Author / Joanne

The board game GO (known as weiqi in Chinese) is an abstract strategy board game requiring skills in strategy, tactics and observation.  The game was apparently invented by the Chinese more than 5,000 years ago.

GO is more challenging than chess, for example, because of the large variety of strategies and tactics that can be deployed.  It is even said that there are more possibilities than the number of atoms in the visible universe!

GO is a game for two persons, the goal of which is to surround more territory than the opponent.

Someone just shared with me this GO strategy list (supposedly from the 8th century), which would also be useful for success in life and business:

圍碁十訣 (“10 Rules in GO”)

• 不得貪勝 : If you are too focused on winning, you may mess up. Empty your mind and look for the best move.

• 入界宜緩 : If you are entering enemy territory, be careful and don’t go in too deep … there is timing in everything.

• 攻彼顧我 : Before attacking opponent, look inwardly and evaluate your own weaknesses.

• 棄子爭先 : Even if having to forgo a few stones, you must hold power over the entire game.

• 捨小取大 : Let go of the immediate small profit and think about the larger ones.

• 逢危須棄 : In danger, learn to let go and wait for better opportunity.

• 愼勿輕速 : Play with patience, one at a time, the more pressed, the more accurate diagnosis is needed.

• 動須相應 : Every stone is organic & connected to one another so knowing relationships is important.

• 彼强自保 : If your enemy is strong, first shore up yourself.

• 勢孤取和 : If you are surrounded in enemy territory, first seek path to survival.

 “GO” for success in leadership, business, and life!

Photo credit: https://gogameguru.com/i/2013/01/ear-reddening-move-shusaku-gennan-inseki.jpg

Practising honour in daily living – honouring our word, and honouring each other – can take many different forms in the daily ups and downs of life.  The challenge we all face is how to make honour both instinctive and habitual, a natural and authentic part of who we each are.

Our hearts were warmed when we read the story of a 12-year-old boy responding to a car accident.  The following report was carried in the Straits Times edition of 2 June 2016: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/12-year-old-boy-rushes-to-aid-of-car-accident-victims-in-yishun

“A 12-year-old boy, who rushed to the aid of the victims of a car accident in Yishun on Tuesday, said he did so as other passers-by were ‘too buy taking pictures with their phones instead of helping’.

Yishun Primary School pupil Ashvin Gunasegaran was walking home from school with several classmates when they heard a ‘loud boom’ behind them as they crossed the road.  Turning around, they saw two cars had collided just metres away at the junction of Yishun Ring Road and Yishun Avenue 2.  While his friends told him to stay away as it was ‘too dangerous’, Ashvin said he ran over to the drivers of each car after seeing that no adults were coming forward to offer assistance.

‘It was my first instinct – I felt I had to check if they were okay and if they needed an ambulance,’ he told The Straits Times yesterday.  ‘One of the drivers was pregnant, she said she was not injured but asked for my help in finding her glasses.  I tried to open her door but it was jammed.’

Ashvin said he also checked if the other driver was fine and waited for an ambulance – called by another member of the public – to arrive before leaving the scene.

The Singapore Civil Defence force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the accident at about 1.10 pm on Tuesday and dispatched one ambulance.  A pregnant woman was conveyed to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, an SCDF spokesman said.  Her condition is believed to be stable.

A Facebook post by Ashvin’s sister Laava, featuring a photo taken by Ashvin’s schoolmate as he spoke to one of the victims in the damaged car, has been shared more than 1,700 times since Tuesday evening.

Ashvin said his classmates were cheering his name at school yesterday as the picture was shared among his peers.

‘What I did wasn’t special – it was just the right thing to do.’ ”

“It was just the right thing to do.” Cheers to you Ashvin for reminding us all that as human beings, we have to look out for each other, and do the right thing regardless of the cost or inconvenience to ourselves.

