However just as there are many different cases of conflict, there is no foolproof way or instant formula for resolving conflict. There are times that it would be better to avoid conflict rather than confront it head on. There are times when compromise becomes the best deal. There may also be times when you have to fight it out unto your very last breath. Collaboration is ideal but not for all instances. Sometimes we simply just have to accommodate and let things pass by seemingly unnoticed.

How can we know what to do best in different cases of conflict? Here are some tips to be able to know what action is appropriate in varying instance of conflict.

When to Fight and have no Regret

When the issues at stake are so important and vital to your interests and the life of the whole company-Fight and have no regret. When life, limb, resources, rights, and the most important goals and interests are threatened, then be prepared to make your last stand. Don’t budge. Fight as if this is going to be your final battle on earth. This is a sign not only of your bravery but your integrity and your commitment to the deepest principles in life.

When to run away and simply avoid

If an issue is trivial and petty, giving even a little attention to it would not only be a waste of time and effort, it would drain you of your precious energy if not your integrity. There is nothing you can gain by engaging in this type of conflict. Never ever go down to this level. It is better to avoid it. For one, nothing good will arise if you give attention to it. It will only create a storm in a teacup.

It is also important to understand yourself deeply and know to what extent you can really make a difference. There are instances that no matter how you try, nothing will really come out of it. In this instance, be reminded of the prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

When Collaboration is the best solution

When the issues and interests at stake are so important that they cannot be compromised but they are not really opposed, it is best to find an integrative solution. This is important to gain the other side’s commitment and at the same time to learn from them. This would enhance the work at hand by merging different insights and different perspectives and expertise and in the end creating better results.

When compromise is the most appropriate

Compromise is the best option when the issues at stake are moderately important and it would not really hurt if one backs down a bit. It is also the best solution when the result of an open confrontation is estimated to be more disastrous. When two sides would never budge and yet we need to have a temporary settlement because the pressures are great, compromise becomes an option. It is actually a contingency plan when direct competition and collaboration are now out of the question.

When you just have to let things pass by and simply accommodate

This is the best option when you found out that you were mistaken and you are wrong. Being accommodating will show that you are willing to learn from your mistakes and listen to reason. Accommodation means that you can go beyond yourself for the greater interests of the company. It will actually reveal the level of your maturity, sobriety, reasonableness, and good will.

By way of conclusion, knowing the appropriate thing to do in particular instances of conflict is a high art in the science of conflict management.

Time and Life

Time is actually equal to Life. In life, time is all we have. If one cannot manage his time well, then one cannot manage his life well also. Time is the stuff life is made of. If you love life then you would know that life is limited by time. You would not dare to lose a second of wasted time.

For business managers and professionals, the art and science of time management is crucial for the success of any endeavour. In fact all failures have one common denominator. This can be summed up in the statement: I DID NOT HAVE THE TIME. In fact, if you fail in business, in time you can make up for it with success. If you lose money, in time you can gain even more than what you lost. If you lost a love, in time your broken heart will be healed and maybe you find another love in the future. But if you lose time, then that time is gone forever. In fact, time is all that we have.

Setting your Priorities

In time management, those who complain most that they don’t have time, are those who make the worst use of their time. The key here is knowing how to set your priorities right. The truth is that time is never lacking. We can always find time for things that we prioritize to do. The culprit is not time itself but what we choose to do with our time. According to Michael Altshuler, “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”

H. Jackson Brown has this much to say, “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”

Spending Time by Investing Time

Think of your life’s seconds, minutes, and hours as magical coins. These coins would increase or decrease their value depending on how you choose to spend them. If you spend time well, these coins will bring you wealth, happiness, and love in exchange. If you waste your time, these coins would give you less value in exchange. If you use your time well, you would eventually realize that you are not spending time but actually investing time.

If you do this, then you would realize that time is the best treasure that one can spend. Lost time means losing treasures that you can never ever recover. So let the past be past and don’t let the past eat up the present by doubts and regrets. Let the future remain in the dream house of tomorrow.

The Now is the only thing that we can grasp. There is only one everlasting now! Use it well!

All the best managers, businessmen, leaders, and professionals have one thing in common: they know how to make “The Secret” work for them.

