What Kind of Manager Are You?

There are two kinds of managers and both types communicate in two very different styles.

One is the Hands-On: They criticise and judge their staff.

If, as a manager, you choose to judge (criticism, implied or otherwise), you will provoke defensiveness and withdrawal, not creativity or productivity.

When you hammer your people or find them coming up short, this is when you then start to criticise and micromanage them. In this age of sensitivity of the knowledge-based worker, that is a self-destructive cycle. It engenders nothing but resentment.

When we judge our people and then hold grudges, we are giving our power away. When we resent a team member, we are giving that power to that person we are angry with by allowing him/her to occupy and dominate our thinking. The real power in leadership comes from partnering with your staff and not criticising them.

The other one type is the Hands-Off: They mentor and coach their staff.

The ‘hands-off’ manager sets himself apart by retaining all his power. His practice is to understand everyone he meets. By doing this, he is reducing his own stress level at work. He is completely aware that every time he judges someone, he alters his own well-being.

So he refuses to assign the responsibility for negative feelings to that person he is tempted to judge. He assigns the responsibility for this low feeling to the thought he has formed about that person. Only these thoughts create stress, not the people. This is his mental attitude.

Please take a moment to ponder… What kind of a manager are you?

Your friend,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

Have You Refuelled?

Just like a car needs petrol to move towards its destination, a person needs regular ‘refuelling’ of the spirit to reach his or her desired destination in life.

Most people fail to ‘refuel’ and they stop and halt without moving on further in life. Then they wonder “Why?” or most of the time, blame others but not themselves for not being able to move forward. Hey dude you’re out of gas! You need to top up!

You need to ‘refuel’ and never again allow your tank to run low. Always remember to look at your gasoline gauge.

Please take a moment to ponder… Let us not complicate life. Understand its simplicity and work in harmony with its flow.

Find that person or place where you can go regularly for ‘refuelling’. This is a must! Never let your spirit run out or run low.

“In everyone’s life at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.

We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the human spirit.”
– Albert Schweitzer

Your friend,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

How Long Can You Live as a Debtor?

What would you rather be… a taker or a giver…?

You must make a decision which side of the fence you want to be on in life.

The question above defines your character… Who are you? What do you want to be?

Please take a moment to ponder… if you have been a taker all your life… then this is the reason you expect too much from people… you’re frustrated when you to do not get what you want… you’re angry… the world is unfair… on the other hand… a giver never expects anything in return… the very act of giving is just so fulfilling that the more he gives… the more he wants to give… and vice versa… the more you take… the more you want to take… and there is just no end to it… it is like an addiction… the world is not even enough to fulfil your desires… since most of us have been takers… we are in fact in so much debt… that we can never ever repay all the services that we have taken from parents, family, relatives, friends… community… society… and Mother Nature… so how do you propose to pay back?.. it’s time to take on the other side… be a giver… start paying forward… how long can you live as a ‘debtor’?

So make your choice…

Your friend,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

Are You a Leader?

The day-to-day chaos, wars, crimes, and 9-11 events brought focus on the timeless relationship between leadership and service. Leadership is not about having the biggest house, the latest technology, the most friends, the most power, or the most political connections. Leadership is about serving people in whatever situation life may thrust upon us.

What excuse can we have not to serve? Service is what brings happiness and fulfilment.

Please take a moment to ponder… Service is the very core of our being… our very essence… like wetness from water… or heat from fire… service is that essence you can never separate from the soul… To serve is to live a life of a human.

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

Humility is a Strength, Not a Weakness

Humility is a Strength, not a Weakness

So please do not be afraid to exhibit your strength…

Be Humble… it won’t hurt you but will only make you stronger.

Humility – The quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc. Not proud or arrogant; modest.

Strength – The quality or state of being strong; bodily or muscular power; vigour. Mental power, force, or vigour. Moral power, firmness, or courage. Power by reason of influence, authority, resources, numbers, etc.

Weakness – The state or quality of being weak; lack of strength, firmness, vigour, or the like; feebleness. An inadequate or defective quality, as in a person’s character; slight fault or defect.

Highest – Exceeding the common degree or measure; strong; intense.

Form – The structure, pattern, organization, or essential nature of anything. A conventional method of procedure or behaviour.

Self-respect – Proper esteem or regard for the dignity of one’s character.

Admit – To acknowledge; confess.

Mistakes – An error or fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness.

Amends – Reparation or compensation for a loss, damage, or injury of any kind; recompense.

[Source: Dictionary.com]

“Humility leads to strength and not to weakness. It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them.”
– John J. McCloy

Please take a moment and ponder on each of the words above… think about them… understand them… act upon them… then move forward… do not look back… make a conscious decision… do not be afraid to act… make mistakes… but be willing to admit to them… because Humility is real Courage. Arrogance is Cowardice… Don’t be a Coward… There is no place on the planet for it.

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

Art of War

Have you read Art of War by Sun Tzu? I read it when I was 17 after my martial arts instructor recommended it to me and I read it again when I got into network marketing.

Art of War is an amazing book on strategies, planning, executions and winning.

Let me share with you an excerpt from this book that hopefully will help us in our endeavour to make QI a truly great company.

