Written by Victor Chan
Planting the Seeds of Success
“The Karma of Love by Michael Roach has had a profound influence in my life. I learned that every thought plants the seeds of karma every single moment. Whatever you think, good or bad, will return to you.”
JCI Executive Vice President Teresa Poon said she is grateful for knowing this before she became JCIHK National President in 2017. It had helped her so much during her presidency as well as the rest of her life.
As a leader, motivating and empowering your coworkers is one of the greatest challenges. But what goes around, comes around. If you do good to the people around you, good karma will eventually come back to you.
The Fear of Expansion
It was an important moment in Teresa’s career when she persuaded her family business to expand into a new territory. Everyone thought it was too risky. They fear the potential danger of ruining the company.
Her family is in the smart lock business for homes and hotels. They used to sell their “smart home system“one at a time. One day, Teresa suggested accepting a large tender project for installing 60 smart home systems inside a complex.
The major fear was that they would have to hire a new team of people for doing this, because they did not do anything like that before. Will the cost be covered in the long run? Will there be too much work to do?
There was quite some resistance when the idea came out. After all, the company had been doing fine all along. They were under no pressure to make such a move. Why would you fix something that is working?
To make things worse, Teresa had only joined the business for a very short time back then. To those who have been in the company for a long time, it will be extra hard to make a persuasive argument for the change.
Does it sound familiar to you? When you join the management of your organisation, do you find it hard to propose new changes? Do your people resist because they fear that they could not do it, or that it is not worth the risk?
Embrace the Difference
So how did Teresa overcome the challenge? The first thing that she did was to appreciate the difference. “When someone disagrees, you can learn to see things from their perspective, and understand why.”
People see things differently because they look at the same thing at different angles. Sometimes, they can discover things which are inside the blind spots from your point of view. You won’t know until you talk to them.
It is also important to share your vision with your team. “When they see the picture that inspires you, they will begin to understand the rationale behind your thinking, and accept a common ground.”
It ties well to Stephen Covey’s principle: first seek to understand, then to be understood. Even though it was not an easy process, Teresa had finally persuaded her family business to make a strategic change.
And it had eventually paid off. Not long after their expansion, many developers had started to equip smart home systems in luxurious residences. The demand had also surged in Macau such that they had opened another branch there.
As a leader, it is your job to inspire your team to take on new challenges, and encourage them to reach a higher level. To do this, you must motivate them to step up their game. How could this be done effectively?
Closing the Gender Gap
When Teresa became the Vice President of JCI for the Asia-Pacific region in 2019, she was surprised to find that, in some countries like Japan and South Korea, the vast majority of their JCI members were male.
Teresa explained, “If you are a woman, and when you walk into an organisation where nearly all members are male, you will ask yourself if you are in the wrong place.“But she also believed that it could be changed.
Coming from a female-only local chapter, Teresa thinks that social perception plays a role. “For example, manual labour is supposed to be done by men. But when your chapter is all-female, the ladies would have to do it anyway!”
Therefore, during the 2019 Asia-Pacific Conference in Jeju, Korea, Teresa encouraged more female members in her team to take up higher positions. It gives people a chance to see that women could play a key role in JCI too.
“As the female members demonstrate their capability, their male counterparts will be more willing to share responsibilities with them.“This is how changes gather momentum by starting with a tiny simple step.
When you care for the people working for you, and encourage them to get better, they will eventually come around to help you go further. This is how you reap the fruits of what you think and do according to your karma.
Good Morning, NP!
Back in 2017, when she was still the JCIHK National President, Teresa took on a new challenge. She wanted to directly engage all the new JCIHK members. The series of activities is now known as “Good Morning, NP”.
Perspective members from different local chapters were invited to join the National President in morning activities like having breakfast or exercising. The goal was to engage them in a relaxed, informal setting.
It is a job that doesn’t pay, and it takes away her time for rest. Despite this, Teresa thinks that it is worth the effort. “Even though there’s no direct benefit, what you invest in them will come back to you in the end.”
Being the National President is often considered a daunting task. It is completely voluntary, and it takes up so much of your time. What made Teresa accept the challenge, and what makes her think that it’s worth it?
“Success or failure is not merely measured by how much money you have. It is also about the impact you can bring to the world. All the prominent people I know talk about the contributions they made to the society”
In addition, Teresa thinks that “success” is different for everyone. “It is simply impossible for everyone to be the richest person. We are born with different talents so that we could bring something different to this world.”
