Tag Archives: leadership

How to Manage your Former Peers After a Promotion?

  By hmteam • August 5, 2016 , ,

Being promoted to a new leadership role is a definitely a good reason to celebrate. But it is also a transition that requires adapting to a new behaviour along with other changes, especially with your former peers. It is possible that a former peer may resent you for getting the promotion that he or she wanted so badly. It is also likely that these colleagues will feel some amount of frustration and animosity as they report to you. So how do you deal with the situation without stressing yourself out? Here are some tips. • Monitor your behaviour: It’s never too early to establish credibility with your colleagues at every corporate level, including your immediate peers. That will save you lots of trouble later on because people will know what to expect from you in terms of planning, decision-making, and communication. So rather than attempting a rapid change, focus on building a character of integrity and authenticity as soon as possible. Be consistent with your work ethics and management style. For instance, don’t believe that your ex-peers will ever forget a habit of long coffee breaks or nasty gossip sessions. • Establish authority carefully: While you certainly need to specify your new role to the peers who will now be reporting to you, be careful about how you convey the information. Your tone of voice, facial expression, and body language shouldn’t portray the ‘I’m cooler than you now’ attitude. Just let them know that things have changed and that they will now be reporting to you. If it is possible, ask your company corporate communications team or a relevant senior to make an official announcement on your behalf. That could make things smoother. • Redefine relationships with friends: Some people you work with may have become close friends whom you like to spend time with outside office hours too. To handle the delicate situation, have a one-on-one chat with him or her. Be honest about how the relationship will be changing. Talk about your new responsibilities, but let the friend share his or her thoughts on it too. For example, you could ask them what kind of changes they foresee in the way they work now. Make it clear that you are there to provide support and loyalty and hope for reciprocation. Most importantly, mention that you don’t believe in giving friends special treatment at work. • Learn to detach from the old: Earlier, your daily life in the office must have been different. Other people, having regular conversations of a particular nature, and more personal with these peers, surrounded you. In fact, you may have even spoken negatively about your boss whom you will work with more closely after the promotion. Don’t be rude. Don’t ignore them. Be there for them when they need you, in case of family emergencies or illness or the like, but keep it to important things and waste less time on small talk. It’ll be hard but necessary to help you fit into your new role. • Get to know your new peers: It’s time to get better acquainted with your new peer group. Go for a lunch or coffee. Ask intelligent, pertinent questions about the department and projects. If something is completely new to you, like end of year performance reviews, ask about those. Still, keep the tone casual and include light personal conversation too such as favourite sports or hobbies. Fortunately, top business schools recognise the need to highlight these leadership role changes in their curriculum. The Nanyang Fellows MBA offers a course on Transformative Leadership that teaches you to deal with obstacles in leadership roles such as this. Check out the full list of courses here: http://www.nanyangfellows.com/about-nanyang-fellows/programme-structure/ So look at the big picture and enjoy the transition – it’s a learning process!

Being promoted to a new leadership role is a definitely a good reason to celebrate. But it is also a transition that requires adapting to a new behaviour along with other changes, especially with your former peers. It is possible that a former peer may resent you for getting the promotion that he or she wanted so badly. It is also likely that these colleagues will feel some amount of frustration and animosity as they report to you. So how do you deal with the situation without stressing yourself out?

Here are some tips.

  • Monitor your behaviour:

It’s never too early to establish credibility with your colleagues at every corporate level, including your immediate peers. That will save you lots of trouble later on because people will know what to expect from you in terms of planning, decision-making, and communication. So rather than attempting a rapid change, focus on building a character of integrity and authenticity as soon as possible. Be consistent with your work ethics and management style. For instance, don’t believe that your ex-peers will ever forget a habit of long coffee breaks or nasty gossip sessions.

  • Establish authority carefully:

While you certainly need to specify your new role to the peers who will now be reporting to you, be careful about how you convey the information. Your tone of voice, facial expression, and body language shouldn’t portray the ‘I’m cooler than you now’ attitude. Just let them know that things have changed and that they will now be reporting to you. If it is possible, ask your company corporate communications team or a relevant senior to make an official announcement on your behalf. That could make things smoother.

