Global HR Forum 2008

Electrifying! Jack Welch was superb in his teleconferencing with us! This man is amazing! And so humble and so sharp too (for his age!) He was so sure Obama would win and shared with us his latest article on Obama on how he won (results belum keluar, pakcik ni dah confident!).Obama has the 4 Es, he said...energy, energising others, edge and execute.He said Obama pandai cari new markets during his campaigns.While Clinton went to big cities (maybe thinking the rich middle class would make great supporters), Obama went to small places..Montana, etc.Itulah kelebihan dia...and he knows how to woo the media.McCain benggung tu buat kejutan and something media tak suka is kejutan (by choosing Palin).Kelakar gila orang tua ni.But it was a joy listening to him.He's so witty and funny.Someone asked who was his greatest influence.He said his mom cos' when he was young, he had speech impairment (gagap gamaknya but I thot suara dia macam kartun..I thot cos' of his age) but his mom would always say, takpa Jack, it's just your brain is too fast for your tongue.And for that he gained a strong sense of self confidence and he was comfortable with older people (sebab he's a single child to a mom who gave birth at 40..manja habislah and of cos' he'd grow up with old people!) Becos' of that he was always in his teachers', bosses' good books.

I was reminded how to treat young minds like this...mesti boost their self esteem, etc.

The session on East Asian (Korean, China and Japan) changing working culture was good too.And another on the need for organisations to have career development and talent management progs for their staff (which are lacking in the Asian setting even in countries like Japan and South Korea).Nanti kita tau nak advise budak2 bila cari kerja tu, carilah yang ada sound prog on career dev and talent management (so far SHELL je yang beria-iya).

Then the discussion on the millenia generation's attitude towards work.Depa ni no longer prioritise monetary gains but internal rewards lagi penting (engagement with work, work must be fun and challenging, etc).I thot eleh..dalam keadaan ekonomi sekarang, teori mcm ni tak leh pakai punya.If the economy is stable, maybe boleh tarik harga.

What I liked about today's findings is the fact that the world will need more social scientists and people from Humanities to bring us out of our rut (creative talents who have humane values are needed as human relations becomes more impt than money that pours in.One speaker said do not mistake someone who can bring in a lot of money as someone who has good leadership).

We also confirmed our observation of Korean civil society: orang2 dia memang baik (jenis stop and tanya apa masalah kita if we look lost with map in the hand.Unbelievable).Also tadi this organiser bawak kita masuk seat bagus w/hal we were not invited to the special keynote addresses (full house, some 800 people from all over the world) He susah payah cari kita 2 seats kosong.Baik hati sungguh!

Anyway, a Korean journalist came and bagi salam.She spoke Arabic (although not a Muslim).Like China, Korea is picking up Arabic more than us in Msia! (cos' of the trade demand with the Middle East).I am determined to go back to my Arabic lessons now (dulu berhenti sekerat jalan sebab tutor tu dok ngajar bilang satu sampai sepuluh for almost 2 months.I bosan!Tak kan I was so benggap??)