The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- A change in your career will happen - Are you prepared?
- Ranhill Energy returns money to investors
- FBM KLCI retreats on cautious sentiment
| A change in your career will happen - Are you prepared? Posted: WHAT do I mean by "1,000-day itch"? Really, it's a term I've used in professional forums and talks to advocate setting of personal career goals. That then leads to conscious efforts to work specifically towards those career goals. Often enough these professional goals are inter-twined with personal goals as well. Why 1,000 days? Well, think about it. Almost all would agree that life progresses in cycles. Throughout our education years, we'd likely be sitting for a major exam every two-three years. Then throughout our careers and personal adult life, either we'd be settling down, going through a new career challenge, or even planning to upgrade our car or home. There is even a tendency for economic cycles to follow a certain pattern of frequency. Please, however, regard the term "1,000 days" as an analogy. Change may happen in longer or even shorter intervals. The question is how prepared are we for these next stages in life? Better still, have we consciously made an effort to better ourselves in anticipation of changes happening? For me personally, changes have happened in my professional career and to a greater extent in my personal life, every three years or so. This is why I refer to a "1,000-day itch". Sometimes I've been prepared in anticipation; sometimes not. Joan Hoi, another popular columnist, writes in her book "Take on Change" that even as organisations go through change, the reality for change to happen is for someone in authority, likely the CEO or board, to feel sufficient pain or harbour strong ambitions for change. She also notes that another driver for change is ambition – the desire to achieve. Regardless of how long it will take for the next change in our career, it will happen. It's a matter of when. The next question is how can we prepare ourselves to be ready for that change? Better still, how we, through specific efforts, will not only be ready for change, but dictate the direction of change that most suits us? As Talent Consultants in Korn/Ferry, we constantly look for potential CEOs who have ambition. If one doesn't have personal ambition, how can they possibly drive the ambitions of an organisation? Other criteria we look for complementing depth of experience is one's ability to adapt to change. We call this learning agility. It is disappointing to see, for example, senior professionals who have been in a role for countless numbers of years, doing the same thing day in day out. They are in their comfort zones. They too are the ones who constantly complain that they're being overlooked for C-Suite opportunities. However, please don't get me wrong! I'm not suggesting that one should job-hop every three years. What I mean is that, even if you are in a role in an organisation for many years, there's no saying you can't improve how you perform as a professional, or be on the constant lookout for new opportunities to progress within the organisation. The most important is to be ready. To be ready with experience and skill sets for the next change or "itch" to happen. Much has been written about how one can be prepared professionally for next changes. Here are some pointers, which I've adapted from Korn/Ferry Institute publications. 1) Gain self awareness: "Self-Knowledge is the foundation upon which you can build self-confidence and success" – Dr Kevin Gazzara suggests. To get ahead, one needs to recognise your personal and professional strengths. Awareness makes us better leaders. You will be honest about your weak spots and will be able to work on them to better yourself to be ready for your next stage of growth. 2) Develop a posse of inspiration: Surround yourself with positive, successful people who have progressed in life. Some even look for mentors who can share their personal experiences for success. 3) Equip yourself with better qualifications: I've heard many arguments that there are just too many MBAs in the market, thus diluting its benefit. These comments are normally from those who sit on the sidelines complaining, while others progress. Like it or not, arm yourself with additional professional credentials, MBA or other pos-graduate qualifications, even via part-time programmes. This complements the years of on-the-job experience whilst broadening your knowledge. 4) Deliver excellence, speak up and gain recognition: Sounds a bit like a "motherhood statement," but there's no doubting exceptional performance that goes beyond what is expected sends a message to higher-ups that you are dedicated and have solid work ethics. To get noticed, you need to be heard and seen. 5) Polish your interpersonal skills: There are many fine examples of leaders who are polished speakers. They take extra efforts to enhance this skill. Some even engage personal coaches; some benefit from public programmes like Toastmasters International. 6) Be a risk taker: Another point for debate. In the business world, there are those who stagnate at their job and those who excel. In an environment that is constantly changing, one may need to take calculated risks to stay ahead of the game. This also encourages you to push beyond your comfort zone in order to learn, grown, build self-confidence and succeed. 7) Balanced perspectives of life – faith in the Almighty: Personally, I take this as being No. 1 on my list. Work hard and be sincere towards achieving what you desire in life, without forgetting that all is destined by the Almighty. I hope the perspectives outlined in the column are well received by all. Personally these are pointers I have adopted in my personal life and career, of which I hope may benefit you too. On a final note, I'd like to give credit to an uncle of mine, who I recall coined the phrase "1,000-day itch" and shared his thoughts with me so many years ago. He most probably has forgotten. I certainly have not. |
