As the theme for Learning Fiesta centred on growth and development, it was inevitable that many successful stories on some of the world’s most inspirational leaders were quoted. Never before had I felt so strongly about my inadequacy.
Not only did I felt small with the anecdotes of the hard work, determination, passion and positive attitude of the successful leaders. I was also acutely aware of my lack of knowledge of them and their management philosophies. No one is born with the talent to manage successfully. Most of them times, people learn from trials and errors (ie experience) and from emulating the best practices (benchmarking).
When the pictures of the worlds’ most famous managers were flashed, I could not recognize most of them, except for Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump – both I had seen on TV. Apple’s Steve Jobs, ex GE’s CEO – Jack Welch, Dell’s Michael Dell or even Alan Greenspan (though he is currently in the line of fire for his financial policies which could have contributed to the current turmoil) were lost on me. I might have heard their names somewhere, but I could not identify them from the pictures and worse, I knew next to nothing about what their management philosophies were which made them well-known corporate leaders.
From then, I told myself. I should really buck up on my general knowledge and start reading more about management. This is not only to improve myself professionally but also to ensure that I do not embarrass myself further with such a low proficiency in general knowledge.
Shame on me.
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