Character lasts forever

There is currently a strong emphasis on leadership in not only the business world, but non-profit organisations, government departments, churches and religious organisations as well. Such institutions all espouse the attributes that quality leadership provides and I think the INSEAD selection process is very rigorous with the character of candidates under the microscope.

Underpinning the foundations of personal leadership is the character of the team, the function of the leader is to instill within the team the values that the team operates under. In many respects, management is out - this is the process to achieve results. Leadership is all about bringing out the best qualities of the group as the leader; as such, the character of the leader drives the success of the team.

I am a strong believer in empowering team members as the role of the leader is to produce more leaders built through a formal succession plan. For me, leadership is all about producing high performance teams. When the team is eventually disbanded, the legacy of the project is the character forged through mutual experiences.

Ray Ban sunglasses

By far my favourite brand of sunglasses is Ray Ban; I have always liked the glass lenses and the frames of the older series were both stylish and robust. My choice of Ray Ban sunglasses was Cats; much to my disappointment, these vintage sunglasses are near impossible to get hold of now for a reasonable price. I did find a pair online for $585, I nearly passed out, I'm not chasing a pair at any cost and I am guessing they are secondhand and I wouldn't trust the condition.

My first pair were destroyed by my friend's uncontrolable children who belted me from behind while I was sitting on a chair. My second pair were wrecked by a former fat-arse girlfriend who stole not only my sunglasses but a whole load of other stuff and smashed them in one of her irrational outbursts. Back in those days I have some semblance of taste but I let myself down in my youth.

Buy low/sell high

Everybody knows the old adage of buy low and sell high, yet why do so many people buy high and sell low?

I love entrepreneurship and the decision of many people to take risks and either start up or purchase a business should be appalled. I also like trading by buying and selling. A profit is a profit and traders shouldn't be upset in making too small a profit - naturally profit maximisation is optimal.

Likewise, I also believe a trader should never chase a product or service and pay a fair price, there is no value in paying a premium. I know, I have unfortunately done so on many occasions. I have chased shares where the price was too high, the market decided the valuation was too high and the price tumbled.

Likewise, I have considered the price too excessive only for prices to rise considerably and I have missed the opportunity. I am never concerned, I have missed out on potential profits, but this is still better than actual losses.

So I was surprised when I was down an old dive shop where I was employed chatting to the owner when he told me he had sold the shop effective June 30. I know the new owner and I now find out with his mortgage and business loan he now owes the bank a million dollars. We are possibly not at the bottom of an economic cycle, the situation is dire for many but may yet get worse.

Interest rates are at historic lows, but they are at that level for a reason. A rise in interest rates on loans of that size could quickly sink business earnings and we are in the throws of a two-speed economy. Currently the east coast economy is taking off, the residential property market is hot and the Reserve Bank of Australia will one day move to curb speculation. Should the east coast residential property market crash, this would have dire consquences for the economy at large.

I hope he has made an informed decision, any further downturn in economic activity on the west coast whilst the east coast is improving will have major consquences for the local Western Australian economy. The majority of the population lives on the eastern seaboard, the Reserve Bank of Australia is headquartered on the east coast and economic decisions are east coast centric. I only hope he hasn't bought high and will be forced to sell low.

Arizona dive centre

Having dived at Subic Bay on numerous occasions, I would consider myself a reasonably loyal customer. So it takes me a lot to change businesses yet my usual dive centre and accommodation finally ran out of chances. So, I decided to try a new dive centre and accommodation just down the road. In the Philippines they use the word resort very loosely, this isn't a classic resort in the true definition, what it does represent is a well run small business.

The dive centre attached to the accommodation is managed by expat Australian Kent Simmonds, a keen diver and extremely approachable guy. I will not be changing dive centres in the future while Kent is there, I love diving at this place. I have dived Subic Bay extensively; I was aware of other dive sites in Subic Bay but my former dive centre would just never offer more than the usual sites. What Kent offered me was the opportunity to explore so many new sites that were previously unavailable.

This isn't exactly a man crush, what this is amounts to a new found respect for a business proprietor who offers extraordinary customer service to a relatively experienced diver who has been buggered around by plenty of dive centres taking an arrogant view of the people who support their business. I am not offered free dives, accommodation or special rates nor have I ever requested special conditions for favourable reviews, I am a paying customer just like everyone else. So why do I choose to promote this dive centre? That's easy, Arizona Dive Centre is the premier dive centre in Subic Bay and I have dived at a number of Subic Bay dive centres.

The millionaire next door

I have long thought about net worth and who really accumulates extreme wealth. Whilst names like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg easily spring to mind, but what about people who generate enough wealth to be comfortable?

With property prices rising, homeowners are generating wealth at a steady rate and people are accumulating this wealth predominately through real estate investment. Australia had 234,000 high net worth individuals in 2015, that is one million dollars USD in investable assets not including the primary residence or possessions.

Although individuals are not generating income through their primary residence; yet rising property prices are increasing their net wealth. But if the primary residence is not included in the calculation then the valuation becomes a whole lot harder. A modest home may indicate a degree of frugally freeing up capital for investment.

Likewise, an owned property may have a loan as collateral for investment but the whole net worth calculation then becomes clouded. Loaning capital against the family home for investment is fraught with danger, any decline in that investment may require the loan to be called in, margin calls are ugly. If these individuals have any investments in fixed interest, cash, bonds or equities then they have potential for both capital growth and investment income - this is a start.

The problems with classroom training

The issues surrounding training revolve around the rigidness of classroom training delivery and the passive dissemination of information from lecturer to student. As such, student reactions against poorly planned and misguided training programs undermines training effectiveness and return on investment.  

The issue is not training, indeed training should be increased to achieve sustainable productivity transformation. The issue is the quality of training and how learning is embedded in the workplace as training and development are primarily targeted towards workplace outcomes. 

When training is the focus and not learning, the return on investment will not be aligned to strategic goals with the negative connotations of training reinforced. Classroom training tends to fall into the one size fits all the difficulty with classroom training is the ability to apply newly learned knowledge and skills in the workplace. 

To embed training, the skills need to be immediately utilised in the workplace before they are forgotten, learning objectives are not met, managers who are not convinced of the merits of training then have a reason to sabotage its implementation with the resulting resistance to training embedded in the organisation. The follow-up skills practice in the workplace is missed and personal mastery is not achieved.

This isn't to say training is bad, what is required is targeted development that reinforces the learning event that is immediately implemented in the workplace. As such, on-the-job training is the preferred delivery method for majority of the skills after the initial learning event.  

Hugo Boss - Just Different

Hugo Just Different is a fragrance introduced by Hugo Boss in 2011; this fragrance is a new take on one of Hugo Boss' most popular men's fragrance, Hugo introduced in 1995. The fragrance is vibrant, modern with a cool twist and according to the advertising brief made to “inspire whatever you do”.

The notes tell me ice cold mint leaves open the composition and lead to the heart of freesia and basil. The base is composed of Cashmeran® molecule of musk followed up with a woody & spicy scent in the end notes - this is more than just a pretty good fragrance.