‘I promise I will not do it again’ x100

Early this year, a social media activist and host of online TV program ‘Fairly Current Show’ tweeted about a pregnant friend who was mistreated by her company, a renowned media company. In a flash, the HR/PR department responded and demanded for a retraction. They later took the chap to court for defamation and sought damages. Fairly current news is that they settled on the condition that this young sprightly chap would tweet his apology 100 times over 3 days in early June, 2011. He’s completed his final tweet. This unprecedented method of apologising (because the chap could not afford advertisement apology in traditional print media) has spawned media coverage in dozens of international media. Plus, has increased the chap’s twitter followers by 1000. Not bad for a 3-day ‘tweepology’ with the final 100th being re-tweeted over a hundred times – “100/100 I’ve DEFAMED Blu Inc Media & Female Magazine. My tweets on their HR Policies are untrue. I retract those words & hereby apologize.”

My question is, why? Why didn’t the media company see through this clever little gimmick, which did little but damage to their brand. Who were their advisers? Did they think, OK, here’s David. We’re Goliath. Let’s show him what we’re capable of getting him to do by entering into his universe. Personally, this seems more like a triumph by one man against a large corporate. Seriously. What WERE they thinking? That they could make our chap apologise, look bad in the digital universe he lives within? I’d suggest for any company big or small, to think again, when dealing with the social media. The social media is a space that’s somehow still shrouded with a false sense of ‘privacy’. Bloggers and Twitterers have well-formed personalities ‘underground’, they would have been ‘independently’ published for years, developed a fan-base, existed beneath the surfaces of printed media at least a good couple of years before the media moghuls registered their first Twitter account to get-closer-to-their-readers. Once daring and spoke truths, even untruths with no fear. Now, they need to be accountable for what they say. No more thoughtless publishing. No more. No, think before you write, tweet, FB, or even upload a vid. But seriously, my Gmail account just got hacked and I was apparently in Spain during the King’s Birthday weekend, robbed off all valuables and mobile phone. Won’t you help me by sending me Euros 2800 so I can come home?

If I find the perpetrators, I too would like them to tweet me an apology that they would never ever ever hack into a Gmail account again. But won’t that just glorify them? Worse still. It might even get them a top dollar contract to work for some international firm – hacking! @fahmi_fadzil… please stand up. You’ve just garnered USD500,000 in media value from your 3-day tweepology campaign. Bravo! Now, will you speak at our next FEYST – digital lifestyle & indie music festival?

As a business owner myself, I find it crucial to make decisions every day, no matter how hard. There really no gray areas, no maybes. It’s a yes, or a no. I’ve discovered from experience that the more you leave an issue unresolved, the more it will grow and return to hit you right on the head – much like a boomerang!

This is especially evident when making decisions on people and their roles within the organisation. Selecting and keeping the right team in place is most important to business success. I’ve learned the hard way from experience, that coupled with the right people, on the same wavelength, we’re truly able to move mountains and make a difference. But the trick is in getting that team together; no matter how small.

Firstly, I will hold true to the belief that my staff, are my colleagues firstly. We’re all working together to achieve the goals of the company. So it’s natural that each person is given the leeway to make mistakes and learn. However, work attitude is something they bring with them from their previous jobs. And that, is hard to change. All you need is one person on the team who’s not on the same page as management, and the virus spreads. Gossips, back-stabbing and so on.

Here are a few tips on building a strong corporate culture based on LOVE. Someone once asked me, why is it a side stall that sells the same ‘ice-cendol’ as his neighbour gets only half the customers. And the answer, according to this friend of mine was that the stall owner had no LOVE.

We all need LOVE. Whether it’s at work or at home. So let’s just practice a little more care and love for one another in the office. Protect each other and do things for one another. Selflessness.

Let me share an example. A new intern came into the office on Monday fresh from his hometown in Kampar. Guess what was on the table? You guessed right! Delicious snacks from Kampar! I hope he will remember to be nice as he grows and becomes a citizen of the corporate world.

A staff with LOVE for himself / herself is also a sign that they respect themselve. This is important because if a person is fearful of others, or fears that others cannot LOVE him/her for themselves, then they create an invisible ‘block’ between them and Clients. I have met overly enthusiastic young people who tell me to give them a chance by giving them a job. I’ve done that. Give them a chance. Some of them prove themselves so well they move on quickly to another job. Some of them take on more than they could, and as a result, put unnecessary pressure on themselves. It takes LOVE to cultivate a relationship. And creating a healthy relationship at work is important for the mind and soul.

“The buck stops here” is a phrase that was popularized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who kept a sign with that phrase on his desk in the Oval Office. (Footage from Jimmy Carter‘s “Address to the Nation on Energy” shows the sign still on the desk during Carter’s administration.) The phrase refers to the fact that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions. Truman received the sign as a gift from a prison warden, who was also an avid poker player. The ship’s motto of the U.S. Naval Aircraft Carrier, USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), is also “The Buck Stops Here.”^[3]

There was once a hero. He didn’t set out to be one. It just happened that way. It was his destiny.