This bestselling work “The Secret” is actually the summary of all religions and of thousands of self-help books combined. “The Secret” is the essence and the very fabric with which the whole universe is made of: LOVE.

Love is actually the Law of Attraction in the most tangible sense. Within each of us lies a great magnetic force that attracts things into our lives. At the same time, we are magnetized as we gravitate towards the things that we focus all our love and attention to.

“The Secret” can be summed up in three simple words: THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS.

Our thoughts provide a powerful beacon that send out signals into the vast kosmos, beckoning all the things we think about and creating a powerful juxtaposition of seeming coincidences that would occur in our lives.

For us human beings, there is choice and there is chance. We are quite familiar with how we use our power of choice and how we are responsible for the circumstances that we find ourselves in. However, this is only half of the story. A large part of our life also happens by chance. Becoming a master of chance is actually the promise of the secret. If we can attract the chances that come into our lives, then that will be the secret ingredient of great success.

Biochemist Quasler says that the coincidence of life on earth is one is to ten raised to 301 power. This is the number 10 with 300 zeros after it. We may say that this is literally impossible. And yet look around you. Everywhere, life is brimming with energy. In all the known universe, scientists have yet to find another planet as alive as ours. Life is such a wonderful miracle and yet the human being is an even greater miracle. The human being gifted with the power of mind, is actually bestowed with the power to attract coincidences into his life.

Great leaders have the best quality of thoughts that make life chances work for them. We often hear of the cliché, “Nothing happens by chance.” And this is actually true.

Walt Disney has actually encountered thousands of rejections before he became immortalized in Disneyland. He is a shining example of the song of the film Pinochio,

“When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are,
Anything your heart desires will come to you…”

Albert Einstein speaks of a pipeline to the divine intuition rules in his major scientific breakthroughs. His scientific methods states of an intuitive leap that would solve very difficult puzzles in science.

Making “The Secret” work for you is actually the art of having the best quality thoughts and visions that can change destiny and the course of the stars to actually manifest your dreams into reality.

John F. Kennedy quotes, “Many people dream dreams and they ask why. I dream of dreams and ask, Why not?”

In the end, great leaders would confirm that nothing is really impossible and that the only real limitation is the one existing inside our heads. So open up your mind; Dream dreams and make them come true. With love all things are fulfilled unto its last and finest. This is the secret.

Statistics show that there is an estimated 2/3rds of big mergers that eventually lose value on the stock market. There are also numerous studies that reveal that the management executives in companies that merge tend to transfer to other companies. Why does this happen? Here are some important things to consider.

Decision based on subjectivity and not on the objective study of the market

Mergers and acquisitions are moves that give power and prestige to top executives. When a merger and an acquisition happens, the fame and the credit all goes to top executives. Thus it is widely assumed that all mergers and acquisitions are positive steps in all occasions. Statistics belie this claim. Sometimes it just becomes a matter of corporate pride or envy that prompts top executives to push through mergers and acquisitions. It becomes a fad that is not based on a scientific and objective assessment of the dynamics of the market. In the end, one only seeks for the glory but will neither find the glory nor the gold. Aside from the practice as being a big boost to corporate ego, bankers, middlemen, top executives who will get a cut, advisers, and lawyers who stand to profit from the act will provide unstoppable arguments to push through. This is because they would stand to personally gain from the deal without really thinking if it would really be for the benefit of the whole company.

Remember, the first consideration in doing mergers is the share price and the profitability of the corporation in general, not the glory nor the personal gains that the dealers would get.

Flawed Speculations

The temptation for mergers and acquisitions is usually strongest when there is a booming stock market. The promise of profit in these times compels many corporations to continually invest. Mergers and acquisitions are the best and easiest ways of expanding a business. There is a promise of more savings due to economies of scale, while there would be higher profits due to higher production. However, this tends to overshoot expectations and to produce more than the market can accommodate. Thus the market contracts eliciting a falling rate of profit. Companies would lose value in the stock market, and production and profitability eventually decrease.

Mergers driven by fear and anxiety

The basic assumption in the market is that only the big players make it. Thus there is a mounting pressure for all corporations to become big in a short period of time. Thus the motivation is based on fears and uncertainties. With technological advances and a volatile economy, some are just compelled to jump head on into a merger without really studying meticulously all the intricacies and implications.

