I've considered a couple of times pursuing a MBA...
however, according to HBR's latest top 100 best-performing CEOs list, 5 out of the top 10 do not have one. The top 3 do not have one.
Just checked further, 10 out of top 15 do not have one.
Hmm...
Showing posts with label career. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career. Show all posts
Monday, December 28, 2009
Monday, April 07, 2008
Huh? Perfect Job?
4 years since I've ventured into the corporate world. I still remember very vividly that upon graduation, I wanted so much to work in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, where the "buzz" of it all was going to be..... and I landed a job that is much closer to home; a suburb.
*f4%k*
What luck.... I used to bitch about it, "I'm working in a jungle, I see monkeys sometimes on my way to work..."
2 years later, I managed to get myself a place at one of the Twin Towers in town... who cares, I don't need a room, I just need a view!
oooh the energy buzzing around me as I step out of the LRT to be part of a bunch of people in corporate attire and "zombie" towards our offices on one of the 88 floors of the Twin Towers.... "YEAH baby! My dream come true..... I knew applying The Secret* would work!" 3 months later after waking up really early in the morning to get the best parking spot, sandwiching myself into the LRT, "zombie" with everyone else past the security checkpoints, staying back later than expected because it rained and LRT don't work when it rains......... working in town ain't that great. Trust me.
A year later, after having harnessing the Power of Attraction (a.k.a The Secret); I've done it again! I managed to worm myself out of the heart of the capital, and am now happy and humbly back in a suburb closer to the green jungle.
Well, lesson learnt, work is not about prestige, nor is it about glamour. There's not much glamour when you really dread going to work everyday, is there? The only time you probably feel that your job is glamorous is when you get to mention to one of your buddies, "I work for a Multi National Cooperation which is located on the highest floor of the 2nd tallest building in the world....." when in truth, you really hate what you are doing.
So, what's the secret to finding the right job?
Location
I don't know, but what I do know, for myself, is that the location of the office does matter, although not too important, but it's important enough because being in Malaysia, especially in PJ/KL, the condition of the traffic does play a role in knocking the balance off life vs. work time....
Culture
The culture of the company matters, what are the values of the company that the people are guided by? sounds like mushy stuff, but it'll help if you manage to work in a place where your values align well with the firm's.
Size
Size of the company has an influence of what you will actually learn and be exposed to, too large a firm, you face the risk of knowing only what you do; too small a firm, you learn everything there is to know about doing business, but you many not have much opportunity to grow within the company. As the size of the company varies, so do the peoples' attitude and behaviour, and the type of talent differs as well.
Money
Remuneration is the carrot at the end of the stick, part of the biggest reason why we go to work. Like it or not, how much you get paid is going to help you get through the tough times at work... finding the job you love without the dough? Just remember that you can't pay your electric bill with love....
People
The leadership, hard to judge, but at least, try to start off with the right boss! Although most of the time, you'll need to be extremely good at face and body reading and some kind of psychic abilities. If you don't get a pleasant boss, at least be consoled that by going through the rough patch with that kind of boss is going to make you a tougher person.... ;-)
Interest
I believe the saying (although not entirely, because $$ matters too) that goes; "do what you love and you don't have to work for the rest of your life anymore." However, for those who are like me, yet to find your real interest... if it makes you feel any better, I'm still searching. Perhaps the answer is just simply, just love what you're given to do! Tho', I wish that it was just that easy.... hah!
anyway, Monday is coming up... *zzz*
*The Secret, some bestseller that basically says that if one is to think and believe hard enough of what we want, also act accordingly towards this "want", the "want" will become a reality. That's just the gist of it, find out more via Wikipedia or at Amazon...
*f4%k*
What luck.... I used to bitch about it, "I'm working in a jungle, I see monkeys sometimes on my way to work..."
2 years later, I managed to get myself a place at one of the Twin Towers in town... who cares, I don't need a room, I just need a view!
oooh the energy buzzing around me as I step out of the LRT to be part of a bunch of people in corporate attire and "zombie" towards our offices on one of the 88 floors of the Twin Towers.... "YEAH baby! My dream come true..... I knew applying The Secret* would work!" 3 months later after waking up really early in the morning to get the best parking spot, sandwiching myself into the LRT, "zombie" with everyone else past the security checkpoints, staying back later than expected because it rained and LRT don't work when it rains......... working in town ain't that great. Trust me.
A year later, after having harnessing the Power of Attraction (a.k.a The Secret); I've done it again! I managed to worm myself out of the heart of the capital, and am now happy and humbly back in a suburb closer to the green jungle.
Well, lesson learnt, work is not about prestige, nor is it about glamour. There's not much glamour when you really dread going to work everyday, is there? The only time you probably feel that your job is glamorous is when you get to mention to one of your buddies, "I work for a Multi National Cooperation which is located on the highest floor of the 2nd tallest building in the world....." when in truth, you really hate what you are doing.
So, what's the secret to finding the right job?
Location
I don't know, but what I do know, for myself, is that the location of the office does matter, although not too important, but it's important enough because being in Malaysia, especially in PJ/KL, the condition of the traffic does play a role in knocking the balance off life vs. work time....
Culture
The culture of the company matters, what are the values of the company that the people are guided by? sounds like mushy stuff, but it'll help if you manage to work in a place where your values align well with the firm's.