 Picture: Screenshot of Straits Times 2 June 2016 Article

In our blog this week, we would like to share with you an article we wrote that was published in the Straits Times on 2 June 2016. The article shares our thoughts on the future of Singapore, and our belief that we need to be a people who honour our word and honour each other for the collective long-term well-being of current and future generations.

We reproduce the article below for your convenience. The article can be found at http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/getting-to-the-future-with-honour.

_______________________________________________________________

GETTING TO THE FUTURE WITH HONOUR 

Lim Siong Guan and Joanne H. Lim For The Straits Times

Last year, Singapore celebrated 50 years of independence. We had risen from Third World to First in economic terms.

But Madam Halimah Yacob, Speaker of Parliament, said at the launch of the Honour International Symposium recently that Singapore 50 years from now will have to be defined much more in social terms than economic ones. “Economic vibrancy is important, but life has to be more than economics and countries have to be more than GDP,” she asserted.

Sir John Bagot Glubb, a British soldier, scholar and author, wrote an essay entitled The Fate Of Empires And Search For Survival (William Blackwood and Sons, 1978).

Glubb analysed nations as rising through the Ages of Pioneers, Conquests, Commerce and Affluence, and falling thereafter through the Ages of Intellect, Decadence and Decline. Each stage has its own characteristics:

• Age of Pioneers, a period of amazing initiative, enterprise, courage and hardihood.
• Age of Conquests, where the principal objects are glory and honour for the nation.
• Age of Commerce, when values start shifting from the self-sacrifice of the initial pioneers to self-interest, the acquisition of wealth taking precedence over everything else.
• Age of Affluence, where money replaces honour and adventure as the objective of the best young men.
• Age of Intellect, when business people who had made their wealth seek the praise of others by supporting art, music and literature, and institutions of higher education.
• Age of Decadence, which comes about due to an extended period of wealth and power, selfishness, love of money and loss of a sense of duty.

Glubb came to his conclusions by studying 11 empires over 3,000 years.

Interestingly, every nation lasted only about 250 years. The commonality of stages in the rise and fall of nations is often missed because history has tended to be studied in a manner confined just to particular nations within particular timeframes, rather than in a panoramic view of the course of mankind. Glubb gave many examples to back up his analyses of nations rising and falling.

Nations decline not because their people do not have a conscience, but because of a weakening sense of duty and an increase in selfishness and the desire for wealth and ease.

Glubb says the Age of Decadence is marked by defensiveness, pessimism, materialism, frivolity, an influx of foreigners, the welfare state and weakening of religion. Foreigners are attracted by the wealth of the nation. But their increase tends to weaken the feeling of solidarity and comradeship in the nation.

Glubb notes that the decline of a nation is often preceded by a tendency for philanthropy and sympathy, exemplified by the welfare state. The impression that it will always be automatically rich causes the declining empire to spend lavishly on its own benevolence.

We can see incipient signs in Singapore of five of the characteristics of the Age of Decadence – namely, defensiveness, pessimism, materialism, frivolity and influx of foreigners.

Of small nations, Glubb wrote, “…decadence is the outcome of too long a period of wealth and power. If the small country has not shared in the wealth and power, it will not share in the decadence.”

Will Singapore fall?

The answer lies in making the right choices today.

SINGAPORE 50 YEARS FROM NOW

Suppose you were asked to describe the Singapore you would like to see in 50 years. Here is our list of what we consider would be a good future for the generations to come, a Singapore doing well economically and also a worthy First World society:

• A Singapore that keeps succeeding economically despite its smallness.
• Racial, religious and community unity in diversity and synergy in plurality.
• A gracious society.
• Children proud of their parents.
• Citizens proud of their country.

It is where the elderly and the disabled, the invisible people and the forgotten people, can each have their place in a society where those who have reached the top actively show care and concern for those lower down.

At the heart of this list is “a gracious society”, the result of people showing concern and consideration for one another, not for the praise of others but because it is the right and good thing to do.

