Sunday, October 2, 2011

A Lesson from Dato Tony Looi

I had the privilege to hear Dato Tony Looi today. He spoke on his work, family and how he views life.

On work, he says that if you were an employee, be the best employee in the company. Learn everything that you can and be indispensable to your boss. You will then have negotiating power with the company. But if you employ people, be the best boss that you can, caring for your workers, striving for their growth and welfare. In him, I see a titan that knows what he wants to achieve and seeking ways to break possibilities. He said change and learning is never ending, cross that with humility and you will go very far. He also said that people nowadays are afraid to be taken advantage of. He doesn't mind that as long as he can build the company's image, or he can learn some precious experience out of it. He listens to the experience of old folks. They will definitely cut short your learning curve.

On family, he says that he puts family in a very high position and always reminds himself to give time to the family. And that the family is the reason for working hard. In the end, what's the point of earning the whole world without the love of the family? He also says that money should not be the utmost important element of having a business. Money will not buy you happiness. So, in our personal lives, invest time in where it matters, and that's family.

On life, I see that the will to learn is a big part of his success. A strong desire to want something is another. Having to act upon a dream is another one (this coincides with what Brother Xiao said last week). His love, responsibility to his workers and the community brings out his character to give. He encourages us to write down 30 goals that we want to achieve for the next 3 years and start to act upon it. He advices us to set targets slightly beyond our reach to break our own limits.

I have learnt a lot from today. Action has always been my weakness. I will now set realistic goals and start to become an achiever.