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Good executives can become great by internalising certain additional qualities to reach his full professional potentialMANY business executives are good and successful.迷你倉新蒲崗 They share a few obvious traits in common: hard and smart-working, focus, perseverance, drive, constantly updated domain knowledge and so on. However, not every good executive goes on to become great in the true sense of the word or even reaches his or her full professional potential.So, what is the elusive recipe that transforms an executive from good to great? After a lot of thought and research backed by a decade-and-a-half of executive coaching to many a C-suite business executive in various industries, I have come to believe that in addition to the above-mentioned obvious traits, truly great executives almost unfailingly possess certain additional qualities, all of which any executive can acquire in partnership with a competent coach adept at helping the coachee to internalise them.Here they are, in no particular order:Ability to respond to an unpleasant person, event or situation, rather than react to it;Being driven by aims and goals, and plan and strategy, rather than by expectations;Recognising the confluence of their passion and talent, and overlaying it with their professional experience; this may also be described as answering their "professional calling";Intelligent and sustained networking; andEmpathic listening.Let us examine in some detail these traits that make a good executive great.Respond, not reactEncountering disagreeable people, provocative communications and experiencing unfavourable events, situations and circumstances is part and parcel of today's executive life. Without realising, most executives react to these rather than respond to them.What is the difference? When you react, you are driven externally - usually by something that you haven't liked in the first place. Naturally, this brings into the equation certain amount of negativity and prevents you from acting to the best of your ability and judgement. One runs the risk of shooting from the hip, as it were. On the other hand, when you respond, you are driven internally - you take all into account, use your ability and judgement to decide on how to proceed, for example, seek clarification/more information, consult others, and look at all the available options before deciding on your course of action. You act, not react. This latter approach - of responding instead of reacting - substantially reduces the probability of making mistakes and invariably leads to superior conduct and decision making - which is one of the pillars of executive greatness.Within the workplace, a senior executive known for reacting with a quick temper may be feared by her juniors but will never win their loyalty that a great one unfailingly does though her deliberate and well-considered handling of the situation with an obviously calm yet firm response. Fear does not win subordinates' respect or loyalty; yet genuine respect and loyalty on their part is what wins their commitment and helps enhance the executive performance.Aims and goals, plan and strategyOne does not operate in a vacuum in the business world. People, events and circumstances - both internal and external to the workplace - have a tendency to turn the currents and cross currents to unfavourable from time to time. In sum, no one can ever have a complete control on all the parameters and variables leading to the outcome of an effort all the time. Usually, the better you plan and the more adroitly you handle a proposition with attention to details, the higher is the expectation of favourable result.Now, no one would argue against meticulous planning and attention to details - these do indeed give you a greater probability of success - and usually that is how it happens. But it also imbues a belief that done right, things will necessarily go right. And when occasionally that does not happen due to factors beyond one's control, one is disappointed. Accumulated disappointment results in frustration and stress and that leads in short order to unhappiness! These negative emotions impair the ability to think and act rationally and put an executive to substantial disadvantage as compared to some other who takes into account the nature of the corporate world (that is, occasionally things would go wrong despite the best efforts). Great executives internalise this and get rid of expectations. They develop professional detachment to remain positive and act at their best all the time under all circumstances - favourable as well as unfavourable.A word is necessary here on "professional detachment". Professional detachment is not indifference to the work responsibility or the outcome, for that would be grossly irresponsible. It is the determination to do your very best under all circumstances but, recognising the very nature of the business and corporate world, not letting an adverse outcome disturb your inner peace, for it would otherwise diminish your performance. "Expectation" is not aim, goal or target. It entails emotional attachment to the outcome instead of focusing on effort and action.If belied, expectation results in disappointment and emotional distress, and very likely diminishes your performance ahead until one gets over that disappointment. Take the example of a mountaineer:Her aim is to scale the highest peaks on all continents of the world.Her goal is to conquer Mount Everest next summer.Her plan is to join the Singapore Everest Expedition.Her strategy is to train in the Himalayas to acclimatise herself better for the challenge ahead.But if she expected to necessarily succeed - and should she have to turn back only after having climbed 28,900 feet due to foul weather, she will remain heartbroken for not having climbed the remaining 129 feet to the peak instead of deriving the satisfaction from having scaled a creditable height of 28,900 feetHowever, had she recognised at the outset - and emotionally accepted - the uncertainty inherent in the outcome of her effort, she may try again - with better preparation and equipment - and may well succeed this time.The same principle applies in the business and corporate world.In sum, great executives develop professional detachment; are driven by aims and goals and plan and strategy - all of which they can recalibrate as the circumstances change. So, get rid of the scourge of expectation, that is, obsessive attachment to the outcome. And don't confuse "expectation" with the "fire in the belly"; the latter can indeed be a great driver in striving for success.Professional callingIt is about recognising your real passions, combining one of them with one of your real talents, and leveraging their intersection with your experience and networking. Passion is what lies underneath your manifestly real interest. It may be found methodically with the help of an experienced coach. In any case, it entails going as far back in your recollections as you can to figure out what was it that you were doing which made you so happy then that you never felt tired of doing it and always looked forward to it. Such activity would also energise instead of draining you. Next, what was "in it" that made you so happy? For example, different golfers love the game for different reasons - so the real passion underneath the game itself for each one may vary. Different executives may be passionate about similar jobs