WORTHY OF EMULATION?

Singapore’s A-advantage Consulting conducted a 2015 survey of national values in conjunction with the Barrett Values Centre of the United Kingdom. Two thousand Singapore residents were asked to choose, from a common list of social attributes, what they felt would:

• best reflect who they were;
• best reflect the current Singapore society; and
• best reflect the Singapore society they desired to be part of.

The top 10 choices in personal values were family, responsibility, friendship, happiness, health, caring, honesty, compassion, positive attitude and respect.

The top 10 characteristics they perceived of society today were kiasu (afraid to lose), competitive, materialistic, self-centred, kiasi (afraid to die), blame, security, educational opportunities, effective healthcare and peace.

This second list is surprising in that the first six items reflect a Singapore diametrically opposite to what people said they believed of themselves.

But it has been explained that the second list was indeed reflecting the first list, lived out selfishly. A person seeking the greatest advantage for his family would ignore the sensitivities of others, and would indeed be seen to be kiasu, competitive and self-centred.

Does “a kiasu nation” fit with the idea of “a gracious society”?

Is there a First World society today worthy of Singapore’s emulation? As Singapore is a city-state, would our benchmark possibly be New York, London, Tokyo or Shanghai?

Certainly “a gracious society” should be a critical part of the Singapore we wish for.

We start by establishing a culture of honour, moving deliberately from me-centredness to other-centredness, intent on enhancing the collective long-term well-being of both current and future generations of Singaporeans.

We have to be a people who honour our word, so that there may be no doubt about our individual trustworthiness, and who honour each other, so that there may be no doubt about our consideration for others. Care and concern, trust and respect have to define who we are.

Getting to the future will demand self-responsibility, personal initiative and active involvement in creating the society we want. May we all choose wisely today the kind of people we want to be, and the kind of society we want to build.

Neither Glubb nor A-advantage Consulting can make us feel optimistic about getting there. But 50 years is enough time for our children and grandchildren to make a worthy First World society – provided, with them, we start now.

Lim Siong Guan was head of the Singapore Civil Service from 1999 to 2005. Joanne H. Lim is founder and creative director at The Right Perspective.They are co-authors of two books: The Leader, The Teacher & You (Imperial College Press, 2014) and Winning With Honour (Imperial College Press, 2016).

Mr Urs Schoettli, correspondent of the Swiss daily, Neue Zurcher Zeitung based in Tokyo, wrote the following review of our book “Winning With Honour”, which was published by the Indian economic daily, Financial Chronicles, on 19 May 2016.

We are reproducing the article below with Mr Schoettli’s permission:

“There is hardly any do­ubt that the city state of Singapore has one of the most efficient and corruption free administrations not only in Asia, but in the entire world. When some 50 years ago Singapore was thrown out of the Malaysian Federation its founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, knew that the tiny territory only had a chance to become prosperous if it excelled in its services. The island state has no natural resources and no hinterland. Its only assets are the brains and the talents of its citizens.

Lim Siong Guan, since 2007 the Group President of GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, is a classic example of the dedicated civil servants that have built modern Singapore. His curriculum vitae is an illustration in dedication to the nation. In succession, Lim ser­ved as permanent secretary of the ministry of defence, the prime minister’s office, the ministry of education and the ministry of finance. From 1999 till 2005, he was the head of the Singapore civil service. Recently, Lim (writing with Joanne H Lim) has pu­blished a book Winning with Honour (jointly published by Imperial College Press and World Scientific Publishing in Singapore), which draws on his rich experience in government. It is a useful read not only beca­use it provides an insight into the challenges Singapore fa­ces in a new age where most of its assets are still valid, but some have to be adapted or reinforced to go with the times. The book also gives valuable advice for modern, responsible management both within government and within the corporate world.

