Driving Nightmares or Beauty

Have and Show Trust in Your Staff

Rule 23

“It is happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust”
Samuel Jhonson

You have a computer I take it? Ok, it crashes from time to time-that’s a given. You have a car. It breaks a car. It breaks down for time to time, even if it’s only puncture-that, too, is a given. Now you don’t eye either of these warily, expecting them let you down, watching them like a hawk in case they show any sign of breaking down, do you? No, of course not. So stop watching your staff like that. They are a tool to getting a job done. They will break down, crash, whatever, from time to time but we accept their limitations-Rule 11 and we allow them to make mistakes-Rule 10 and we accept that we aren’t managing them but their processes instead.

And if you can make that move to trusting your staff you must show them that you are doing exactly that. Trust not only has to be done but it also has to be seen to be done. Sometimes you’ll have to make a big show of really leaving them alone to get on with it.

You show them that you trust them by backing off, leaving them alone to get on with the job. Stop peering over their shoulders, checking every few moments, looking up nervously every time they move or cough or get up. Relax and let them get on with it. You can still ask them to report back at the end of the day/week and encourage them to come to you to discuss any problems. Just make it clear you trust them to do it, and you are always there if they need support or guidance.

But, I hear you say, what if I really don’t trust them? What if I know they’re a lazy, good-for-nothing, shiftless bunch of liberty takers? What if, indeed? Whose team is it? Who employed, trained, kept such a bunch of monkeys?

Sorry, bit harsh, but sometimes we need to face the reality. If you can’t trust your team you need to look to your own management skills-or keep reading. A good team leader (that’s you) has a good team following them. If the team is faulty, then the leadership has to be challenged-that’s not going to be you. If the team is right, you can trust them. If the team really can’t be trusted (and are you sure about that?) then it needs to be changed.

The Rules of Management by Richard Templar.

Photo by Microsoft

Maintain Good Relationships and Friendships.

Rule 93

“Don’t flatter yourself that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. The nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, American poet

I have a friend who has a catchphrase – don’t we all? – and his is, ‘I don’t see how that can possibly be good be good manners’. He uses it if anyone talks across him at meetings or steal his ideas. I love it because it says everything about poor working relationships. Good manners – what a simple concept but how big a subject.

It is easy to maintain good relationships and friendships at work if you maintain good manners. This doesn’t have to mean opening doors for people or carrying their suitcases. Good manners is being polite, warm, human, compassionate, helpful, welcoming – all the things you’d be for your customers, or should be (I’m sure you are).

This becomes tricky when it comes to somebody you don’t like, have clashed with in the past or who has been rude or unpleasant to you. But that’s when it’s most important to use this skill.
Even the rudest and most unpleasant person will find it very hard to keep being rude if you are pleasant, smiling and open with them (especially if you can hear to throw in a little flattery about their expertise on a subject – if its justified, of course).

Try to see your colleagues as if they went equally warm on yourself. If you always approach everyone with cheerful optimism you’ll find that they simply have no choice but to respond in kind. Offer help when you can. Speak to everyone as if they were your equal – as indeed they are. Look for the positive points in people – find something to like or respect about them and focus on that. Take as much time with the most modest of employees as you would with the highest. Treat everyone the same – with respect and decency.

The Rules of Management by Richard Templar

Photo by Microsoft Office

Be in Command and Take Charge

Rule 99

It is acknowledged that many leaders do not have empathy, but it observed that those who lack empathy lack the ability to move people. Leaders who can instill an atmosphere of working together gain respect, taking charge without taking control.
Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader

You are a manager, so manage. Managing means just that, managing. Managing to work effectively. Managing to be in charge. Managing to be in command.
There seems to be a new movement in which managers are frightened to take command. They seem reluctant to assume control in case their team might resent this or accuse them of being a dictator. Nothing could be further from the truth. Teams with good, strong, commanding, managers go a lot further because they know there is a captain at the helm. Without a captain we are all at sea – lost, scared, about to crash on the rocks. In a way it almost doesn’t matter what captain we’ve got, just so long as we’ve got someone with their hand on the rudder. We all know the first mate does all the real sailing anyway, so the captain can be whatever, but the first mate can’t function unless they know there is someone there, at the helm.
You’ve got to be a hero to your team and a good second-in-command to your boss. You have to be all these old-fashioned things:

- dependable
- reliable
- strong
- trustworthy
- faithful
- loyal
- staunch
- dedicated
- accountable

Boy, it’s all order, a tough call. But the rewards are immense. Being a manager is a fabulous job if you handle it right, abide by the rules and play it straight.

