Integrity is your most important asset in business negotiation

It is about getting better...

In our conversation with a business colleague, a top bank executive, and business woman, we both agreed that integrity ie our ability  to keep our word is our most important asset to get customers and investors.  Not your collateral or your branding.  

And yet so many people destroy their future and their hope of being wealthy by constantly not keeping their word.   Honor your promises.  Do it now.   I will do it.   Walk the talk

Show results.  Show what you have done.  Get the results

Talking is not enough, honor your word.  

"Walang himala, Tayo ang gumagawa ng himala!"

It is about getting better...

We often attribute miracles ("himala") to the divine and supernatural.  But in this movie clip, the actress noted the real truth.  We are the miracles

As having been delegated by the Lord to take care of His creation in Genesis Chapter 1, we assume God like characteristics to gain dominion over this earth:

    1.  Bearing babies is miracle

    2.  Planting seeds, raising livestock is miracle

    3.  Our jobs are miracles:   baking bread, curing the sick, formulating medicines,  writing a memo

    4.  We alone, the humans can create miracle:  not animals, not the supposed supernaturals

Let us use to the health the powers bequeathed on us to create miracles

 

Forcefulness needed in determination and leadership

It is about getting better...

Former boss at Pepsi Enrico defined leadership as taking a point of view and expressing this forcefully.   Most of us think of goal setting as wishful thinking/hoping.  Nothing of that sorts happen.  Force and extreme emotion is needed.

How many times, have we found out that we almost made this, but we did not try hard enough.  

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That is why hard work, hard work, hard work is needed to succeed.

Dont settle for less...

It is about getting better...

Always go 100%.  It cant be "puwede"  na.  The product or service must meet 100% of the customer needs and want.

You have to be a professional.  You have to give it 150%.   You have only a job and give it your best shot.  You pass this way only once.  Do the best you can.

Forgetting appointment - not a good way to project professionalism and reliability

It is about getting better...

We had an appointment this morning with an account executive this morning at 9 am.   We would be seeing him in a place some 40 km away.  We met him in an exhibit and we explored the possibility of plastic substitute to our concrete supply.  

We talked to  him two days ago while on a trip to Northern Luzon.

Just as we were taking our breakfast, I requested that a phone call be made to confirm our appointments.   Several calls and text were made and none were answered, even with a text.  

We decided to slide our appointments to a trip to a town 100 km away.  We would meet with our contractor who wanted to make something out of his 2.6 hectare property.

At 4 o clock we made a call which he finally answered saying he is sick.   I am not as interested anymore in the deal we are supposed to talk about since:   1.  We still have to get a govt approval.   2.  There is a huge price difference we have to negotiate on.

Challenging test/interview questions for candidates

It is about getting better...

It was reported that tests/interview questions for Google (or FB) are very challenging.  Tough and where you are really forced to think.  It is just like a movie where the bida has no escape, sure to die and suffer.  Or has been imprisoned all ready:

    1.  How do get out of prison?

    2.  How do you get out of your debt?

    3.  How do you clean up your previous record?

    4.  How do you keep your team together.?

Unless you candidate can squirm his/her way of the difficulties, he/she will always complain of the difficulty, will not have any other options, and can not think on the job.   He/she will not have a goal

Exiting from a business deal where the other party is impatient and immature

It is about getting better...

There was a project referred to us in resort town in Central Luzon   We were into it for almost a year.  Some difficulties were:     right of way, conversion since the land seemed to be irrigated.  The right of way which we wanted to have to make the project more impressive direct from the highway was not obtained.  We got secondary ROW that were crooked going to the barangay road, and which would cost us at least nearly 10 million.   Before proceeding any  further, we wanted NIA to clear the project for conversion.

However it was not easy.  And the other party who are mostly single 40ish  working for the BPO, OFW were not patient enough:   said in DM that the sharing was not OK and later a dare to forget it.

The opinion of our board and executive officers is that they are not ready for long term relationship and that we should agree to their challenge. 

One less project to worry about.

