It was a four-hour meeting. To some, four hours could be a very long time.
To me, that four hours revealed a life lesson I won’t forget any time soon. The truth is, not many of us get the opportunity to observe or listen to really successful people.
We see them on the television, we hear them on the radio, maybe we read about them on the papers. But to meet and speak with them, is a completely different story. And yesterday, I was given the opportunity to watch and observe how the CEO of a local SME in Singapore behaved in person. And the lesson I received was nothing short of amazing.
For many of us, we might think that these successful people are very different from us. That the way they behave in public and in their private lives are different. That it is the reason why we strive to reach where they are but many of us cannot never hope to even set foot in the same room.
Yet, seating there and watching him live revealed something unexpected…
His mannerism and behaviour is exactly just like you and me.
In fact, if you didn’t know better, you would have thought he was just another ordinary person.
He didn’t speak like a scholar. Neither did he dress like a diplomat.
Instead, clothed in his company’s polo tee, he addressed the few of us, the same way he would a close friend.
Yet, despite the simplicity of it all, there was a subtle difference.
And I think it made all the difference in the world.
Observing & Paying Attention
It was his attitude towards life.
Let me explain…
There must have been about 20 plus people in the room. Half of which were his team. Yet, when we needed to connect the projector to the laptop, he was the first one to search for the cable and personally see to the connection. Making sure everything was in place. Personally checking for himself.
It may not seem like much, but it surprised me that here was a highly successful man, but he didn’t see the need to boss his people around. Instead, he took the lead by rushing to ensure things were in place.
As the conversation continued, you could tell here was someone who was always very clear of his goals. He knew what he wanted and stood by his decisions. He helped direct the conversation and made sure everyone and everything was on track. But he was never rigid. Instead, he encouraged ideas and discussions. He wasn’t afraid to admit when he didn’t understand something and needed clarification.
Most importantly…
He was open to new ideas that challenged the old ways of thinking.
It became very clear to me why he is as successful as he was. Because here was a man who welcomed change. Who welcomed being pushed out of his comfort zone. Who wasn’t too proud to say I don’t know.
Continuous Learning
Probably the biggest takeaway I could get from him is his constant desire to learn new things. To appreciate ideas and learn the rationale behind why each decision was made or recommended. As a CEO he knows very clearly that he doesn’t know everything. That is why he is always interested to learn more.
But he doesn’t attempt to learn how to do it himself.
And this is perhaps the most critical lesson.
Because I’ve seen countless beginners in any industry who attempt to bite off more than they can chew. They strive to learn everything there is without honing their craft. And the result is usually dismal. They end up not really knowing how to do anything.
A jack-of-all-trades you might call them.
In fact, when i first begin, I was just like them. I thought that to become better at what i did, I had to learn everything. That I had to do everything myself.
Not only wasn’t I able to push myself very far, I became overwhelm with concepts and ideas I wasn’t too familiar with.
So instead of pushing myself forward, I ended up going backwards.
That was why when I saw him with his desire to learn I wondered if he was in a similar position.
But he wasn’t.
While he is keen on learning, his goal was to understand how things worked. But he knew he didn’t possess the experience for execution. That he left to people who were more experienced. Instead, what he wanted to learn was the process so he is better informed to make decisions moving forward.
It is how he can organise and process the countless decisions he makes everyday.
And it is this sort of subtle lessons that teaches me the true traits a successful person carries. It’s the type of lesson you can’t pay money to learn. Only through meeting, watching and learning from his actions.
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