Wrong Processes

Mergers and acquisitions are important business moves that must be taken into careful consideration. Sometimes, core businesses are neglected because of the problems and tasks associated with the deal. The thrill of the big deal sacrifices the most important work of all-the daily productive grind. Sometimes top managers focus too much on cost cutting to the point that they neglect the more important job of creating more revenues. It also happens that the management of the companies being merged do not follow a smooth transition process. Employees become uncertain. Conflicts are not resolved as fast creating a domino effect. The merging of two corporate cultures undergo difficulties. Resentment and frustration sets in. Productivity suffers. In the end, the basic operations suffer which is actually the backbone of the business.

To conclude, the decision to doing mergers and acquisitions should be carefully studied and the processes to execute them should be meticulously planned.

It all begins with a healthy view of conflict.

We have to accept that conflict is natural in this world. We have to look at conflict not as a burden or a problem to take on our shoulders but a challenge that can make us better persons. Richard Bach once quotes, “We need problems because we need their gifts.” Thus we need to perceive conflict as a gift. This gift will prune us and compel us to act and be the best of ourselves. Actually conflict is not a problem nor a gift in itself. It is what we do with conflict that could actually turn it into a problem or a gift.
Conflict is the spice of life. Without conflict, life will become bland and boring and there is no room for improvement. There will actually be no meaning in life without conflict.

How do we define conflict?

As different individuals struggle to meet their diverse interests and needs in society, conflict arises. It arises when two individuals, groups, or parties assert mutually exclusive goals and interests that they think can only be achieved if the other competing party is removed out of the picture. The other is perceived to be blocking the satisfaction of one’s goals and interests. One of the best lessons in management is that in many cases, conflict is not resolved by winning alone. Sometimes one can win a conflict but only at the cost of the respect, love, and loyalty of employees. This is a high price to pay. Conflict is actually for growing, for learning, and for cooperating.

Overcoming Conflict

The best leaders resolve conflict by actually harnessing the same force that bred conflict towards a higher and more satisfying goal and direction. By redirecting the social force of people to a higher goal, one overcomes conflict and transcends current limitations.
There was a story about two brothers who were fighting over a pair of shoes. Their Father resolved the conflict by showing them poor children who had no feet.
Just as there are different cases of conflict, the solutions are also diverse. There is no single formula to resolve conflict. Depending on the situation, we can either fight it out, avoid it, compromise, accommodate, or come up with a collaborative venture.
What matters is that after the conflict is resolved, everyone feels accepted and understood. His or her voice has been heard and acted upon. Everyone is satisfied with the solution with a commitment to work things out together for the good of all. Everyone is involved in the solution and relationships are strengthened to push ahead for higher goals and principles. There is unity and flexibility and the willingness to learn.

What are the major challenges that face Business and Management Professionals today?

The Challenge of Information Society

We can no longer deny that technological advances have led the whole world into a qualitatively new era. Information society is just dawning and we still can barely intuit the way it will comprehensively change the global landscape of business. Yet the facts are clear and undeniable. Whatever we can conceive in our minds we can input in the computer. Whatever we can input in the computer, we can transmit through the internet. Thus all mental labor can be done through the internet. All jobs that require mental labor have transcended the traditional office set up. They can be purely located within cyberspace. This has tremendous implications for production and employment schemes worldwide. How will corporations cut costs and maximize profits by factoring in these opportunities?

The Challenge of the Global Financial Crisis

The most recent global financial crisis has shattered a lot of myths about the systems we have perfected for a long time. The frequency, the increasing intensity and the seemingly cyclic nature of the crisis, has not only eroded our confidence but has placed critical issues to the fore. Our methods in financial speculation and the derivatives market must now undergo a serious review from a multi perspective, interdisciplinary, and global scale. The world can no longer afford another crisis of such breadth and magnitude. Yet as the Chinese saying goes, “For every crisis, there is an opportunity.” Richard Bach also quotes from his book “Illusions”, that “ …we need problems because we need their gifts.”