or tasks but for different迷你倉出租reasons. You have to find what is at the core of that which hugely interests you. More about it is in the example later in the article.Talent is what you are naturally good at. Remember, a skill can be learnt but talent is inherent. Talent is what you naturally, effortlessly and consistently do well - somewhat like a fish taking to water. Often others are better judge of our talent than we ourselves are unless we are fairly self aware. Also, do not confuse talent with strength. A talent does not become strength until properly harnessed with sustained practice and smart hard work. The point here is to find a practical meeting point of your real passion and real talent - first within your own current vocation or job, and if it does not lie there (for example, even when you do a good job, you don't like it at all), then even outside it so that you can happily give your very best to your job or vocation all the time.This confluence is your calling where you will be able to give your best - naturally and happily always. When you love what you do, and do it consistently well, it makes for the most important ingredient for success and helps you realise your potential.Experience is easy to figure out. One should never be over much concerned about lack of experience, for unlike passion and talent, it can always be gained!But when one thinks about her experience, she should:Not limit it to her work experience only, andDrill it down to the generics (for example, working in banking also gives one an experience of the corporate world; doing community work may give experience of organising, etc.)Let me share my own experience of finding my calling. I had been in banking and finance for 30 years when I thought of doing something which I would do well and really enjoy. At that time, my mentor pointed me to finding my calling.How I went about itI loved teaching - I taught nuclear physics for three years in the US and India; I got into the corporate life of banking purely for more money due to personal circumstances. Even as a teenager, I loved helping my peers and juniors with their academic challenges and also used to coach younger players at cricket, the game I was good at. Clearly, in imparting/sharing knowledge (teaching/coaching/mentoring) lay my passion.What I really did well and enjoyed most in my long banking and finance career were those roles which required interacting with people (my direct reports, peers, bosses, clients and other market players). Not only that, I was quite successful in forging business alliances and adept at negotiation. So, it seemed that people skill was one of my talents.Experience was easy to figure out - I had been in the corporate world with specialisation in banking and finance already for 30 years.So, in my post-banking and finance life, I was incredibly lucky to get this insightful advice from my mentor, and was able to combine:My passion for teaching with my banking experience - and ended up training senior bankers all over Asia, andmy experience in the corporate world with talent in people skill plus my passion for teaching and guiding. It all combined in my executive coaching practice, I have also continued with corporate banking consulting to leverage on my banking experience and contact network.So, once you have answered - or nearly answered - your professional calling, you will be doing what you are naturally good at, and you love doing it too. Then how can you not do the best that you are capable of doing?NetworkingThe title of David Arvin's book on networking says it all about the efficacy of social and business networking: "It is not whom you know, but who knows you" that matters! Professional networking is as much an art as it is science. First of all, it is not merely social and business partying or having a good time with the buddies. The purpose is to connect - and remain connected - with those who can contribute to furthering your business interests by facilitating enlargement of your circle of influence. The key to achieving it is in getting to know those who matter well enough to enlist their assistance when you need. "Knowing" them includes being also aware of their interests and some non intrusive personal details to leverage on to cementing the relationship further (for example, casually sending some interesting relevant information to someone who may have mentioned her plans to take a holiday in Greece next summer).It pays to maintain a database of all professional contacts and updated notes about them. Also, do not forget to send a little greeting within a reasonable period of having made a new contact - or a suitable note after your meeting with an existing contact. It makes them feel important and people love it; it helps you stand out in their memory. One can be good at networking whether introverted or extroverted.The extroverted needs to be careful not to be too full of oneself while interacting and the introvert needs to show keen interest and listen intently to gather important information while making new contacts and working the crowd in a party or gathering.Networking is an important integral part of the work - it is not a waste of valuable executive time. The connections that you make - and further your reach that those connections would provide you - are the recipe for getting done what otherwise you may not have been able to do so easily.Empathic listeningUnfortunately, giving pert or ready response or retort is often considered as a hallmark of intelligence and smarts for an executive. Such executives listen primarily to respond. As they hear, part of their brain is already working on a "smart" response.Then how can they give a well-considered and thoughtful response which typifies a great executive? Remember, when someone talks to you, no more than 20 per cent of communication is verbal; the rest is through body language and their manner of speaking including pause, hesitation and inflexion in the delivery. It pays to pay rapt attention to all of it to completely understand their point of view and underlying emotions first before you thoughtfully formulate your response, addressing their concerns, misgivings and fears rather than summarily brushing it all aside even as you may rightly know that they are wrong.Empathic listening is like absorbing the other person's ideas, complaints and emotions like a sponge. Only then can you process it in totality and respond most effectively and have a good chance for win-win results - which are so important for sustained success in business with regular counterparts.Any list of the traits leading to the executive greatness cannot be exhaustive - and this list is no exception to that rule. But my experience has shown that one or more of these five traits may go missing and the executive concerned may yet be good and successful due to other overwhelming qualities.But when all of them are found in a good and successful executive, together with the other obvious qualities such as hard and smart working, focus, drive, perseverance, constantly updated domain knowledge etc, she cannot fail to realise her full potential and, more often than not, would go on to attain true executive greatness. That's why I call it the Tao of Executive Greatness.The writer is a nuclear scientist by academic training, a banker by profession, a coach-cum-mentor by vocation and calling, and a music and cricket lover by his other passion (e-mail: gupta@singnet.com.sg)儲存倉