Making deposits in the favour bank

In his book "The Zahir", Paulo Coelho introduces the concept of a "favour bank": a log of favours done for another in the hope (but not expectation!) they will repay them at some point in future. He writes that the first favour should be granted without the expectation of receiving anything in return. But if you can't call on that favour (and let's be reasonable - a night with the debtor's wife is probably not a fair exchange!), then you know not to go out of your way to help that person again.

On the flip side, when a favour is done for you, always keep note of that person's balance in your account.

Keeping a schedule of accounts is one of the qualities that most successful people - in business, politics, the arts and even socially, possess. It's such a simple and rewarding concept, yet one that so many of us ignore.

Empty promises

It was like boarding a rocketship to the moon - a journey full of excitement and surprises, and one that would leave me a changed man forever. At least that was how I interpreted all the great things people had to say when I first started my career.

Ten years on and I have grown a little older and wiser... and ok, I admit it, even a little plump! It's interesting to me that a plumber, a bus driver, a cabbie or even a waiter have a very simple view of their jobs. They clock in, get paid, and clock out. Their work is a means to an end; a way to collect a pay cheque. No different to any other job, really. Yet everyone I know who works in an office has this view that their jobs are somehow magical and meaningful. They often get worked up, stressed, annoyed and agitated when their ideas aren't accepted, when they're asked to do things that are "beneath them" or when they don't get the corner office!

My advice? Think of a career as a series of jobs. And jobs only become stressful or unenchanting when we get emotionally involved. So, as unconventional as this sounds, stop caring! Stop pushing your own agenda, looking for the bigger office and making a point of getting noticed.

Focus more on getting your work done (efficiently, so you can leave at a reasonable time!) and collecting your pay. Nothing else should matter. And I'll bet that when you finally embrace this view, then work will get that little bit more fulfulling!

Image from www.ehow.com

Finance's golden arches

I've been doing a bit of reading, and a lot of thinking. Why is it that whenever you think of coffee, the Starbucks logo pops into your mind? And why do burgers conjure up images of the golden arches? After all, my corner fish and chips shop does burgers - and coffees, too, for that matter - so howcome I don't think of Marge and Ted who run it? The answer lies in one word: marketing. Companies around the globe, especially the ones that pop into our heads every time we think of a cola, a burger or listen to our iPods, have spent billions of $$$ to "own" a phrase, or a word, or being associated with a product or experience.

What if that same concept was translated to you as a person? What if you - if we all - spent time thinking of the word or phrase we want to be associated with and applied it to ourselves? If we marketed ourselves at work as being reliable, or intuitive, or creative, or a straight-shooter? Or in social circumstances we could get our friends to see us as the funny one, the listener, the one with the nose ring, etc., etc., the list goes on?

Sound like nonsense? Well, bear with me for just a moment... I was reading "Who Stole My Mojo?", a book by Gary Bertwistle, and he claims there are heaps of benefits of thinking of yourself as a brand and marketing yourself the right way. Whilst I'm not generally a fan of caring what others think, to the extent it helps you reach your goal - be it that next promotion, the girl in the coffee shop, or more interesting projects - then how can you not?

You can read more about Gary Bertwistle's book here, while I pursue my goal of being the golden arches of finance...

Best of luck!

Image from www.freefoto.com

Getting a life!

I remember my graduate days in the office, where every Friday night the whole firm would go for drinks at the bar across the street. The first time I went, it was interesting. The second time, mildy amusing. But then... I got over it!

Since that time, whenever I politely decline an invitation to watch my inebriated coworkers covort with each other, I am considered the anti-social one. The words "come on, have a life" were even used once. Hmm... I see how it works now: wanting to spend time with one's family, or reading a good book about life experiences that I could never have, or shopping with the girlfriend, playing with my dog or just hanging out on my own listening to old CDs... none of these things qualifies a a "life" in the eyes of my dedicated coworkers. Clearly the only real way to get the most out of life is to spend time drinking with people you work with for up to 15 hours a day!

Get a life? Thanks for the option, but I'd rather not.

Saying too much

P*ssed off! The best way to describe how I felt after watching my boss talk himself (read as "me") into more work.