To win, to get ahead, is at the core of careers, both in co­mpanies as well as in the government. In the end, however, many have to realise that on its own, this goal is not enough to provide for a fulfilled life. What is true for individuals is true for entire societies and for nation states too. Having just completed 50 years of independence, the city-state of Singapore faces a kind of “mi­dlife crisis”. When looking at all the relevant socioeconomic parameters indicating prog­ress and modernisation, there can be no doubt that Singaporeans can look back on an outstanding record of achievement. The city changed from a marginal, poor harbour town to a centre of global excelle­nce, be it in finance, in services or, most recently, in education and science.

The danger is not only that people want to rest on their la­urels or that they take things for granted. A topic, which Lim Si­ong Guan and a number of senior Singaporeans are str­uggling with, is to evaluate how the success story that had been started half a century ago can be continued into the future, where a number of ch­allenges facing the city state will acquire new dimensions. It may be symbolic that modern Singapore’s guiding spirit, Lee Kuan Yew, died last year at the ripe age of 92 years. All of a sudden the “grand old man” is not there anymore and new generations of Singaporeans are growing up without any experience of the hard times. They have been born into a world of material comfort and are easily convinced that this is their natural right and that nothing can take it away from them.

The increasing complexity of the world causes ever gre­ater uncertainty, particularly also with regard to what the future will bring. In such a situation, leadership is more important than ever. Without fa­rsighted leaders, neither a co­untry nor a company can survive and prosper. This is the reason why Lim is putting a lot of emphasis on leadership tr­aining in his intellectual endeavours. Traditional manag­ement gurus focus mainly on technicalities and methodical training. Lim, however, starts from the family as the foundation of true leadership. Under the principle of honour, it is particularly the intergenerational respect and the corresponding duties that provide a sound basis for exercising le­adership. A solid moral compass and mutual trust play a key role.

Much of what Lim sees as crucial requirements for the survival of communities, sta­tes and companies refers to traditional Asian values, many of which are, of course, of universal validity. Behind these time-tested values lies the awareness about the rise and fall of nations and societies. People tend to forget them, particularly when times are good. Looking at how quickly material prosperity can diminish and locational advantages can be eroded, Lim’s precept is to the point, namely, that the next phase of Singapore’s development has to be “values driven”.

Competition is welcome and particularly the younger generations must be made aware that to stand still is no option, if they intend to enjoy a reasonably prosperous life. However, bearing in mind the need for sustainability, the qu­estion must be asked to what end the unending rat race must go on. Lim’s book gives useful insights into an appr­oach to societal development where the focus is on qualitative improvement. This may be a particularly urgent task for the small city-state of Singapore, but it is also a requirement for much larger countries if they want to provide their aspiring and often restless youth with goals that are worth aiming for.”

You can also access the article online at: http://www.mydigitalfc.com/op-ed/building-nation-%E2%80%98winning-honour%E2%80%99-863

For more reviews for “Winning with Honour“, please visit: http://winningwithhonour.sg/affirmations.html#/#r01

Many people have asked when our next book would be published after reading THE LEADER, THE TEACHER & YOU. We are happy to announce that the “next book” has been launched on 29 April 2016.

Entitled WINNING WITH HONOUR in Relationships, Family, Organisations, Leadership, and Life, the new book is available at all major bookshops and can be ordered online here.

AFFIRMATIONS 

The book has received 18 affirmations from respected individuals in seven countries, including the former President of Singapore, Mr S.R. Nathan. We have listed five below for your reference. You can also find all 18 affirmations at the book’s website.

 “This is a deeply wonderful book, best read with a pencil. There is scarcely a page on which one will not take notes and later return to the wisdom contained. It draws attention to Singapore “punching above its weight” and an explanation as to why—a well-defined concept of Honour. The case for this and future work is made with excellent analysis and supporting anecdote. The book is not only a worthy successor to its predecessor, in many ways it surpasses it. Read it. Digest it. Base your important decisions on it.”

