coaching – The Samurai Coach

10 powerful questions to scan someone to uncover their hidden cache of cashable assets.

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If you want to be successful and reach your leadership potential, you need to embrace asking questions as a lifestyle. Make it a habit to ask questions, instead of giving answer. Be the dumbest person in the room, instead of the smartest person in the room.

Asking the right questions of the right person at the right time is a powerful combination.

“The ability to ask the right question is more than half the battle of finding the answer.” – Thomas J. Watson

Following are 10 powerful questions to ask anyone, especially people you care deeply about.

Uncover from the Mind:

Knowledge: what do you know? (knowledge, schooling)
Skills: what can you do? (skills, know-how, street-smarts)
Confidence: where have you been successful? (money, relationship, organization)
Failures and fears: what have you failed at/feared?
What are your three biggest problems/challenges?

Uncover from the Heart:

Passion: What are your passions?
Desire: What are your desires?
Talents: What are you good at?
Wisdom: What are your life’s top three lessons?
Connections: Whom do you know?

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About the author: Hoan Do is a certified leadership coach. Hoan have led multiple teams at Symantec Inc. across the globe delivering world-class solutions to protect consumers and businesses. Hoan is an expert in building highly performing teams. He believes that the best leader is the leader that could grow his followers to be leaders. Hoan has been organizing mastermind groups to share with other leaders about transformational leadership and coaching. He has trained many leaders via mastermind groups, workshops, and one-on-one coaching.

If you are curious about the above method and how you can apply it to your life successfully, open your email and send me an inquiry at coach@hoanmdo.com

Life and Leadership Lessons learned from Bill Campbell – the ultimate coach of Billionaire CEOs including Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Sergey Brin

Bill was described as a legendary coach who coached Steve Jobs, Eric Schmitz, Larry Page, Sergey Brins.

I first read about Bill Campbell from “Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal” by Nick Bilton. Bill was brought into Twitter to mentor the CEO Evan Williams.

Bill was described as a legendary coach who coached Steve Jobs, Eric Schmitz, Larry Page, Sergey Brins. From the first meeting, Bill fearlessly pointed out to Evan that the biggest mistake a CEO can make is to “Hire your fucking friends.” Bill often sat on Twitter’s board meeting.

Later I read about Bill Campbell in The Amazon Way.

Bill was brought into Amazon by the board to help deal with Amazon’s leadership crisis. Amazon employees were complaining about Jeff Bezos’ controlling and demanding styles. The board was considering whether to ask Jeff Bezos to step aside and let someone else be the CEO. “Campbell had a reputation for being an astute listener who could parachute into difficult corporate situations and get executives to confront their own shortcomings. Steve Jobs considered him a confidant and got him to join the Apple board when Jobs returned to the helm of that company in 1997.”

After meeting Jeff Bezos, Bill concluded that “Why would you ever replace him [Jeff Bezos]?’ He’s out of his mind, so brilliant about what he does.”

I read about Bill Campbell from Ben Horowitz’s book: The Hard Things about Hard Things.

Ben described Bill as “At the time, Bill was in his sixties, with gray hair and a gruff voice, yet he had the energy of a twenty-year-old….Bill is extremely smart, super-charismatic, and elite operationally, but the key to his success goes beyond those attributes. In any situation—whether it’s the board of Apple, where he’s served for over a decade; the Columbia University Board of Trustees, where he is chairman; or the girls’ football team that he coaches—Bill is inevitably everybody’s favorite person…..
No matter who you are, you need two kinds of friends in your life. The first kind is one you can call when something good happens, and you need someone who will be excited for you. Not a fake excitement veiling envy, but a real excitement. You need someone who will actually be more excited for you than he would be if it had happened to him. The second kind of friend is somebody you can call when things go horribly wrong—when your life is on the line and you only have one phone call. Who is it going to be? Bill Campbell is both of those friends.”

Several valuable advices Bill Campbell gave Ben Horowitz:

In preparing to fire an executive: “Ben, you cannot let him keep his job, but you absolutely can let him keep his respect.”
When announcing a layoff: “The message is for the people who are staying.”

