When embarking on a new task, there’s always some doubt… because it’s new, because we haven’t done it before, because there is a sense of nervousness…
However, the best thing to do in this situation… is just to do it.
Like Nike, Just Do It.
Remove the doubt. Give it a go. Does not matter if you make mistakes. That’s how you learn.
My Friday Thought is based around value.
Do you know your worth and value?
So the book continues and fair play to Arnold… it’s a decent read!
A relatively short chapter but nevertheless, a very important one. As you can guess, it was all about selling. Not selling yourself as such – but there is an element of that, but selling what you represent, what you stand for and included in that, your vision.
So the story Arnold tells is about body building. Again, you’ll have to read the book to learn about his story.
For me… what I took away was the element that people may or may not fully understand your vision. Understand what you stand for. Understand clearly where you want to get to.
This is where the sell, sell, sell part comes in.
Depending on what you’re doing. How you’re doing it. And the amount of success you’re having, you have to sell yourself, your trade, your work… whatever it is that you do. And sell it in a way that people want more!
I remember when I was at Kodak, and I wanted to become a chartered engineer. So I had to fill in forms, do lots of work etc… but I wasn’t selling myself. And I remember clearly my mentor at the time saying… ‘Bal, you have to write I did… not we’. That’s stuck with me since. I’m very clear and intentional that if I do something.. then I did it. Not just to get the applauds but if it goes wrong, then the buck stops with me… and my team is not to blame. Yes there’s times where it’s a team effort so it’s a ‘we’.
Have a look at your vision… work through the chapters and now, tell me honestly, are you able to sell it?
Chapter 3 People!
And this was a really good one…
Now… it’s not rocket science.
If you want to make it in life – you’ve got to work hard.
What comes easy…. goes easy. But when you work super hard for something, you know it’s going to stay with you.
Before I joined the graduate programme for Kodak – I received some really good advice. It was…’make as many mistakes as you can when you’re young because a) people will forgive you and b) you’ll learn. When you’re older… people aren’t as forgiving’.
Awesome advice.
And I made a fair few mistakes – but most importantly, learnt from them. But you’ll only make those mistakes if you’re working. In the book, Arnold talks about working your ass off.
How many of us can seriously say we work super hard on particular topics and subjects?
I remember… when I was at Coca-Cola, I did a Kaizen activity (if you don’t know what that is – I’ll let you google it). It was a week long event, we had people fly in from all over Europe, USA, etc… The preperation was intense, the Kaizen week was even more intense… and then post event, there were so many actions. I remember leaving home super early to get to the office that week and then coming home really late every day. Everyone used to work from home on Friday – but there I was, with one or two others, and the cleaners late Friday typing up notes and sorting out the flipcharts and post-it notes. I worked my ass off for that Kaizen event… and it paid dividends. The senior leadership noticed, It was in the newsletter… but more importantly, we saved something like 80 hours of processing time, halved the number of process errors, etc… It was a huge win!
It really is about working your ass off to be the best. To be really good at what you enjoy. What you do and more importantly, when you are working your ass off on something you enjoy – it’s fun! That late Friday in the office, I was enjoying it! Myself along with the other two folk (and the cleaners) had some music going in the office, and we were enjoying it!
In the book… Arnold talks about 24 hours. I use this alot also when people ask me, how do you find the time to do everything.
You have 24 hours in a day
Let’s say you work for 8. And then, you may sleep for 8. That leaves you with 8 hours.
Now, for example… you’ve got to commute to work, you may spend time with family, eating etc… (Arnold breaks this alot better in the book than what I have in this blog)… so let’s say, all that takes about 4 hours.
You’re left with 4 hours free a day. Let’s put 2 hours aside for catching up on things, traffic perhaps, and other stuff which you may not account for.
In a day – you can easily have, around 2 hours free. What are you doing with those 2 hours?
Most are mindlessly scrolling through social media. Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. Check your screen time on your phone. How much time in a day or week do you spend doing that.
Be more productive.
So today’s thought is… work your ass off. Seriously, work hard and achieve something special. Those 2 hours a day, you could easily start going to the gym and improve your health. You could even just walk for an hour a day – imagine the health benefits of that. You could start a new hobby… Anything. Just pick something, for which you have passion for and work your ass off.
So I’m going to continue through the chapters of the book I’m reading that’s been written by Arnold.
Today’s thought centres around…
Chapter 2 was great!
