JB|KL|SG|？

楼下还是在装修，家里一样吵
我今天早上11点见了我OCBC的RM，做了些小安排….吃了个S$7.80的套餐后就在图书馆待了一天！

其实我很爱马来西亚，也很喜欢新加坡。
像我们这种灰色的身份，很多时候讲多错多…

在JB长大，除了家里和宽中教育的培育以外….我学会无论去哪个国家都比别人机警……许多人跟我说他们去哪里哪里被扒手扒钱包…这些事情从未发生在我身上过，不是我幸运…其实是我中学就曾经遭遇过！放学搭公共巴士路口走路回家时被陌生人问路遭袭胸然后惊慌一路大跑回家！（这事儿没人知道！我都是自己吞下去的，我只记得我回到家门口还颤抖着拿钥匙出来开门，家里没人！）再过后，我每次搭公共巴士回到路口，都是跑着回家的…只要走在路上，我就从来没有不恐惧过，但是所有的经历它都在我的人生中慢慢培育着出来今日的我…今时今日…公司让我一个人出差去哪儿我都没有再畏惧过，因为这些年下来…我已经不是普通的懂得如何保护自己…

在KL生活，我认识了来自四面八方的马来西亚人，在KL4-5年间，我参与了所有马来西亚的国庆、游行、带团讲解所有马来西亚景点与文化…我曾经也是以为我这辈子就这样待在KL生活了的！在KL生活让我体验了一个真正马来西亚人的爱国与热情、学会听、会讲普通的广东话、甚至吉兰丹的马来文、印尼的马来文各种语言我都可以驾驭得了…当年我通知我爸我要去KL的时候，爸爸还跟我说KL是个大染缸，不要去那里学坏，要读书新加坡也可以读！可是今时今日我很感恩我曾经不顾一切地去KL读书和生活！因为在那里的经验让我在新加坡工作时，和香港老板、同事甚至一些KL、HK的partner都可以顺利沟通和分享大家过往的生活！

新加坡呢？其实我曾经也不非常喜欢这个国家，因为它，我爸爸牺牲、错过了很多我们的成长。虽然现在我可以理解成年人有成年人的不容易！缘分让我情牵狮城…我从不喜欢、慢慢变得很喜欢新加坡…这里给我一个不分男女的平台尽情发挥我的能力，也让我知道只要付出努力就一定会有我想要看到的成果……除了婚姻、除了男人的因病离世完全不在我的控制范围内以外，我真的很感恩新加坡给我发挥的机会！从职场到大学毕业、硕士毕业，做想要安定下来的工作或是做想要可以到处飞的工作，似乎全部都可以如我所愿……所有的公共设施、公园、图书馆甚至小巷，无论凌晨或夜晚，安全感百分百！所有人都可以把他们的电脑、钱包等放在公共场所半天都不回来看看！这就是一个国家的成功，安全感！也是让我待最久的原因之一……在新加坡，公共设施完善、安全、政治稳定，赚得到钱、存得到钱、要经济吃要富裕吃都由你自己决定！其实真实是个适合一家大小在此生活的好地方……

这些天…我真的反复地问了自己好多好多次！我接下来打算怎样？丈夫离开了，和他的缘尽，是不是也意味着我和新加坡的缘尽？JB、KL、SG都是把我孕育成如今的我的城市，我肯定会有很多不舍，但是我知道，如果我不趁这个机会往另一个城市进行我的人生Chapter 4 的话，我很清楚我留在这里的话就将会成为一个只是很会赚钱的机以外，毫无人生意义！也许很多人都会为我接下来要做的决定感觉很疯狂，但是…凡事又岂能尽如人意呢？我现在只求无愧于心…

时间都去哪儿了

回首我这个部落格的最后一篇竟然是在2020年5月写的！

从2010年开始写这个部落格以后，我从来不曾销声匿迹那么久过。消逝的这3年里我究竟把时间都用去了哪里？我翻看手机里的照片记录，2010那一年的我原来有着轻微的忧郁症症状！没有人知道在疫情期间，要兼顾工作（不能出门做业绩还得120%Achievement的销售）；要兼顾学业（2019年2020年好巧不巧，在疫情Country Lockdown期间，我花了将近18个月完成了我的硕士文凭）与此同时，我自己也早已心里有数的一些将会发生的事并且把重心都放在了好好照顾及陪伴他，并且要壮大自己以便未来不至于因为少了一个陪伴而不知所措。

2019年7月-高尔夫

我砸了一笔钱把一直想学的高尔夫学到中级Level，而后也因为打了几场9-hole和18-hole结识了一些大机构的高层，我不得不说学打高尔夫的钱花的是值得的。但我一开始的目的存粹是因为喜欢，想挑战多一个运动项目。而后，自然是因为疫情，所有的活动都被迫终止了，也因为家里发生了些大事，我到现在也没有再挥杆了！

2019年12月-油画

大概没有人记得或知道，我中学时期也代表过班级参加过2次美术比赛！初中那年我的志愿还是想当个设计师呢！这一年我不仅学了高尔夫也学了油画，很多次在作画的过程中，我迷失了！这个问题还是Jordan发现的！他发现我一旦周末呆在家里作画，我不接电话不回信息不做饭不做家务，就是一整天在作画而且也不愿意跟别人沟通、也不会在乎身边发生什么事了并且即便他放工回家了，我也不愿跟他说话…整个人还会很不开心…就这样我在lockdown的时候，玩了好几个周末的油画、做了几幅作品也自我封闭了好一阵子，他发现我好像不对劲，就在他休假的时候拿我的颜色来玩，并且和我一起做出了一下这一副画。

没想到那时逗着玩的手脚掌印，竟然是你的“遗作”!