The most noticeable journey of Bill Campbell was his journey as GO corporation’s CEO. GO was the startup on pen computers in late 80s. GO raised more venture capital than most other startups and lost it all. However, “The amazing thing was that every one of those GO employees counted GO as one of the greatest work experiences of their lives. The best work experience ever despite the fact that their careers stood still, they made no money, and they were front-page failures. GO was a good place to work.”

Jerry Kaplan, GO’s founder, described Bill Campbell in his book “The Startup” as “he was passionate about whatever he was doing, and he placed the welfare of his employees above all else, including his own.”

Jerry learned from Bill that the key skill is not in convincing people of your point of view with rational arguments, but, when circumstances require, in building a feeling of consensus in the face of uncertainty or adversity.

Bill worked only face to face or on the phone.

Bill’s trademark was to give people who wandered by his office a big bear hug.

For a man pushing fifty, Bill was in remarkable mental and physical shape. He worked out for an hour every morning before coming to the office while he read the trades, newspapers, and analysts’ reports.

He took great delight in his ability to outlast whomever he was traveling with, staying out late with customers and getting up early for pre-breakfast briefings.

Wherever we went, Bill seemed to know everyone, and everyone considered him a personal friend.

He’d sit with individual executives and ask them about their families, and tell a story or two in his colloquial way, and gradually he’d learn how they felt about the issue at hand. He had a remarkable way of getting people to agree in advance before they came into the room.

For Bill, it was always about the team, the company. He was devoid of private motives or agendas. The mission was paramount. Bill was a master leader who developed great leaders.

Among many lessons, Bill taught us the importance of a team’s dignity, especially when a company fails.

In his latest book “Measure What Matters”, John Doerr dedicated one chapter to Bill Campbell and Larry Page wrote the rare foreword because of Bill Campbell.

John Doerr described Bill’s role as “Kleiner invests, Doerr sponsors, Doerr calls Campbell, Campbell coaches the team. We ran that game plan again and again.”

He coached in his characteristic style, one part Zen and one part Bud Light. Bill gave little direction. He’d ask a very few questions, invariably the right ones. But mostly he listened. He knew that most times in business there were several right answers, and the leader’s job was to pick one. “Just make a decision,” he’d say. Or: “Are you moving forward? Are you breaking ties? Let’s keep rolling.

People are discouraged from bringing love into business settings, but love was Bill’s most distinguishing trait.

Sometimes it was love by faux insult. (If you came to work in an ugly sweater, he’d ask, “Did you roll some guy in the restroom to get that thing?”) But you always knew the Coach cared. You always knew he had your back. You always knew he was there for the team. You don’t find many leaders who can convey love and fearless feedback at the same time. Bill Campbell was a tough coach, but he was always a players’ coach.

And you’d never find the Coach distractedly checking his cell phone in the sixth inning. He was completely present. He sparkled in that setting.

Bill’s moto: Get better everyday.

From Forbes article: What are some of the key fundamentals you do when you go to work for a company?

Campbell: First of all, I don’t really take the company unless the founder is passionate and really wants to create something durable. Once you get the founder and CEO, you just want to find out what makes them tick. You’re trying to understand what they want to get out of their management team. Then you try to spend time with the team. And then put processes in place. I’m not going to tell Larry Page and Sergey Brin how to do their search algorithms. I just try to bring what they’re doing to life.

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About the author: Hoan Do is a certified leadership coach with John Maxwell Team. Hoan have led multiple teams at Symantec Inc. across the globe delivering world-class solutions to protect consumers and businesses. Hoan is an expert in building highly performing teams. He believes that the best leader is the leader that could grow his followers to be leaders. Hoan has been organizing mastermind groups at work to share with other leaders about transformational leadership and coaching. He has trained many leaders both inside and outside Symantec via mastermind groups, workshops, and one-on-one coaching.
Coaching inquiry can be sent to coach@hoanmdo.com

Making 6 figures #2? How to avoid being one of 29% of American households with no retirement savings

Having a job? You can make it to the top 5%

There are 100 people at 65 years old:
One will be rich.
Four will be financially independent.
Five will be working.
Thirty six will be dead.
Fifty four will be dependent.

Let’s suppose that most men and women start working at 25 and retire by 65.
How much money do you suppose an average man earn in 40 years?
According to CNBC( https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/24/how-much-americans-earn-at-every-age.html ), this figure would be over $1.6 million. This is a substantial amount. This is a fortune.