Please take a moment to ponder and learn how you can best strategise using these five basic assessments from the great General Sun Tzu.

Excerpts from ‘Art of War’:

Strategic Assessments

Military action is important to the nation – it is the ground of death and life, the path of survival and destruction, so it is imperative to examine it.

Therefore measure in terms of five things, use these assessments to make comparisons, and thus find out what the conditions are. The five things are the way, the weather, the terrain, the leadership, and discipline.

The Way means inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share death and share life, without fear of danger.

The weather means the seasons.

The terrain is to be assessed in terms of distance, difficulty or ease of travel, dimension, and safety.

Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and sternness.

Discipline means organization, chain of command, and logistics.

Every general has heard of these five things. Those who know them prevail, those who do not know them do not prevail.

Therefore, use these assessments for comparison, to find out what the conditions are. That is to say, which political leadership has the Way? Which general has ability? Who has the better climate and terrain? Whose discipline is effective? Whose troops are the stronger? Whose officers and soldiers are the better trained? Whose system of rewards and punishments is clearer? This is how you can know who will win.

Assess the advantages in taking advice, then structure your forces accordingly, to supplement extraordinary tactics. Forces are to be structured strategically, based on what is advantageous.

A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.

When you are going to attack nearby, make it look as if you are going to go a long way; when you are going to attack far away, make it look as if you are going just a short distance.

Draw them in with prospect of gain, take them by confusion.

When they are fulfilled, be prepared against them; when they are strong, avoid them.

Use anger to throw them into disarray.

Use humility to make them haughty. Tire them by flight. Cause division among them.

Attack when they are unprepared, make your move when they do not expect it.

The formation and procedure by the military should not be divulged beforehand.

The one who figures on victory at headquarters before even doing battle is the one who has the most strategic factors on his side. The one who figures on inability to prevail at headquarters before doing battle is the one who has the least strategic factors on his side. The one with many strategic factors in his favor wins, the one with few strategic factors in his favor loses – how much the more so for one with no strategic factors in his favor. Observing the matter in this way, I can see who will win and who will lose.”

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

Finish Strong

As we enter our 10th year as a company, let us all change and have a strong finish to our first decade. Let us not look back and complain on what should have been or what did not happen based on our expectations.

Let us embrace a new and vibrant spirit that will give way to a new vision and strategy for our managers and staff to take on the baton for the next ten years.

Let go! Trust in us! Have faith that we will carry on the mission that is Raise Yourself To Help Mankind.

Please take a moment to ponder and watch this inspiring movie clip: Finish Strong

Your friend,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

The Power of Determination

When I was a child growing up, I was very fascinated by the story of the sparrow. It was told in school to teach children the power of determination. No matter how insignificant we are, like the sparrow, and no matter how insurmountable the challenges we face, we must never give up. Fear should not stop us from achieving the goals we have set. Below is the ancient Krishna  story of the ‘sparrow and her eggs’.

Let me share it with you:

One day a sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean, but the big ocean carried away the eggs on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal. So the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean. She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuda, the gigantic bird carrier of the Lord, heard it. He became compassionate toward his small sister bird, and so he came to see the sparrow. Garuda was very pleased by the determination of the small sparrow, and he promised to help. Thus Garuda at once asked the ocean to return her eggs lest he himself take up the work of the sparrow. The ocean was frightened by this, and so returned the eggs. Thus the sparrow became happy by the grace of Garuda.

Please take a moment to ponder… Difficult tasks become very easy to execute if, simply with determination, one remembers the Lord. But if one does not remember Him, even an easy task becomes very difficult to achieve.

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

Who Am I?

Have you ever wondered who you really are? Where you are going after this life? What is the purpose of your existence? Why this world is full of suffering?

It is said that the human life begins when one seeks answers to these questions. They are the most basic of all questions, yet are also the foundation of knowledge. Without knowing who you really are, it will not be possible to find real peace and happiness. This coming week I will try to shed some light on these subjects to give us a better understanding of the truth regarding our identity.

Please take a moment to ponder on these verses taken from Krishna …

“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.”

“Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent (the material body) there is no endurance and of the eternal (the soul) there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.”

“That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.”

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

How to Change

We talk about change, but what are the areas of change we want to see in QuestNet? Or is it the people in QuestNet that we want to change?

These are areas a person can make effective changes. To do this, we must fully engage in the following:
We must be physically energised.
We must be emotionally connected.
We must be mentally focussed.
We must be spiritually aligned.

We must also learn to manage these four areas of our being:

Physical
Heart and lungs
Abdominals
Shoulders and back
Legs
Arms

Emotional
Self-confidence
Self-regulation
Interpersonal effectiveness
Empathy/Caring

Mental
Focus
Realistic optimism
Time management
Creativity

Spiritual
Prayer/Meditation
Character
Commitment
Integrity
Service to others

We must also be respectful and supportive of these habits and skills:

Physical
Sleep
Exercise
Diet
Hydration

Emotional
Patience
Openness
Trust
Enjoyment

Mental
Visualisation
Positive talk
Positive attitude
Mental preparation

Spiritual
Honesty
Integrity
Courage
Persistence

Please take a moment to ponder…

I believe if we manage these areas of our being we can make positive changes and these individual changes that we make will affect our company as a whole.

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd