T.C. Feat. Capleton -

Mapping Your Journey to Success

Mapping Your Journey to Success


http://www.paulayeesing.com/

So I am sitting here at my desk writing my September map. Yea… “writing” my map… I have to, without it I am like a headless chicken going blindly in circles.



I refer to myself as a Jane of All Trades and ‘Work-In-Progress-Master of Most’ (if not all). At any given time I have countless ideas swirling around my mind…like noise…mental noise. Every time I had a thought I began to pursue it and neglect the former idea I was pursuing. This resulted in a lot of half-completed plans and half way achievements. Not good. I had to think of a way to control my ideas and bring each of them to fruition in a sensible fashion and stop wasting energy and time chasing every thought.



According to a study by the Ford Foundation:





• 23% of the population has no clue what they want from life and as such, they have very little.





• 67% of the population has a general idea what they want out of life, but no clue how to attain it.





• 10% of the population has specific goals





• Only 7 out of that 10 achieve their goals half the time





• The top 3% achieved the goals 89% of the time



The difference between the 3% elite group and the rest was: THEY WROTE DOWN THEIR GOALS!!! Can you believe it? Sounds too simple, right?






But it kinda makes sense, doesn’t it?





Goal-setting is like a map - it guides us to our destination, allowing us to have a bird’s eye view of the route. We can avoid time-wasting dead ends and detours. Dreams and wishes become goals when they are written; in some strange way writing them down materializes them and makes them probable. I like the phrase “dreams with a deadline” which I have heard used to describe goals.



These are tips to creating my maps for success:





• Get a calendar as visual aid; the mind tends to follow what is in front of it.





• Set aside an hour a day to plan. Force yourself into the habit.





• Work backwards- Focus on your long term goals and decide what short term activities will lead to your long term target.





• Plan tomorrow the night before- While you sleep, your mind will organize your time. I have a white board by my desk that I write my daily tasks on. Then at the end of the day I erase the accomplished ones and leave the undone ones for the next day. Of course the aim is to erase them all!!!





• Start the day with a mental run-down of your agenda. Then just do them! Walk with an idea notebook to jot anything that comes to mind.• Of course keep in mind that there may be obstacles. Plan for these proactively and not re-actively. Just steer around the obstacles and keep on moving.





• Reward yourself when you achieve your goals. Give yourselves mini-incentives to go even further. But if course don’t waste time patting yourself on the back for too long…there is still lots to do!






Anyhoo my friends, I am going back to my mapping! See you at the finish line of success!











Paula Yee Sing-Edwards


http://www.paulayeesing.com/

Leading By Intimidation…Support or Oppose?

I am a fan of Sean “Puffy” “Diddy” Combs. I admire what he has accomplished as an entrepreneur and a mogul in the various industries spreading from music and entertainment into the fashion and beverage industries (Ciroc). One the most looked forward to ‘Diddy event’ for me is his reality TV shows and no doubt his latest “I Want to Work For Diddy” on VH1 is choc -full of entertaining moments, educational moments and thought provoking moments.

The show is about young men and women vying for the post of personal assistant to Puffy. Of course week to week they will be faced with incredulous challenges and seemingly ridiculous tasks which, stupendous as they seem, are the reality of the entertainment business. I can definitely see how working for Diddy can prepare you for a job working for anyone and anything. The Government should consider a ‘Diddy Bootcamp’ for privates in the army as a mandatory training course (Hey! Don’t forget you got the idea here Sean!).

I can’t help but to notice that Sean Combs’ presence comes with extreme intimidation in his underlings and expectants. I would describe my leadership method as Participative, where I get involved with my team and work alongside them to encourage and build a positive rapport and hence improve self confidence in job performance and productivity. Diddy, on the other hand uses an Autocratic style.

Does this style of leadership work? Hmmm… I can go on and on and speak against this method, claiming that putting down employees and intimidating them lead to them continually questioning their abilities and compromising productivity. But does it really? Diddy seem to produce very efficient individuals prepared for the harsh industry; many of whom have gone off to create successful companies after learning under the ‘Diddyship’. What then can I say about his intimidating presence? It seems to work!

I worked at Go West, official distributor of Guess? apparel in Jamaica and I never forget Ms Pessoa. Once her car pulled into the parking lot we all had to be BUSY. If there were no customers, no unfolded shirts, no crooked hangers, WE MADE SOME! We had to create work because no one should be idling at any time. I believe that though it was intimidation, there was deep respect; we kept the place up to the high standard demanded by her and at no time did we feel we could drop the ball and become lackadaisical. Her methods were successful! Go West was and still is known for its atmosphere and air of exquisiteness.

On the opposite end, I have seen instances where managers or supervisors try to develop an atmosphere of equality and friendliness which resulted in disrespect and subsequent discord. The worker begins to feel he needn’t to stand by the hard and fast rules of the company and sometimes try to progressively break more to see what he can get away with in the presence of the supervisor. At that point, if the manager or supervisor tries to reprimand the employee, the relationship is adversely affected.

I am led to believe that leadership styles are directly proportional to who is being ‘led’. Those under the autocratic ‘Diddicratic’ method need to be tough, strong, and (somewhat subservient at the same time) and is not discouraged by shame and intimidation. The Participative and Laissez Faire leaders have employees who are self sufficient, confident, and who acknowledge and embrace the distinction among roles in the hierarchy of the company.

What is the best leadership method? What method brings out the best in employees and results in highest level of productivity?

Paula Yee Sing-Edwards

YaadNoyz Magazine

YaadNoyz Production LLC