2. LIVE TO WORK AND NOT WORK TO LIVE ‐ I
Work Is An Expression Of Who You Are
___________________________________________________________
Almost 10 years when I set up The Inspiring Edge, training and coaching
company, I coined this term in articles published in Straits Times and in
other journals. Today, it is no longer a cliché but an important
consideration of an employee’s job search.
Expectations of people in the workplace have changed tremendously as
they are no longer satisfied with just jobs that merely compensate them
with pay checks.
Their meaning of work has taken on a different understanding.
Work is an expression of who you are
"Today, people want jobs that matter,"
Says John Challenger, executive vice president of Challenger, Gray, and
Christmas, an international outplacement company based in Chicago.
Challenger, who has been in the business for 34 years, says he has never
heard so many people talk about finding meaning in their work.
And this trend is also taking place in Singapore going by the emphasis of
employees on work life balance, wanting to be engaged and looking for
ways to contribute to the unfortunate and needy strata of society.
People want to be valued for the work they do and want to do the work
which is aligned to their values.
Employees are no longer content with just a pay check and good
benefits; they want meaning and passion. After all, if they were to spend
longer hours at work, they might as well find something that could be
rewarding, fulfilling and meaningful. Better still if it could leave behind a
legacy for the future generations!
Interestingly, when people devote their time to meaningful work, they
become more energetic, flexible, and creative and possibility minded.

3. In fact, people who do work that they are passionate about don't feel as
if they're working at all.
Work allows them to express their values, passions, interests and
knowledge of who they are and what they do. Work defines who they
are as professionals in a setting where respect, pride (not egos), praise
and acknowledgment and rewards can be earned.
Work also brings out the best potentials in a person as the beneficiaries
of your work are the people who will determine your value. The greater
is your value, the more they will benefit.
So, what then is the value that you can bring to your work?
Ask five other people what makes their work of great value to the
people they serve and you will get five different answers, including
developing people, initiating and driving change, building operations and
infrastructure and negotiating and maintaining the peace.
Your value is as unique as your fingerprints and as executives right their
in your organisations, have you been able to “stamp” your value for
others to benefit from your work?
Perhaps, it is time to think of ways where you can create value to the
people you serve, bosses, colleagues, employees, clients or even
suppliers. Perhaps then, your work is no longer a job but a career which
you have the power to build, develop and enhance to bring you
satisfaction and fulfilment.
Richard Bach said,
“The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.”
There are 2 purposes which inspire successful people like you to work.
1 Live A Life Of Success
Success goes beyond meeting your material needs though they
are important especially for those who have just started out in
your business or career.
You want to ensure that there are sufficient reserves for yourself,
family and your company if you are the founder of the business. It

4. makes perfectly good sense to strive to be a fundamentally strong
and cash rich company so that it can be better prepared to ride
through the economic storms which have been happening rather
frequently. With business cycles getting shorter, the need to
reinvent, innovate and compete in the market place in the
shortest time is becoming a necessity. And all these priorities
require resources to materialise.
Likewise as an executive, it is no longer sufficient to just rely on a
single skill set to attract better opportunities from employers.
Executives are expected to manage, lead, transform and build
departments and organisations. You need to be technically
proficient and yet professionally savvy to lead teams to produce
results. To be on top of your game, personal and professional
development is critical to excel in your career.
Why is there a need to excel after all success means different
things to different people?
The truth is winners attract winners.
People want to join the club of the achievers because they know
that there is much to learn from those who have succeeded. As
high achievers, striving to achieve your successes in your areas of
excellence will inevitably open doors for you to grow and acquire
greater experiences to learn, discover and enjoy the fullest
measure of your own potentials. An even higher level of
achievements awaits you as you continue the journey to greater
success. And when you think you have reached that pinnacle of
your achievements, it is no longer about the additional material
reward isn’t it, which leads me to the next purpose
2 Live A Life Of Significance
Many of you who have invested years into your businesses and
careers are still continuing to make the serious commitment to
your work. Why, if I may ask?
You could pack up and move somewhere to merely enjoy the
fruits of your labour. You could stop working and take a life long
vacation to see the world and “enjoy” life. But you know that

5. while you may take your rest periodically, you also realise that
without work, there is no greater meaning in your life.
When you have attained the material successes in your life, you
know that the purpose of your work is not about meeting your
needs but is now about meeting others’ needs and aspirations,
your employees’ futures, the company’s future growth, the
potentials of your organisation, etc.
In fact, you are probably more excited about leaving a legacy for
the next generation.
You desire is to prepare a better place for them to succeed where
you were when you first started and hopefully, in your ways,
create a better place to them to live and work.
By aligning your work goals to your values, you are establishing your
integrity and building an Authentic Personal Brand which is attractive,
fulfilling and rewarding.
LIVE TO WORK AND NOT WORK TO LIVE – 2
Work Is A Service Of What You Do
___________________________________________________________
Almost 10 years when I set up The Inspiring Edge, a training and
coaching company, I coined this term in articles published in Straits
Times and in other journals. Today, it is no longer a cliché but an
important consideration of an employee’s personal branding.
Expectations of people in the workplace have changed tremendously as
they are no longer satisfied with just jobs that merely compensate them
with pay checks.
Their meaning of work has taken on a different understanding.
Work is a service of what you do

