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.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
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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