Mr Francis Hartmann (Adjunct Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, USA)

“This is in many ways an exceptional book. It provides an insider’s view of Singapore, the success story as well as the challenges the city state faces in a rapidly changing world. It is up to date on management issues, but at the same time rooted in profound knowledge of history. It contains pragmatic assessments of economy and society. Above all, it is a spiritual book satisfying the need of the reader to look beyond the fleeting material success and to focus on ever-lasting values, of which Honour is certainly the most important one.”

Mr Urs Schoettli (former Asia Correspondent of Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Switzerland)

“This is another hugely impressive and highly original book by Siong Guan and Joanne H Lim. It deals with values and virtues as the key to a rewarding life—whether in relationships, in business or in the life of the nation. Winning with Honour celebrates winning but at the same time challenges the modern, consumerist ideal of success. The book will challenge everyone regarding the meaning and purpose of our lives. It deserves to be widely read.”

Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach (Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs International, UK)  

“This is a timely book written as Singapore enters another period of transition in a difficult local and global environment. A year after the death of Lee Kuan Yew, it is opportune to reflect on the key aspects of his philosophy that allowed Singapore to develop from a poor outcast from Malaysia into probably the world’s most successful city state. Sensibly, the authors have not tried to analyse all the various components of success. They recognise that the future is going to require different skills but have picked the umbrella quality of Honour to enable a wide discourse on the individual and collective attributes that are most likely to ensure that the next generation continues to innovate, develop, and succeed.”

Sir John Rose (Chairman, Holdingham Group, and former CEO, Rolls Royce Inc., UK)

“How did Singapore ascend the global economic ladder to be a model for emerging economies? In Winning with Honour, Siong Guan and Joanne Lim put forth that Lee Kuan Yew’s visionary leadership also saw through the weaving of a fabric of Honour into the good governance instituted. Honour and honouring have made Singapore exceptional and need to be sustained for a bright future. This book is a primer in conducting our everyday lives in Honour and with Honour that we may, putting others before ourselves, emerge winners in the race of life.”

Mr Philip Ng (Chief Executive Officer, Far East Organization, Singapore)

BOOK CONTENTS

This new book is thicker than the first one, but don’t be put off by the thickness.  It is just as readable as the first book, with the same format of thought summaries on the pages on the left side in very large print, and the full ideas developed on the pages on the right side.

The content covers thoughts on virtually all aspects of life:

• Individual lives
• Family
• Community
• Organisations
• Nation

In this blog, we describe why WINNING WITH HONOUR came to be written.

WHY WINNING WITH HONOUR WAS WRITTEN

WINNING WITH HONOUR is, in a special way, a tribute to the work of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and our founding fathers, but goes considerably beyond what they have done for the nation. Singapore celebrated 50 years of independence in 2015. For many countries around the world, 50 years is not such a big deal. But it is a big deal for little Singapore, which has been described as a “little red dot” on the world map.

The government of Singapore in 1959 had not believed that Singapore could survive as an independent sovereign state on its own. Singapore was still a British colony, and with no natural resources to call its own, Singapore needed a contiguous economic hinterland; merger with Malaya to its north seemed the obvious solution.

This happened in 1963 with the formation of Malaysia made up of the Federation of Malaya with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore. But the marriage did not last long for Singapore. Independence came suddenly and unexpectedly on 9 August 1965. Singapore had to find its own way to survival, security, and success despite thinking it impossible in 1959.

You know all this, but I thought it appropriate to mention that we cover this in the book.

There was nothing in Singapore, apart from its people hungry for work and life. Even the earth was not fertile. The solution, under the leadership of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, was to build a brand of Honour centred on integrity, trustworthiness, dependability, determination, tenacity, hard work, and adaptability.  It was a brand about being a people and a government who delivered on promises we made, and who left no doubt that we would honour our word whenever we gave our word, no matter what. Success followed the temerity and the imagination.