6. Work has historically been thought of as a job. The word "job" originates
from the Middle English jobbe, meaning "mouthful."
People then worked to eat, to live, to provide for their families and they
were contented to work as long as their basic needs were met. We are
familiar with Maslow’s theory of hierarchy needs, isn’t it?
With the advent of the industrial revolution, we thought things would
change but no the work itself was just as drudgery and draining. Devoid
of spirit, the worker was dehumanized of energy and not particularly
required to think, let alone dream or imagine. For the masses, it was life
in the dead zone.
The industrial revolution spawned the Information Age.
Were things different, this time?
Well, depends on who you ask.
For some, the information age was an awakening of all sorts; truths
were challenged, experts were “born” overnight, learnings were
quickened, business cycles were shortened. For others, there was
greater confusion, indecisiveness, chaos and instability. Knowledge
management and information overload were common issues with this
age. People were trying to make sense of the data collected and using
these pockets of information and analysed them as knowledge to better
understand employees, clients, customers.
Then came the digital or connected age, the age where social
connectivity is the context for everything that we do. The smart phones,
the tablets, the net books were just gadgets to enable us to connect with
other better. The need to socialise is so great that businesses are now
using these social media to promote their products and services.
The boundaries of work has expanded and intruded into the personal
space of many of us. Work is no longer confined in the domains of the
office or building and certainly not from 9 am to 5 pm.
People are working from home and are available from 24/7 all week and
at times all months. In social circles and networks, people are quietly
“working” by sharing what they know to who they know.

7. The key to value in all of these changes is
Is your work a value proposition to others?
Are you providing something intangible that others need?
Are you serving them?
Whether the person is your employee or boss or potential client, are you
sharing information or knowledge that will benefit them?
It is about meeting their needs, aspirations or even wants and not about
bragging about what you do.
Frame your thinking in these few ways to bring value to your work of
service.
Be sensitized to your environment.
Seize the opportunity to live out your Personal Brand
The last ten years and perhaps the next ten years would continue to
see changes, restructuring, downsizing and chaos in the corporate
world. As middle level management and senior executives, your jobs
are often on the line.
As the apex of the corporate triangle becomes sharper at and near
the top, less and less of these executives are needed and more and
more is expected from them.
There’s not a pleasant place to be but with proper coaching and
brand positioning, your organisation will find it hard to let you go.
One critical frame of thinking to acquire is be sensitized to your inner
(immediate) and external environment. By that I mean, to know the
underlying sentiments moving in your environments (group to
department to company) and understand how those sentiments have
impacted people’s work.
During a retrenchment or restructuring exercise, it is obvious that
most people in the organisation are nervous and fearful. People tend
to get territorial and defensive and often a small issue can be blown
up into big proportions.

8. When you are focused on building your Personal Brand in the
company, isn’t this a wonderful opportunity for you to prove your
value, your future worth?
The company is looking for inspiring leaders, resourceful managers,
peace makers to build a positive environment (though it is difficult)
and loyalty when others are jumping ship. What would you do to
bring out your Personal Brand? (Read What Makes Our Work Special
and Different From the Rest)
Often what is needed is a clear head free of emotional
entanglements and persistently focused on the larger picture of
turning the ship around.
Be an entrepreneur futurist
As an entrepreneur, what have you noticed about your market’s
behaviours and spending patterns?
To stay ahead of the curve, you need to research the future trends,
customers’ aspirations and not needs and understand the future
underlying behavioural psychology of the markets. Being sensitized to
your markets would require you to ask yourself these questions,
 What are their frustrations with the current products and
services?
 What are they reading and learning about these days?
 Who is not meeting their aspirations (by that I mean their
desires to live more productive, more empowering lives)
 What value can I provide to make their lives even better and
more rewarding?
Remember, when you are sensitized to your market, you are
meeting their future goals and people generally are willing to pay
a premium for something which gives them a future value.
Think Apple, think applications and you will realise that it is not
the IPHONE which drives Apple’s success but the fact that
applications are available to meet a customer’s current and future
needs makes it exceptionally attractive! Apple knows that the
Generation Y, being tech savvy would orient their lives around the
products that they were brought up with – computer and tech

9. gadgets and they are quick to develop electronic devices to
connect with this generation.
Timothy Mack, President of the World Future Society said,
“We believe that people can create a better future for themselves
and all humankind by studying possible future developments and
making wise choices. We believe that a better tomorrow is built
today.”
Sincerely Yours,
Frankie Mao
Personal Branding Strategist & Career Coach
Managing Director
Executives Branding
www.executivesbranding.com
frankie@executivesbranding.com