I was in a client meeting, and we were discussing our fee. The client asked a simple question - whether we could reduce our fee quote. Last time we worked with this client, we seriously under-costed the work; this time around, we were more realistic about work and cost. And therefore, the simple answer to the client's request should have been "no".

And in fairness, at first, that was the answer given. But then the client said nothing. He just looked at us, a half-smirk appearing on his face. Two seconds, four, eight, 15. Then the dreaded thing happened: my boss began to justify. And in justifying, he ended up negotiating with himself. Before long, we had reduced the fee by 30% and committed to an extra 25% of work - I was surprised we hadn't offered the client dinner at the most expensive place in town, plus a free shoe-shine and toilet brush! Ok, so I'm still bitter...

But the moral of the story is, say what needs to be said, then stop. Extra words do not help, instead they get you in a tangled mess. Awkward silences shouldn't be awkward, they should give you time to think of the next topic to discuss. Failing that, just sit there.

Silence is golden.

Photograph from www.maggotsack.com

Facing it!

"Face time", a concept devoid of any real logic, yet so often adhered to for the sake of ego, either your bosses or your own.

Coming into the office before you boss and leaving after them is nothing more than showmanship. Of course, having a successful career in many Asian cities could be difficult without it. But for the rest of us, let's get real!

Do your job. Do it well. And let your output speak for itself. If you're getting things done better than anybody else, can you honestly see your boss caring whether you leave at 5pm or at 7pm? Focus on the quality of your output, and not the amount of your input, and you are part way towards a better balance.

All work and no play...

The creative side of the brain is an interesting one. And not a side us finance sorts often get to exercise. But I try to - and my chosen medium is photographs.

In defiance of the stereotype, I decided to collaborate with a close friend of mine - also a keen photographer - and self publish a book. With the help of blurb.com, she and I have pulled together photographs that capture the (hopefully) unique aspects of Asia that we have had the privilege of glimpsing during out travels. Our mission: to showcase Asia's rapid modernisation in contrast with the elegance and dignity that it retains in its traditions.

Whilst an unashamed plug for our book, this post is also intended to encourage the fellow workaholics out there to step away from their blackberrys and to exercise the other side of their brains.

We hope you enjoy our book - you can see more of it here.

Ditching the human interface

Meetings: a great way to feel important, but a huge dent in your productivity and often the cause of long hours and frustration.

Some people believe in avoiding all meetings. However, for those of us who rely on clients to pay our salaries, this is not a smart idea. Some meetings are necessary, but most are a waste of time. For all the chest-beating, name-dropping and use of buzz words such as "let's touch base", "discuss offline", or "circle back", I can only recall a handful of meetings where progress was actually made.

So, here are my general rules to minimise being couped up in a small room with smelly co-workers:

1. Don't attend internal (i.e. non-client) meetings. Pretend to be working on something urgent instead, and you will continue to have an "internal profile" of being important. Internal meetings are just a forum for people to whinge and complain, or where you tell people how important you are. If absent for the right reason, your importance will propogate itself.


2. Stick to business - if you have scheduled a meeting to discuss work, then do just that. Other than two sentences or so, don't waste time on niceties or asking about the wife, kids, or Aunt Zelda. If you want to socialise, meet your client for a drink (and pick up the tab, don't be cheap). But use meetings to get through things! Clients who know you will appreciate your work ethic and will actually have more to say at social gatherings or networking sessions (a topic for another blog post!)


3. Agendas - stick to them. And circulate in advance. Any meeting where you do not know what will be discussed and what you need to contribute is going to be a black hole in your diary. Agenda items that are not tightly defined will see people deviate or get distracted. So skip meetings with ambiguous agendas.


4. Avoid cafes - meet in an office so you can follow rule #2. If you meet in a cafe, the tendency will be to keep it casual and talk nonsense.


5. Pretend you are double-booked. And remind the other person constantly. That way, they will feel you are super short of time and will stick to the key themes. Unimportance issues can be dealt with later.

What have you really got?

I used to think the senior guys I worked with had it good. Until, of course, I started moving up the food chain myself and quickly came to the realisation that they didn't.

