tony fernandes

He paved the way for budget air travel in Asia, he manages an F1 team, he formed the ASEAN Basketball League and he owns an English football club. He is none other than Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, the Group CEO of AirAsia.

In this session of the Global Malaysia Series, brought to you by the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), Umapagan Ampikaipakan of BFM's Evening Edition will speak to Tan Sri Tony about:

• The lessons he learnt from both his success and his failures as he looks back at his journey of going global

• What it takes to build successful partnerships and what are some of the sacrifices that he made to keep partnerships strong.

• Doing business in the different ASEAN countries and the potential impact that the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community will have on Malaysian businesses

I mentioned how storytelling is powerful for influencing others. Stories are also powerful for influencing and inspiring yourself. The stories we tell ourselves shape our attitude, perceptions, behaviors and ultimately our results.

leadership

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 DEVELOPMENT How should Coaching be used to accelerate the Development of leadership talent? How do we support Development?

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“In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”

- Eric Hoffer

courage

why you need courage to reach your goal?We all know that setting ambitious goals helps us to move ourselves forward. Our really ambitious goals — the ones we keep to ourselves — often present us with opportunities to be courageous.

We need a plan to mitigate these risks and educate physicians about managing patients with an at-risk profile.”

It took courage for her to trust her own judgment, rather than yielding to these pressures. It took courage to reach out and build bridges with thought-leaders in other parts of the organization that would see and support her point of view. It took courage to oversee the work of colleagues who did not report to her and push for the right choices, rather than easy, conventional or popular recommendations. And she did all of this at a time when she was still getting acclimated to the new company and did not yet have the track record or credibility to stand out and take a different position.

Their five courage activators are the very heart of career growth:

Purpose. Having the big picture perspective to support your ambitions.

Will. The willingness to face adversity with “can-do” enthusiasm and to adapt to conditions that will further your purpose.

Risk. Stepping out to support your team, going out on a limb and creating opportunities for yourself and others.

Rigor. Inventing better solutions for continuous improvement and taking action on them.

Candor. Asking the tough questions and giving straight and direct communication.

Demonstrate courage on the outside, even when you don’t feel it on the inside. We are all afraid on occasion — that is just part of being human. If you are going to lead people through ambiguity, you will need to show more courage than fear. When direct reports read worry and concern on the face of a leader, they begin to lose confidence in the leader’s ability to lead.

What Trait are necessary for developing leadership strength At the heart of every successful business are leaders who’ve not only mastered their chosen field of endeavor, but have developed the management/communications skills necessary to truly inspire a team. What qualities do these individuals have that separate them from “the masses”? Are they inborn or cultivated through hard work? By studying the traits that are common to developing leadership strength, those questions will be answered.

Let’s begin with what must be considered as the foundation for developing leadership strength: earning trust. Strong leaders are reliable; other people can count on them and feel secure in following their directives. They also have integrity, are accountable and are true to their word.

Now we’ll dig a little deeper and look at four specific attributes I find critical to developing leadership strength:

Building and sustaining relationships. No one operates in a vacuum, so people who are going to be successful in leadership roles must be good relationship builders. Strong leaders have the ability to listen with empathy and connect with what’s in colleagues’ hearts and minds. They communicate in an empowering way that helps align people behind a common purpose or objective. They’re also self-aware—having a strong emotional intelligence quotient—and they appropriately acknowledge the contributions made by those around them.

Forming partnerships. Taking relationship-building one step farther, strong leaders are able to develop strategic alliances, perhaps even across boundaries, i.e., finance and IT, R&D

and HR, etc. They know who the key stakeholders are and understand whose inclusion will be most valuable. They’re also collaborative, interested in giving and receiving input, and approachable—not intimidating, but responsive.

Having presence. This can easily be confused with being charismatic, but having presence goes a bit deeper than that, encompassing everything from expression, tone and demeanor to style and dress. Strong leaders have a warm and welcoming way about them, and an energy that’s contagious. They’re self-confident, know the business, support their assertions with evidence, and aren’t afraid to be decisive.

Walking their talk. Think of this as being true to your word on steroids. Strong leaders are congruent in their communications; they have a stand and a place they’re going, and they share it with those to whom it matters most. They’re good with inquiries and aren’t afraid to ask provocative, on-point questions that encourage people to get to their best new thoughts and own their answers.

Fine-tuning these traits leads to developing leadership strength. Equally important, and something that affects them all, is self-knowledge—since strong leaders are able to leverage their strengths to give back by coaching and developing others, perhaps serving as a mentor, and also making a difference outside the business in the greater community.

emotional intelligence

Successful leaders have many things in common, and one of the traits they share is a high degree of emotional intelligence. What that means, in a nutshell, is that they have the capacity to recognize feelings—both theirs and others’—and use that knowledge to motivate, inspire, and manage.

Many people have derailed their careers because they’re deficient in emotional intelligence. While they possess the scholastic intelligence required to be successful, they may fail in leadership roles if they aren’t keenly aware of how their behavior and communication styles affect their colleagues and subordinates.

Emotional intelligence is a key building block to developing self-awareness and self-confidence, and it’s important for leaders to have both those qualities. Those who are self-aware and self-confident are able to accomplish what we expect of leaders, including:

Building partnerships Collaborating

Gaining followers

Exuding executive presence

Leaders who are lacking in emotional intelligence will have a hard time being successful doing any of those things. Since they’re not clear about the emotions driving themselves or those around them, they often make judgment calls that aren’t congruent—and that can seem like they’re not fulfilling their promises.

Even more significantly, the failure to be accessible and fully present—something common in those with low emotional intelligence—may come across as being unemotional or uncaring. That’s the unfortunate result of failing to establish a connection, and it’s a recipe for disaster for leaders.

Every time I’ve asked people to tell me what characteristics their best bosses have had, the list is pretty much the same:

Supportive Empathetic

Has my back

Fair

Authentic

Flexible

Inspiring

Gives feedback

Makes me feel involved

Similarly, the list of characteristics their worst bosses have had doesn’t vary much:

Rigid Insincere

Has to be right

Judgmental

Doesn’t listen

Self-absorbed

Doesn’t provide positive feedback

Takes credit

Idolizes himself

How are those two lists related? The characteristics seen in the best bosses all require emotional intelligence, while those noted on the worst bosses list reflect a decided lack of it. Those who exhibit “bad boss” behaviors are not in touch with how their actions are landing around them.

The importance of emotional intelligence, especially as reflected in greater self-awareness, is widely accepted. A recent Harvard Business Review blog noted that the most important thing leaders can do to improve their effectiveness is become more aware of what motivates them and their decision-making. Those with strong self-awareness have a better than 50/50 chance of being successful leaders, while those without it have virtually no chance at all.