这是我那个时候画的的第四幅（未加工）油画，我最喜欢的向日葵！

2020 & 2021 年-疯狂学习的2年！

除了同时把玩以上爱好以外，加入Telco ICT行业对我来说是个全新的挑战！这2年来，你无法想象我究竟花了多少时间来学习电信与科技行业的知识。DIA,IEPL,SUBSEA CABLE,OPTICS CABLE,DATA CENTER, FIBER, CLOUD,Layer1,2,3, CYBER SECURITIES等等等，这些种种对我来说都是新知识！基于我实在前方打前锋，拉客户进来的，我总不能在这些大客户面前班门弄斧吧？该要学会的，我都得学！很多时候自己背后的努力真的只有自己知道！别人跟我说什么电影或电视剧，我根本就扯不上边。

其实我自己恶补的时候，谁会知道。。。就让同事们都觉得我是门外汉又如何？关键是我的客户买我的单！不要真的以为我不是电信/科技相关本科出来的，就一定什么都不懂。勤能补拙啊！

其实不仅是工作上我有许多新的只是要学习，这一年也是我硕士课程的关键！18个月里面，完成10科+1毕业论文。为了毕业论文和这11科，我人生这辈子对最多最多字的一年大概就是2020年了！很多人都以为MBA只是去认识人，随便都可以毕业，但University of London的还是比较传统些，Full Academic! 科系包括：

1) Strategic Management ; 2) Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management; 3) Marketing for Managers; 4) Economics for Managers; 5) Successful Leadership; 6) Accounting and Finance; 7) Innovative and Change; 8) Corporate Governance and Ethics; 9) Negotiation and Conflict Management; 10) Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship + 11) Strategic Project

Imagine每一个file里都是满满厚厚的资料，并且都是我的Highlight Pen的足迹！未经一番寒侧骨，焉得梅花扑鼻香啊！唯独自己最清楚！

许久没有回来这里，3年的“失踪” 又怎么可能只是几行字就能弥补回来的呢？今天就写到这里吧！来日再续！

Global Business Innovation-Case Studies Summary

Why is innovation important nowadays?
The photography firm Kodak as an example to show how the context of innovation is ever-changing.

‘We always eat elephants . . . ’ is a surprising claim made by Carlos Broens, founder and head of a successful tool making and precision engineering firm in Australia with an enviable growth record. Broens Industries is a small/medium-sized company of 130 employees which survives in a highly competitive world by exporting over 70% of its products and services to technologically demanding firms in aerospace, medical and other advanced markets. The quote doesn’t refer to strange dietary habits but to their confidence in ‘taking on the challenges normally seen as impossible for firms of our size’ − a capability which is grounded in a culture of innovation in products and the processes which go to produce them.

At the other end of the scale Kumba Resources is a large South African mining company which makes another dramatic claim − ‘We move mountains’. In their case the mountains contain iron ore and their huge operations require large-scale excavation − and restitution of the landscape afterwards. Much of their business involves complex large-scale machinery − and their ability to keep it running and productive depends on a workforce able to contribute their innovative ideas on a continuing basis. Innovation is driven by the ability to see connections, to spot opportunities and to take advantage of them. When the Tasman Bridge collapsed in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1975, Robert Clifford was running a small ferry company and saw an opportunity to capitalize on the increased demand for ferries − and to differentiate his offering by selling drinks to thirsty cross-city commuters. The same entrepreneurial flair later helped him build a company − Incat − which pioneered the wave-piercing design which helped them capture over half the world market for fast catamaran ferries. Continuing investment in innovation has helped this company from a relatively isolated island build a key niche in highly competitive international military and civilian markets (www.incat.com.au).

But innovation is not just about opening up new markets − it can also offer new ways of serving established and mature ones. Despite a global shift in textile and clothing manufacture towards developing countries the Spanish company, Inditex (through its retail outlets under various names including Zara) have pioneered a highly flexible, fast turnaround clothing operation with over 2000 outlets in 52 countries. It was founded by Amancio Ortega Gaona who set up a small operation in the west of Spain in La Coruna − a region not previously noted for textile production − and the first store opened there in 1975. They now have over 5000 stores worldwide and are now the biggest clothing retailer; significantly, they are also the only manufacturer to offer specific collections for northern and southern hemisphere markets. Central to the Inditex philosophy is close linkage between design, manufacture and retailing, and their network of stores constantly feeds back information about trends which are used to generate new designs. They also experiment with new ideas directly on the public, trying samples of cloth or design and quickly getting back indications of what is going to catch on. Despite their global orientation, most manufacturing is still done in Spain, and they have managed to reduce the turnaround time between a trigger signal for an innovation and responding to it to around 15 days. Of course, technology often plays a key role in enabling radical new options.

Magink is a company set up in 2000 by a group of Israeli engineers and now part of the giant Mitsubishi concern. Its business is in exploiting the emerging field of digital ink technology − essentially enabling paper-like display technology for indoor and outdoor displays. These have a number of advantages over other displays such as liquid crystal − low-cost, high viewing angles and high visibility even in full sunlight. One of their major new lines of development is in advertising billboards − a market worth $5bn in the USA alone − where the prospect of ‘programmable hoardings’ is now opened up. Magink enables high resolution images which can be changed much more frequently than conventional paper advertising, and permit billboard site owners to offer variable price time slots, much as television does at present.

