BRIALOGUE 3
Dr Lulwa Al Mutlaq is not your typical go-getter entrepreneur. She doesn’t seek publicity and plaudits for herself, nor does she appear to be in a constant scramble to accrue wealth, accoutrements and other trappings of what passes nowadays for an ‘executive lifestyle’. Because of her professional achievements in human resource and women’s development, she is very well regarded in her native Bahrain, as well as in the broader Gulf region where she conducts most of her work.
Trust is key to Dr Lulwa’s business philosophy - and to her daily dealings with people, you sense. Indeed, this HR professional has called her one-year-old company Golden Trust.
Dr Lulwa is a banker by training, yet gives out none of that hard edge and bottom-line brashness that so often accompanies a person who has spent a life on the monetary side. Quite the contrary, she is a genuine ‘people person’ who actively listens, smiles often and readily, and has deep faith in her fellow human beings.
I’m certain that we shall see more of Dr Lulwa’s leadership style in the future. She practises what she preaches and, more crucially, she has the facility for getting people to follow.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Sailing the 'C's
BRIALOGUE 2
Sailing his own boat from Vancouver was how Cresswell Walker (‘Cress’) made his way initially to Singapore. Now, 14 months on, he’s about to return for a family reunion. I only half-jokingly asked if he was taking the boat back.
The sea journey is significant in that Cress looks at life as something of a voyage…(I wonder if he has ever been nick-named ‘Water Cress’) But with a breezy view: Course rather than Goal, indicating a voyage along which you can meander, moor and mull over, as opposed to a damn-everyone-else laser-focus fixation that achieving one’s goals seems to have become for some.
An ‘I’ specialist would gabble on, but Cress halted, adding “I don’t wanna bore ya.” Far from it. I was curious to learn about his 5 Cs: Choice, not Risk, Collaboration, not competition.
He brings this philosophy to coaching, wanting to help people make their own choices in the sea of ‘schlock’ they encounter daily.
We share the view that new learning pathways are due to open, that current orthodoxy is beyond its ‘self life’, as I would call it.
We finished our drinks and went our separate ways, but I sense we’ll talk again. What was his drink? Water.
Sailing his own boat from Vancouver was how Cresswell Walker (‘Cress’) made his way initially to Singapore. Now, 14 months on, he’s about to return for a family reunion. I only half-jokingly asked if he was taking the boat back.
The sea journey is significant in that Cress looks at life as something of a voyage…(I wonder if he has ever been nick-named ‘Water Cress’) But with a breezy view: Course rather than Goal, indicating a voyage along which you can meander, moor and mull over, as opposed to a damn-everyone-else laser-focus fixation that achieving one’s goals seems to have become for some.
An ‘I’ specialist would gabble on, but Cress halted, adding “I don’t wanna bore ya.” Far from it. I was curious to learn about his 5 Cs: Choice, not Risk, Collaboration, not competition.
He brings this philosophy to coaching, wanting to help people make their own choices in the sea of ‘schlock’ they encounter daily.
We share the view that new learning pathways are due to open, that current orthodoxy is beyond its ‘self life’, as I would call it.
We finished our drinks and went our separate ways, but I sense we’ll talk again. What was his drink? Water.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The J Factor
Some have described Joyce Ong as a ‘dragon lady’, ‘fierce’, even ‘scary’. She can certainly talk, but it is because that talk is both forthright and sincere that Joyce is our first featured dialogue partner.
She doesn’t just go with the flow – even at this Coffee Club outlet in Singapore she chooses berry tea. And you sense that this is why her company, J Factor, has stood the test of time.
I learn that Joyce started J Factor in 1995, the same year that Language Works was set up. As you listen to her, you realise that she has strong belief. Yet belief on its own is not enough: “To do something that you believe in, you really need perseverance and passion.”
Moreover, you have to enjoy what you do. Joyce’s enjoyment of her chosen craft is palpable. “The beauty of it is - I love it. I still love it.” She sounds surprised at herself.
Surviving a 12-year cycle in one of the fastest-moving, most demanding economies on earth, especially in advertising, promotions and consultancy, needs something more elemental and enduring than street smarts, business acumen or a smart strategy. And I’d say it’s the J Factor.
She doesn’t just go with the flow – even at this Coffee Club outlet in Singapore she chooses berry tea. And you sense that this is why her company, J Factor, has stood the test of time.
I learn that Joyce started J Factor in 1995, the same year that Language Works was set up. As you listen to her, you realise that she has strong belief. Yet belief on its own is not enough: “To do something that you believe in, you really need perseverance and passion.”
Moreover, you have to enjoy what you do. Joyce’s enjoyment of her chosen craft is palpable. “The beauty of it is - I love it. I still love it.” She sounds surprised at herself.
Surviving a 12-year cycle in one of the fastest-moving, most demanding economies on earth, especially in advertising, promotions and consultancy, needs something more elemental and enduring than street smarts, business acumen or a smart strategy. And I’d say it’s the J Factor.
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