Financial Times

CIMA summit draws broad range of ideas, thoughts
"It's important to know one's limitations but it is also very important never to be restricted by them," was the advice trotted out by former Pakistan cricket superstar Imran Khan when he joined a group of business and political luminaries across the world who spoke at the recent CIMA Global Leaders' Summit in Colombo.

The three-day meeting saw some power packed performances by the speakers discussing issues relating to leadership, passion and perfection. Khan, founder of 'Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, in his presentation titled 'Leading with passion-on and off the cricket filed', said that ordinary people put limits on their own potential, whereas extraordinary individuals who think big and have dreams expand on their limitations, he said.

Drawing from his own experience he said that he was the only fast bowler who re-modelled on the bowling action that he was naturally gifted with, in order to become the best fast bowler in the world. "The first time I got dropped from my team, I analysed my weaknesses and found that my natural bowling action was restricting me from becoming the world's best fast bowler, which was my ambition. When I decided to change it, I came up against everyone telling me otherwise," he said. "It is important to never accept your limitations, but always try and expand on them," he said.

He said that failure is the best teacher, but one must have the ability to analyse failures without losing self-belief and getting demoralised. "If you can analyse it and work at it you come out much stronger, but if you fear it, you will be negative and will not take risks. Then you cannot be extraordinary, but mediocre." Khan said a big impediment in people to achieve what they want is thinking about what others will say. "These self imposed prisons on 'what others will say' keep you from achieving your ambition."

Speaking about launching a career in politics, he said that he decided to do so in order to equalise the rule of law for both the masses and the commoners alike. "The problem with the Third World is that the ruling elite puts itself above law and deprives ordinary people of any justice. This is the reason why the Third World is what it is," he said.

He said the key to leadership is the ability to command people's respect, leading by example, being loyal to the cause and making people believe in themselves. "If you want people to follow you, you need to have credibility and not have an ego getting in the way of the cause," he added.

Priyan Fernando, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, American Express Business Travel, spoke on 'Perfection at American Express-learnings from a corporate journey', focussing on the framework for success that is part of the DNA (embedded) in his company.

"After 23 years at American Express Travels, I have seen the difference of inspirational leadership and its power. Employers must recognise that people have emotions and personalities," he said, sharing his experiences on how he utilised employees' skills to build a world class financial organisation, which became the model for financial shared servicing in UK and India. "We want employees' performances to be driven by how they feel about their work and how much of a difference they can make," he said, adding that employees who are emotionally engaged in their work give off the best to help companies grow and to win in the market place.

"At American Express, we devote a great deal of time and energy creating an environment that enables people of all backgrounds to succeed and grow regardless of individual differences," he added.

Professor Arnoud de Meyer, Deputy Dean of INSEAD, speaking on 'Stimulating innovation and perfecting an entrepreneurial culture within an organisation', said that innovation has a lot to do with leadership and clear vision in an organisation.

"There is a growing group of lower to middle class people in Asia who are able to spend and express their own preferences. Asian consumers have become more sophisticated and we see the emergence of a new middle class of about 550 million people in this part of the world with a spending power of about US$ 5,000 per year. They will require different and new products and will want us to innovate," he said. De Meyer said that to enhance creative behaviour among employees, it is important to create a more cultural and cross-functional diversity within the management team of firms and increase motivation through a professional approach in management.

Tony Fernandes, CEO, Malaysia-based Air Asia, speaking on 'Perfecting leadership to get extraordinary results out of ordinary people', said that a lot of companies in Asia have the management running the firms, while the rest are 'implementers'. "You need to allow people to be extraordinary and give them the tools to achieve that. It is how you bring out the employees' skills set and utilise it for the company." He said that it is important to be 'approachable' to the staff for them to be creative.

The CIMA Summit, which is the largest international event to date, saw eminent individuals such as Raj Rajaratnam, Founder of the Galleon Group, Loh Wai Kiew, CEO, SembCorp Environmental Management and John McLellan, Director Finance, Microsoft Asia pacific, speaking at the conference, which concluded last Saturday. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed delivered the keynote address.

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