Earl Nightingale in his popular audio program “Top 5%” talks about a research. There are 100 men and women at 25 starting out equally in America, the richest country on earth. Each has as much opportunity as the rest. By the time they are 65 years old:

One will be rich.
Four will be financially independent.
Five will be working.
Thirty six will be dead.
Fifty four will be dependent.

Earl’s tape was in 1960s. However, the stats holds even in this present time. Only 5% are financially independent. This is the top 5% that we all want to belong to.

So according to CNBC above, most people will earn at least $1.6 million ($40K per year * 40 years) by the time they are 65 if they started working at 25. Only 5% makes the grade. 95% are either dead or don’t become financially independent. As I wrote in the article “Making 6 figure? How to avoid being one of 69% of Americans who have less than $1000 in the bank“, the survey by GoBankRates year after year still points out that many Americans who make 6 figures have less than $1000 in the bank. So where does the money all go? What’s the problem?

If you practice karate 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, for 40 years, you will agree that you will be an accomplished martial artist. I use Karate in this example as I practiced Musokai Karate for over 10 years. I realized the difference between an accomplished karate master and the rest is how much time they put into practicing persistently. My Shihan Arakaki is a living example of an accomplished Karate master through hard work and persistence.

If you practice anything (piano, acting, investing, programming, …anything) 8 hour a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks ago, for 40 years, you can become an expert.

In the above research, the fifty four men and women out of 100 who arrive at age 65 without having become financially independent in the richest land in the world have worked in the economy for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks ago, for 40 years and have not figured out how to be financially independent for the remaining years of their life.

The experts say that only 5% make the grade because that is the group that does not conform. They do not follow the crowd.

Conformity is to act like everybody else. And by acting like everyone else, the odd is that 95 to 5 that we will miss the boat of becoming financially independent.

Why do people conform?

The reason to conform is simply because it is an easy thing to do. We have been taught to conform. From the time we were born through school, we were told what to do. We don’t want to be different as being different is ridiculed by others. We want to be liked and to belong to the group. We spent at least 18 years learning to conform.

Out of school, suddenly we find ourselves to be on our own for the first time. We get a job. The most natural thing for us to do as we have been trained to conform is to look around and see how other fellows are doing their jobs. Since we have always been told what to do, why should we start thinking for ourselves? Thinking for ourselves is much hard than to conform.

By starting at 25 and retiring at 65, you know that people have 40 years to become great at their craft. However, 95 percent won’t do it. The reason is because they do like everyone else, they follow the crowd.

Everyone has a choice. You can choose to follow the crowd to be like everyone else or to join the top 5%. The choice is yours.

If you don’t want to conform, you must think now before it’s too late.

If you decide to join the top 5%, let’s continue. If not, reading more will waste your time.

There are only two steps when it comes to financial independence. And anyone can do these two steps:

One’s attitude toward their work.
The money one can save.

First, no matter what your present job is, it contains many hidden opportunities. Take a moment in quietness, ask yourself those questions, and silently write down the answers:

How can you become an expert in your present industry?
Do you know your job and your industry like a doctor knows about medicine?
What will your job be like in 5 years? Can you do it the same now?
What are some ways that have not been done before to improve your job?

No matter what your job is, it contains the key to greatness. Look for it until you find it.

Second, your financial success has nothing to do with the money you earn but only with the money you save. Unless you save 10% or more of what you earn, you are doing yourself a disservice. Following those steps consistently and you will know the power of saving as well as enjoy your life, especially the later part when you need it most.

First, save one-tenth of what you earn and dont touch it.
Second, for every dollar you save, make it work for you. Make your savings your slaves. Make their children your slaves also.
Third, control your expenditure so that you never have to tap into your saving. Better yet, slash your expense so that you may have some extra dollars to put into your saving. Remember #2, your saving will work for you along with its children, grandchildren,
Fourth, guard your capital. Remember that getting rich is not a quick venture. You must be patient and not jump into any venture that causes you to lose your saving.
Fifth, be disciplined and remember step #4. Warren Buffett follows this principle by saying “the first rule of investing is to not lose money. The second rule is to never forget rule #1”.

