Blessed

I finally understand the impact of synergy and the fighting spirit.

When you are going to give up, when you are about to lose your last breath, when you are feeling hopeless, when you think you have done your best but actually you still can go further more, when you think you cant make it through but in fact if you endure and continue to fight, you will be surprised to know that you can exceed your own expectation.

Shout it out loud and move on, take it on, you can go even further...This is what I called fighting spirit.

When everyone in the team have this fighting spirit to achieve a common goal, synergy is not far away from them.

I am wrong in the past in thinking that I should not force and push others and myself too much. It was only if you keep fighting against the resistance, you will reach a new height. But you must also know your limit too. One should not force himself too much until he falls apart.

Sick`

I reported sick on this monday and the MO gave me four days of MC. I was excused for all the endurance trainings for this entire week. I really like training. Too bad. Luckily, I was not picked for the reminder training for this Saturday. Some of my
friends who missed the lessons, they only can book out on Saturday.

Many people fall sick. Haha, almost half of my bunk mates were ill. My platoon mates taught me how to play wei qi and I love this game. I always wish to learn wei qi and my wish was finally granted.

One of my platoon mates brought guitar and maybe I can learn from him one day.

Indeed, you can find a variety of people with different talents at there. I am learning from them as much as I can.

Camp

Life is good there. Maybe because I am lucky to meet many nice people there.

Laughter is common and training is challenging.

Hope life there can continue to be fun and good.

I'M AWAY

The day has finally arrived. I hoped that time can quickly pass by for the next five years. I hope that I am able to achieve my utlimate goal at the end of the fifth year. GOOD BYE to everyone !!

Yesterday was memorable, today is exciting, tomorrow is going to be even better.

Way to go !!

My past

I did not notice until today that I had been sending many emails to CSC members in my year2. Almost every project, I will voice out my feeling and suggestions. That year, CCN day, I also stated out the procedures.

I quote this sentence from my email:

U can be a great planner, great organiser, great leader, but without a controller, there bounds to be more troubles. We can minimise problems but we cant prevent it completely sometimes. That's life!

My first long email in CSC

Back then, CSC MC was not as good as compared to last year and this year. It was not that bonded as we faced serious communication problems and improper procedures.

So I wrote this quote to remind them in those times:

"If we don't do anything, we get nothing.
But if we do something, at least we dont get nothing.

If you dont take the first step,
Who will do it?

Difficult to do does not mean impossible."

Those times were difficult. I still enjoyed my last year in CSC. So many nice and committed people. Haha.

I wanted to add one more sentence to the above quote. I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN DO IT.

Gd leaders r like water, flexible, hard n sharp tat cut through rock, n can be as soft as cotton wool

What is the best leadership style? Many people may be asking how to be a good leader and how to lead my team toward the goal. Quite a few people had questioned me how to deal with members who aganist your idea or do not wish to follow your instruction. Even NTU professor asked me this question during the interview.

I believe as a good leader, you must really take good care of the welfare of your team members. You should not always just focus on the performance or result of their work and neglect their welfare. For example, I always urge them to sleep early, eat their meals on time, drink more water and take care. At the same time, I am willing to fold up my sleeves and help them along. A simple action like, holding the door for them, letting them to go in first, help them to clear rubbish, bring foods and drinks to them and some encouragement words to them can leave a big impact.

Too often we underestimate the power of touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around – Leo Buscaglia

A leader must have an open heart and should not be too egoistic by thinking that if I did all these things, this means I may lose my pride as a leader. This is a wrong mindset. Instead, members will be touched and grateful for all your help. However, you should not help them in everything; we must also train them to deal with obstacles by themselves. Sometimes I do not mind to let them make some mistakes even though it may cause a delay to the project. I take it as a tuition fee to train them. It is worth it. They will learn a valuable and memorable lesson.

If you do not know what your team members are bothering about, do not know why your team members had reduced their performance, then this is your job to find out the reasons. NV NV NV expect that they will tell you everything without you making a first step to ask them. But sometimes even you ask, they may not tell you everything. In this case, I wanted to give another piece of advice that is as a leader, you should also be alert and observant. Not many people are sensitive to the tiny changes around their environment or people around them. But as a leader, you better learn this skill. If you are meticulous enough, you will realise that their actions, tone and words reflect how they feel. And if you sense something is fishy, you can quickly tell them about your observation. They might get surprised that you cared for them so much and they will start to tell you their problems. So Nv just ask a question like, “how are you? You can do it? “Ask good questions that is straight to their feeling by observing them closely first.

My friend has told me before that I need to read my members' blog so that I can find out more about them. It is when you understand a person well, the barrier will be removed and it is easier for you to allow your members to be more open to you. As long as your actions show that you care for them, they will respect you and be open to you. Chances are high that the above problem will be minimised.

But how many leader are willing to fold up their sleeves, squeeze out some time to care and observe their members closely in order to ensure a good team spirit?