Recently, I was on a call with my mentor. We were having a chat and he stopped and said, Bal… you need to think bigger.
I was like – what do you mean bigger… He said, you’re thinking too small! It was like he’d read this chapter before we’d had our conversation! (He hadn’t by the way!)
We think next steps. Baby steps sometimes – which can be ok. But what is the bigger picture?
In the vision board – how big did you go? Some people say they want to write a book. That’s great. But do you want it to be a ‘best seller’? Or just another book? You got to think big. Bigger than what you’re thinking. If you’re aspiring to be an actor, do you want to act in a few films or act and win awards? Oscars?
This chapter in Arnold’s book really made me think – that you have to think big. Think big and bold. Not just want you’re going to achieve in a few years (whilst short term planning is important) you have to think bigger… 10 years. 15 years. 20 years. What is it that you want to achieve? What kind of legacy do you want to build?
I recently finished the book, ‘psychology of money’. Great read! I’ll talk about that another day. But one thing that it talks about is, compund interest. How over long period of times, your money will grow – and grow and grow. Don’t look short term. Think long term. I’ve done something similar, where about 15 years ago – I opened a savings account. And I put in £100 per month. It’s one of these that is a shares savings account (for those in the UK – Stocks and Shares ISA). Now, it’s grown. Every 4 or 5 years, I check it and see how it’s doing, do I need to change anything but in all honesty – I’ve just let it grow! Now when I opened it, I jokingly called it my ‘Lamborghini Fund’. I thought one day, I might have enough to put a deposit on a Lamborghini. Priorities have changed since then – but you know what give it some more time… and I won’t be far off! That was me thinking big then!! Then I was driving a 8 year old VW Golf diesel – but I was thinking big about a Lamborghini.
So to wrap up today’s Friday Thought… don’t think small. Think big… think huge! And dare to dream because you need to chase those dreams… as they will become reality one day.
Recently, you might have noticed, a few of our nations favourite retailers have had ‘tech’ problems and had to shut!
McDonalds, Tesco and Sainsburys all had card payment outages…and then this week gone, on Tuesday, Greggs had to shut!
We have moved to a cashless society… and to be honest, that’s ok. However, we need the systems that support this to ensure they’re reliable, secure and most importantly… available for us to purchase our steak bakes from Greggs!
In 2022, card payments made up 90% of retail spending and racked up £1.3 billion in vendor processing fees, according to the British Retail Consortium.
Adam Pilton, a cyber security consultant at CyberSmart, said the IT outages “should act as a reminder to us in our personal lives and within our business lives of the dependence we place upon technology”.
There is no evidence the technical problems in recent days were caused by cyber attacks – McDonald’s said its global outage was caused by a “third-party provider”.
“One of the key takeaways will be to review the robust back-up systems these retailers have got in place,” said Jenni Matthews, head of marketing and insights at MRI Software.
She added that many people no longer use cash and rely on contactless payments for day-to-day shopping.
“We’re in a day and age where we rely on technology so heavily,” she said.
Whilst all this was going on – I was on my way to the dentist the morning that Greggs was shut… and I thought this needs a tweet…
…and off course, the BBC picked up in my tweet –
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68614636
But it wasn’t long before Greggs tweeted…
It’s reminder, how much we use technology… that we should always ensure that a) we’re using it correctly and securely, b) checking that sites and payment methods are secure and finally c) that you do some due diligence on what you’re using and where – for example, do you have old credit cards stored with some retailers, or have you checked your passwords recently and updated them? (Google passwords offer a service where they advice you that a particular password of yours might have been involved in a leak, or used too many times across different platforms, etc…).
So whilst we can all get our sausage rolls again… yes, for the vegans out there, they too are again available…. stay secure.
Yes.. it’s back! My Friday Thought is back!! And I’m taking some inspiration from a book I’m currently reading…
I got the book at Christmas – and wasn’t sure how good it’d be. But honestly, reading the first chapter – love it.
There’s a sense of honesty (Arnold uses words he would normally say.. like bullsh*t etc..), transparency and openness. I think, these elements make the book a great read.
And so to my Friday Thought… it’s on the first chapter of the book…
I won’t share my full story here about my vision – but in the book, Arnold talks about having a vision. I’m not going to relay everything Arnold says – you have to buy the book and read it – but in all honesty, it’s very true with some great examples from him.
You have to have a vision of what you want to be, where you are going and where you want to be.