Long time ago in a land not too far away, there was a boy called Alfred who made a YouTube (TM) video of himself, expressing his comfort in his own skin. He confessed in this video, that he was a ‘C.A.T.’ and that ‘It’s O.K’. Lo and behold the gates of Heaven & Hell opened up right before his eyes online. And before long, it was unsafe for him to even step out of his house for fear or falling into one of those wretched gates leading to Hell below. His friends came together to prepare a shield to protect him. Some left the brood as they bore children. The ‘Watchers’ watched his every minute move. Yet Alfred was not afraid. He only feared the safety of his loved ones. He garnered incredulous strength from the love of his friends. He knew that it was all going to be O.K. Because he was a true ‘C.A.T.’ and proud of it.

The next day, Alfred disappeared. But his legacy lived on. His legacy of strength in adversity. His legacy of staying true to who he was. An accidental hero. As he never planned to be. It just happened, and he’s O.K. Thank G.O.D. he has 9 lives!

I write faction. Fact+fiction. But in a creative and harmless way. I write short stories, made up of fact and laced with fiction. I write for myself. I write for fun.

However, when newsmen and women start writing faction as articles in a newspaper, isn’t that a tad Pinocchio-ism? This country where I live is after all, a place where titles are important and untrained professionals can undertake tasks as though they were trained. It’s a land where everything is possible. Anyone you want to be, can! I now even start to question the authenticity of my own words.

It started over a nonchalant phone call. A friend wanted some ideas on how she could just focus on two or three events in a year. Considering we were both from Penang, chit chats later got us planning a Chinese New Year celebration themed ‘MYPENANG Reunion’. The result? Phenomenal turn-out of over 60000 per day, celebrity star performances, VVIP attendance, good media coverage… and what’s the ROI? Youngsters in the Northern region celebrating their CNY with their favourite stars. It truly is a global phenomena where youth flock to watch their stars perform. And we’re taking our time on this one.

I admit, I used to spend countless hours preparing presentations for Clients who couldn’t tell the difference between indie and Indian; and would interrupt me halfway during a presentation to ask why we were proposing for them to target only ‘Indians’.

I learn later, that even though we had managed to grab the attention of the client, the concept of ‘indie’ was still alien to them. So just when our team had thought that we had gotten ‘support’ for the local independent community, we had only just won half the battle.

As an independent community promoter, a writer, performer and an early riser of the scene, it dawned on me that when a corporation buys into the indie concept, it’s not about aligning their brand to youth (Gen Y). It about how many products they can sell to youth. It’s about, ‘What your event, or your proposal can do for my brand NOW. How much sales can I increase’. Now that, is the reality. And that most decision makers are still of the Gen X or Lost Gen stature.

I take my rose coloured glasses off my face and rest it above my head.

So I am the link between the needs of the corporate bigwigs, and the independent scene. I’m the bridge, me this hybrid Gen-X’er who sits on the border of Y. And I will keep on trying until I get it right. After a few partnerships and understanding our corporate clients mindsets better, I’m confident to say, we’re almost there. There IS such a thing as win-win. At least for now. I’m working hard on making it win-win …

Recently, one of our new sales staff closed a sale but accepted an incomplete form from a customer, and had forgotten to ask for the customer’s contact number. Our back office were naturally unable to process the order and had no choice but to wait until the customer called to complain. I was horrified! We were sitting like ducks at a fun fair, waiting to be shot at. He called. And boy, was he upset. I don’t blame him either. To top it off, another of our service people said,

“Sir, you had forgotten to fill in some details,”…

Now even I, as a customer, would have reacted the same way. He BLEW HIS TOP! I would have too if I was accused for being ‘forgetful’.

“Excuse me… perhaps your salesman should have ENSURED I filled in the details. Not accuse me for being forgetful???!!!!!” retorted the customer.

“I’d like to cancel the plan!”, he added.

And you know what? My salesman said, “Ok, Sir. We can cancel the plan if you wish”.

I was at the opposite end of the room but heard everything and immediately motioned towards my sales staff and asked for the phone to be passed on to me. NOW!

I picked up the phone, introduced myself and apologised profusely to the customer. He asked for my designation, wanting to know if I was just another salesman. I assured him that he was talking to the owner of the business. And allowed him to vent.

After assessing his response, I figured that the only way to settle the issue was to come clean and offer my most humble apologies, and that I would have a word with my staff. By emphatising and by listening to the customer and his feelings, he slowly felt that he was talking to someone who understood his concerns. I proceeded to conclude the sale by offering him a discount meal voucher for his trouble. We concluded the phone call and I realised at that point how important it is to have life experience and a little EQ (emo-IQ).

It’s so easy to just say to the customer, “Ok, Sir, you can cancel the plan if you wish”. But the ramifications of such a response to the customer would sound like:

1. Your business is not important to us
2. We don’t care about you
3. I won’t go the extra mile to help you

So, my message today is about how one person can make a difference to the public perception of a company. Companies spend millions of Ringgit over the years on its public image and branding. Irresponsible and callous employees can destroy that in less than 5 seconds. So if you’re an employee, be responsible for your actions. It just starts by just caring for your customer, your colleagues and your environment. You’ll be surprised at the results