At the other end of the technological scale there is scope for improvement on an old product, often using old technologies in new ways. People have always needed artificial limbs and the demand has, sadly, significantly increased as a result of high technology weaponry such as mines. The problem is compounded by the fact that many of those requiring new limbs are also in the poorest regions of the world and unable to afford expensive prosthetics. The chance meeting of a young surgeon, Dr Pramod Karan Sethi, and a sculptor Ram Chandra in the hospital in Jaipur, India, has led to the development of a solution to this problem − the Jaipur foot. This artificial limb was developed using Chandra’s skill as a sculptor and Sethi’s expertise and is so effective that those who wear it can run, climb trees and pedal bicycles. It was designed to make use of low tech materials and be simple to assemble – for example, in Afghanistan craftsmen hammer the foot together out of spent artillery shells whilst in Cambodia part of the foot’s rubber components are scavenged from truck tyres. Perhaps the greatest achievement has been to do all of this for a low cost− the Jaipur foot costs only $28 in India. Since 1975, nearly 1 million people worldwide have been fitted for the Jaipur limb and the design is being developed and refined − for example, using advanced new materials.

Innovation is of course not confined to manufactured products; plenty of examples of growth through innovation can be found in services.4, 5, 6 (In fact the world’s first business computer was used to support bakery planning and logistics for the UK catering services company J. Lyons and Co). In banking the UK First Direct organization became the most competitive bank, attracting around 10 000 new customers each month by offering a telephone banking service backed up by sophisticated IT − a model which eventually became the industry standard. A similar approach to the insurance business − Direct Line − radically changed the basis of that market and led to widespread imitation by all the major players in the sector.7, 8 Internet-based retailers such as Amazon.com have changed the ways in which products as diverse as books, music and travel are sold, whilst firms like eBay have brought the auction house into many living rooms.

Public services like healthcare, education and social security may not generate profits but they do affect the quality of life for millions of people. Bright ideas well-implemented can lead to valued new services and the efficient delivery of existing ones − at a time when pressure on national purse strings is becoming ever tighter.9 New ideas − whether wind-up radios in

Tanzania or micro-credit financing schemes in Bangladesh − have the potential to change the quality of life and the availability of opportunity for people in some of the poorest regions of the world. There’s plenty of scope for innovation and entrepreneurship − and at the limit we are talking here about real matters of life and death. For example, the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm has managed to make radical improvements in the speed, quality and effectiveness of its care services − such as cutting waiting lists by 75% and cancellations by 80% − through innovation.10 Similar dramatic gains have been made in a variety of Indian healthcare operations. Public sector innovations have included the postage stamp, the National Health Service in the UK, and much of the early development work behind technologies like fibre optics, radar and the Internet.

Managing in Times of Crisis

Leaders at all organizational levels have to manage difficult or crisis situations. No book knowledge replaces experience, but knowing what to do and having some guidelines makes handling crises a bit easier. The first step is to take a hard look and gain as good an understanding of the situation as possible. Here are some additional guidelines for handling crisis situations:

• Be realistic about how serious the situation is. Some people tend to sugarcoat too much and avoid problems; others tend to see everything as a crisis. Do a reality check.
  • Face the situation; do not postpone or avoid dealing with the crisis.
  • Do your research and gather facts and information; it is easier to make a hard decision when you have solid facts to back you up.
  • Seek help and support from your supervisor if you can, or mentors and colleagues around the organization.
  • Be a role model; make sure that you do what you are asking others to do; walk the talk.
  • Tell the truth; communicate honestly and behave with integrity. If you have information you cannot share, simply say so; do not lie or make up what you don’t know.
  • Remain calm and professional; followers will react to your emotions and  behaviors; be very deliberate about the tone of your verbal and nonverbal messages and how you behave.
  • Practice kindness and give people the benefit of the doubt and support when you can.
  • Listen to concerns and have empathy; put yourself in other people’s shoes. You do not have to agree with or address everything you followers need, but you can listen to them.
  • Act! As a leader you must decide and do something. It does not have to be spectacular and solve everything, but you cannot sit idle and avoid dealing
  with the crisis.

Strategic Leaders

Role of Strategic Leaders
Strategic leaders (CEO or the TMT) are the ones in charge of setting and changing the environment, culture, strategy, structure, leadership, and technology of an organization and motivating employees to implement the decisions. Their role is to devise or  formulate the vision and strategy for their organization and to implement those strategies; they play the dual role of strategy formulator and implementer (Nahavandi and Malekzadeh, 1993a). If an organization has not drafted a strategy or is looking for major changes and strategic redirection, the UP leaders formulate the direction of the organization based on their reading of the environment. If the organization has a well-established, successful strategy already in place, the leaders’ role is to implement that strategy.

Although UP leaders play a central role in creating and maintaining major organizational elements, their influence often is moderated by a number of organizational and environmental factors. The next section considers these factors. Factors That Moderate the Power of Leaders Upper-echelon leaders do not have unlimited power to impact their organization.
The research about the limits of their power comes under the label of managerial or executive discretion and is the subject of considerable research in strategic management (Finkelstein and Hambrick, 1996). The factors that moderate a leader’s discretion. They are divided into external environmental and internal organizational factors. Both sets operate to limit the direct or indirect impact of senior executives on their organization

External environmental factors

the leader’s role becomes more prominent when organizations face an uncertain environment (Gupta, 1988; Hall, 1977; and Hambrick and Finkelstein, 1987). For example, in highly dynamic industries such as high tech or airlines, top managers must scan and interpret their environment actively and make strategic decisions based on their interpretations. The interpretation and the leaders’ actions are essential. Bill George, former CEO of Medtronics and professor of management at Harvard, believes that leadership failure was key to the 2008−2010 economic crisis and that without effective leadership no action can be effective (George, 2009a). External forces include market growth and legal constraints. In fast-growing markets, strategic leaders have considerable discretion to set and change the course of their organization (Haleblian and Finkelstein, 1993). Legal constraints, such as environmental laws, health and safety regulations, and international trade barriers, however, limit the discretion of leaders. In such environments, many of their decisions already are made for them, leaving less room for action.

