Winning Minds

By Hazri Hood Malaysia made history over 24 hours between 9 to 10 May with the conclusion of the 14th General Elections (GE14). The days leading up to election day on 9 th May saw rigorous campaigning from both the incumbent government and the Opposition sides in what may well have been the most anticipated general elections in Malaysian history. What seemingly looked like an impossible uphill battle for the Opposition turned into the unfathomable triumph in GE14. The millions of Malaysians who were glued to their TV throughout the night (up to 3 o’clock in the am) were too curious, too excited, too eager and perhaps even too shaken up, as they watched history unravel – with drama complete with all the twists and turns.  Arguably, few had faith in the eventual outcome, but many, many more believed. And when that many people believe, things happen.    Yes, it was the people who gave the mandate to fight for justice, to fight for a new beginning for us and our ...

By Hazri Rohilio I was conducting a leadership coaching group session when a bright, curious young leader in the crowd asked me;  “ There are many successful people who do not practice virtuous deeds, so how do we make out of that?”.  Then, another participant followed up with this question - “In our extremely competitive world, where would that leave us if we are too kind and compassionate?” Just let me share with you the context in which this question came about. In one of the group leadership coaching sessions I was conducting, I threw to the group a lot of leadership concepts and virtues, which included taking the high moral path, avoiding pre-judgment, leading by example, having empathy and the virtues of vulnerability and so on. Clearly, it struck a chord with what some of the young leaders were facing in their real lives. To reframe this, what they were concerned of was being left behind or disadvantaged, if they practice these virtues while other...

By Hazri Rohilio When I was growing up during my younger years, I remember being asked what I wanted to “become”. In those days, what the question meant was what profession do you wish to be in and back then, the choices were less complex than they are today.   I think it was a fair question back then, particularly as it had meant to instil ambition into school-going children so that they can work towards a goal, stay in school, get the necessary qualification to get into the profession they choose.   While the choice of profession can change over time, which was the case for me, the path towards realising it was still pretty much the same so I hung on to it, put in the time, effort and with a little bit of luck made good of myself in the corporate world. To be completely honest, not even one of my childhood dream professions came through.  Perhaps I was not as determined as some of my friends, who were in their early days determined to become a doctor or an accoun...

By Hazri Rohilio Coaching is not for everyone. As a matter of fact, for some, being asked to get coaching may feel more like being told to get treated for an illness. If they had the choice, they would probably avoid it. Why? Coaching, mentoring and counselling are oftentimes confused between one and the other. In Malaysia, counselling services have long been established in schools and learning as well as social institutions as a way of providing emotional support to students. The connotation for counselling is that you needed “extra help” to get through. Counselling intervention also usually occurs as a reactive action a result of an undesirable behaviour or a measure to avoid disciplinary action.   Coaching (and mentoring) is different as it is meant to heighten performance. Coaching intervention is arranged to elevate the performance of an individual so that s/he can perform his task better. If you could imagine a young junior sprinter who shows potential to beat his t...

By Hazri Rohilio Leaders whom we consider to be our role models always seem to know how to carry themselves. They just seem to be at ease in any given situation and are able to respond aptly in situations we would consider awkward. They can light up the room when the time calls for it or provide the necessary calmness to anxious nerves in times of crisis. You just wonder, how do they do that? In leadership terms, this is the result of a heightened level of self-awareness.   Self-awareness is a condition or state where an individual is in tune with how s/he processes information within and around, and responds based on that information.   So, what’s the big deal about self-awareness? Well, perhaps it is not so important, unless you are thinking of becoming a better leader. But seriously, we are all social beings, so having some idea of how other people see us or to behave normally in society is somewhat important. To a large extent, having people around us and our con...

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