Itay Talgam: Lead like the great conductors

I recently attended Itay's talk in Shanghai and was really an inspiring one. It gives an alternative illustration of leadership styles than can be applied in the corporate world. This for one set me thinking on how one's leadership style can actually shape the culture of the firm, which means one wrong step will probably cause millions of dollars ultimately.

Nevertheless, it was one of the best presentation I have attended at least in recent times. Once again, it was simply awesome !

At last .....A Brand New Office *

As of Monday, we have moved to a new office - hurray! For those who worked in KL Sentral and saw a bunch of individuals in lime green T-shirts (think Mike Wasowski from Monsters Inc) yesterday moving around KL Sentral or taking the LRT/Monorail/Kommuter in the morning - yes, those were the people moving to the new office and not MOVERS.

Unpacked all my stuff yesterday and finally got my new Cisco VOIP working! Unfortunately, I couldn't access my mailbox or internet until today. Also, since everyone is going green these days, there will be no more styrofoam cups (outlawed) and the luxury of having a tea lady bringing you your daily dose of caffeine. Everyone are given their own mugs which they will use and wash daily at the pantry.

Foodwise, since yesterday, we have been having our lunch at KL Sentral station which has a wide variety of fastfood outlets and STARBUCKS - yes, something we can't live without these days! . Anyway, can't dine on fast food all the time for health and money reasons, got to find alternative food outlets... still in the midst of checking out my surroundings!

We like to move it, move it

Our office is relocating to a building in Malaysia's foremost transportation hub on Monday. I am currently doing a last count of the number of boxes to be shipped out on Saturday and ensuring that no important documents are left behind. . So it's been hectic the last couple of days especially since I'm the manager in charge of the move for our department. Our building is SMART building hence it doesn't even have buttons indicating the floor numbers in the elevators... !

All packed and ready to be sealed for the big MOVE

Budget 2008

Came into office at 2pm today cos we've got to work late tonight - brainstorming on the various pertinent tax issues that will impact the rakyat. Got to work tomorrow as well. Brain and myself are praying for a 2% tax cut for individuals - fat hopes I guess considering the recent subprime crisis in the US which continue to grip the world markets! But I guess you never know - Pak Lah could be generous *lol*.

As the world mourned the passing of Luciano Pavarotti , hailed by many as the greatest tenor of his generation, .... on a brighter note, the world or at least the royal family of Japan celebrated the 1ist birthday of Prince Hisahito - future emperor of Japan! Isn't he such a cutie pie?

Birthdays are like baths... you have one once a year whether you need it or not!

As last Friday was my birthday, Brain took me out to dinner to Cilantro, at Micasa Hotel, a chic award wining restaurant noted for their French-Japanese cuisine. I got off work earlier than usual to beat the horrendous KL traffic which was getting worse by the minute. The fact that it was the school holidays and was raining cats and dogs didn't help. Anyway, while we were stuck in the congestion, I got a call from my colleague who said that a disgruntled client had just called (at 6.30pm!) to say that she didn't receive an important e-mail from me. I told my colleague that I have sent it out the previous evening straight right after my call with her. My colleague called the client back to explain the situation but she was just not happy and was literally jumping up and down saying that she needed the information for a Monday morning presentation!. Unfortunately, my colleague didn't know how to defuse the situation and told me to anticipate a complaint on Monday by one mighty unhappy client . I was like - thanks for ruining the rest of my Friday! Firstly, I must say that the client is just plain UNREASONABLE. Why:
a) To know that she has a tight deadline to prepare for an internal presentation on Monday on her part and needed that vital information, she had to call me on Thursday after 5.30pm to get it. If she needed the information urgently she should have started her preparation as early as a week ago instead of asking me for the information at the very last minute.

b) To call me at 6.30pm on a Friday to inform that she has not received my e-mail is also a
mistake. She should have called during the day. What an idiot!

c) I did send the e-mail out and am just wondering whether she checked her mail box!

After the call from my colleague, I had half a mind to go back to office to reforward the e-mail to the client. Brain was taking it easy and told me to just forget it and get it to her only on Monday and besides we were still stuck in traffic and it would be difficult to turn back. Obviously, Brain does not know the extent of the repercussions that I'm about to face on Monday! Got to the restaurant and started to look at their menu but still worrying at the back of my mind about the stupid e-mail. Brain was giving me the look that says "stop worrying and start ordering" ! I ordered the salad and the seabass, skipped the dessert and the wine. Becos I looked so worried and fidgety, Brain just gave up and said that we will go back to office after the dinner. Finally, I relaxed and started to enjoy the food and ambience. Well, anyway, it's not first time that I've been to Cilantro but I must say that the food is definitely top notch insofar as fining dining is concerned. After dinner, we were relieved to know that the congestion and rain has subsided tremendously and there was hardly any traffic all the way back to office. I sent the e-mail out again and didn't get any nasty call on Monday! Truth to be told, she is one of the many difficult clients I have and this wouldn't be the first time that things like that happen!