  • Redefine relationships with friends:

Some people you work with may have become close friends whom you like to spend time with outside office hours too. To handle the delicate situation, have a one-on-one chat with him or her. Be honest about how the relationship will be changing. Talk about your new responsibilities, but let the friend share his or her thoughts on it too. For example, you could ask them what kind of changes they foresee in the way they work now. Make it clear that you are there to provide support and loyalty and hope for reciprocation. Most importantly, mention that you don’t believe in giving friends special treatment at work.

  • Learn to detach from the old:

Earlier, your daily life in the office must have been different. Other people, having regular conversations of a particular nature, and more personal with these peers, surrounded you. In fact, you may have even spoken negatively about your boss whom you will work with more closely after the promotion. Don’t be rude. Don’t ignore them. Be there for them when they need you, in case of family emergencies or illness or the like, but keep it to important things and waste less time on small talk. It’ll be hard but necessary to help you fit into your new role.

  • Get to know your new peers:

It’s time to get better acquainted with your new peer group. Go for a lunch or coffee. Ask intelligent, pertinent questions about the department and projects. If something is completely new to you, like end of year performance reviews, ask about those. Still, keep the tone casual and include light personal conversation too such as favourite sports or hobbies.

Fortunately, top business schools recognise the need to highlight these leadership role changes in their curriculum. The Nanyang Fellows MBA offers a course on Transformative Leadership that teaches you to deal with obstacles in leadership roles such as this.

Check out the full list of courses here: http://www.nanyangfellows.com/about-nanyang-fellows/programme-structure/

So look at the big picture and enjoy the transition – it’s a learning process!

Get Set For A One-week Immersion In Global Business

  By hmteam • May 13, 2016

One Week Immersion In Global Business

Once you enrol in the Nanyang Fellows MBA programme, you’ll need to start packing your bags and getting yourself into adventure mode. While the course will begin at our Singapore campus, midway through the programme, you will get the opportunity to travel abroad for a week-long eye-opening experience known as the Overseas Business Study Mission. 

Here’s why the Overseas Business Study Mission (BSM) is a valuable component of the Fellows journey.

  • Introduction to New Dynamics

Even though NBS faculty come from all over the world and every key industry, there’s a big difference between what you learn in the classroom and what you learn when you are thrown out of your regular comfort zone. The objective of being a part of the Fellows MBA is to gain a broad knowledge of both Asian and global business practices. On your BSM, you will get to apply whatever you’ve learnt to a foreign business scenario. Exposure to a new culture, society, politics and business dynamics will help you pack your dissertation with unique real-world knowledge.

  • An Intensive Case Study

Before you head off to your BSM, you and your faculty advisors will decide on a specific topic or issue to cover in your selected location. It will certainly be a subject that interests you and pertains to your career goals. When you reach your destination, you’ll study the relevant segments of business and industry there, including corporate and government entities. Topics for the case studies sometimes involve investigating and reporting on a potential new business or geographical area. The best way to gain insights is to let your critical thinking, understanding and appreciation of the fresh environment combine with what you’ve learnt from your coursework.

  • Previous Locations

Fellows candidates in the past have travelled to the Silicon Valley, New York, London, San Francisco, Athens, Toronto, Tokyo, Bangalore, Dublin, Brussels, Munich, Cambridge, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Sydney, Berlin and Copenhagen.

  • The Outcome

The BSM encourages independent research with an open mind and the analytical skills that you have acquired over the years at work and at NBS. You’ll need to spend your month wisely and speak to consumers, suppliers, company executives and others to get your data. Prior to completing the BSM programme, you will also be expected to present a written report to the company that you’d be working with there.

If you take a look at the Nanyang Fellows website, it will be clear that the course modules are challenging and go deep into every possible area that future business leaders should excel at. Still, we believe in giving our students an extra edge – hence, the carefully tailored BSM.

Challenge your current understanding of the world. Aim for greater insight into cultures, technology, people and global economics. Look at every aspect holistically. That’s what true leaders do!

5 Powerful Habits of Successful Leaders

  By hmteam • November 20, 2015 ,

Successful leaders are the ones who can get the most out of the people they lead. If you can keep your team highly motivated and engaged in their work with no negatives such as unwanted stress, your company will benefit. A happy employee is a productive employee.

