In my last post, I mention I was away for a team building program. In that 3 days program, I got to be a CEO of a small make believe company with my team mates who are directors in charge of various funcitons. Here are some lessons of what I learned when I was a CEO and the feedback my team mates gave. If you did not read my last post, the context of what I’m writing is that we are playing as a company through various mental and physical challenges. We get to compete with 4 other companies for fake money. And we forced into tight datelines to get the task completed. It might not reflect what happens in real life company. I really have to thank my team mates for pulling together during the program.
1. The CEO do not know all the time what’s the right strategy to tackle a problem.
Many times, as the CEO, I had to get ideas from my directors how to solve a challenge. Sometimes, those ideas do not come from the person you respect, but that person could be providing a best solution.
Lesson : listen to all your team members. This seems like an easy thing to do, but not that easy. I find that I listen better when I don’t have any idea how to tackle a task. If I have some ideas, I tend to want others to consider my ideas. Sounds familiar.
2. You need to be cool
I have to admit, at times, I really don’t have any idea how to tackle a task, and I get the sick feeling of having to lead my team. But I did the best I could.
We had this task where the whole team will be blind folded to navigate a obstacle course. Before being blind folded, we get to map and practice getting from place to place. Just before we are to begin, the maps are changed. And we only have a couple of minutes to adjust to the new maps (sounds a lot like life doesn’t it! Best laid plans are changed due to circumstances beyond our control). Later on, the feedback I got from team members however says that I’m cool under pressure, able to direct and point the team in the right direction. I had good team mates.
Lesson : remain calm and focus the team on the task at hand. As a leader, you can’t get flusterred easily. It is okay if you are not sure of what to do, the idea is to get suggestions from the team members.
Others will always say good things about you, you won’t think that you are all that great. I thought my team mates were really helpful. Guiding me, helping me remember the course. And they thought I was good. Same thing with other comments. Other people will say that you are brave, confident etc. etc but we won’t think that of ourselves. Unless off course, you are the proud type that want’s all the glory. I’m sure there are some minority some where. If everybody think that everybody else is better than them, it just means that we are all in the same boat.
3. Be flexible and adaptable.
Life does not always go as planned. If fact, most of the time it doesn’t. After planning and deciding the best strategy, you have to make the best of it. And I found out that a 2nd class strategy with 1st class execution is better than 1st class strategy with 2nd class execution! It does mean having no strategy is good, but having the wisdom to know when to “just get the job done with what you have” is also crucial in any strategy.
All the above points can be related to investing. For example, after gathering all the data you can get your hands on, you still need to act on it eventually. You won’t know for certain if it will work out. Many times investment environment changes that makes you have to change strategy. Don’t let that stop you. Be cool. Start with what you can afford to lose. Build up your confidence in that investment vehicle.
Food for thought.
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