If we are going to be keen enough, we can see a bright side to all of these. We have to be open to a lot of ideas. For one, the internet is providing a way out of the crisis in the area of Business Process Outsourcing. This is how many companies can escape bankruptcy by cutting costs and maximizing profits. Another is that it is paving the way for a global coordination and mechanism to anticipate problems in the market. For the first time, corporations, banks, industries, and governments have to coordinate and interlink on a deeper level in order to avert another financial crisis. In life, as in business, we can say that the only real mistake is one from which we learn nothing.

The Challenge of the Environment

There is now a global scientific consensus that the problem of global warming is real. The sooner corporations can accept this, the better. This is important to be able to make timely and critical changes. For all the pride and glory of our modern industrial society, we are still no match when the elemental forces of nature begin to shake us. The human race is threatened by an ecological time bomb. Corporations have to act fast to rally for the survival of our species. Thus we need to have a deep re-examination of the way we have been treating Mother Nature for a long time. Mikhail Gorbachev once posted the question, “Which will come first-the recovery of the human spirit or the ecological time bomb?” To this query we can only search ourselves.
There are still a lot of challenges that we need to face but if we embrace change and are willing to be the change, then there is a promise of a new prosperity waiting around the bend.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

People look up to managers as a wellspring of strength and stability. During times of crisis when a manager is up to the brim with complaints and murmurings, the manager can show to the world the stuff that he is made of by maintaining a disposition of stability and “cool”. The leader or the manager should never ever break down and appear rattled and yet he must be able to show openness to criticism as well as humility to do what is right.

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;

The best leaders are the ones who can perform the same level of professionalism and quality in the face of success or defeat. He remains stable and unperturbed and does things with loving devotion whatever the circumstances are. They are their own masters because they do things with the best of their abilities and are unmoved by distracting results of either success or failure. They are happy enough to know that they did their best even if the results may seem frustrating.

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

This is a transcendental quality that all good managers must have. This means that they have the commitment and the will to do things right in the face of all life’s circumstances.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;

In this stanza, we find the element of courage to take risks, the will to work out things, and the strength of spirit to start anew.

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

Here we can see how a manager is in full control of his body, his heart, his mind and his spirit so that nothing can stop him from being the best person that he can be.

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;

This is the quality of leadership that all good managers should have. They are not living high up there or low down below. Instead, their shining examples of camaraderie and friendship thrive inside our hearts. Thus they can inspire loyalty, respect and following.

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run –
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

As the saying goes, “Those who conquer other men are great. But he who can conquer himself is the greatest!”

What are the paradigm shifts that we need in order to arrive at a new age of global prosperity and peace?

From Competition to Networking

From the inception of free enterprise as signalled by the French Revolution led by the bourgeoisie, competition has been the name of the game. Competition has been progressive and fruitful as it literally changed the economic landscape of the world into modern industrial centres with the defining edge of technology. Yet pure and unbridled competition can also bring the whole world into ruin. Statistics would reveal that in 1920, the ratio of the rich and poor is 1 rich person for every 3 poor persons. Now it is believed that 1 rich person exists for every 72 poor persons. We all know that if this trend continues fifty more years from now, there would be no winners. All will be losers. So we have to redefine competition now with the concept of networking and cooperation. This is very important for the sustainability of business operations worldwide. It’s a get on together or a blow up together.

From Anthropocentrism to Biocentrism

Francis Bacon’s call to conquer nature through scientific enterprise has reaped a lot of good results with the high technology and productivity that the world now experience. However much scientific inventions and discoveries that benefitted us now, Mother Nature is now on the brink of collapse. If that happens, then our whole society will also collapse. Corporations must now inevitably factor in the environment in its operations. We have to realize that all of human life is possible only because of Mother Nature’s support. From a macro level point of view, the human species literally suckle from the breasts of Mother Nature. Thus we now need to expand our development framework to include the interests of the Earth in strategic planning.

From the Mechanical View to the Organic View

Business Managers and Professionals must now do away with the mechanistic approach to organizational management. This kind of paradigm treats the whole set up like a giant clockwork. The problem with this kind of paradigm is that it is limited to analyzing causes and effects only. It cannot analyze counter effects. We have to shift to the organic view that looks into the human organization as a living organism in which all the parts are mutually interrelated with each other. Rather that analyzing causes and effects only, we can analyze relationships which are mutually interdependent with each other where even the tiniest part can send ripples upon the whole and vice versa. Thus there is an innate and holistic appreciation of the whole and the parts.