05_Successful_Leaders

Here are some habits that successful leaders have.

  1. They Create a Culture to Fit the Company’s Vision

Every company has a vision but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have your own. So create a vision that translates to what a great leader you could be. Next, communicate that vision to your organisation and your employees. Once they are inspired to achieve that vision, let them know what you expect from their individual roles. Employ your management skills to build the perfect work culture to fit your vision. Encourage trust, openness, fun and creativity. Let everybody share new ideas. Remember, you need to reach your goals together. So figure out the best way to do that.

  1. They Follow and Communicate Positive Values

Personal characteristics including honesty, integrity, objectivity and independent thinking are present in thriving leaders. You need to demonstrate these positive values at all times. When people you work with realise that you take your values seriously, they will reciprocate. Keep your eyes and ears open for any conflict in values because they can affect your organisation badly. For example, an employee who believes in using dishonest means to finish reports as fast as possible can ruin the work culture and deliver substandard work. So talk to everybody and find out how things are going at their level. Be there for them so that they are there for you.

  1. They Set the Bar High

Great leaders challenge themselves. They have clear goals that they usually exceed. When your employees see you meeting and surpassing goal after goal, they’ll know that you mean serious business. Along with being motivated, they’ll push themselves to do their best on the job too. You can help them set realistic goals while allowing them to make decisions about how it is done.

  1. They Handle Pressure Well

Tough times can drive some people into negative behaviour such as self-doubt and anger. Bad things will happen and you have to deal with them. Being the leader, it’s your job to keep calm and let others look up to you especially when they need you. That means that you should learn how to assess situations and take action while you keep the employees in the loop. Never leave them in the dark and never lose your confidence.

  1. They Believe that Success is Achieved Together

A simple thank you can act as a major motivator. Celebrate your employees’ achievements. Be personal and consider sending them an email or dropping by their office so that they know you don’t take good work for granted. Share credit with them if your projects get noticed. These behind the scenes people are important to your company.

A leader has a deep, long-lasting influence on the people he leads. If you lead well, your team will do great things for your company. Be positive. Build a rapport. Show them the way to success.

Check out the impressive list of Nanyang Fellows MBA alumni who have become top leaders in their respective fields!

Gear Up for a Role in International Business

  By hmteam • November 12, 2015 , ,

In today’s world economy, almost every business career is an international business career. And you are an ambitious, tech savvy person who is ready to be a part of this diverse scenario. There’s a lot of cultural exchange and business knowhow involved in every business interaction these days. Do you have the drive to succeed in this challenging environment? If you answered in the affirmative: Does your skill set include what it takes? Here’s your checklist.

01_International_Business

  • Be culturally sensitive

If you want to succeed in international business, staying stuck in your local cohort will not get you very far. You don’t have to travel to Spain to know that a business dinner could go well into the wee hours of the morning because the mealtime commences so late. You also don’t have to spend time in Japan to find out that the Japanese don’t think twice about asking people what they earn. Taking out the time and interest to talk to international students on your campus is good enough to teach you a long list of things like this. Extensive reading helps too. Or you could end up offending an elderly Japanese individual by offering to shake his hand. Some cultural customs may even irk you, but the more you know, the better for your growth.

  • Work on your language skills

Simply reading books often is one way to improve your language skills. Getting As in English classes throughout school and college doesn’t say anything about your conversational skills. Work on your communication. Push yourself to talk to more people and to develop good conversational skills so that you can build lasting relationships. Plus, knowing multiple languages is essential. Chinese languages have become popular for B-school students since the country has a booming international business environment. The truth is that people are comfortable talking in their local language, so remove that barrier.

  • Stay abreast of world affairs

There is a reason that there are so many newspapers and magazines in the market; you need to stay in touch with what is happening around you and elsewhere. When you are working in an industry, staying in a vacuum is just not and option. You need to read the news, watch the news, sign up for online alerts and know what is happening across the globe. Daily events affect stock prices and the prices of raw materials. Rapid changes like a terrorist attack in a safe city result in changed business processes and demand and supply. For example, somebody working in the hotel/tourism industry would need to know about the 2015 Bangkok temple blast because it obviously affected business. Knowing what is happening enables you to change and adapt your strategy accordingly.