HONOUR TO MAKE SINGAPORE’S FUTURE

According to Brand Finance, the world’s leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy, headquartered in London, Singapore was the world’s strongest nation brand in 2015. As the CEO of Brand Finance said in his foreword: “In a global marketplace, a nation brand is one of the most important assets of any state, encouraging inward investment, adding value to exports and attracting tourists.”

In the Executive Summary of Brand Strength (as distinct from Brand Value) came the statement:

“Singapore is the world’s strongest nation brand in 2015. Nation Brand value is reliant upon GDP, i.e. revenues associated with the brand. Singapore’s small size means it will never be able to challenge for the top spot in brand value terms, because its brand simply cannot be applied extensively enough to generate the same economic uplift as ‘brand USA’ for example. However in terms of its underlying nation brand strength, Singapore comes out on top.

 “As the city-state celebrates its 50th anniversary its citizens can be rightly proud of the nation they have created. … The chief architect was of course Lee Kuan Yew. The vision, pragmatism, longevity, intolerance of corruption and relative benevolence of the country’s first prime minister and elder statesman are widely seen as the key reasons for its success.

 “Unfortunately for nations looking to replicate Singapore’s success, finding the next Lee Kuan Yew is no easy task and may be a foolhardy one. Long-term leaders are often correctly regarded as more concerned about their own power than the interests of the nation, with Lee Kuan Yew being the exception that proves the rule. … Singapore’s international reputation has spread by word of mouth as much as it has by active promotion.

 “Though the passing of Lee Kuan Yew in March this year (2015) is a sad loss, he leaves a legacy that few can hope to better. Singapore is now seen as modern, innovative, industrious, welcoming to outsiders and increasingly culturally rich, and has left its neighbours (including Malaysia) far behind it.”

However, celebrating 50 years of independence will not make the future for Singapore unless the virtue of honouring our word is understood and sustained by succeeding generations.

The genesis of the book WINNING WITH HONOUR was a sense, almost of compulsion, to share our convictions on the utter criticality of Honour to make Singapore’s future.

HONOUR – THE ESSENTIAL VIRTUE FOR LIFE AND LIVING

As we studied the literature and developed our arguments, it struck us that Honour was not just about explaining Singapore’s journey from Third World Economy to First World Economy in a generation, but is an essential virtue that undergirds purposefulness in life, happiness in family, stability in society, advantage in business, success in leadership, and security in the nation.

Thus it came about that this book became one about life and living, and not just about the survival and success of Singapore.

The book is written from the perspective of Singapore and Singaporeans, but it draws wisdom from history, geography, culture, religion, the wisdom of the ancients, as well as writings and examples from all over the world. We believe there is a universality in the message of Honour that can prove valuable to all who would care to reflect on how to sustain success in one’s life, family, community, organisation and/or nation.

PURPOSE OF THE BOOK

The purpose of this book is to invite thought about what “winning in life” actually means. What is success? How do you define success? What makes for a satisfied life?

The book also seeks to raise consciousness about the virtue of Honour in our lives, and posits that a good way and the best way to win in life and work is to practise and promote Honour, particularly in the two dimensions of:

• Honouring Our Word
• Honouring Each Other

The book draws wisdom from the ancients and religion, as well as from recent research and contemporary commentators. We do not claim to have all the answers, but we share what we ourselves have learnt so that you can come to your own conclusions and convictions of what makes a successful and satisfied life.

We hope that you will find enormous benefit from the book, whether it be to enhance your capacity to lead your lives, your families, your communities, your businesses and organisations and your nation, or simply to question what you are doing with your time and your energy to achieve good for yourselves and for those around you.

Live Life.  Live Well.  Live Good. 

For more information on “Winning with Honour”, please visit: www.winningwithhonour.sg

For more information on “The Leader, The Teacher & You”, please visit: www.TheLeaderTheTeacher.com

Follow the “Winning with Honour” Blog here: www.WinningWithHonour.wordpress.com

Welcome to the Winning With Honour blogsite!