Internal organizational factors
When organizations face internal uncertainty, organizational members question existing practices and decisions and rely more heavily on the leader to provide direction and guidance. In routine situations, organizational rules and regulations and a well-established culture in effect become substitutes for leadership (Kerr and Jermier, 1978). One example of a situation in which leaders are heavily relied on would be during a threatened or actual merger. The employees are likely to seek direction from their CEO, whose every word and action will be interpreted as a signal and whose attitude toward the merger will be a role model for the employees.

Professor Mike Useem, director of the Center for Leadership and Change at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, suggests that a leader’s calm and confidence is a key factor in managing during times of crisis (Maruca, 2001). The sense of crisis provides the stage for leaders to increase their impact or to demonstrate charismatic leadership behaviors (see Chapter 6), which influence followers to a high degree. Size and structure are the second set of internal moderators of discretion. The larger an organization is, the more likely it is that decision making is decentralized. As an organization grows, the impact of the top managers on day-to-day operations declines. In small organizations, the desires of a top manager for a certain type of culture and strategy are likely to be reflected in the actual operations of an organization. In large organizations, however, the distance between the leader and other organizational levels and departments leads to a decline in the immediate effect of the leaders. For example, the U.S. Postal Service is one of the largest employers in the United States, with more than 650,000 employees. The postmaster’s influence is diffused through numerous layers of bureaucracy and probably is not felt by local post office employees. This filtering also could be one reason it is difficult to change large organizations. Even the most charismatic, visionary leader might have trouble reaching all employees to establish a personal bond and energize them to seek and accept change.

One of the causes of internal and external uncertainty is the organization’s life cycle or stage of development (Miller, 1987; Nahavandi and Malekzadeh, 1993a). When an organization is young and in its early stages of development, the impact of a leader’s personality and decisions is pervasive. The personality and style of the leader/entrepreneur are reflected in all aspects of the organization. The younger an organization is, the more likely it is that its culture, strategies, and structure are a reflection of its leader’s preferences. As the organization matures and grows, the leader’s influence decreases and is replaced by the presence of a strong culture and a variety of well-established, successful routines. It is often at this stage that the founders of an organization leave and move on to new ventures. The leader’s influence, however, becomes strong once again when the organization faces decline.

The lack of success and the perceived need to revitalize the organization increase the reliance on the top managers. They once again have the opportunity to shape the organization. Ford CEO Alan Mulally’s optimism and energy have had considerable impact on a very large organization that was facing decline. Mulally considers inspiring employees at all levels to be one of his top responsibilities. Bill Ford, the previous CEO of Ford who recruited Mulally, understood the power of a leader in times of crisis. He states: “We have good people. They just need a leader who can guide them and inspire them” (Gallo, 2012).

Bill Kling, founder and president emeritus of the American Public Media Group, says: “I think every C.E.O. needs an executive team to be balanced to fit their strengths. The key elements, such as strategy, innovation, management, finance, don’t need to be in any single position − but they need to be there in the executive team. It’s terrific if you can walk through the halls and say hello by name to every employee. I can’t. It’s terrific if you can stand up at a staff meeting and do it in a way that people feel really good about your company. I can do that. But you never have all the pieces” (Bryant, 2012a). These external and internal moderating factors limit the power and discretion of strategic leaders and can prevent the leader from making a direct impact on the organization. The next section considers the key relevant, individual characteristics of upper-echelon leaders.

Challenge seeking
A number of researchers considered the upper-echelon leader’s openness to change
to be an important factor of strategic leadership. Upper-echelon management’s entrepreneurship (Simsek, Heavy, and Veiga, 2010), openness to change and innovation, futuricity (Miller and Freisen, 1982), risk taking (Khandwalla, 1976), transformational and charismatic leadership, and even narcissism are all part of this theme. The common thread among these constructs is the degree to which leaders seek challenge. How much is the leader willing to take risks? How much will the leader be willing to swim in uncharted waters? How much does the leader lean toward tried-and-true strategies and procedures? A more challenge-seeking person is likely to engage in risky strategies and undertake new and original endeavors (Nahavandi and Malekzadeh, 1993a). A leader who does not seek challenges will be risk averse and stick with well-established and previously proven methods. The challenge-seeking dimension is most relevant in the way a leader formulates strategy. For example, one leader might pursue a highly risky product and a design strategy that will help produce and market such a product by accepting a high level of failure risk.
Challenge-seeking executives are celebrated in the current climate of crisis in many institutions. Richard Branson’s willingness to take risks has been key to his success and his fame. David Rockwell, the visionary behind many of New York’s trendiest restaurants, is in high demand because of his creativity and his ability to harness the energy of 90 designers who work for him (Breen, 2002). Monica Luechtefeld, who now serves as a consultant to Office Depot and was the company’s e-commerce vice president, is one of the “fearless mavericks” of e-commerce (Tischler, 2002: 124). She attributes her willingness to take on tasks that others shun to her parents’ constant messages of “You can do anything” and “Figure it out,” an approach she passed on to her son, who was raised hearing “Why not?” from her (Tischler, 2002).