  • Learn about governments/political relations

In the current business space, organisations work with colleagues and clients in various countries. Develop your knowledge of international politics and economics of the nations and cities that you work with. Find out about the chief minister/president and the ruling party. Then do your research and understand where things stand between the government of your country and that of those places. Also understand the relationship between the ruling party and its opposition. That could help you avert trouble if you are offering goods or a service in their location. For instance, a multinational company that runs cab services globally will study each location, learn about its trade unions and understand how supportive or unsupportive political parties are when it comes to welcoming foreign business.

The Nanyang Fellows MBA programme

The Nanyang Fellows MBA programme nurtures candidates who go on to succeed in the international business world. From top experts teaching you to time carved out for a visit to a top US B-school, there are multiple elements to bring you closer to your career goals. Whether you want to start your own entrepreneurial venture after years in the workforce or join the coveted C-suite, the entire experience will help you build the skills and mind-set needed.

As a representative for your company in the global arena, you’ll enjoy new experiences each day. Even if you aren’t always on a plane, you’ll be going places as you continue to excel as an international communicator.

Get the Edge with the Nanyang Fellows MBA Programme

  By hmteam • November 3, 2015 ,

When you’re a seasoned professional looking for the right MBA programme for yourself, you also seek new skills and techniques that will let you handle more responsibilities and critical analysis at work. You aim for even better communication skills and a growth in strategic thinking. Are you focusing on leading more people with your vision? Or are you an entrepreneur looking for some nurturing? No matter the results you want, the Nanyang Fellows MBA Programme will enable you to get there.

02_get_the_edge_v2_720

Here’s why:

The Sum of Experience

When you are in an MBA programme where the minimum years of experience of candidates is 8 years, you know that you’ll be bombarded with fresh insights, knowledge and concepts from all over the business globe. Being surrounded by peers from a wide range of career backgrounds is always a plus because you never know what you’ll end up learning. Since you’ll have similar goals, your combined experience can bring a lot to the table. Maybe you’ve never had a long conversation with somebody from the American biomedical engineering industry? Or maybe you had no idea how people in India react to condom ads? Get ready to know a lot more.

International Exposure

The Nanyang Business School is known for its world-class faculty members. The Fellows start their journey in Singapore and progress to the United States to attend courses at top B-schools like Wharton, Georgetown University and University of California at Berkeley. Take this opportunity to soak in practical knowledge and a conceptual foundation of business models that make the best of East and West industry practices. Immerse yourself and understand how business is conducted in a global setting. At the end, you also get a certificate from the American university that you attend.

New Leadership Skills

A good leader needs to be good with people. In order to do that, you need to know what drives people as individuals, as a society and in the environment in question. The Nanyang Fellows MBA Programme makes sure that you learn or improve every hard skill and soft skill required to succeed. That’s accomplished by the hands on, expert faculty at NBS along with the other emerging leaders whom you’ll be sharing your education space with. For example, if you lacked an organisational skill that affected your work in the past, you’ll certainly deal with it here.

An Evolving Thought Process

Fellows from the past years have credited the programme for helping them develop a broader analytical framework and critical thinking that lead them to solve fundamental issues that had been lying untouched. Learning and reflection are priority here. Your curriculum will be supplemented with lots of research, thanks to the school’s reputed research centres. That means that you’ll have access to cutting edge information that can contribute towards your knowledge bank.

In fact, major international publications including The Economist and the Financial Times continue to highly rate the B-school’s academic quality. With networking being the need of the hour, this is one place where you can invest and gain. The eclectic mix of Nanyang Fellows MBA will stand by you whether you need life-long friends, business partners, mentors or powerful role models.

Getting Ready for a Leadership Role

  By hmteam • November 1, 2015 ,

You’ve been there, done that. And now you’re ready to transition into a new role where you’re going to create an even bigger and a better impact. Prep to move up to the C-level and be one of those leaders that you’ve always admired. Are you ready to support your company’s business strategies? Great. But there’s more to the job; a good leader has to offer his/her own insights and contribute in key decision-making. You already know the company’s vision – but what about your vision as a leader? Managing people may come easily to you, but do you know if you can lead them too?

01_Getting_Ready_For_Leadership_Role

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you are eyeing that new title.