“Managing Yourself
The Rules of Management by Richard Templar”
Photo by Microsoft

Lake Toba is Beautiful Culture

This is one of the highest lakes in South East Asia 853m (2,800ft) above sea-level, created by enormous volcanic eruption. Glittering aquamarine when the sun shines, green and menacing under a stormy sky, it is the largest lake in Indonesia. Even so, it serves in effect as a mere moat for huge Samosir Island, which with an area of 630 sq km (243 sq miles) is bigger than Singapore. Parapat is the lake shore resort town where you can embark for the island, half an hour away by boat.
Most visitors stop first at Tomok to see the royal cemetery, with stone tombs 400 years old. Huge banyan trees shelter the ancient graves.

Ambarita
On the eastern side of Samosir, the village has some fine old Batak Houses, extraordinary structures set high on poles and built without a single nail, using a notch method, wooden pegs and ropes. The front and back walls slope outward and are ornamented with woodcarvings. Only the Batak colours white, red and black are used. The huge sway-backed roofs are made of palm fibre or neat sheets of corrugated iron, and a carved buffalo head is set at each of the gable ends. The sopo or rice storehouse is designed in the same way.
Inside these communal houses there are no rooms, but mats are hung to give privacy. About eight related families live in each house, but when a boy reaches puberty, he moves to a special bachelors’ house with others of his age.
Ambarita also has an ancient judgment place with stone table and seats where chiefs used to meet to settle the fate of tribe members accused of a crime. If things went badly, it was off with their heads on the spot.

Simanindo
At the northern tip of Samosir, an outstanding Batak house, once a palace, is now a museum and the place, is now a museum and place to see Batak dancing. The musicians sit up in a gallery while men and women dance in the courtyard below. They may demonstrate is gale gale puppets, almost like-size marionettes which are made to peform with uncannily like-like movements.

There are a number of Batak tribes, but Samosir Island in Lake Toba is the cradle of their culture. According to tradition, all Bataks are descended from Si Raja Batak, a god hero born on a holy mountain near Lake Toba.

By Indonesia Tourism Promotion Boards. (Indonesia a World all its Own)
By This Way Indonesia (James Hardy)
Photo by Gery Bell (Oceanwide Images)

Beautiful City in the World

Jakarta (Visit Indonesia Year 2008)
by aya

Toronto

Brazil

London

Niagara Falls

Paris

Singapore

The Little Island of “Komodo Dragon”

Meet a modern day dinosaur.
The Nusa Tenggara islands are rich in history and culture. One island, however, is particularly famous for being the home of the world’s largest reptile, the Komodo Dragon. These huge monitor lizards are nephews and nieces of dinosaur, so it will come as no surprise to discover they are capable of swallowing a small water buffalo in one sitting.

Ferries that navigate the treacherous waters between Sumbawa and Flores call at the small island if Komodo, national park and the haunt of “dragons”. A survivor of another age, the Komodo Dragon is in reality an oversized monitor lizard, a species which has been in existence for 200 million years.

Guides take visitors, “dragon spotting” and there’s also a gruesome twice weekly feeding time, when up to 15 reptiles tear apart the body of a goat with such avidity that within minutes not a trace is left. More of giant lizard, live on the neighbouring island of Rinca, also reached from Flores and Sumbawa.

Futher off the beaten track, Labuhanbajo and Komodo are umpressive enough for elite of international underwater photographers to return year after year. At Lembata you can wangle a dive with pearl shell divers. Kupang promises plenty of wall diving with caves and big fish. Roti is rocky, with plenty of slopes and drop-offs profuse with soft coral.
Dive Season, possible all year round. Best weather is in April and October.

Highlights
A visit to Pura Lingsar (Lombok) the only Hindu shrine where both Hindus and Moslem worship.

Searching and underwater gardens of Flores for the rare and exclusive Blue Fire-Goby.

Cooling your heels on magnificent Senggigi Beach, Lombok.

Taro scent the air while the trio of volcanic lakes on Mount Kelimutu (which appear chameleon-like in different colors from burgundy red to turquoise green).

Photographing the magnificent Sindeniggile water fall (Lombok).


By Indonesia Tourism Promotion Boards. (Indonesia a World all its Own)
By This Way Indonesia (James Hardy)
Photo by Gery Bell (Oceanwide Images)

Products after TSUNAMI in Indonesia

AMI is the brand name given to small-scale business products manufactured by community groups living in coastal villages of North Sumatra badly affected by December 2004 tsunami. For generation, collecting shrimps, fish and oysters has provided income to the coastal communities. This way of life was severely altered after the disaster, which left many families helpless after ecosystems supporting them were destroyed.

The creation of AMI Products was facilitated by local foundation, YAGASU (Yayasan Gajah Sumatra). This Foundation committed to species and forests conservation, environmental restoration and community development. After the tsunami, YAGASU focused on the rehabilitation of coastal ecosystem along the East coast of Northern Sumatra and on helping in inhabitants to achieve a-long-term and environment-friendly sustainable development.