Need for control
The second theme in research about CEO characteristics is the leader’s need for control, which refers to how willing the leader is to give up control. The degree of need for  control is reflected in the extent of delegation and follower participation in decision making and implementation of strategy. Other indicators are the degree of centralization and formalization or encouragement and the degree of tolerance for diversity of opinion and procedures. Issues such as the degree of focus on process and interpersonal  orientation (Gupta, 1984), tolerance for and encouragement of participation and openness, and what one researcher has called “organicity,” which generally refers to openness and flexibility (Khandwalla, 1976), are all part of this theme.

The leader with a high need for control is likely to create an organization that is centralized, with low delegation and low focus on process (Nahavandi and Malekzadeh, 1993a, b). The culture will be tight, and focus will be on uniformity and conformity. The leader with a low need for control decentralizes the organization and delegates decision-making responsibilities. Such a leader encourages an open and adaptable culture, with a focus on the integration of diverse ideas rather than conformity to a common idea. The culture will encourage employee involvement and tolerance for diversity of thought and styles (Nahavandi and Malekzadeh, 1993a).

No apparent pattern emerges regarding how controlling the upper echelons of successful organizations are, despite the empowerment trends. In some cases, such as the CEO and TMT of Johnson & Johnson, decentralization and autonomy of various units are built into the credo of the organization and are central to the success of the company (Barrett, 2003). In other cases, such as Mickey Drexler, the CEO controls most of the decisions (Sacks, 2013).

Strategic Leadership Types
The two themes of challenge seeking and need for control affect leaders’
decision-making and managerial styles and the way they manage the various
strategic forces (Nahavandi and Malekzadeh, 1993a, b). First, the upper-echelon leader must understand and interpret the environment of the organization. Second, as the primary decision maker, the leader selects the strategy for the organization. Third, the leader plays a crucial role in the implementation of the chosen strategy through the creation and encouragement of a certain culture and structure and the selection of leaders and managers throughout the organization. Challenge seeking and need for control combine to yield four strategic leadership types. Each type represents an extreme case of strategic management style, and each handles the strategic forces in a manner consistent with his or her basic tendencies and preferences. Given the pressure toward empowerment, employee participation, and the perceived need by many to be unconventional and innovative in all aspects of an organization, it might appear that some types of leaders are more desirable than others. The participative innovator (PI), in particular, could be perceived as ideal. Such an assumption, however, is inaccurate; different leadership styles fit different organizations based on their long-term strategic needs.

 

Difference between leaders at different levels of the organization and in different organizations

“Do you think there is a difference between leaders at different levels of the organization and in different organizations? Besides size and number of people who report to you, is leadership fundamentally different at top and lower levels or in different organizations?”

none of the leadership theories presented so far directly addresses the role and impact of upper-echelon leaders; most apply to supervisors, team leaders, and mid-level managers who lead smaller groups and departments. This chapter will explore the differences between mid-level (micro) and upper-echelon (macro) strategic leadership and consider the individual characteristics of strategic leaders and the processes through which they
affect their organization. We will also address the special characteristics of nonprofit organizations and some of the challenges their leaders face.

DEFINITION AND ROLE OF UPPER-ECHELON LEADERS
Leadership in many organizations has become highly centralized with considerable
power concentrated in the hands of top-level or upper-echelon (UP) leaders (Pearce
and Manz, 2011). It is therefore important to gain an understanding of the particular
characteristics and impact that UP leaders can have. We call UP leaders strategic
leaders because they shape the whole organization. Strategic leadership involves a
leader’s ability to consider and anticipate external and internal events and maintain
flexibility and a long-term perspective in order to guide the organization.

Research shows that CEOs impact the direction an organization takes, its strategy, and its performance (see Finkelstein and Hambrick, 1996; Hambrick, 2007; and Hambrick and Mason, 1984). For example, CEO’s style can impact firm performance directly (Carmeli, Schaubroeck, and Tishler, 2011; Mackey, 2008) or indirectly through employee attitude (Wang et al., 2011), or affect the adoption of diversity strategies (Ng and Sears, 2012). CEOs can also play a key role in corruption and power abuse (Ashford and Anand, 2003), and the link between CEO narcissism and firm strategy and performance has also been explored (Chatterjee and Hambrick, 2007). Many of the leadership concepts and processes presented in previous chapters operate regardless of the level of the leader. For example, the basic definition of leadership and leadership effectiveness can be transferred from small groups to upper echelons with only minor adjustments. UP leaders are still the people who guide others in goal achievement, and their effectiveness depends on maintaining internal health and external adaptability. Therefore, the major differences between micro and macro leadership are not in the nature of the process, but rather in the level and scope of leadership

One of the first differences between micro and strategic leadership involves identifying who the leader is. In the case of micro leadership, the person leading the group, team, or department is clearly the leader. In the case of UP leadership the issue is not that simple (O’Reilly et al., 2010). The leader of a business organization might be the president, chief executive officer (CEO), or chief operating officer (COO), or a top management team (TMT) made up of division heads and vice presidents. In some cases, such as nonprofits, the relevant strategic leadership may be a governance body such as the board of directors, board of regents, or supervisors. Any of these individuals or groups might be the senior executives who make strategic choices for the organization.

