ka!), I asked my nephew why he didn't ask me how I've recovered....in fact just a small talk ka.

He said, 'I don't know how krub.' 

I then told him that he could simply ask if I got better. He nodded while this brief chat has triggered my thoughts a lot ka.

Firstly, I started looking back why younger ones may not ask us about life and all. In addition to their own lack of the right questions to ask, it could also be because they don't know if they should or could....or even when.

This is part of the soft skills and one that families and adults could take up to enhance caring in our society through personal interactions......what could be overlooked in our today's speedy world na ka.

Secondly, I began thinking of some skills I could use easily and I failed to think others may not have it....and vice versa ka.

An example is about my cousin who I always admire for his intelligence and well-roundedness. Once he asked how he should write and do to express sympathy over the passing of our beloved 'American dad'. Then, I couldn't get it at all because of my own ignorance ka.....my family told me that he may not have been through such an experience. 

I also looked back at my own skills and found that writing to share my expressions on different occasions could be quite easy for me (I have to think hard sometimes to personalize the messages, though.) It could be because of my love of jotting down a good number of wishes from greeting cards when I was much younger whenever I went to Hallmark Cards shops plus my joy/duty of sending notes on various occasions for decades.

People are skillful in different situations and on different issues so I needed to remind myself of individuals' training, circles of work, and areas of interest.   

Lastly, sharing/advising is more and more in need without generation/ position barriers as long as we feel free to be open about what we do and don't know in order to learn more ka.....growth mindset chai mai ka? Simply say, 'I don't know how ka/krub!'

These are little things that could mean a lot not only to help us learn and become more skillful but also for our relationship building  na ka.

Agree mai ka?