For me, when growing up – I loved cars. Had a poster of a Ferrari F40 on my wall. Loved them. When I went to university, in my first year, I studied Automotive Engineering. But a chance encounter with a Professor, said there’s more opportunities for me if I did something like Mechanical or Manufacturing Engineering… and so I switched and I think that was the right thing to do because then I got my first job at Kodak.
I’ve never had a vision board as such, always looked at cars (which is one of my passions) and thought, would love to drive that one day. Not necessarily own… but definitely drive.
Even from a career perspective… I’ve always wanted to be in a particular position and have a particular title (I’ll share more about what this is/was in another blog post!)
So how do you have a clear vision… well, a vision board might help! And rather than me explain it, I thought… why not have Lily Singh explain it to you…
So my Friday Thought is…. inspired from Arnold…. Have a Clear Vision.
Last week, I was on a work trip in India.
I had a great time – met the team, the wider Tech team, some of our vendors and partners and other staff. All in all, it was time well spent.
I went with particular items I wanted to discuss with the team and wanted to listen to them – about their concerns, issues and anything on top of their mind.
I did all of that. And whilst doing it – learnt alot. I wanted to share some of those learnings,
I’d like to share, in my next blog post – things I learnt as a Leader. Which I think are applicable irrespective of where your team is based.
Most important element was that I learnt so much – which helps productivity and moreso, the team to ask questions. Remember, be curious…. not judgemental.
I know… it’s been a while! I appreciate your understanding! But more importantly… where is 2024 going?! March already!!!!
I am trying to blog more – sharing more of my thoughts on technology, people and processes… all are important in today’s world. And for today’s friday thought, it’s very much around vibes.
I do often look and feel for vibes… good or bad. And when you get good vibes… Enjoy!
You should too… look out for vibes. Feel the vibes.
Vibes are important because it’s a form of communication that can be so powerful, it leaves you with thoughts, memories and/or experiences.
What is a Vibe? (the below is taken from the Cambridge Dictionary)
The mood of a place, situation, person, etc. and the way that they make you feel:
laid-back vibe The city is famous for its laid-back vibe.
vibe of I loved the overall vibe of the place but the food wasn’t that great.
The music has a soothing vibe.
I didn’t like the place—it had bad vibes.
I was getting some weird vibes from him—I don’t think he liked me.
When in any organisation, it’s important to know to know when your time has come or when to step aside/down from a position or power.
I shared with you previously about the Cornell University course I recently completed, which was titled, ‘Leadership lessons from Ancient Rome’. It was a great course – and there was a module focused on Julius… and what led to his demise.
Now, whilst I won’t go into all of that – there’s key elements that everyone should know. Simple things such as, has the organisation stagnated? Is it still continuing to make progress? Are you meeting targets, KPI’s and metrics that have been set? Is every motivated – even in charitable organisations, are those who volunteer still engaged and attending or have you seen a decrease?
It doesn’t always land on the leader, but most of it has to.
They are the ones in charge – they are the ones who can change the leadership or hierarchy. They are the ones with the ability to grow the organisation and move it from where it is to good, or from good to great.
Some of you may remember, I joined the committee of the local Gurdwara (Sikh Temple). I’d like to think, I helped where I could. Items such as…
But after my two years on the committee, I decided not to continue.
Bal, why did you leave?
Well… comes to the point of who are you surrounded by?
Similar to Julius, there’s a few folks who have all the power. Make all the decisions. And whilst that’s fine, in parts (because they’re older, more knowledge, etc…) there’s a whole lack of cohesiveness.
There are leaders within that group, who think they can do better – which is fine, if you can – but when it’s evident you can’t… you got to think, are you right for that position?
So I decided to leave. Many were upset, and suggested that I don’t.. but I can’t be surrounded by people who don’t have a forward vision or, simply… not good at their job! I did share my views on many occasions and what action steps to take… but, well, you can guess.
Whilst Julius did some great work, led battles… reforms, and much more for Rome. Ultimately, his power got to him… which led him to his assassination on March 15, 44BC. And that’s why it’s important, whilst you may have achieved some great work and led some fantastic activities that have resulted in huge gains… remember to know, when to step aside.
Et tu, Brute? [ (et tooh brooh-tay) ] A Latin sentence meaning “Even you, Brutus?” from the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. Caesar utters these words as he is being stabbed to death, having recognized his friend Brutus among the assassins.