A second difference in leadership at the two levels is the scope of the leader’s impact. Whereas most micro leaders are concerned with small groups, departments, or teams, upper-echelon leaders have jurisdiction over entire organizations that include many smaller groups and departments. Because of this broader scope, UP leaders have discretion and power over many decisions. Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford Motor, describes his job as a top-level leader as one where he has to connect talented people to the bigger purpose of the organization and encourage them to achieve their goals (Bryant, 2009f). James E. Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, similarly believes that top leaders should have awareness of what all employees are going through so that they can tell the story regarding what the organization is doing (Bryant, 2009h).

A third difference between the two groups is their focus. The micro leaders’ focus is typically internal to the organization and includes factors that affect their teams or departments. Part of their job may involve dealing with external constituents, as may be the case with a customer representative or a sales manager, or they might be under pressure to take on a more strategic view, even in their small department.

They, however, generally do not need an external view to perform their job. In comparison, the job of the upper-echelon leader requires almost equal attention to internal and external factors. Dealing with outside constituents, whether they are stockholders, governmental agencies and officials, or customers and clients, is central to the function of executives. Alan Mulally of Ford says, “The more senior your management position is, the more important it is to connect the organization or the project to the outside world” (Bryant, 2009f).

The effectiveness criteria are also different for the two groups. Although, in a general sense, they are both effective when they achieve their goals, micro leaders focus on department productivity, quality of products and services, and employee morale. Effectiveness for the upper-echelon leader is measured by overall organizational performance, stock prices, and satisfaction of outside constituents. The hospital administrator has to integrate internal productivity issues with overall performance. The CEO of a major corporation does not focus on turnover of employees as a measure of effectiveness. Instead, the criteria are likely to be return on investment and the corporation’s growth.

Strategic Forces
The six strategic forces depicted are the primary domain of strategic leadership Malekzadeh, 1995). Culture is defined as a common set of beliefs and assumptions shared by members of an organization (Schein, 2010). Structure comprises the basic design dimensions (centralization, formalization, integration, and span of control) that organize the human resources of an organization (Pugh et al., 1968). Strategy addresses how the organization will get where it wants to go − how it will achieve its goals. The environment includes all the outside forces that may potentially shape the organization. Technology is the process by which inputs are transformed into outputs, and leadership includes managers and supervisors at all levels.

Any strategic effort requires the UP leaders to understand each of forces and how they are interrelated and to create a balance and fit among them. They must know their external environment and understand culture at all levels; they must know the leadership of their organization and its structure and technology and devise or implement strategies that accomplish their goals. When leaders understand the forces and create a good fit, the organization has a greater potential to be effective (Nahavandi and Malekzadeh, 1999).

The simultaneous management of the six forces is the essence of strategic management (Malekzadeh, 1995). The UP leader’s role is to balance these various factors and set the direction for the organization. Once a direction is selected, internal forces (e.g., culture, structure, and leadership) come into play once more to move the organization toward its selected path.

 

人妻是什么职业？一个月薪水多少？

如果一个女孩从牙牙学语到受高等教育栽培都只是因为父母的悉心栽培，而作为女儿尽孝道孝敬父母对父母好也是应该的……

如果说作为男人，父母把你栽培得如此优秀…而女人这时嫁给了你，对你的父母也一样孝敬尽孝道，那也是应该有的基本尊重…

而已成人妻的女人往往不过要求男人对其父母要像自己对他们的父母一样尊重、相互往来时，此时的人妻却被形容成对男人要求太多、贪婪的女人…

如果说两情相悦的爱情，父母眼里优秀的女儿嫁给了男方父母眼里优秀的儿子原本是那么幸福的画面但此时男人眼里的女人已是人妻，男人和女人的所有产业都是共同努力建立的，还有家里的开销及房贷每月是一人一半缴付的….此刻男人和女人本就已是男女平等的level

可男人总是不经意的提醒那个女人，人妻就要有人妻的样，不应该只是成天想往外跑，去上课、打球、gym、泡图书馆做功课、呆办公室办公、business networking、跟朋友喝茶、要求回娘家等…女人似乎沒有一件事是對不起男人的，敢問什麼是人妻？！人妻是一份職業嗎？人妻一个月收入多少？

真的很好笑，如果男人一天12个小时忙工作，一星期做6天，重复他的舒适圈16年不变，也不断提醒人妻自己认识他的时候就是这样，麻烦人妻不要试图想改变什么，更不错的是男人忠诚得偶尔还值晚班人妻都不见他人影在家……敢问人妻要有怎样的人妻样？

说到底一句…男人都是自私的动物……厌倦了！

新加坡私人医院体检初体验

每次抽个血劳师动众，换了两个护士找不到血管，搞到上去楼上换senior护士抽第一次，针扎下去”tak ada lagi eh…miss u wait me a while ya”看都不敢看全程关眼睛，第四个护士….终于抽到我的血了！ 我的妈呀！为什么每次都同样的问题？！抽一次血被扎了两针，换了四个护士….

这也不是我想的…现在你懂吗？我最怕是去抽血，更别说要我去捐血… 晕！

话说回来，新加坡私人医院就是不一样….还有不错的设施…还提供早餐和饮料让fasting的人完成检验后享用….这次的体检是保诚保险送的两年一次的free executive checkup, overall not bad,除了验血还有测大便与尿液、心电图、眼力、还有女性癌症测试……现在就只需要回去等report…

额外穿插一下，医生让我脱光光认真办我测试乳房和全身按按，说我的小肚肚可能有something所以额外付了验ultrasounds 的测试…. 我还说不是怀孕才有用ultrasounds 的吗，她也认真向我解释并给我说明书让我考虑考虑…反正都来了，我也不剩这钱好好的让医院把身子全部检查一下也无妨……对于那个”your stomach might have something”还是挺纠结的….hmm….