Personalise Your Role

Your key to success lies in understanding your company’s vision and values. It is in your hands to make them meaningful on a personal level because the leader is a role model for many. Don’t tie yourself down with ideas about how managers at your level should behave. Focus on maintaining a dedicated work ethic that lets you be true to yourself. Stick to a clear-cut plan and set goals, motivating your team to set their goals too along the way.

Communicate Effectively

Always show people the big picture. Never assume that your team members know what that picture exactly is. Instead, update them on a regular basis so that they are informed of the goals and changes. Take care of your team. Don’t forget to say thank you and praise in front of others. Playing the blame game is a strict no-no. A leader is responsible for team results. Take ownership of both the positives and negatives.

Make Informed Decisions

Today’s business globe is witnessing innovation every day, so a good leader needs to know how to adapt and be well informed at all times. Evaluate situations with the help of multiple resources because a single perspective just won’t do. And then arrive at a decision. A diversity of views shouldn’t confuse you. Just keep an open mind and listen. Learn to leverage your ideas by taking in inputs from your team members. The exchange of new ideas and feedback can lead to great results. Blocking out everybody else would be a mistake.

Be Tech Savvy

An effective leader understands how IT and business strategy, risk management and finance work together. And as you move up the corporate ladder, you’ll need to upgrade your technical knowhow, because a leader’s job involves understanding how the use of technology affects the organisation. More importantly, you’ll need to know how to exploit this technology in your industry.

Tackle Change

Change management is a relatively new area. Businesses are on the search for change drivers who can lead a transformation. It isn’t about leading change throughout the organisation as much as it is about being at ease in a state of constant fluctuation. That basically means that a leader has to keep continuous improvement on his agenda – such as building better processes and increasing the market share of the company.

The MBA as a Stepping Stone

A top class MBA like the Nanyang Fellows MBA is a stepping-stone to your leadership role. An MBA programme focused on candidates with years of experience will encourage lots of application. It will be a makeover for you. You can experience so much during the programme, in terms of work, culture, networking and a foreign business study mission that will add to your list of leadership abilities.

Are you ready to get ahead? You have to work on yourself but don’t forget the support system you’ll get from your B-school. You’ll be a part of a new, supportive community. A business school is a powerful tool for socialising. So make the most of it!

Managing the Enterprise of Tomorrow

  By hmteam • October 26, 2015

03_Enterprise

Future enterprises will be immersed in an even more digitised economy. Every individual in a company will have a bigger impact on business. Whether you are managing a team of two or five, you will have more influence in your company. Daily working conditions will be different and your day-to-day schedule would be affected by these, but tomorrow’s admin guy is going to learn to be much more versatile than somebody in his current profile. Regardless of job titles, everybody is going to have to throw themselves into the new environment.

More Complexities

Tomorrow’s enterprise is more complex. If you think that knowing fluent English and being able to talk to foreign clients is good enough, think again. In the future, more internationalisation will create a thin line between the global and the local. That means that businesses will need to know when local trends and culture cannot be overshadowed by a globalised view. Imagine starting company operations in a country where the people prefer to lead more traditional lives relying heaving on cultural norms but you try to force an American office environment on them. So sensitivity and the ability to simplify things will be important. If communication is a priority today, it will be the topmost feature distinguishing enterprises in the future. A good manager needs to integrate market strategies, activity and long-term policies with the shareholder expectations, customer aspiration and colleague mindset in focus.

New Profiles

Enterprises in the future will have to rely on their capacity to attract talents and on digital world skills. In other words, the human resources and information technology departments will be highlighted. New job profiles will be created; for example, data scientists – not a description that we are very familiar with. Individuals who are capable of predicting trends and tastes will be in demand because change will be so frequent and solutions so customised.

Leadership Qualities

A changing business environment has brought on a change in expectations of behaviour. The topmost person in an industry has always been known as someone who knows almost everything about everything in his or her field. This will become rare as enterprises start equating authority with attitudes, personalities, charisma, the capacity to make others adhere to ideas, and above all else, the talent to encourage others to work well in collaboration. The new leaders will be mobilisers and facilitators. You have certainly already seen things moving in this direction.

