It was Friday night April 24th, my phone beeped, showed email notification that i got an invitation to attend 6th Supermentor with the U.S. Ambassador Robert Blake. I was so excited, this invitation comes at the right time, not only because i have no appointment on Saturday, but also i’m in hunger of new perspective, especially about work ethics.
It’s always been a blessings when you have a chance to meet new people that eventually makes you have a new friends, new perspective, and even widen your knowledge. Thanks to Mr. Dino Patti Djalal, his friendship with Ambassador Blake has gathered young bright Indonesians to sit together shared a lot of important point of views to develop our self-management, mutual respect and habits of successful people. Thanks to Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) who arranged this 6th Supermentor.
There is no doubt that Mr. Blake is a man with a lot of experiences, especially in a diplomat career. He has served at the U.S. embassies in Tunisia, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt, not to mention the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs from 2009 to 2013 and U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives from 2006 to 2009. It was all before he appointed to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia.
There’s a fun fact why Ambassador Blake has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia. There’s a history between Ambassador Blake and Indonesia, he has traveled to Indonesia when he was still a student and he found it as unforgettable trip because of the beauty of Indonesia. So, when he was asked where he want to serve next, he gave the straight answer: Indonesia!
USA-Indonesia relationship is on the rise. There are many sectors that we can work with the American. But before we jumped to all of the dream about to see Indonesia as country with a lot of Innovations, a nation with the most advance civilization, let’s take a minute to contemplate and ask some questions to ourselves. Are we work hard enough? Were we helped each other to achieve our goals? It’s actually amazing if you know that work ethics could make a lot of differences.
Ambassador Blake handed a paper that contained a strong points of habits of successful people to everyone in his house, that also contained a points of how to manage people, and career advice. I couldn’t agree more with all the points that written by Mr. Blake. It’s just simply what it takes to grow.
“Optimism is a force multiplier” is one of the point from habits of successful people section. The world has too many people who are prepared to tell you why things can’t be done, you will do well by showing why things can get done. Optimism will definitely make a good environment in achieving goals.
Another point which simple but a lot of people doesn’t realize is “Don’t feel obligated to speak in a meeeting.” I went to lot of meetings and i find this point is so true! If you don’t have something useful to contribute in a meeting, stay silent rather than searching to say something that will get you noticed. Some day you will have something useful to say, save it for that time.
The other points that we should notice from the habits of successful people are Be careful of what you put in emails, be a minute early for meetings (i think this one is what we really has to work on in Indonesia), be a team player: help your colleagues when they are swamped, volunteer when new opportunities come up, be proactive and a player: don’t wait to be asked to do something, integrity matters, treat everyone with respect and courtesy (not just those above you) and try to do what is right and just.
It’s not just habits of successful people have to be implemented if you wanna succeed as a leader, you need to know how to manage people. The first thing that your team has to know and work on is target. So, set 5-6 concrete targets to achieve. Another thing that you have to do as a leader is recognize and reward those who do well. Celebrate the team’s success.
The other things that we have to tackle as a leader are:
- Deal promptly with problems or they will fester and corrode morale and confidence in you as a leader.
- Be decisive: get the information you need from all concerned stakeholders and then make a decision.
- Empower and trust your subordinates to do their job and do not micromanage.
- Be a good communicator: two way flow is very important, encourage them to keep you informed and reciprocate by briefing on higher-level staff meetings you attend.
- Treat others as you want to be treated (by others means everyone not just those above you).
All of the points of habits of successful people and managing people from Ambassador Blake is important for your career, regardless what career path you’re on today. That’s really something that we can learn from our American friend. Ambassador Blake also gave us some career advice, these are some of his advices:
- Don’t get stressed today about what your career will be. You will likely make several changes in your career path: that is normal. But do begin to build skills that will make you marketable: writing, languages, IT, etc.
- Speaking of skills, try to think of your college experience as both an opportunity to get as broad an education as possible while also beginning to build skills like foreign languages. Walter Isaacson has written a number of books on great innovators and on why innovation flourishes in the U.S. One reason that Americans are exposed to a wide range of subjects and ideas in college that gives them a chance to draw on a wide range of influences to come up with new ideas. So, draw various backgrounds, be as broad as you can!
- Follow your passion. Find a job that you truly love and you will never work a day of your life again. If you don’t like the products or services or people of your organization, you should leave and find something you like.
- Don’t be afraid to fail. In many cultures, it is considered shameful or dishonorable to fail. Not in America. Some of their greates innovators failed a lot to begin with. Henry Ford went bankrupt 5 times before he founded Ford Motor Company. Thomas Edison perfected the light bulb, but only after trying 10,000 times.
After all of these points elaborated by Ambassador Blake, we had a fine discussion with him. We asked some questions, he gave the answers related to the points we discussed earlier. While USA-Indonesia relationship is really on the rise, we can work together to gain more mutual respect and make this world a better place to live.
I’m glad that i finally could post this article, i hope this article useful for anyone who read this. See you on top folks!
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