Without Perseverance, There Is No Talent!!

What makes Michael Jordan the legendary basketball player of all time? What makes Tiger Woods the world's greatest golfer? What made Berkshire chairman Warren Buffett the world's most sought after investor? Many of us think the answer is obvious, that each was a born genius in that field.

Well, folks, there is no doubt that they are the greatest in the field now, but where were they when they are much younger? Did you know that Michael Jordan was dropped from the varsity team? Here is a short extract from Jordan's biography.

Jordan used to play basketball for Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. Ironically, Jordan was cut from the varsity team as a sophomore. Instead of giving it up after failing to make the team, Jordan used it to spur himself to greater achievements, practicing hour after hour on the court. "Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I'd close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it," Jordan said, "and that usually got me going again." He eventually made the team and led it to the state championship.

The same story applies to Woods. Because his father introduced him to golf at an extremely early age - 18 months - and encouraged him to practice intensively, Woods had racked up at least 15 years of practice by the time he became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship, at age 18. Even after this achievement, Woods has never stopped to trying to improve, devoting many hours a day to practice, and even remade his swing twice for the sake to get even better.

What about Buffett then? Well, folks, he is not a born astute investor, but is rather famed for the hours he spends studying financial statements and even talking to the management of potential investment target. How many of us even bother to find out who is the CEO of a company, before we buy shares of that company? This is what sets us apart from Buffett.

Before you simply rush into picking up your iron and throwing hours into practice, you have to understand the importance in deliberate practice. Simply hitting buckets of balls is not deliberate practice, which is why most golfers (including myself) do not improve. Hitting an eight iron 300 times with a goal of leaving the ball within 20 feet of the pin 80 percent of the time, continually observing results and making appropriate adjustments, and doing that for hours every day - that's deliberate practice.

Sceptics will ask "What if I don't become that great, after putting in hours?" or "Why would I want to put in hard work, when I am not paid accordingly?". For this, I signed off with below quotation.

Quote from John Ruskin
The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.

What Are Your Strengths?

It is perhaps the most anticipated question, during an interview. I may be wrong, but I am pretty sure most managers have no idea what they want to hear. Although different jobs have different needs, there are 3 Strengths, which will propel any ordinary individual to become an Outstanding employee.

Here is a list of 10 Strengths voted as most important by 50 outstanding managers from various industries. They are not arranged in any order. Let me know what you think is the Most Important Strength. Feel free to drop me a note too, if you feel strongly about a Strength not listed below.

1. Creativity
2. Flexibility
3. Responsibility
4. Passion
5. Team-work
6. Proactive
7. Dedication
8. Interpersonal Abilities
9. Multi-Tasking
10. People Skill

An Interesting Article On Shouldering Responsibilty - 承擔

承擔 /104人力銀行董事長 楊基寬

有一位心地非常謙虛的主管跑來向我遞辭呈，我大吃一驚，因為這位他是一位完全以部屬為重的人，以每年公司分紅為例，他總是將自己的一份轉給部屬。失去他，將會是一個公司的大損失，每年的考績都顯示他很受部屬的支持。

我詢問原因，繞了個大圈子後，他很委婉的說出離職的原因。原因是他有一位能力很強的副手，但因為他曾對這位副手的某些企劃案提出一些不同意見，可是副手卻不見得完全認同他的看法，以致於他觀察到副手有些悶悶不樂的行為。

顯然， 這位主管想離開，因為將心比心，他不忍看到副手有志難伸，所以他想空出位置來讓副手有自己揮灑的空間，避免自己成為別人的障礙。了解後，我找來那位副手，並告知他的主管要離開的事，並詢問他是否知道主管離開的理由，他說他不清楚。

為了避免給副手太直接的衝擊，我先跟他分享一個故事。故事描述，有間廟宇，被蓋在一座大湖中央，大湖一望無際，廟中供奉著傳說中菩薩戴過的佛珠鍊子，廟裡只有一艘小舟供和尚出外補給用，外人無路接近，把佛珠鍊子放在湖中廟，更顯現佛珠鍊子的珍貴與安全。

廟裡，住著一位老師父，帶著另外幾位年紀較輕的和尚修行，和尚們都期望能在這個山清水秀的靈境中，加上菩薩鍊子的庇佑下，早日修道完成。這幾位和尚潛心修練，直到有一天老師父召集他們說﹕「菩薩鍊子不見了！」

和尚們都不敢置信，因為廟中唯一的門二十四小時都會由這幾位和尚輪流看守， 外人根本進不來，佛珠鍊子不可能不見，和尚們議論紛紛，因為他們都從和尚變成嫌犯。

老師父安慰這群和尚，說他並不在意這件事情，只要拿的人能夠承認犯錯，然後好好珍惜這串佛珠鍊子，老師父願意將鍊子送給喜歡的人。所以老師父給他們七天靜思。

第一天沒有人承認，第二天也沒有，但是原來互敬共處的和尚們，因為多了猜疑， 彼此間已不再交談，令人窒息的氣氛一直持續到第七天，還是沒有人站出來。

老師父見沒有人承認便說﹕「很高興各位都認為自己是清白的，表示你們的定力已夠，佛珠鍊子不曾誘惑得了你，明天早上你們就可以離開這裡了，修行可以告一段落了。」

隔天早上，為了表示自己的清白，和尚們一大早就背著行囊，準備搭舟離開，只剩一個雙眼失明的瞎和尚依然在菩薩面前唸經，眾和尚心中鬆了一口氣，因為終於有人承認拿了鍊子，讓冤情大白。老師父一一向無辜的和尚道別後，轉身詢問瞎和尚﹕「你為什麼不離開？鍊子是你拿的嗎？」

瞎和尚回答﹕「 佛珠掉了，佛心還在，我為修養佛心而來！」

「既然沒拿，為何留下來承擔所有的懷疑，讓別人誤會是你拿的？」師父問到。

瞎和尚回答﹕「過去七天中，懷疑很傷人心，自己的心，還有別人的心，需要有人先承擔才能化解懷疑。」

老師父從袈裟中拿出傳說中的佛珠鍊子，戴在瞎和尚的頸子上﹕「鍊子還在，只有你學會了承擔！」

說到這邊，我把主管離職原因告訴了他，並提醒他﹕ 「你還沒學會承擔，因為別人心中有你，而你心中只有自己 。」