Within the so-called “Coastal Carbon Corridor” stretching along 670 km from Banda Aceh to Pantai Labu, and with support from NGOs (PLANETE URGENCE, ISLAMIC RELIEF, MUSLIM AID), private companies (NEWMONT), international and national governmental institutions (BRR NAD-Nias, UNESCO) and many other donor fundings, YAGASU has provided the local communities with small business training, production process, marketing and product promotions. Since its induction, AMI has fast expanded and now contributes to the livelihood improvement of hundreds of villagers.

Some specific objectives of AMI products are give a prominent economic role to women in the community, and to bring the villagers to interact with each other. It also improves the confidence and sense of responsibility of everyone involved. With the tsunami, many women have seen their family destroyed with the loss of their husbands and children. Psychological reconstruction is also important : “When I am home, I am alone, when I came to work, I have friends.” says Minda, an employee of AMI Products.

AMI products consist of traditional handcrafts, homemade food processing, chocolates, a wide variety of coconut products, traditional designs of garment and embordery, and meubelair available for sale of at the AMI Products stores in the Banda Aceh airport, in Medan, in Jakarta and several supermarkets.

Two AMI Galleries, one in Jakarta and one in Bali have been established, providing extra jobs as well as a very good opportunity for the local communities to demonstrate their skills to a broader audience. The AMI Gallery will specialize in high quality handicrafts and garments, and will provide space for the exhibition art and music.

Thanks to funding from the NEWMONT company, the Community Learning Center in Kampung Jawa, Banda Aceh, is having its grand opening in May 2008. This Center will house the manufacturing and packaging handicrafts, traditional design of garments and food products, as well as training courses. Training courses will be provided to other communities in natural disaster affected areas, to gain skill in handicrafts creation and food production.

Creation People and photos by Asli Made in Indonesia

Be Straight at All Times and Speak the Truth

Rule 97

“I have found the being honest is the best technique I can use. Right up front, tell people what you’re trying to accomplish and what you’re willing to sacrifice to accomplish it.”
Lee Iacocca, President of Ford and of Chrysler

The rule follows right on from the previous Rule. Obviously if you think your boss is an idiot you don’t go and tell them - that’s taking honesty just a shade too far. But don’t lie, or cheat, or steal, or abuse, or defraud, or take advantage, or con, or trick, or swindle, or hinder, or worsen.

As a manager you have been given a privileged position – one of trust and honour. You are responsible for human lives – no, really, real human lives. You screw up and people get hurt. When they go home after working for you all day they carry on living and breathing, feeling and loving, hurting and dreaming and hoping. You upset them or offend them or abuse them or lie to them and they take that home and it affects their close family and friends and relatives. You must speak truth to them at all times. If you can’t say anything nice, say nothing, but don’t lie.

Don’t lie your bosses. They don’t employ you to do that. They employ you to be straight and to tell the truth. If you’re not going to make your figures, don’t fudge the issue – tell them. They can then take measures to help you or take action because your not making your figures might have knock-on effects. They might be let down but they will be grateful for the warning. Better to know, than to hope and be disappointed.

Don’t lie to customers. Obviously in all this there is measure for artistic truth telling. If a customer asks if your products are superior to your competitors you don’t have to lie because they are – or you’d be working for the competition, wouldn’t you? But if they ask if certain products have been successful and they haven’t you are entitled to creative truth telling. Say, ‘We have been somewhat surprised by sales so far but there is always room for improvement’, rather than. ‘These really bombed but we’re hoping you’ll take a load off our hands’.

“Managing Yourself
The rules of Management by Richard Templar”
Photo by Microsoft

Be Aware of Your Responsibilities and Stick to Your Principles

Rule 96

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

Albert Schweitzer

As a manager you have a responsibility to people in your team. You must make sure they don’t come to harm while they are in your care. You have to make sure they are sale, healthy, cared for, well fed and watered, comfortable, kept well away from hazardous substances and equipment, and that they wear suitable safety clothing if necessary.

Now you also have a responsibility to the environment in much the same way. You mustn’t do anything that is going to do harm, cause lasting damage , put anymore at risk of health or life, cause any land to be utilized in a worse way than it was before you came along. You don’t have to be an eco-warrior but you do have a responsibility not to cause harm or damage. Can you put your hand on your heart and say your managerial role is ‘clean’?

You have to have some principles – that you won’t cause harm or damage. There has to be a line drawn – by you – somewhere, beyond which you will not go. You have to give something back. You have to be aware of what is going on around you. You have to be aware of what your industry contributes – or takes – from the environment. This isn’t stuff from the fairies or the hippies or the karmic religionist – this is real stuff. The more you put in, the more you get out. Be good and sleep nights. It’s not a bad philosophy to live by and to manage with.


“Managing Yourself
The rules of Management by Richard Templar”

Photo by Microsoft