It is not just about the numbers that count.  It could have been a profitable JV.  But the comfort level with people you are going to work with

You really learn a lot from business deals and from people you meet

Telling the truth is an imperative if you are to continue being a reliable businessman

It is about getting better...

I was asked to be a witness before a court to testify to the veracity of a transaction which gave right of way to the relatives of the seller of a parcel of land used as a right of way.   The successors in interest (my siblings) sued them in court for alleged   destruction of fence they erected in the right of way.  (which they denied)

The defense of the accused was that they were given right of way.  (Which we did when we bought the right of way, we gave them through  a letter that they could use the ROW before such time it is donated to the LGU as required by law)

During the cross, their counselor alleged that this post was doing this to spite the siblings with whom she alleges were not in good terms with the undersigned (which was irrelevant) to the evidence being presented at hand.

This post did this because if was the truth.  If we were to continue to be a businessman, and to be citizen, your word, especially the written one, must be trusted.  I participated in the proceeding because I wanted the truth to come ouut   

Me me vs we - a great obstacle to progress and growth of community

It is about getting better...

This post would like to think that selfishness - too much emphasis on I me, are obstacles to being a community to being a nation,  and is a sin.

Graft we think stem from desire to get rich quickly for self and the family.  Selfishness methink is therefore a crime,  Same as selfishness.

Politics, power play, cruelty, etc comes from this innate desire to be better than the rest.

While our purpose in life is to find our gift (ie being selfish) the next step is to share this with others

Hence without being spiritual, and without having a sense of oneness with the world and rest of community, there could never be a graft free, war free community.  

What do you think?  Is the author correct in his hypothesis

...It is your fault if you die poor

It is about getting better...

"It is not your fault if you were born poor...It is your fault if you die poor.

Truly we can not choose the family and situation we are born into.  Destiny must have something to do with that (which is cruel)  But it is going to be unfortunate when the outside world, where the "destiny" gets the better of you

You have improve yourself:   your skills your mindset and leave behind your past.     As a former supervisor who later became the EVP (the number 2 man in the large pharma company) enjoined us in a a a birthday party, it is primary duty to you and your company to IMPROVE YOURSELF

You have to learn.  When you earn, you increase your earning.  The world is moving fast and if you do not improve you will be left behind. The world is one big classroom.  It is the =University of Life  You will become obsolete.  Artificial intelligence is a big threat to humanity.  It now here 

No one no one can do that  except you1

What you have done lately to improve yourself?  What did you learn

Accepting reality - life is hard

It is about getting better...

Nothing in the world is easy.  Nothing in the world is free.  Do not expect a sugar coated world like Pollyana

Scott Peck outlined this in the book, "The Road Less Taken".  He outlined crimes and pathologies arising from the wrong belief that life is easy.  The Scriptures say taht from our sweat comes our daily bread.  Not from Manna in heaven

When there is an acceptance, no denial, we mature, and gain strength and resilience in facing the world, especially business challenges.   As they say in quotes, the challenges, the hardships are meant to make us tougher and more resilient _ we become better leaders and better business managers

Thus ,pantawid program destroys peoples initiative to work and survive.  My wife says that when our infants fell, they need it to learn how to stand on their own. Thus even birds push off their birdlings off the nest to learn how to fly and fend for themselves.

Unto each life, some rain must fall.,,,

"Ang laki sa layaw.... karaniwan ay hubad.... (kulang)

You are more mature when...

It is about getting better...

1. You have stopped blaming others for your mistakes or failure;

2.  You have stopped making excuses and alibis..

3.  When you own up to your shortcomings

4.  When you join the team own up to the mistakes and shortcomings.  

Grit and determination - the stuff that champions and successful persons (and even heroes) are made of

It is about getting better...

Many authors and successful person summarize this in two words:   GRIT and DETERMINATION

Psychologists mention this, movie like the "The Chairman" a movie about Ray Kroc mention this.

The late Calvin Coolidge whose famous quote on determination has made it to the boardrooms and MBA classroom must be smiling in his grace.

This is the same stuff why we admire why we sympathize and empathize with heroes and heroines who overcome, solve challenges after one another in their adventures and stories.  How we wish we have the same strength and determination to overcome the same daily

That is why this post believe that teaching MBA alone with the technical stuff cant alone produce successful entrepreneurs and business leaders    They have to be build up grit and determination over time.  And harsh challenging business problems alone can teach them that.

