Roland Teo and I have been having lunches on a regular basis for the last 10 years or so, always at the same Crystal Cafe near his condominium at Merchant Road. He has been happily retired since 2016 and has never regretted a single day of his retirement to smell the roses and take things easy in his life.
A very established and accomplished banker, I always bounce ideas and thoughts with him and I have gained tremendous insight from a top level executive who has international foresight and is very forthright with his local and geopolitical views of the current Governments as well as overseas ones.
His take is very well thought through and he reads widely from many sources. 2 very wise and well experienced quotes come to mind which I have had the points hammered out so clearly from his helicopter viewpoint of managing hundreds of direct report over the last 30 years and also his experience on the board of several Government organizations with major revenue and profit reportings on a regular basis.
1. People are generally Lazy
Not all the people but easily 80% to 90% of the people want to cruise in their life. Everyone is entitled to how they want to live their life. But are they living their lives as subsisting or are they living to the best potential of their lives. Macchiavelli also stated that it is most important to evaluate how one lives and how one ought to live. There is a distinction between the 2 and many people - by choice or by non thinking cruise their way downhill to an ordinary and mundane life.
To work hard takes effort. To work hard and use all your talents to their fullest abilities takes
a) effort
b) purpose
c) getting out of one's comfort zone.
I am mindful of this, as I am at the last possible chance of making something of myself and my business, so everyday I go out there to be a better person than I was the day before and I try not to be lazy to take the path of least resistance.
2. People overestimate their abilities all the time
A lot of people I know say they will ace this and ace that and make things happen, but when they don't they just fade into the background and slip into some kine of denial as to why things didnt pan out as they were supposed to be.
A lot of times it is due to a) poor planning and b) an overestimation of his or her own abilities.
The end result leads to the person getting a failure and making excuses for why it didnt succeed.
It takes a) collective effort of a team b) admittance that there are people better than you in almost everything and c) putting in the long hours to see through their goals.
A Bonus Question :
Are Leaders made or born ?
I disagree, great leaders are born. Average leaders can be taught to behave like a leader.
My estimate from the current crop of incumbent ministers is that we sadly have average leadership in our Government, and our country as a whole can only move along with at best mediocre growth for the next 3 - 5 years
The truly great leaders all did not want to get involved in politics, and as a result we have this lot who are governing us.
The time between now (2022) and the next elections will be difficult for many of us. There are so many challenges we ordinary citizens are facing it is indeed scary.
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