Anyway…旧车要维修保养，人也一样…在新加坡，真的….可以死不可以病…很多细节已经告诉我，我嫁的老公不太靠谱（看看和他的msg就知道)..所以不要怪我比任何人都努力的爱自己…

What is Leadership?

We recognize bad leadership. Bad leaders are dishonest, self-centered, arrogant, disorganized, and uncommunicative. However, being honest, selfless, organized and communicative are necessary, but not enough to be a good leader.

Who Is a Leader? Leader Essential Components

Dictionaries define leading as “guiding and directing on a course” and as “serving as a channel.” A leader is someone with commanding authority or influence. Researchers have developed many working definitions of leadership. Although these definitions share several elements, they each consider different aspects of leadership. Some define leadership as an integral part of the group process (Green, 2002; Krech and Crutchfield, 1948). Others define it primarily as an influence process (Bass, 1960; Cartwright, 1965; Katz and Kahn, 1966). Still others see leadership as the initiation of structure (Homans, 1950) and the instrument of goal achievement. Several even consider leaders to be servants of their followers (Greenleaf, 1998). Despite the differences, the various definitions of leadership share four common elements:

• First, leadership is a group and social phenomenon; there can be no leaders without followers. Leadership is about others.
• Second, leadership necessarily involves interpersonal influence or persuasion. Leaders move others toward goals and actions.
• Third, leadership is goal directed and action oriented; leaders play an active role in groups and organizations. They use influence to guide others through a certain course of action or toward the achievement of certain goals.
• Fourth, the presence of leaders assumes some form of hierarchy within a group.

In some cases, the hierarchy is formal and well defined, with the leader at the top; in other cases, it is informal and flexible. Combining these four elements, we can define a leader as any person who influences individuals and groups within an organization, helps them establish goals, and guides them toward achievement of those goals, thereby allowing them to be effective. Being a leader is about getting things done for, through, and with others. Notice that the definition does not include a formal title and does not define leadership in terms of certain traits or personal characteristics. Neither is necessary to leadership.

What are the obstacles to effective leadership?

It is difficult for leaders to learn how to be effective. The experience of failure, in some cases, may be a defining moment in the development of a leader (George, 2009). The question is, therefore, what are the obstacles to becoming an effective leader? Aside from different levels of skills and aptitudes that might prevent a leader from being effective, several other obstacles to effective leadership exist:

• First, organizations face considerable uncertainty that creates pressure for quick responses and solutions. External forces, such as voters and investors, demand immediate attention. In an atmosphere of crisis, there is no time or patience for learning. Ironically, implementing new methods of leadership, if they are allowed, would make dealing with complexity and uncertainty easier in the long run. Therefore, a vicious cycle that allows no time for the learning that would help current crises continues. The lack of learning and experimentation in turn causes the continuation of the crises, which makes the time needed to learn and practice innovative behaviors unavailable.
• Second, organizations are often rigid and unforgiving. In their push for short-term and immediate performance, they do not allow any room for mistakes and experimentation. A few organizations, such as Virgin Group Ltd., 3M, and Apple Computers that encourage taking risks and making mistakes, are the exception. The rigidity and rewards systems of many institutions discourage such endeavors.
• Third, organizations fall back on old ideas about what effective leadership is and, therefore, rely on simplistic solutions that do not fit new and complex problems. The use of simple ideas, such as those proposed in many popular books, provides only temporary solutions.
• Fourth, over time, all organizations develop a particular culture that strongly influences how things are done and what is considered acceptable behavior. As leaders try to implement new ideas and experiment with new methods, they may face resistance generated by the established culture.
• Finally, another factor that can pose an obstacle to effective leadership is the difficulty involved in understanding and applying the findings of academic research. In the laudable search for precision and scientific rigor, academic researchers sometimes do not clarify the application of their research, making the research inaccessible to practitioners.

No one way best defines what it means to be an effective leader. Fred Luthans (1989) proposes an interesting twist on the concept of leadership effectiveness by distinguishing between effective and successful managers. According to Luthans, effective managers are those with satisfied and productive employees, whereas successful managers are those who are promoted quickly. After studying a group of managers, Luthans suggests that successful managers and effective managers engage in different types of activities. Whereas effective managers spend their time communicating with subordinates, managing conflict, and training, developing, and motivating employees, the primary focus of successful managers are not on employees. Instead, they concentrate on networking activities such as interacting with outsiders, socializing, and politicking. Ideally, any definition of leadership effectiveness should consider all the different roles and functions that a leader performs. Few organizations, however, perform such a thorough analysis, and they often fall back on simplistic measures. Whether any of these leaders is considered effective or not depends on one’s perspective.

One way to take a broad view of effectiveness is to consider leaders effective when their group is successful in maintaining internal stability and external adaptability while achieving goals. Overall, leaders are effective when their followers achieve their goals, can function well together, and can adapt to changing demands from external forces. The definition of leadership effectiveness, therefore, contains three elements:

1. Goal achievement, which includes meeting financial goals, producing quality products or services, addressing the needs of customers, and so forth
2. Smooth internal processes, including group cohesion, follower satisfaction, and efficient operations
3. External adaptability, which refers to a group’s ability to change and evolve successfully

Why Do We Need Leaders?

