My new year started big. I was assigned to organise one of the company's annual events for executives, the Young Leaders Forum back in April 2010. The event was initially planned to be carried out in December 2010,considering the workloads and re-strategizing of work scope within the department. December itself is not a good month to begin with,which will only contribute to low turn up. So it was postponed to 6&7 January 2011. What a way to start the new year :D Plus,that was the only available time to secure the presence of the MDCEO to the event. Yey,am so glad to have one of the most respectful leaders in the organisation there. Alhamdulillah,Allah permudahkan. Overall,the event was a SUCCESS. Why?
First of all,we changed the focus of the event; from a very HR-driven content forum,into a dynamic,lively and wholesome spectrum of leadership sharing for the executives. Themed "Inspiration,Determination&Motivation towards Self Excellence", the event was designed to balance the needs to outperform and at the same time,practice exemplary values in career and life as a whole. Yes,the theme is a bit mouthful to pronounce but it only reflects how much you can learn from it. Interesting? Atleast the MDCEO and my GM were happy about it :D 50 seats were offered but 51 participants turned up during the event. This is history.
Amazingly,this event was run by only 4 executives.My assistant and I came up with the groundwork and the other 2 were appointed and came aboard later,during the execution phase. The fact that we were remotely dispersed,situated in 3 different work locations (KL,Segamat&Kerteh),SHOULD impress others more.Most of the time,communication was made through email.Cayalah geng Planner!Korang mmg superb!
The most valuable experience gained through this event is on delivering ideas and influencing others.I presented the groundwork to the GM.Yeah,she had no objection with the new focus.However,she had reservation with one of the proposed guest speakers,who I think is the best fit,a complete package for this event.So I stood my case,insisted to invite him and explain the rational behind the proposal.Alhamdulillah,at the end she agrees.
I also had the experience to have a 1-1 session with the MDCEO. I remembered the secretary called me on a one fine day,when it was just 7.40am.."Ja,En Sam nak jumpe pasal Young Leaders esok.." Must be about the speaker note I left at his office yesterday,I whispered. He was indeed a very nice person.Nothing much was highlighted,he just briefed me on what he is going to talk on the next day. Macam aku pulak MDCEO kan? Padehal he has all the right to talk on whatever he wish. And he made by day by ending the discussion with, "Good job". Fewit!
The Determination session was delivered by Malaysian 2nd astronaut, Mej Dr Faiz Khaleed. Apparently,he used to report to my boss's husband. So in a way,yeah the "cable" was justifiably strong. Okla,no doubt his knowledge and persona reflect the title as astronaut. Most important I think his determination to pursue his aspiration is worth to learn from.
Apparently,the most interesting session of all was the Inspiration session,delivered by internal speaker,one of the few young GMs in PETRONAS. YM Tg Taufik delivered his leadership journey in a very structured, simple,interesting,interesting and interesting storyline! and he covered most of the points I gave during the expectation setting discission. I really admire this guy. And I am sure many others are with me. To him, work is about making sacrifices. And no matter how busy he is,he makes it appoint to 3 things; dinner,Saturday morning and Sunday evening with his family.
The first day was loaded with tips to outperform or stretch ur target in what you do. So for the second day,we called Ustaz Aidil to talk on balancing the two "world". The message was, yeah go ahead reach your fullest potential but at the same time,keep the good values with you. Insyaallah things will fall into place.
The event then was continued with group performance. The performances were interesting and indeed creative. Some argued on the selection of topic, nothing new to them. Well,the focus of the organiser was more towards teamwork actually,not to test you dear Young Leaders. Later, 3 Management representatives joined the participants for a dialogues session. A lot has been asked and the involvement were my satisfactory :)
Of course,there were minor-tolerable hiccups here and there. But the team managed to handle them professionally.
All in all, the feedback is encouraging and I am happy. Thank you for the opportunity to lead and also to the team members, we have made it!
The GM (in red), The MC (behind Dr Faiz), The Astronaut & The Organising Committee :)
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