The periodic blogs will seek to share ideas on Honour as an extension of what is to be found in the book “Winning With Honour in Relationships, Family, Organisations, Leadership and Life”.

A book is like a snapshot of thoughts and ideas at a moment. These blogs are to keep Honour as an ongoing winning practice in life.

Winning With Honour is co-written by the same authors that wrote the book “The Leader, The Teacher & You”, which won the Singapore Best Literature Prize for Non-Fiction in 2014.

In this introductory blog, we describe why Winning With Honour came to be written.  It is, in a special way, a tribute to the work of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and the other founding fathers of Singapore.

Singapore celebrated 50 years of independence in 2015. For many countries around the world, 50 years is not such a big deal. But it is a big deal for little Singapore, which has been described as a “little red dot” on the world map.

The government of Singapore in 1959 had not believed that Singapore could survive as an independent sovereign state on its own. Singapore was still a British colony, and with no natural resources to call its own, Singapore needed a contiguous economic hinterland; merger with Malaya to its north seemed the obvious solution.  This happened in 1963 with the formation of Malaysia made up of the Federation of Malaya with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore.

But the marriage did not last long for Singapore. Independence came suddenly and unexpectedly on 9 August 1965. Singapore had to find its own way to survival, security, and success despite thinking it impossible in 1959.

There was nothing in Singapore, apart from its people hungry for work and life. Even the earth was not fertile. The solution, under the leadership of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, was to build a brand of Honour centred on integrity, trustworthiness, dependability, determination, tenacity, hard work, and adaptability.

It was a brand about being a people and a government who delivered on promises we made, and who left no doubt that we would honour our word whenever we gave our word, no matter what. Success followed the temerity and the imagination.

According to Brand Finance, the world’s leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy, headquartered in London, Singapore was the world’s strongest nation brand in 2015. As the CEO of Brand Finance said in his foreword: “In a global marketplace, a nation brand is one of the most important assets of any state, encouraging inward investment, adding value to exports and attracting tourists.”

In the Executive Summary of Brand Strength (as distinct from Brand Value) came the statement:

“Singapore is the world’s strongest nation brand in 2015. Nation Brand value is reliant upon GDP, i.e. revenues associated with the brand. Singapore’s small size means it will never be able to challenge for the top spot in brand value terms, because its brand simply cannot be applied extensively enough to generate the same economic uplift as ‘brand USA’ for example. However in terms of its underlying nation brand strength, Singapore comes out on top.

“As the city-state celebrates its 50th anniversary its citizens can be rightly proud of the nation they have created. … The chief architect was of course Lee Kuan Yew. The vision, pragmatism, longevity, intolerance of corruption and relative benevolence of the country’s first prime minister and elder statesman are widely seen as the key reasons for its success.

“Unfortunately for nations looking to replicate Singapore’s success, finding the next Lee Kuan Yew is no easy task and may be a foolhardy one. Long-term leaders are often correctly regarded as more concerned about their own power than the interests of the nation, with Lee Kuan Yew being the exception that proves the rule. … Singapore’s international reputation has spread by word of mouth as much as it has by active promotion.

“Though the passing of Lee Kuan Yew in March this year (2015) is a sad loss, he leaves a legacy that few can hope to better. Singapore is now seen as modern, innovative, industrious, welcoming to outsiders and increasingly culturally rich, and has left its neighbours (including Malaysia) far behind it.”

However, celebrating 50 years of independence will not make the future for Singapore unless the virtue of honouring our word is understood and sustained by succeeding generations. The genesis of the book Winning With Honour was a sense, almost of compulsion, to share our convictions on the utter criticality of Honour to make Singapore’s future.

As we studied the literature and developed our arguments, it struck us that Honour was not just about explaining Singapore’s journey from Third World Economy to First World Economy in a generation, but was an essential virtue that undergirds purposefulness in life, happiness in family, stability in society, advantage in business, success in leadership, and security in the nation.