Vital Responsibilities

Digitisation brings with it new forms of competition and risk, so future company leaders will have to focus on corporate strategy and cost reduction. Decisions will be taken to comply with the need to differentiate a business from its competitors. You need divergent strategic plans to achieve this and cost reduction. The management will still have to continuously demonstrate to shareholders that the decisions taken are increasing the value of their assets. That happens today as well, but the future will see such decisions being made more frequently.

Training Needs

Costs for training associates will increase. Enterprises will want technically qualified employees who are fully operational on day one. Earlier, companies would spend a lot of time and effort on training new entrants, in hope of retaining them for a long duration.

Today, the global economy is volatile. Escalating costs, changing technologies, complex regulations, unpredictable markets and record deficits are affecting businesses around the world and have created new challenges in meeting expectations. Enterprises that possess the ability to anticipate needs, will adapt more easily to change. A business needs to be globally effective in terms of addressing various markets and running operations optimally. It also needs to be innovative, adaptive and ready to face certainty and uncertainty.

Making Sense of the Global Workplace

  By hmteam • October 25, 2015 ,

 

 

 

02_Global_Workplace

Businesses have been tackling an evolving scenario post the 2008 market crash and the subsequent economic downturns. You’ve probably confronted some of those changes yourself whilst being part of a team. The demand for sales and trading roles isn’t as high as before. Mergers & acquisitions roles have gained popularity. With the jobs market being more stable now, a lot of people are interested in financial training as a key to switch roles or move to a different kind of a company. Reflecting on the globalised nature of the industry, top business schools are welcoming more and more students from around the world. There’s clearly been a rise in internationalisation.

Ethics and responsibility

The effects of economic ups and downs have not stopped impacting world financial centres. That is why there is a big emphasis on risk management, with B-schools updating their regulations curriculum consistently. Ethics is another area of interest that scores high on importance. Sustainability doesn’t lie far behind. What started as a small module in many business schools has become a core subject for many. A good knowledge of mathematical tools, plus a confident grasp of world financial markets, and IT techniques, is your recipe for success here. In fact, your current role has certainly exposed you to these aspects in some degree already. But even if you know it all, you need to know how to use it. An MBA programme such as the Nanyang Fellows MBA aims to create managers who are able to reflect on and look at the implications of their action AND their inaction.

Internal Collaboration

Collaboration and teamwork characterise today’s professional life, regardless of your location. Businesses want their employees to work together and create results even if they are thousands of miles apart. The global workspace now demands that you work together remotely, so a greater focus is given to international teamwork. If a business has teams collaborating efficiently, problem solving and the creation of positive results will come easily.

Knowing how to effectively collaborate is a skill you can nurture every day. Just always be open to spending time with all kinds of people even if you have a language or cultural barrier. Think of the executive who had coffee with a visiting colleague and how he found out that India doesn’t allow people to find out their unborn baby’s gender. That would definitely help him when he’s working on a campaign involving pregnant women in India.

Cultural understanding and agility

Global employers value cultural awareness and agility. You need to be ready to take care of yourself and business irrespective of your surroundings. That means that you could be sent off to live in a remote country for three months and you would have to deliver results while you are sitting there with the local people, eating their local food, speaking their language, and joining them for festive occasions. You may have already spent some time outside your home country, but did you stay there as a mere tourist? Next time you go somewhere, venture to spots that are not traditionally touristy. Who knows? You could find out something that the people don’t like and never repeat it again with clients from that country.

Leadership, consulting and entrepreneurship

Everybody wants to be a leader. The evolution of business and management careers has brought entrepreneurship and consulting to the limelight. It isn’t always about creating great products – it could also be about delivering unparalleled service that impacts multiple countries and thousands of people. The business industry sees people breaking away from the corporate ladder to start their ventures every day. When you choose to do an MBA, you get the opportunity to rethink your career path. Some successful start-ups have started from a college dorm room. So what are you waiting for with your years of experience? Build your business plan and take it from there. See how it goes. If consulting is your passion, then go for it. Once you are into it, you’ll know what is going right and what is going wrong.

The Nanyang Fellows MBA is for seasoned professionals like you, who are ready to embrace these challenges head on. The evolving business world needs well-trained professionals who can combine their experience with top class knowledge. That’s how leaders are born.