Becoming more senior doesn't just mean a bigger pay cheque. It also means feeling compelled to lease the BMW you can't afford to buy, to send your kids to private school instead of public school, and to wear Boss or Zegna suits instead of whatever is in the local department store. And not because you want to, but because all the other senior guys are doing the same. Keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak, is a fool's pursuit, but one that most people follow.

My advice? Keep it simple. Don't upsize or get fancy because you feel you have to. If Gucci shoes really turn you on, then go for it. If they don't, then keep your cash. It will mean you can retire earlier, or stop pushing so hard at work, or even... God forbid... actually have more in your life than fleeting, meaningless materials things!

Badges of honour

Working long hours is not something to be proud of. There's a bunch of sadomasochistic idiots out there who wear working hard on their sleeves as a badge of honour. Here's the truth: if you're proud of being in the office until 2am so that your boss can take home a bigger bonus than you, then you're a schlep! There are smarter ways to work, ways to outsource and get help.

I'm in banking too, so I get it - there are times when you've just got to do what it takes. But that should be the exception, not the norm. Here's the first few steps that should see you leave the office at a reasonable time:

1. Make a "to-do" list first thing in the morning. Make sure the first 3 things absolutely have to get done, no matter what. Make everything else a "nice to have".


2. Find juniors, secretaries, etc., to get on with the tasks that rank below 3. People like being empowered and given responsibility and often rise to the challenge - you never know, they may surprise you with the quality of their work.


3. Make sure you stick to getting the first 3 tasks on your list done. Do whatever it takes - even if that means ignoring your phonecalls and email. And whatever you do, DO NOT play with that damn blackberry!


4. At 6pm, if the first three tasks are done, then go home. The others are probably well progressed given you have delegated, so forget them. Ask about their progress first thing the next morning. Remind yourself that life goes on without you - after all, you're not constantly on the phone to pilots to tell them how or where to land, you're not telling doctors where to cut people open, and you're not telling chefs just how much cinnamon to use. So let the world do its thing so you can do yours!


5. Go home and use your extra time to re-connect with your old hobbies, spouse, net surfing, whatever...

The importance of unimportant things

There's something about us office workers that makes us react strangely to things when we're at work. Ordinarily, we would claim that nothing would make us happier than somebody reducing our workload. Why, then, do we get defensive or upset when there's someone out there trying to do more (the consequence of which is us doing less)?!?! The answer, in a nutshell, is ego. Letting the ego get in the way oftentimes creates 16-hour workdays. Ignoring it has the potential to pay huge dividends.

Just the other day I had a colleague come to me and say, "Jack wants to pull a pitch together to deliver to Client X. Apparently he has a great relationship out there." So far in the conversation I'm failing to see the problem. The guy goes on, "He doesn't know a damn thing about the debt structuring needed. Surely he should get us involved!" And then came the all-emotive, "...after all, that's our space!"

So Jack knows the client; knows him well. And Jack wants to prepare a pitch book. There's alot of work involved in pitching debt restructuring plans - I should know - I've been working on these things for years! So as far as I'm concerned, Jack can do it! I for one have enough work to keep me busy (or at least looking it!). Now I know Jack couldn't tell debt from his wrinkly Aunt Maude if his life depended on it. So there are two likely outcomes here:

1. Jack pitches and it gets nowhere, or
2. Jack gets the gig.

If it's #1, I'm disinterested. If it's #2, Jack will likely get us involved. See, the thing is, Jack is a pretty senior guy, heading up his own specialist team. Last thing he wants is the client thinking he's a total schmuck, nor does he want the papers plastering his name in the headlines with a real-world example of how he single-handedly brought his client to the brink of bankruptcy. So Jack will be reasonable and we should get a decent crack at doing the work. So where's the problem?

The problem is my colleague. He wants to be a hero: wants to win the work and tell his friends. Which is fine, I guess, but has him spinning his wheels on trying to outdo Jack. I say, let Jack do his thing and my colleague should find another client to pitch to. There are plenty of companies out there with dud debt structures, so surely everyone can be happy.

I'm just happy to have my job and collect my pay cheque every month. Don't need glory, just the salary...

Freud's diagrams from 'The Ego and the Id' (1923)