by mohammadalamin584@gmail.com | Dec 24, 2024 | Events, Leadership
I began my career in the Mobile Telecommunications (Telco) sector in the year 2000.
That was an era when Telco was the unicorn much like the AI industry is today.
As a fresh Marketing graduate, I felt I ‘arrived’ when I landed my first job with MobileOne (M1).
I became a call centre officer, much to the disappointment of my parents.
They couldnโt understand why their son would find joy in answering customersโ inquiries every day.
My dad would further question..
โHow much longer are you planning to waste your time?โ
He wanted me to follow his career path in Finance where he believed smart people should be.
My first job in the call centre lasted 6 years but it was anything but a waste.
It was where I learned everything I knew about team leadership.
The lessons I learned from observing my supervisors were akin to sitting in the front row of an MBA class, every day.
There was one particular lesson that stood out.
‘Tasks will only take up 20% of your time. People will take up the other 80%.
‘BUT your greatest reward is when knowing you have made a positive difference to someone.”.
An advice that guided me throughout my career.
As I progressed, I was privileged to collaborate and lead diverse teams in Southeast Asia in my roles with Singtel International, Telkomsel and Lazada.
Managing teams sharpened my eye for human potential.
Oftentimes, I could see the spark in a person before they could.
Helping individuals recognize their spark was my motivation.
I created a team culture and provided opportunities for my members to find their voice. To share their ideas and career aspirations while being heard, valued and respected.
When they see beyond their current role, they start to believe in their abilities to grow and go further.
===
One of the greatest gifts in life is to have someone who believes in our potential.
โณ If you are in the position of giving, support someone.
โณ If you are in a position of receiving, donโt be shy to seek guidance.
I choose to believe it is in our power to make a difference, for others and ourselves.
We canโt go back in time to change our start.
But we can make the decisions today to change our future. ๐
How about you? What was your most important career advice?
by mohammadalamin584@gmail.com | Dec 24, 2024 | Leadership, Resources
99% of us avoid discomfort. ๐
Itโs not a weakness. It’s a fact.
Itโs how our brain reacts to ‘threats’, even if it is just the discomfort of the unknown.
Itโs because when we step out of our comfort zone, we are confronted by our fears – of failure, judgment and not being good enough.
This fear leads to excuses, procrastination, and self-doubt, pulling us back into our comfort zone.
So, why is it so difficult to push through the ‘Fear Zone’ on our own?
๐ญ. ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ณ-๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐:
When thereโs no one to challenge our negative thoughts, we start believing โIโm not readyโ or โWhat if Iโm not good enough?โ
Over time, these limiting beliefs become our truth.
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฐ๐๐๐ฒ๐:
When faced with the unfamiliar, we find excuses such as
โIโll do it later,โ or โI need more time.โ
These may feel valid but we know we are holding ourselves back.
๐ฏ. ๐ก๐ผ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ:
We avoid uncomfortable actions when no one pushes us.
Without accountability, we take the easy options and avoid the REAL work.
Overcoming fear alone is tough. ๐ฉ
๐ But what if living in that comfort zone comes with opportunity costs?
As a Growth Mindset Coach, I work with my clients to take small, intentional steps toward overcoming their fears.
After 100 coaching sessions, Iโve identified 3 effective ways to help you navigate fear and toward your goals:
๐ญ. ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฐ๐๐๐ฒ๐:
When you start making excuses, itโs a sign youโre on the edge of comfort. Instead of retreating into comfort, ask yourself, โWhat opportunity does this fear bring?โ
๐ฎ. ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ:
Start with one small, uncomfortable task this week.
Completing each step will build momentum and over time, you will learn to trust yourself more.
๐ฏ. ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ถ๐ป๐:
Each time you push past fear, your confidence grows.
Leverage your strengths to remind yourself of what youโre capable of.
The results you want are often on the other side of fear.
With the right support, you can push through fear to reach your goals.
So, are you ready to take that first small step towards your #ICAN?
The power is in your choice to start.
