Ms Chong Ee Rong, Group Managing Director, Ogilvy Singapore introduced Mr Tsun-yan Hsieh, Founder, LinHart Group to the audience with a list of never-ending accolades. Tsun-yan humbly addressed the audience and shared that he has never used a same opening address at talks. Tsun-yan went on to talk about his experiences in McKinsey and related to how he learned to influence stakeholders without authority. He explained the difference between manipulation and influence. “Manipulation” is when one influences you to his/her own selfish gain at your expense. This truly struck the audience.
In all that he shared, his one true principle was keeping to a “congruent self”. In the dictionary, “congruent” meant agreeing. To Tsun-yan, achieving “congruent self” meant that whatever suggestion or influence that he is trying to put through to his stakeholders, had to be genuine to what he thought and how he feels. During the Q&A session, one of the audience asked how can they achieve “congruent self”? Tsun-yan replied that everyone should go home and ask themselves this question: “Who am I, now?”. Answer the question and you will gain the insight to achieving self-awareness and eventually a “congruent self”. In his parting message, he shared with the audience an activity which he does yearly.
The activity:
Look back at the year that had past and draw four columns. The four columns will be as follows:
- Person/people that have gone remote with you.
- Person/people that whether you had intended or not but your relationship got better.
- Person/people that you wanted to know but busyness got the better of you.
- Person/people where you want them to be in your life in the year.
After the activity, one will know what he or she has achieved in the year and what to do better for the next.