For detailed explanation, you can read more at: Making 6 figures? How to avoid being one of 69% of Americans who have less than $1000 in the bank.

Don’t follow the crowd. Start thinking for yourself now. Look for the key to greatness in your job. Start saving and put your saving to work.

Remember that 95% won’t do it. You want to be financially independent. You want to join the top 5%. And you can.

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How to think BIG – the Jeff Bezos’ way

When Jeff Bezos announced to his boss that he would quit his job to start an online book store, his boss advised him to think about it for 48 hours. The important thing to know is that Jeff Bezos was working as a vice president for the famous firm D.E. Shaw. D.E. Shaw hired only genius (1% acceptance rate among math and computer scientists). Quitting his job would mean that Jeff Bezos would be leaving behind the high-paying job at one of the most famous firms on the Wall Street.

He did and outlined a framework to make BIG decision. This framework called Regret Minimization Framework centered around the question: “If you are 80, what will you think?”

For Jeff Bezos, leaving a stable, high-paying job with a big bonus was not a regret. He would be regretting if he did not take the opportunity to become an entrepreneur on the Internet.

Jeff founded Amazon in 1993 and as of this post, it’s a $761 billion company. Jeff is the richest person in the world with a $129.9 billion net worth.

Jeff Bezos’ words on decision-making:

I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and say, “Okay, now I’m looking back on my life. I want to have minimized the number of regrets I have.”

I knew that when I was 80 I was not going to regret having tried this.

I was not going to regret trying to participate in this thing called the Internet that I thought was going to be a really big deal.

I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried.

I knew that that would haunt me every day, and so, when I thought about it that way it was an incredibly easy decision.

And, I think that’s very good.

If you can project yourself out to age 80 and sort of think, “What will I think at that time?”

It gets you away from some of the daily pieces of confusion.

You know, I left this Wall Street firm in the middle of the year.

When you do that, you walk away from your annual bonus.

That’s the kind of thing that in the short-term can confuse you, but if you think about the long-term then you can really make good life decisions that you won’t regret later.

If you are facing a BIG decision, project yourself at the age of 80 and ask yourself: “What will I think?”, “Will I regret?”

Just remember that Jeff Bezos left behind a high-paying job with a big bonus as a vice president of one of the most famous firms on the Wall Street. He followed his dream and embraced a decision that he would be proud of when he’s 80 year old.

As you read this, you might say that only Jeff Bezos could do so and this does not apply to you, or this method does not work for you. You are absolutely right. The mere reason for your thinking so is what stops you from taking on something big.

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc, put the question differently: “if today were the last day of your life, would you want to do what you are about to do today?”

In Steve Jobs’s most inspirational speech:

For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: if today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?

Whenever my answer has been NO for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I will be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Because almost everything, all external expectations, all prides, all fears of embarrassment or failure, these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There’s no reason not to follow your heart.

Don’t let yourself regret at your death bed that you have not done something extraordinarily. Or as my mentor said, don’t die with the music still in your ear.

Like/share/put + if this helps someone.

Recommended reading: The Amazon Way: 14 Leadership Principles Behind the World’s Most Disruptive Company by John Rossman

#thesamuraicoach

Do this small tactic and you will have a great long-term success managing a team

A #manager inherits a team with two engineers: Vin and Randy. His #boss tells him that Vin is a star and Randy is an ok engineer.

The manager likes Vin from the start. Randy makes a OK impression.

Vin is treated like a #star. His mistakes are often overlooked by the manager. The manager instead gives #encouragement and #coaching to Vin. In one year, Vin becomes a very successful engineer and gets promoted.

Randy is treated OK. No matter how much he tries, Randy still gets an OK impression. Any mistake Randy makes is criticized by the manager. In one year, Randy stays as OK.

What’s worth knowing is that Randy’s peer feedbacks and work prove that he is a more talented engineer than Vin. His talent is not recognized and nurtured by his manager.

Lesson: people will perform to your #expectation. As a leader, treat people like they are #superstars. They will prove you are right. Put a 10 on everyone’s head and treat them like they are real 10.

#thesamuraicoach, #leadership, #management, #TechAgeism, #HiringforPotential