๐ Have you ever faced this fear, and what helped you push through it? I’d love to hear your story.
by mohammadalamin584@gmail.com | Aug 4, 2024 | Events, Leadership
I began my career in the Mobile Telecommunications (Telco) sector in the year 2000.
That was an era when Telco was the unicorn much like the AI industry is today.
As a fresh Marketing graduate, I felt I ‘arrived’ when I landed my first job with MobileOne (M1).
I became a call centre officer, much to the disappointment of my parents.
They couldnโt understand why their son would find joy in answering customersโ inquiries every day.
My dad would further question..
โHow much longer are you planning to waste your time?โ
He wanted me to follow his career path in Finance where he believed smart people should be.
My first job in the call centre lasted 6 years but it was anything but a waste.
It was where I learned everything I knew about team leadership.
The lessons I learned from observing my supervisors were akin to sitting in the front row of an MBA class, every day.
There was one particular lesson that stood out.
‘Tasks will only take up 20% of your time. People will take up the other 80%.
‘BUT your greatest reward is when knowing you have made a positive difference to someone.”.
An advice that guided me throughout my career.
As I progressed, I was privileged to collaborate and lead diverse teams in Southeast Asia in my roles with Singtel International, Telkomsel and Lazada.
Managing teams sharpened my eye for human potential.
Oftentimes, I could see the spark in a person before they could.
Helping individuals recognize their spark was my motivation.
I created a team culture and provided opportunities for my members to find their voice. To share their ideas and career aspirations while being heard, valued and respected.
When they see beyond their current role, they start to believe in their abilities to grow and go further.
===
One of the greatest gifts in life is to have someone who believes in our potential.
โณ If you are in the position of giving, support someone.
โณ If you are in a position of receiving, donโt be shy to seek guidance.
I choose to believe it is in our power to make a difference, for others and ourselves.
We canโt go back in time to change our start.
But we can make the decisions today to change our future.ย ๐
How about you? What was your most important career advice?
by mohammadalamin584@gmail.com | Aug 3, 2024 | Leadership, Programs
I started my career as a Customer Service officer (CSO) in a call centre.
My job involved a single task. That was to retain (โwinbackโ) at least 7 subscribers per day who called to cancel their service subscription with MobileOne (M1).
That single task proved challenging. I struggled to deliver 5 winbacks on most days. This would become a consistent theme in my first year on the job.
As a rookie, I was embarrassed and guilty. I tried to add value by suggesting ways to improve our results in team meetings. Looking back, it was a strategy that kept my job in that first year.
One afternoon, my manager called me into her office.
I feared for the worst.
To my surprise, I got promoted to Team Leader that day. I felt relieved and confused at the same time. Later, I came to understand why.
I was fortunate that I had an ‘๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ’ supervisor. Sharon Chiam was in her early 20s, younger than me. She had risen through the ranks as a CSO the year before I joined her team.
As my supervisor, Sharon looked past my glaring underperformance. She saw my raw leadership. She looked beyond my role and recognised my unique strengths as an individual.
She saw my potential which I did not. ๐ก
Sharon gave me 2 pieces of advice that afternoon. Her words stayed with me till this day.
๐
My new responsibility: “๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ 80% ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ 20%.”
๐
My new purpose: “… ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ด ‘๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ’.”
โ I took 5 seconds to understand my new responsibilities.
โ Another 10 years before I understood what would become my purpose.
Later, I was privileged to lead teams across Southeast Asia as I progressed in my career.
I experienced firsthand the powerful influence we hold as people managers. When I empowered my team to reach their potential and achieve beyond their current abilities.
I felt a sense of deep fulfilment that I could help unlock new perspectives and make positive changes in someone’s life.
These experiences shaped my mission at ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ today.
As a coach, I want to empower aspiring executives and emerging team leaders. I want to help them develop a growth mindset and self-confidence to become their best selves.
So, here I am. Looking to help others find their true potential.
In the same way, I am grateful for how Sharon helped me find mine.
๐ฃ๐ฆ: ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ง๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น?ย ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ โฌ