More courage to take risks , being bold

It is about getting better...

Axelrod is a hedge fund.  I do not know much about hedge fund and or how it outperforms the market.

There were examples that show how timid I am/was in taking advantage of opportunities

     1.  When Axe shorted and all the shares were not available, he would be ruined if he did not

          have the shares.  When he did find the holder of shares, he was charged 25% which Axe 

          took rather than taking huge loss.

    2   When a new company was formed by start ups and needed funding, he charged 40% for the seed

          money.

On many  occasions, this post gave advice for 0 fees, and  charged legal rate, 6% for support php

I should be more greedy?  Higher returns.     Really it is about your appetite.   

Too much treachery (and or lack of loyalty) (still about Billions) - trust no one

It is about getting better...

This has plagued many companies.  Axe struggled with this:

     His wife Lara was more interested in her $ and was planning to transfer to California when he was'

     jailed.

    Taylor put up her own company after Axe trained her as CIO when the former had a case,

    Rhoades went against boss Joc while still State Atty, and his staff Bryan stabbed him the back too

    Rebecca Canu went into deal with Taylor backstabbing Axe.  All the while Axe was buying shares for

    her including the supplier.   Axe countered by going into a deal with biggest lender to be a majority 

    stockholder to unseat Rebecca as CEO and sell her retail company (which unfortunately is losing,              bleeding a lot o money

   Thus Andrew Grove was right.   Only the paranoid survey.  Trust no one

    It has happened to me that two projects were taken away from beneath my feet by people

    I trust:  the EVP, the project engineer, my sister.

   My brothers and sisters to whom I dedicated my efforts to build the company removed me from the

   board (using a provision of the law that the Board can actually do that.) Unfortunately my brother who

   led the uprising has died

While others build, others destroy (still on Billions)

It is about getting better...

We dont take sides but it is evident that in the setting of the series, a group of people build by raising capital, investing in ventures that move the country forward.

But equal efforts have been put by regulators while making sure that wrongdoings and violation of rights of citizens are not committed, abuse of power, misplaced focus, blunt such efforts in nation building

A debate on what is right and wrong

Need for a Performance coach (still from Billions)

It is about getting better...

Dr Wendy Rhoades, the beautiful wife of the AG in Billions worked as performance coach  of Axel, an important partner for Axe.   The one on one sessions with the staff about their potential, being aware of that and doing something for that helped them achieve the billions and success

But abusing the patient dr confidentiality got her in to trouble

Lessons from Billions

It is about getting better...

A lot of lessons can be learned in the series Billions

1   Dont quit

2.  Be focused

3.  Make things happen.  Create the events for your success

4.  Whether you are tycoon or a prosecutor, your negotiation skills are what that matters.  Not

     rely on your school or what you learned in college

5.  Win some lose some.   Admit that sometime you make mistakes

6.  Think always of 3 things to make yourself grow, your department or business

7.  For a businessman, you have to sacrifice personal gains over corporate, or profits

      1.  For Axe, he dumped Rebecca Canu, his lover over earning a lot over Saler

           closure and liquidation.   Rebecca has a dream,  sacrificing for corporate gains

      2.  Taylor dumping his father in favor of bigger gain

8.  Feel and solve problems as if you are about to be jailed or nailed

9.  Focus on say php, not on revenge or restitution.  These things cloud your judgement and your goals

      and vision

Our education should not be merely be about learning facts and information but also about being a good person

It is about getting better...

For two successive days, I was disappointed with two events:   Two appointments where the other party was a no show

The first involved a student leader whom we gave the privilege of going over our operations for their capstone project.   She made an appointment with me for the presentation. She did not appear although

her group members did.  She claimed she had more important things to attend to as student council

leader

The other one involved a business.   The one who set up an appointment wanted to know what project

we can do to his inherited property.    He did not appear.

This post wonders how these people can be successful if they could not even keep an appointment and/or keep their word

One of the secrets of success