Size
Size of the company has an influence of what you will actually learn and be exposed to, too large a firm, you face the risk of knowing only what you do; too small a firm, you learn everything there is to know about doing business, but you many not have much opportunity to grow within the company. As the size of the company varies, so do the peoples' attitude and behaviour, and the type of talent differs as well.
Money
Remuneration is the carrot at the end of the stick, part of the biggest reason why we go to work. Like it or not, how much you get paid is going to help you get through the tough times at work... finding the job you love without the dough? Just remember that you can't pay your electric bill with love....
People
The leadership, hard to judge, but at least, try to start off with the right boss! Although most of the time, you'll need to be extremely good at face and body reading and some kind of psychic abilities. If you don't get a pleasant boss, at least be consoled that by going through the rough patch with that kind of boss is going to make you a tougher person.... ;-)
Interest
I believe the saying (although not entirely, because $$ matters too) that goes; "do what you love and you don't have to work for the rest of your life anymore." However, for those who are like me, yet to find your real interest... if it makes you feel any better, I'm still searching. Perhaps the answer is just simply, just love what you're given to do! Tho', I wish that it was just that easy.... hah!
anyway, Monday is coming up... *zzz*
*The Secret, some bestseller that basically says that if one is to think and believe hard enough of what we want, also act accordingly towards this "want", the "want" will become a reality. That's just the gist of it, find out more via Wikipedia or at Amazon...
Thursday, May 31, 2007
mergers, acquisitions and raw emotions
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)... i'm sitting in one (merger).
The company which I left a year ago, also is experiencing one (acquisition).
With globalisation, the dynamics of communication is changing, competition is driving businesses to reposition, acquire, merge or go bust.
Businesses exist for two reasons, emotional and profits.
Emotional - the need to add value/contribute to something
Profits - for the business to sustain and grow (the main cause of M&As)
Okay, i'm not going to share my thoughts on why businesses need to change their business models and so forth.... but more about how the change would affect the people
Imagine this,
You may be in the phase of your career where there is going to be an uptake after building a few years of solid foundation, you may have just gotten married too, paying off some debts for the wedding and honeymoon, servicing your mortgage of your newly-wed home.....
At the office, you have your career development plan all mapped out for you, frequent dialogues with your boss, set your SMART objectives......
You arrive at the office as usual, after lunch, everyone receives an e-mail, "we are proud to announce that the Board of Directors have agreed to handover XXX to her new parent, ZZZ...."
The phones start ringing, people start scrambling, all sorts of chit-chats along corridors/breakout areas, the topic of this "new company" will be the topic for lunch for months to come.....
A few weeks go by, your boss either gets replaced in the new business model, or is assigned to another department, you are told to report to him and to do business as usual, but your boss cannot commit to you any longer about your next step..... basically, nobody can promise you anything. Loyalty, years of service... no leveraging here.
You start to imagine the worst or not, people around you start to imagine the worst or not, more speculation, more negative energy, some positive energy, some excitement, some fear.... this is what uncertainty invokes in us, human beings. Your debts, your career, your family, your house, your holiday, basically all the plans you have... are more or less hanging now, just like the development plan you have discussed about at the beginning of the year.
How are you going to deal with this very real scenario?
The company which I left a year ago, also is experiencing one (acquisition).
With globalisation, the dynamics of communication is changing, competition is driving businesses to reposition, acquire, merge or go bust.
Businesses exist for two reasons, emotional and profits.
Emotional - the need to add value/contribute to something
Profits - for the business to sustain and grow (the main cause of M&As)
Okay, i'm not going to share my thoughts on why businesses need to change their business models and so forth.... but more about how the change would affect the people
Imagine this,
You may be in the phase of your career where there is going to be an uptake after building a few years of solid foundation, you may have just gotten married too, paying off some debts for the wedding and honeymoon, servicing your mortgage of your newly-wed home.....
At the office, you have your career development plan all mapped out for you, frequent dialogues with your boss, set your SMART objectives......
You arrive at the office as usual, after lunch, everyone receives an e-mail, "we are proud to announce that the Board of Directors have agreed to handover XXX to her new parent, ZZZ...."
The phones start ringing, people start scrambling, all sorts of chit-chats along corridors/breakout areas, the topic of this "new company" will be the topic for lunch for months to come.....
A few weeks go by, your boss either gets replaced in the new business model, or is assigned to another department, you are told to report to him and to do business as usual, but your boss cannot commit to you any longer about your next step..... basically, nobody can promise you anything. Loyalty, years of service... no leveraging here.
You start to imagine the worst or not, people around you start to imagine the worst or not, more speculation, more negative energy, some positive energy, some excitement, some fear.... this is what uncertainty invokes in us, human beings. Your debts, your career, your family, your house, your holiday, basically all the plans you have... are more or less hanging now, just like the development plan you have discussed about at the beginning of the year.
How are you going to deal with this very real scenario?
Friday, June 02, 2006
peoply buy from people
on the 31st, intentionally, i left my badge behind.. no longer can i "beep" through these glass doors, and greet Selvi, our receptionist with a great big "good morning"...
will be missing the usual chit chats (or brainstorming sessions as how i would like to call it), my desk and certainly the complete set of stationaries..
I should share with you the main piece of advice that my boss gave me during my departure meeting with him, that is, "remember cheo, people buy from people".
Thank You to all that I have worked with during my tenure with Organon. May our paths cross again one day.
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