Thus it came about that this book became one about life and living, and not just about the survival and success of Singapore.

The book is written from the perspective of Singapore and Singaporeans, but it draws wisdom from history, geography, culture, religion, the wisdom of the ancients, as well as writings and examples from all over the world. We believe there is a universality in the message of Honour that can prove valuable to all who would care to reflect on how to sustain success in one’s life, family, community, organisation and/or nation.

Most of us live full lives—but do we live fulfilled lives?

Many people spend their whole lives running and striving to get “there”, but once they get “there”, they find that “there” is really not where they wanted to get to. To their dismay, they find that they were either busy running the “rat race” in a wheel—furiously running but getting nowhere no matter how hard they tried—or climbing the “ladder”, only to realize that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall!

The purpose of this book is to invite you to think about what “winning in life” actually means. What is success? How do you define success? What makes for a satisfied life? 

The book seeks to raise consciousness about the virtue of Honour in our lives, and posits that a good way and the best way to win in life and work is to practise and promote Honour, particularly in the two dimensions of:

• Honouring Our Word
• Honouring Each Other

The book draws wisdom from the ancients and religion, as well as from recent research and contemporary commentators. We do not claim to have all the answers, but we share what we ourselves have learnt so that you can come to your own conclusions and convictions of what makes a successful and worthwhile life.

We hope that you will find enormous benefit from the book, whether it be to enhance your capacity to lead your lives, your families, your communities, your businesses and organisations and your nation, or simply to question what you are doing with your time and your energy to achieve good for yourselves and for those around you.

Live Life.  Live Well.  Live Good. 

WIN WITH HONOUR. 

I had the opportunity to meet a Japanese shooting coach last week.  He was once Japan’s champion shooter, though he did not manage to get an Olympic medal despite being of Olympic standard because they scrapped his specialist event in the year he was supposed to compete.

We were talking about winning championships, and how athletes in Japan are selected to be trained into national champions.

He said potential champions are picked from school according to their physique and skills. But the issue of being a world champion goes beyond this and even goes beyond excellent mental management – what many people refer to as the pressure of high stake competitions.

If a champion is motivated to keep pushing herself or himself to higher and higher standards because of motivation that comes from winning  (in other words, their motivation to win comes from winning), that is fine for national championships…but it is not good enough for world championships.

In a world competition, the standard of the best of the best in the world is very, very close.  At this point, if the motivation to keep going stems from winning, then the motivation is blown to pieces if the athlete fails to win a number of times.  And failing to win is not so difficult among a small crowd of champions who are all world class.

What keep these athletes pushing on with determination and tenacity is that they truly enjoy the sport – their motivation is not primarily about winning, it is about enjoying the sport and wanting to be better and better at it.  Winning is just a milestone, or a testimonial, along the way.

I think this point contains a critical lesson for us as leaders of organisations: if we try to motivate our people to be the best company, whichever way we measure that, whether it be profits, or ROE, or stock price or whatever, there is a limit to how well we can keep going even if we get to be No. 1, because after getting to be No. 1, we must keep striving to maintain the position of No. 1.

When the company gets to be No. 1, those who are behind will want to follow, to mimic, to dissect and figure out, how to beat No. 1.  So No. 1 has to keep moving ahead in order to keep being No. 1. 

Keeping the people in the company striving year-in-year-out to keep up at being No. 1 is a big demand on stamina, focus, energy and determination.  It is very difficult.  The real key to sustained success lies in having people who enjoy their work, who find meaning and purpose in what they do, who find their work to be an integral part of what makes their life worthwhile.

So as leaders we need to recognise that getting our people to enjoy and to feel good (not just be good) about what they do is not an afterthought, not a “bonus”, and not a “nice-to-have”, but a critical criterion for continued winning.

We must ENJOY WHAT WE DO IF WE WANT TO KEEP WINNING.  And that desire to Win with Honour must start from within each one of us.
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