In these times of changes, the best attitude is to welcome change with open arms and be willing to be the change ourselves.

In the hustle and bustle of work and daily stresses, one very important thing is frequently lost in the process. This is our inner spirituality. No matter what religion you have or even if you have no religion at all, spirituality is an important thing. It’s the x factor and your secret management edge. You can roughly describe spirituality as morale, meaning in life, inspiration, or the energy that keeps you motivated and on the go. Most describe it as their relationship with God.

Without this, it is as if we have lost our inner source of strength. We have no battery. We become automatons and work becomes a daily grind. In the end, the quality of our work suffers.
Good Business and Management Professionals are full of life and vigour that is contagious because they have an inner source of strength. They have a healthy spirituality.

Here are some inspirational quotations to relieve stress and keep you going on with your wonderful work.
In facing all of the life’s circumstances, sometimes we spend too much energy worrying on the things that we cannot change. Here is one famous quotation that always serves as a good reminder:

“Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change; the courage to change the things that I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”
When there is a great change in the organization that one has to take, and yet one is anxious and afraid, this prayer can help a lot:
“Lord teach me to be daring, to venture into the open seas where the storms shall show thy mastery, where losing sight of land, we see the stars.
During times of great success, I never forget to remind myself of this so I will continue to perform my best:
“Never let success hide its emptiness from you, achievement its nothingness, toil its desolation. And so keep alive the incentive to push on further, that pain in the soul which drives us beyond ourselves. “

When the whole organization is going through unchartered territories and yet one needs to be brave enough to take the risks, I read this quotation from Gautama Buddha:
“Only those who go where few have gone can see what few have seen.”
When there are problems too big and questions that I cannot answer. When the world seems to be falling apart, Richard Bach’s wisdom never fails to inspire.
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly!”
Reading these quotations is really helpful and comes a long way. It will give you that boost of energy as you can also begin to inspire others. They are food for the soul. They are so subtle that the energy they bring is seldom noticed. But the effects are seen as a light in your eye, sincerity in your voice, and sweetness in your smile. These little things make life all worthwhile.

What is Visionary Leadership?

Visionary Leadership is where all employees are empowered because they have already owned for themselves the vision of their leader. The leader has already planted the seeds of the organizational vision in their hearts. And this vision is growing. There is contagion in the vision as it brings together the whole organization around a sense of purpose and mission. The more powerful the vision is, the more cohesive and committed the individual members of the organization are. This vision which is exemplified by the leader must be all consuming so as to bring out the best in people even in the most challenging times.
This vision must be powerful so as to encourage everybody to rise up to the call of the vision and spend their lives in a single minded pursuit of this vision. Visionary leadership aligns all people in its organization to share this higher purpose and work for the goals with creativity, joy, and inspiration, and imagination.

What are the advantages of Visionary Leadership?

• Visionary leadership integrates the task orientation style and people orientation style of leadership in a qualitatively new level of performance. People will perform tasks because they are happy to do them as they are inspired by the vision. In the same manner, the whole organization will have a certain degree of semi “religious” cohesiveness and a sense of solidarity because they share a common cause.
• Visionary leadership brings out the best in people and make them perform beyond their imagined limitations. People will be happy not only because their leader is the best but because they have become their best selves because of their leader.
• In Visionary Leadership, the mechanisms of control such as rewards and punishments become internal rather than external. People would want to do things right because they understand it in their hearts and not because of some external monetary rewards, social commendations or promotions. As the saying goes, “Virtue is a reward in itself.”
• Visionary leadership easily transcends individual personality idiosyncrasies and differences that characterize many office-related squabbling. The leader and the members have a sense of communion. The members accept each other because they are all together having the same dreams and they are all working together making those dreams come true. Each contributes his best to create the most fruitful working environment. People are not affected by petty issues because they have a big picture to look up to.
• Visionary leadership empowers all the members to be strong to face all challenges despite the odds. This is because their vision is larger than themselves. They are not working for a selfish purpose alone. They are working with a sense of mission and meaning that provides spiritual energy to everybody in the organization. Thus the morale of the group is always high as they are always ready to face problems and setbacks.