To keep groups orderly and focused. Human beings have formed groups and societies for close to 50,000 years. Whether the formation of groups itself is an instinct or whether it is based on the need to accomplish complex tasks too difficult for individuals to undertake, the existence of groups requires some form of organization and hierarchy. Whereas individual group members may have common goals, they also have individual needs and aspirations. Leaders are needed to pull the individuals together, organize, and coordinate their efforts.

To accomplish tasks. Groups allow us to accomplish tasks that individuals alone could not undertake or complete. Leaders are needed to facilitate that accomplishment, and to provide goals and directions and coordinate activities.

To make sense of the world. Groups and their leaders provide individuals with a perceptual check. Leaders help us make sense of the world, establish social reality, and assign meaning to events and situations that may be ambiguous.

To be romantic ideals. Finally, as some researchers have suggested (e.g., Meindl and Ehrlick, 1987), leadership is needed to fulfill our desire for mythical or romantic figures who represent us and symbolize our own and our culture’s ideals and accomplishments.

How are management and leadership similar or different?

Organizations need good management to plan, measure, hire, fire, coordinate activities, and so forth. leadership is about people (Kruse, 2013). Table below presents the major distinctions between managers and leaders. Whereas leaders have long-term and future-oriented perspectives and provide a vision for their followers to look beyond their immediate surroundings, managers take short-term perspectives and focus on routine issues within their own immediate departments or groups. Zaleznik (1990) further suggests that leaders, but not managers, are charismatic and can create a sense of excitement and purpose in their followers. Kotter (1990; 1996) takes a historical perspective in the debate and proposes that leadership is an age-old concept, but the concept of management developed in the past 100 years as a result of the complex organizations created after the Industrial Revolution. A manager’s role is to bring order and consistency through planning, budgeting, and controlling. Leadership, on the other hand, is aimed at producing movement and change.

Leadership Basics

Leadership is a complex process that is a journey rather than a destination. All effective leaders continue to grow and improve, learning from each situation they face and from their mistakes. Here are some basic points that we will revisit throughout the book:

• Find your passion: We can be at our best when we lead others into something for which we have passion.

• Learn about yourself: Self-awareness of your values, strengths, and weaknesses is an essential starting point for leaders.

• Experiment with new behaviors and situations: Learning and growth occur when we are exposed to new situations that challenge us; seek them out.

• Get comfortable with failure: All leaders fail; good leaders learn from their mistakes and consider them learning opportunities. Mistakes are more likely to happen when you are placed in new challenging situations that provide you with opportunities to learn.

• Pay attention to your environment: Understanding all the elements of a leadership situation, and particularly followers, is essential to effectiveness. Ask questions, listen carefully, and observe intently so that you can understand the people and the situations around you.

Remember that it’s about others:Leadership is not about you and your personal agenda. It’s about getting things done for, through and with others.

• Don’t take yourself too seriously: A good sense of humor and keeping a perspective on priorities will help you. You are not as good as your most fervent supporters believe and not as flawed as your reticent detractors think, so lighten up!

Many executives have adopted new management techniques to help them with the challenges inherent in the new roles for leaders. The new leadership styles are not limited to business organizations; they can also be seen in government and other not-for-profit organizations.

Leadership has been defined in many different ways, but most definitions share the assumption that it involves an influence process for facilitating the performance of a collective task. Otherwise, the definitions differ in many respects, such as who exerts the influence, the intended beneficiary of the influence, the manner in which the influence is exerted, and the outcome of the influence attempt. Some theorists advocate treating leading and managing as separate roles or processes, but the proposed definitions do not resolve important questions about the scope of each process and how they are interrelated. No single, “correct” definition of leadership covers all situations. What matters most is how useful the definition is for increasing our understanding of effective leadership.

不为谁而停留

33岁的话，你经历过多少的生离死别？

或许蛮多次你都知道没了就是没了……走了就是走了…..可是如果内心不够强大，真的可以忘掉吗？

你若真是一个念旧的人，答案是…忘不掉的！你唯一能做的只是放下….放下就好了，哪怕无数次你的回眸，它（回忆）都一直存在着….

爷爷婆婆、外公外婆、表弟侄儿、同学好友…每一次都不愿再回想起来…因为我知道只要一触碰心痛的感觉会一涌而上！

走到今天33岁的自己在不知不觉的生活里，已经特别特别地爱自己，会努力向上、不断学习、会注意自己的健康和礼仪气质，培养那些孤独老下去都可以坚持下去的爱好…唯有培养这样一个优秀的自己，长辈和朋友们才可以“放下”，然后也好好地过着他们想要的生活…谁也不为谁停留……

是的……不为谁而停留……

时间、岁月、人的寿命、人和人的缘分、学习能力、脑力、脚力……一切的一切…它若是要消失根本也来不及通知你…

我有很多侄儿侄女，大侄女和二侄女，他们很小的时候爸妈离异，我帮我妈一起带她们喂奶喂粥换尿布、带他们到处去玩他们都二姑前二姑后，上中学了、有自己的思想和朋友，和她们的缘分就突然变浅了……搬回去跟亲妈住以后更是似乎连血缘关系都快没了……我还好…我爸呢？从前成天载上载下去补习…我妈呢？更是呵护备至着他们…可现在呢？没什么事大概也都不会想找找当初对他们疼爱有加的婆婆爷爷了……这些…我都看在眼里记在心里的…人情…是多么淡薄的一种微生物…会繁殖…却也会死…爸妈倒是心甘情愿地付出，离开了的人也罢，离开了的心真的很冬天….

于是这个大家庭、这个大环境让我学会了珍惜、放下、不为谁而停留……共勉之