| Ranhill Energy returns money to investors Posted: PETALING JAYA: All the monies collected for the recently scrapped initial public offering (IPO) of Ranhill Energy and Resources Bhd from applicants and investors were refunded as of yesterday, the firm said in an announcement to the stock exchange. Ranhill Energy, whose much-anticipated listing was canned just days before a scheduled debut on July 31, had said two weeks ago that it would return the funds without interest after the plug was pulled on its RM753mil IPO. Although no official reason was cited, the freezing of a crucial Petroliam Nasional Bhd licence held by its affiliate was understood to have been key to unraveling the listing, which was touted as a comeback for Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad (pic) and his Ranhill group. Ranhill Energy had kept mum on the suspension for about a week before the news broke on StarBiz, leading the regulators to defer its IPO. Although the national oil company has since restored Perunding Ranhill Worley Sdn Bhd's (PRW) licence for upstream jobs, the downstream suspension remains in place. It is not known if PRW would seek to have its downstream licence remedied. While Ranhill Energy's concession businesses - which provide steady recurring income from lengthy power and water concessions - have been seen as its most lucrative divisions, its oil and gas (O&G) engineering arm makes up a substantial 10% of the group's annual sales. Meanwhile, news reports surfaced yesterday implying that Hamdan might seek to raise capital in Singapore, Dubai or Hong Kong within the next one to two years, after having fallen out with investors here. However, industry observers told StarBiz that Ranhill Energy should take a breather to iron out its issues before it seriously considers another flotation exercise. A bank-backed analyst also suggested that Ranhill carve out its problematic O&G arm from a future listing, even if this means a smaller share sale. "Ranhill needs to restructure before it regains the confidence of investors," the analyst said. |
| FBM KLCI retreats on cautious sentiment Posted: PETALING JAYA: Cautious sentiment on the macro outlook caused some selling pressure on the local bourse on Wednesday's half-trading day. While several analysts believe that the long-term fundamentals of the local economy remain strong despite external headwinds, selling pressure could still persist in the short term, particularly when the market re-opens on Monday. Alliance Research analyst Teoh Chang Yeow said in a report that the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index (FBM KLCI) would likely trade below the 1,776.99-point level on Monday. "The analysis of overall daily market action on Aug 7 revealed that buying power was weaker than selling pressure," he said. The FBM KLCI was 5.32 points lower yesterday on light volume of 135.5 million shares. Inter-Pacific Research Sdn Bhd research head Pong Teng Siew saidsome institutional funds were not willing to hold over the long weekend due to the uncertain external signals. He told StarBiz that local investors turned cautious when key United States equity indices fell the night before on concerns about the tapering of the quantitative easing measures. "Technical signals that are pointing to the Dow Jones registering a 5% drop on news of the bond purchase programme cut-down are similar to those gathered in June," he noted. Concurring that investors were taking the cue from the US market, Philip Capital Management Sdn Bhd's chief investment officer Ang Kok Heng said the adjustment should be short-term. "The volatility seen could be temporary, as the stock market would be supported by fundamentals when economies are doing well ultimately," he said, adding that the signals from the US were confusing, as good economic data became bad news. He cautioned that investors should look out for changes in economic data and currency trends. Ang explained that interest rates would be raised when the economic environment was supportive, while bond prices would go down, hence leading to weaker currencies, which would affect selective stocks. "When currencies adjust, some companies would benefit and this bodes well for short-term trading," he said. Nonetheless, the outlook for the Malaysian equity market was still resilient, especially on mid-cap stocks, which still provided value for investors, Ang added. Pong said there were signs that China, South Korea and possibly Singapore could post slower growth this year. However, he said Malaysia should be able to keep up with the anticipated growth rate, as construction activities, a major contributor to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), have been picking up well. |
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